《40 Thousand Reasons》


 Retribution - Chapter One

    "Only the insane have strength enough to prosper. Only those that prosper truly judge what is sane."


    0001101010011110000111111


    My savant implant must be acting up, for some reason. Hopefully it is only a technical glitch, and not something else.


    The else could mean something much worse.


    Something that money, or thrones as they are called here could not fix. Like a demonic possession.


    Fortunately, I know I must have Blank, like I vaguely remember choosing during my build. Before I was sent here.


    My father is rather amused at my so called "Blessing".


    For a Rogue Trader being born as a Blank is a boon, unlike back in the Empire. And if my children should inherit this trait, our position will become even stronger.


    Warp incursions would avoid the clan, and thus keep the ship safe. Safe-ish.


    Not everything that wants to kill you is a warp-spawn, after all.


    And here, everything wants to kill you.


    Rogue Traders are a special type of Imperial citizen. They receive a lot of freedom and privilege, based on a Warrant of Trade, which is basically a privateer license to explore and loot outside the Imperium. There are thousands of them, and each has a different agenda, area or preferred method. Some act as missionaries, conquistadors or mere bulk traders. Others deal in xenos tech and slaves, or exterminate xenos to sell their lands and technology.


    Some grow beyond a single ship and conquer entire galactic sectors with their own private fleets.


    Others steal and pirate on the Imperium, or worse they deal with cultists and demons and thus are often killed by Inquisitors or Astartes, or the very demons they trade with.


    "Augur telemetry confirm the planet sustains life. The missiles heading our way confirm this as well." the sensor station girl spoke with a faint trace of irony. Linne Joana Decima. A cousin, if some steps removed. Pretty girl with short black hair, like most of the crew. Hair is hard to keep, in the void.


    Also, a potential concubine, should the Lord Captain wish it so. And on this vessel, he speaks with the Voice of the Emperor.


    "Turn ship to port. Lance batteries target the launch sites." my father orders in a calm voice.


    I look at him with curious eyes. A tall, heavy set man with glacial blue eyes and a power armor of dubious provenance. He is a Conqueror, a build that emphasizes as guessed, war. Conquering his own merry kingdom, among the distant stars in the Eastern Fringe.


    Our ship, the Litany for the Vanquished is the epitome of a war vessel, armed to the teeth, and the teeth armored to hell.


    I suspect it has started out as a docile and pleasant light cruiser, before whatever Favor my grandfather traded with Forge World Antax was returned in a plethora of advanced tech and upgrades to every possible, and a few impossible systems.


    Like a choir of tech priests detached to our ship, forever. Lance batteries that would put a heavy cruiser to shame.


    An armored battalion and a grenadier regiment, all equipped and provisioned by Antax for the next 1011 years.


    Time has a different value around here.


    Windows tint as spears of light start flashing, each of them sufficient to obliterate a city or a meter of adamantium armor.


    Soon enough, our lance guns evaporate the ground missile launchers of the natives, and probably any nearby cities.


    There is no Geneva Convention in the 40k universe. The Tyranids would likely eat the entire convention as a snack.


    Then eat the whole world and keep going.


    In fact, they did just that, on Okassis. Hive fleet Kraken ate whoever didn''t manage to fly away. And in this galaxy, you need to be rich or powerful to have a ship.


    Well, one able to travel the Warp at least. There are in-system ships that are much cheaper and easier to acquire. You don''t even need a Warrant of Trade for those.


    I have one myself, so I know. Technically, you could call the Mona Lisa a shuttle, even if it''s larger than a passenger airplane back home.


    And armed and armored by default. Anything without weapons and armor is only a snack for this evil galaxy.


    "Captain, the ground ''skaks'' are human. Shall we conquer this world in the name of the Emperor?" the XO, Master Swedros, asks rhetorically.


    Of course, we will. We don''t carry all those tanks and grenadiers for a pleasure cruise. Their purpose is to fight and die and make us rich. Richer.


    And if the Emperor is merciful, we might find another relic or ancient tech that we can barter with the Mechanicus for.


    Best guys in this corner of the galaxy, the tech worshipers. As long as you ''gift'' them nice stuff.


    With a metal tentacle waving at my father, the bridge priest signals he has begun his own part. Data and signal warfare.


    A somewhat analogue version of ECM.


    I don''t expect the poor natives to rise to the challenge anyway. This is the 46th planet we are pacifying this century.


    The Eastern Fringe is rather filled with old era human worlds, mostly devolved into barbarism of some kind.


    In fact, missiles or other advanced weapons are rare. Maintaining old stocks is difficult, and inventing new stuff almost always leads to suffering. Eternal suffering sometimes.


    "Going back to my work, Captain. Please call me when the landings begin." I say politely and nod to my father.


    The grizzly warrior smiles proudly and waves me off.


    He knows I don''t like orbital bombardments. They might look clean and neat from orbit, but I''ve seen the results afterwards. Charred buildings and corpses are not that glorious.


    As I slink away and salute the marines guarding the armored bridge door, I run another diagnostic on my implant.


    "When you decide to die, remember to give the enemy the same honour"


    11000111000001


    Oddly appropriate this time, and a sign it''s not a mechanical malfunction. Those neuron filaments forming the biological part of the implant are becoming sentient.


    And possibly stealing data from my own brain. Not sure if that''s a heresy or not.


    Most likely it is. Everything not by the book is heretical after all.


    Help support creative writers by finding and reading their stories on the original site.


    And for good reason, as it happens. Machine Spirits are actually human souls, cloned and chopped into bits, then used as conduits and processors instead of the worse variant, the Abominable Intelligences.


    The demented A.I. that always, always, always try to genocide everyone. Not that I blame them much.


    For those not Blanks, exposure to Warp and it''s inherent dangers must be like living in Hell.


    Come to think of it, this galaxy might be Hell.


    The Outer Fringes of it, if the Eastern Fringes reflect a higher reality.


    I reach my AdMech lab and drop into my chair.


    "Praise the Omnissiah, Revelator. What are we working on now?" my Mechanicus mentor wonders and tilts its coghead towards me.


    "First, we need to calibrate my brain implant. I keep getting random quotes from a various codex. Then, tank tracks again." I explain in a tiny voice.


    The tech priest has been mostly polite and nice, for something of his nature. But it might slice me into bits anytime, should I make a critical mistake, like those reactor crew enginseers did.


    They didn''t suffer long, so at least I know my mentor is not really a sadist. Only disconnected from humanity.


    "There is no truth in flesh, only betrayal." Magos Gyron says with a trace of humor.


    Yes, he can do jokes and humor just fine. They''re merely hard to get sometimes.


    "I was speaking of a broken machine, mentor. My flesh is fine for now." I quip back, and lean my head forward.


    Without painkillers and any kind of kindness, the Magos opens my skull and peeks inside at my brain.


    I''m pretty sure I should be fainting in pain, or screaming my lungs out, but I feel only boredom. The operation takes too long.


    "The silver contacts have melted away, and the implant was being oxidized by cerebro-spinal fluids. Only the gold connectors are intact. Curious. But then..." the tech priest mutters in Gothic, maintaining politeness for some strange reason.


    "If my brain gives off enough heat to melt silver, I shouldn''t be alive anyway." I said after thinking for a minute.


    "Exactly. There, I''ve replaced everything with platinum wire. The organic parts seem to grow nicely. You''ll become a savant soon enough, Pef." Magos Gyron replies while gluing my cranium back in place. With glue of some kind, that resorbs into the bone.


    I''ve become quite stoic at the strangeness of the Machine Cult, and their lack of common sense.


    As the mechadendrites retract from my head, I power on the cogitator on my desk, and project a greenish hologram of a tank drive system.


    This one is a Chimera personnel carrier tracked vehicle, a standard model among the armies of humanity, in the Astra Militarum and others.


    Without 3D tools it takes painful and tedious work, to create a template for a mechanical foundry. But it only took three years and we''re almost finished.


    I tap a few keys and open the other version, the original STC template.


    For someone without technical education, they would look nearly identical. But, both me and Magos Gyron know better.


    My new version has 36 percent less moving parts, is 10 percent more durable, has 10 percent better ground pressure resistance and many other perks.


    The drive sprockets need to be covered in adamantium, and the torsion bars as well, if possible.


    But even using cheaper materials, the new drive train will be revolutionary. Because anything made simpler and more rugged means longer operational times, less maintenance, fewer vehicles lost in transit or during maneuvers.


    Now combine that with 1 million army regiments, and a billion war machines.


    Even if the new tracks increase the Chimera effectiveness by only 5 percent, although it should be at least 10 percent, that means 50 million armored vehicles more, to fight the Emperor''s enemies.


    Logistics is the basis of any war, and the Warhammer universe is always at war. If my three years of work provide millions of extra tanks, critical victories might be won. Even if it doesn''t lead directly to more victories, the enemies will lose more troops, and then be vanquished later.


    Gyron observes my work with its mechanical eyes, lenses recording me with something approaching fear.


    Late into the night, I stop to save my progress, and then make a backup copy on my implant.


    "There is no strength in flesh, only weakness."


    0111011110000000


    My implant feeds me another ironic wise quote, as my body fails me and I fall asleep.


    A minute later, a voidguard marine busts in room.


    "Lord Pef. Your presence is required on the bridge. Now." the soldier says in a harsh voice.


    Not my earliest convenience, then. I run towards the bridge elevator, still half asleep.


    As I pass other soldiers, they salute me rather startled.


    Then again, Captain''s son running at full tilt wasn''t that common in the main corridor. I usually trained my body in the barracks floor, with all the other grenadiers. Morale is a thing, out here.


    I rush onto the bridge, to find it devoid of higher rank officers, only the Navigator and a couple of tech priests, with some distant cousins manning the auspex consoles.


    "Where is the Captain?" I ask as I force myself to breathe.


    The Navigator scowls and turns to stare at me with all three of his eyes. He doesn''t like Blanks much, I suspect. That was a joke. I heard psykers have a revulsion towards any Blanks, not just me.


    "Lord Pef. Your father left clear orders. In the event of his death, you are to succeed and inherit the Warrant. All hail Captain Pef!" the Navigator proclaims in a psyker voice, a wave of command dispersing the words throughout the ship.


    With a bewildered face, I fall in the Captain''s chair, and feel the ship''s Machine Spirit link up with my implant.


    "Victory needs no explanation. Defeat allows none."


    000111000


    Not the time for quotes, damn implant.


    With a sad sob, I turn to stare at the Navigator, while reading the ship logs on my implant.


    The natives had other advanced weapons. Melta guns, strong enough to burn through ceramite-encased power armor. Just like the one former Lord Lancefire wore, as he debarked for another glorious conquest.


    Well, they probably didn''t have the guns anymore. The planet didn''t have any cities left now.


    "Launch full occupation, all battalions except the void marines." I order with a sad heart.


    I will have to name this planet now, after it got conquered. Probably something corny, like Retribution.


    The crew would not accept any compromise now, and these guys wouldn''t want one either. Not after we killed like a billion of their people. Sins of my father...

 Warp - 2

    Slowly, the shock of becoming an orphan, alone in a middle of a hostile galaxy worn off, as my mind concentrated on the important goal of survival. I had to prove myself a worthy ship Captain, a skilled Rogue Trader and at least a decent general for my small army. Otherwise, I would find myself kicked out from an airlock, with the ship''s Navigator finally happy to be rid of my Blank aura.


    Not that my aura works like normal Blanks do. I read they create instant hostility into anyone with a soul, or at least a minimal Warp presence, something humanity has in spades. Feeling your soul getting absorbed into a menacing black hole would explain the hostility, perhaps.


    Luckily, I am not one of those natural and rare Pariahs. My gift is bland and merely protects myself from the Warp, something which confuses those more sensitive to the Warp, but doesn''t burn their soul. Of course, it also protects me from astropaths, telepaths and diviners, as well as other potential troubles like daemonic possession and all those visions or dreams so common among the crew.


    Not that I need visions to plan ahead. Somehow, I remember perfectly everything I seen of this universe in my previous life, although the order of the events is sometimes different. I have my own theories why this happens: maybe my memories got scrambled, or some local deity plays with time, or the Emperor himself dreams on his Golden Throne and changes things, perhaps subconsciously.


    I do recall the existence of a special Inquisition Order, Ordo Cronos, that investigates timeline manipulations. And there are other beings around that play with time, be they Necron or C''tan, Eldar or H''rud.


    But for now, I focus on the task at hand, proving my genius and savant status, by using my expensive implants to run the logistics of a planetary invasion from my Captain''s command chair. I am also very lucky and do not fail.


    The conquest of Retribution lasted merely months.


    Then again, we had a cruiser in orbit, 5 kilometers of guns, armor and cathedrals, too able and willing to impart Retribution on these heretics.


    Paired with air superiority via our fighter squadron, and liberal use of Mechanicus noosphere magic, the ground-locked enemies were rapidly corralled and captured, or killed if they resisted.


    Either way, the planet provided fresh replenishments for the depleted lower decks, new serfs and other lower servitor castes being inducted, stamped and cyborgdized into more useful forms.


    I even convinced Magos Gyron to begin installing servitors as targeting heads for our long range torpedoes.


    It took a dozen trials, but now our long range weapons could turn and attempt homing while the propellant lasted. The efficiency increase was over 300 percent this time, but sadly my own area of control was limited by the Warrant.


    Back in Empire Space, my words were feeble and likely without any true power, but here on my Ship, I now spoke with the Voice of the Emperor.


    Something even the Mechanicus Cult was not likely to defy, just like every other members of the crew or the military we carried.


    It will take a few more generations before the regiment fully transformed from an auxiliary Mechanicus unit to my own household regiment, but my father had already began that plan, replacing sergeants and corporals with loyal soldiers, sending difficult officers on long range reconnaissance and other dangerous missions.


    I didn''t want to stir things too much with the grenadiers, but I did want a proper armored regiment if that was possible. My clan was rich, very rich. I could afford to pay for new machines and equipment from my clan''s budget, if we really needed to.


    I named Lord Swedros, my Father''s XO as planetary governor on Retribution, and gave him all the old Chimeras, half the new servitors and a grenadier battalion formed by the least loyal troops, as well as one orbit capable shuttle.


    The guy seemed rather pleased at his new post, and probably thankful I didn''t simply space him. That was the tradition after a Captain change among Rogue Traders.


    But I didn''t want to waste a competent guy, simply because I didn''t like or trusted him. He could still be useful, making Retribution productive again, in a few decades.


    "We head to Antax now, I''ll need my Warrant ratified and some new equipment." I told my new bridge crew, still mostly clan members but with an enginseer and a more pliable auspex tech priest added in for extra points of view.


    I knew I could get away with minor quirks, and myself being mentored by a Mechanicus Magos was no secret among the clan.


    Not that anyone could tell we were related just by looking at us. Genetic diversity in the galaxy was enormous, and grandfather had over 30 wives during his millennium long life.


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    My father had been more conservative, with only half that many wives, including my own mother that nobody knew where she had come from, and where she had gone.


    I had a few pics of her, platinum hair and green eyes, and a rumor she was a witch. Probably a Blank, if I think on it. Still a witch, but the good kind in my view.


    Keeping away the Warp was a nice gift she gave me.


    I had a strange feeling I will meet her again, but hopefully not from the other end of an Exitus rifle. The Vindicare assassins are rather famous for training Blanks, after all.


    Back in my mechanical lab, I go over a few more projects, all of them attempting to simplify and enhance Imperial technology with varied degrees of success and heresy.


    We have a hand-held melta gun to analyze and rebuild, the standard template lasgun, an auspex sensor based on lasers, and my masterpiece: the tri-barrel multilaser.


    The Lasgun is rather hard to improve cheaply. The Emperor himself had worked on this weapon for years, and he is rather smarter than me. Sure, expensive capacitors and high definition lenses can improve the gun significantly. The reverse is rather hard, dumbing down the weapon will not make it better.


    I do have two minor fixes that will increase the lasguns''s lethal range by 10 meters and powerpack''s capacity by 5 percent.


    Gyron is quite amazed at the simple solutions I found and has vowed to support the new Retribution template in front of his Mechanicus peers. That''s our story, and we will stick to it.


    Ancient STC patterns, discovered by a famous Rogue Trader. Highly effective, considering the Rogue Trader paid with his life for the discovery.


    The auspex sensors are a type of LIDAR, and by increasing photon density and collimating the beam by a few microns, we extend range and definition by 7 percent. Nothing huge, until you consider the trillions of such sensors installed on nearly every war machine in the Empire.


    The new Multilaser is nothing so simple. At first, I simply tried adding a new barrel for extra cooling and a minor rate of fire. But somehow, moving the cooling coiling into a new pattern increased not only the rate of fire, but penetration and range by 25 percent.


    It is almost like geometric magic. Separating the barrels even further doesn''t work, and instead reduces the damage.


    "It is the polarization, Captain. Turning the mechanism by 45 degrees, it increases lenses reflection, as fewer photons pass through the focus mirror. Thus, less heating and better penetration." Gyron concludes after trying the same orientation with a normal two-barrel multilaser, and replicating my results.


    I shrugged in defeat. "I bow to your wisdom, mentor. These Ancient humans were so clever, right?"


    "You think me foolish, but all knowledge is manifestation of deity. The Emperor was learned indeed, and that''s why we are allied now. But, as his Voice you improved his works too. Thus, Omnissiah flows though you." the priest commented in a serious tone.


    I hummed in deep thought at that. Religion was a serious thing here, more so for those exposed to the Immaterium, unlike me.


    "Our Navigator cannot sense the Astronomicon so far way. He locks on Ultramar instead, and works well enough. Though I still want to get a look inside those Geller generators once we are in dock." I mused out loud.


    The Magos waved a few metallic tentacles in warning. "You should really not. This may be your ship, but those that stare into the Warp, they get stared back at."


    "But if we are in real space, it should be safe, right?" I wonder for argument''s sake.


    "Nowhere is truly safe, silly boy. And inside a Geller field generator, much less so than anywhere else. Even your Blank aura isn''t sufficient. When we assemble...well. I better not speak of it. But there''s a reason only higher ranked priests can enter them." Gyron continued in a calm tone, while producing a dozen vials of scented oils and incense burners to sanctify the new multilaser.


    Normally, I would dismiss such things as superstition or stupidity. Until your own weapon grows fangs and tries to eat you. Sometimes happens, during traveling the warp.


    Not so much with sanctified weapons. I still have a scar on my forearm from my first laser pistol that became sentient or maybe emotional. And bit me.


    Did I mention how Machine Spirits are made from cloned human tissue? Well, humanity is the Emperor''s domain in the Warp. Including the amputated ones.


    The Mechanicus have rapidly learned the trick, and have used this knowledge to great effect to protect all their machinery from the warp using human cells and nerves as conduits for the Emperor''s protection.


    "Emperor protects!" is the most commonly used phrase among humans. Because he really does.


    Just not in the mundane world, not unless He raises a Saint or sends the Legion of the Damned to intervene directly.


    But those things are so rare that they are myths and legend anyway.


    Sometimes I wonder how the Emperor sees me, while under this Blank cover. Then again, I do have humans genes. It''s possibly blood-magic or something like that, for a high level entity like the God-Emperor of Mankind.


    That Eldar tentacle warp god does kinda the same thing, in reverse. Targeting all Eldars for more excess and shit.


    ''Stay strong Adam. One day I will reach Terra and try to fix your chair. This galaxy needs you.'' I whispered in my mind, watching the familiar gestures of the Mechanicus priest painting my projects with holy oils.


    Not too soon though. I still had lots of things to do, out here outside the Empire.


    Mentally, I began preparing contingencies for the Forge_World</a> visit, and various trade protocols left behind by my dear grandfather, who seemed to be good friends with the Fabricator-General.


    Probably a whole bucket of crap, the famous friendship. But if it worked once, it should work again, as long as I brought nice gifts.

 Fabricator 3

    The trip through the Warp was relatively safe and quick, three weeks for those on board, and 6 months for the galaxy.


    Losses on the lower decks remained under 2 percent, which meant we will not need to restock of Gellar field consumables, whatever they were.


    Gyron tells me we only need to worry at 6 percent loses.


    For now, I have no choice but to believe him, and hope for the best. The Mechanicus uses the same type of generator as my upgraded cruiser, and they rarely vanish during trips, unlike the local Navy ships which tend to encounter problems on every single patrol.


    Forge world Antax is a dead world, since nobody bothers with environmental laws around here. The pollution and radiation alone would kill unarmored humans in minutes. That''s only on the surface though. Deep underground, the Cult Mechanicus lives in enclosed tunnels and caves like ants.


    It also has a ring of orbital shipyards and thousands of mining or transport ships to supply the forges with metals or organic components.


    The Litany itself carries a million spare parts of organic origin, and could always come round with more. Human resources are plentiful in the galaxy, and we only need to wait a few decades for more such resources to regenerate on their own, then visit a conquered planet to harvest more.


    We send codes and passwords, as well as the electronic Warrant ahead, to avoid being atomized by some zealous priest. Our void shields stay up, and the void marines are on full alert anyway.


    That was among the first things I did as the new Captain. Three companies of marines are now always posted around the bridge, reactor and the Gellar generator. Another company patrols the lower decks, in fully enclosed suits and backed up by twice as many combat servitors. A couple AFVs are also deployed with them, to provide some armor support in case of need.


    I have also begun to slowly increase the serfs food rations in quantity and quality, but I can only do so much, and not annoy the traditionalists among the crew, who would rather dispense burning promethium instead of clean water and decent food.


    I had to explain to them how much costly promethium is compared to water. "Don''t spend my thrones when it is not needed, guys. Water is cheap, so we give the serfs water."


    Afraid they might get be penalized from their shares for every munition they spend to quell revolts or mutinies, the officers had temporarily agreed to try the humane option first, if it was cheapest.


    After a day of waiting, my cruiser is finally allowed to dock and refuel in an orbital dock, as I am escorted towards the Fabricator General with all the new ''discoveries''


    Sadly, the Retribution pattern melta gun is not reproducible by our on-board forge, but I expect the Mechanicus priests will equip a few companies with licensed guns for free. We cannot simply buy stuff from the Cult, but trading favors is not only accepted but the only way to acquire Mechanicus-level weapons or technology.


    Sure, technically the Mechanicus is obliged by treaty to provide weapons freely to every ship and regiment, but the waiting list is longer than my cruiser. I rather skip ahead by providing a worthy gift.


    "Lord Pef Lancefire, Captain of the Litany of the Vanquished. The Fabricator-Questor will see you now." a red-robed tech priest says in Gothic, and glares at me with blue lenses cyborg eyes.


    "Thank you, Magos." I answer and enter the study, and notice that Gyron has been halted by the other Magos for a friendly chat in binary.


    A monstrous construct receives me, not even a hint of organic origin left. Dozens of tentacles and arms, at least thirty weapons I can detect and probably twice as many I do not.


    "So you are the famous Blank-Trader. What do you want for those ancient patterns?" the Fabricator priest asks me in fluent Gothic.


    I blink confused. The protocols are burned already.


    "They are gifts. If every forge world also receives them, once they pass your tests, Fabricator." I answer in a level voice.


    That is the crux of the problem. Forge worlds tend to be secretive and jealous, guarding tech like religious relics.


    The Fabricator holds still for a second, which should mean hours of accelerated thought for someone of his powers.


    "Denied. Even if I could accept these gifts, dissemination of holy knowledge is reserved for Mars." the head priest answers in a slow voice. Angry maybe?


    "I see. Sector wide, perhaps? Surely nearby forge worlds will be interested in new patterns, and offer some of their own in return." I muse to myself, and turn round to exmine the Fabricator''s study.


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    Weapons and fragments of them, scrolls and codex glowing with arcane symbols reminding me of quantum physics formulas. They probably are exactly that, and more.


    "So, it is true. You are trying to spread these advance patterns, even at cost to yourself. Gyron wasn''t wrong, after all." the priest mutters while poking a cogitator and running some high speed simulations, possibly for my sake.


    I try to store everything on my remembrance implant, but I fail. Too much data, too fast.


    But I get the gist of it. Hive fleets Kraken and Behemoth attacking the sector, and logistical needs to supply everyone with new weapons. Not possible of course, going by the plethora of red errors and yellow alerts.


    I hum in deep thought, powering up the savant implant for a minute.


    There is no miracle solution, of course. The Empire has been slowly dying for 10 thousand years, and every single part of the government is corrupt to hell.


    Still. "Hydra tanks, armed with the new multilaser pattern, maybe even new tracks and sensors. Same thing for medium grade skitarii troops. Melta guns, if you manage to reproduce them."


    The skitarii are cyborg soldiers for the Mechanicus, and good ones. Their elites can match Space Marines in some scenarios. But if we could upgrade the medium ones, which number in the millions...


    "Gambit Sk/2/33. I suppose we could try it with a few regiments and compare their new efficiency for cost. But ground troops are all presumed destroyed once a hive lands." the Fabricator says with a dismissive gesture.


    So, he had already considered it. Of course, he has. This guy is basically the closest thing to an A.I., this side of the Galaxy.


    "Ships take too long to build." I mutter in defeat. There are never enough ships, and a Hive has millions of ship grade organisms able to overwhelm any defensive fleet the Navy, or the Mechanicus can gather in a short time.


    The Fabricator stares at me with glowing eyes. Something more then?


    "Cheaper ships, maybe?" I wonder out loud. It''s close to heresy, but not really.


    "Yes, many radical priests argue the same. Millions of low quality ships to stem the tide. Millions of times weaker too." the Fabricator says with a doubtful voice.


    "The Imperial Guard." I argue with a shrug. Humanity throws trillions of poorly armed soldiers to stem the tide. Sometimes it works. Sometimes they need Space Marines or Titans to help them. Sometimes, nothing is enough.


    "Gyron speaks well of you, Lord Pef. Very well. We will try it for 101 years, when the Hive fleet Kraken is expected to arrive at Brimlock. Iridium-tungsten armor, mechanical Gellar fields, and cheap plasma engines. You will provide the officers, and we provide tech-priests and servitors for gunnery." the priest says in a not too pleased voice.


    I feel I was given a test and a quest here, but I''m not smart enough to figure everything out. I''ll need to ask Gyron.


    "Great! Meanwhile, I thought of what I might need to go back beyond the Empire. An armored regiment, with a few low level Titans for support. And a few escort ships, if there are any to spare. Training officers works better if they can experience real missions."


    I quip in a friendly voice. I wonder if my grandfather had the same experience here.


    The Fabricator waves a few mechadendrites to signify something. Perhaps anger?


    "I have a Sword-class_Frigate</a> that isn''t covered by an adamantium hard contract. Titans are excluded. A dozen transport voidships with servitor crew. Now, for an armored regiment...we can empty a stasis block and extract two Baneblades and a Storm Blade. A thousand lesser vehicles, half of them Hydras and three Stormbird attack landers to deploy the heavies safely. Is that enough, Lord Pef?" the Fabricator asks in pleasant tone.


    I''m not certain what it means, but I fear is not something good. Still, it seems the new multilaser was truly valuable.


    A brand-new frigate, and armored regiment? Including those Baneblades.


    I almost agree, before I catch myself. Gellar Field generators?


    "Could you install these mechanical Gellar fields on the Stormbirds? Makes sense to protect such relics, should something happen in transit." I ask in a level voice.


    "Yes, yes. It will be done, and make us start the new fabrication line much sooner. Come back in three years or so." the priest says and waves me off with a metal arm.


    I walk outside and exhale deeply. The meeting was rather fruitful, but so tense and tiring.


    Gyron waves at me in a friendly gesture.


    "Steel of body,


    Steel of mind."


    111001111111


    Damn it. I thought I have fixed the implant.

 Foreshadow 4

    While the Antax forge world is preparing their gifts for me, I decide to visit another Forge world called Graia.


    It''s pretty close as things go, 2 weeks of travel time and hopefully would result in more barter for ancient tech, perhaps even a few Titans.


    Meanwhile, I try to spend more time with my officers and crew, even having meals together and discuss options for the future.


    Decima proves to be a pleasant surprise, a free thinker and competent space tactician, coming up with a plan to overwhelm massed tyranid void ships with a massive barrage of long range torpedoes.


    It''s not a new tactic, but implementing it necessitates good coordination between our future ships, as torpedoes are not friendly fire.


    My new enginseer bridge officer, called Sigma 099 or Signus, provides another tactic, blowing up the reactor of a disposable ship, like those transport vessels we''re about to receive. The Navigator is not convinced, since opening the Warp might destroy some tyranid ships but release a host of demons or enslavers out into the galaxy instead.


    "We''ll prepare one such sacrificial fireship for the low chance of taking out a Hive Queen. If we get the chance, it would be worth it. Otherwise, no." I decide after a minute of computing and estimating risks on my savant implant.


    Signus nods in acceptance, while the Navigator scowls at me like always. "At least you have some sense." the psyker noble mutters to himself.


    Soon enough, we arrive at Graia, to find them preparing for evacuation. They had a diadem-like array of battlestations in orbit, arranged such that the entire Forge could move and travel to another system.


    Well, such preparations would take years anyway, even with thousands of landers lifting their machines from the surface.


    Another tense meeting, while I gift them a twin-linked version of my multilaser and an ultraviolet based auspex sensor. I simply replaced the normal beam of the LIDAR detector with a home made UV laser, but such a simple conversion has immense utility, as the auspex will now detect camouflaged enemies and many hidden troubles like mines or traps.


    Then I deliver then poisoned apple, under the guise of having been used by our enemies. " My friend and mentor, Magos Gyron has deduced that those barbarians that killed my father might have used servitors or some kind of cyborg unit to target their missiles. No other way could have they been so accurate and able to home in on the ship and shuttles."


    The Fabricator General freezes while he considers my words. Just like I do, when diving deep in the savant implant. "You mean, piloted missiles?" he asks to make sure.


    I just nod, afraid to give myself away. The Fabricator might have a way to sense lies or something.


    "Makes me wonder if they had an STC cache on that fringe planet. Perhaps your Lord father should have investigated in more detail, before starting the orbital bombardment." he says in a regretful voice.


    I kinda agree, the contact with those natives had been violent from the start. Even if they fired first.


    "Well, we did find a few more patterns, but I gifted them to Forge Antax, since they sponsored us with tanks and a grenadier regiment." I answer with a hint of more bartering in the future.


    The Fabricator nods its cyborg head, and turns on his cogitator, scrolling through a list of possible gifts of his own.


    My eyes record the list, by the grace of the remembrance implant, and I start picking and choosing what I want from their trading cache.


    A dozen mining barges, another Baneblade, another fighter squadron. The Fabricator doesn''t offer tech priests or servitors, but then I do have plenty of those anyway. And he probably knows that already.


    I mark the gifts I want and wait.


    "You''re very frugal, for a Rogue Trader." the Magos observes and seemed unhappy. So I should have gained more.


    "I try to maintain a cohesive force, with same type of equipment for better logistical support and repairs. It serves me less to take flamer tanks without a promethium refinery. Same with heavy bolters or Basilisk artillery, as there are no Munitorum depots outside the Empire space." I tell him with a shrug.


    It is also true. No ammunition factories out there, among the barbarians and xenos.


    The Fabricator General sighs, in almost human manner. "Yes, I suppose so. What would you need, when you go back exploring the wild fringes?" he asks in a more resigned voice.


    "Heavy tanks, Titans, torpedoes, and a way to build missiles. Millions of missiles." I answer truthfully.


    This text was taken from Royal Road. Help the author by reading the original version there.


    Beam weapons are great, but they have limited effective range. Missiles and torpedoes have 10 times the range.


    "Even Antax wouldn''t give you Titans. It''s simply not possible, but I guess you''re young and hopeful. I will add two more Baneblades then. As for missiles... I will provide you two thousand Hunter-seeker launchers and a million krak missiles. No factory or ship based forge though. Not outside the Empire." the Magos proclaims with a wave of tentacles.


    Getting close to his final line then.


    Krak missiles are not very useful in ship-to-ship combat, but the launchers can be installed on fighters and tanks. They even come with Logis-engines inside. And a million krak missiles should last me for a 100 years, unless I fight a tyranid swarm or something.


    "Antax is building cheap ships to fight the Tyranid Hive. Iridium-tungsten armor and mechanical Gellar fields." I announce as I leave.


    Then I walk away briskly, as something crashes inside the Fabricator''s quarters.


    Loading up the missiles and the tanks doesn''t take long, since Graia was already evacuating, fleeing from the path of Hive fleet Kraken. A sensible thing to do, in my view. They couldn''t hope to stop it, even with a whole Mechanicus fleet in orbit.


    They might have a few battleships and battlecruisers and escorts by the hundred, but a tiny splinter of the Hive would still win. However, I planted the seed, under the guise of providing news and gifts.


    Next stop, Forge World Tigris. This is a major forge world, with many unique STC designs like the Vanquisher cannon and the Fellblade heavy tank. I want some of those.


    Travel time is longer, 6 more weeks of warp immersion and the lower deck causalities reach 5 percent now. Time to restock on those blackbox consumables for our Gellar field generator.


    Already the crew complain of hearing whispers and having nightmares.


    During flight, I complete an infrared auspex sensor, and three variants of the multilaser in various sizes, including fighter and frigate sized guns. Another, even simpler design for the tank tracks, with wider tracks made of adamantium and even less moving parts.


    Tigris is a rich forge world, they can afford using adamantium for higher quality products. They seem to have recovered nicely from being overrun by Orks a few millennia ago.


    I gift them my STC patterns and spread the news, and the Fabricator General is rather pleased.


    Thus, I am promised another Sword-class frigate in 10 years, and gifted 4 Fellblades and 12 Leman Russ tanks with Vanquisher cannons.


    I don''t ask for Titans anymore, because it''s clear I will never get any. Makes me look naive too, which is not recommended for a Rogue Trader.


    Even one barely out of his teens.


    A transport ship loaded with more krak missiles and a hundred torpedoes will be prepared and sent to Antax in 2 years, when I plan to depart to the Eastern Fringes again.


    But the nicest gift is a working Gellar generator without organic parts, and its own tech priest crew. I plan to install this thing near the reactor core on my cruiser, and hopefully reduce the risks of warp travel malfunctions.


    And I also want to scan and learn how it works, because demons.


    And during this cruise, Decima decides she wants to be my first wife. I am a young man and rather grateful for her gift.


    We hold a wedding and invite everyone of rank, all officers and priests and commissars and have a great feast.


    "You were born in the shadow of the Omnissiah"


    00001000100


    I''m not sure what the Machine Spirit means, but I take it as a blessing. The shadow could mean the Blank, or something else.


    Still, I began to suspect Magos Gyron has a machadendrite in this implant quoting stuff affair. He has been the only one poking inside my head after all.


    Then again, I am somewhat smarter and wiser now. It might be the growing up, the responsibility of being the Captain and dealing with command prerogatives every day. But it might be something else.


    If only I could remember what I picked on my damn build.


    Is the being that brought me here the Omnissiah? That would be a great cosmic joke, right?


    Anyway, time to enjoy my wedding night, and the pretty wife.


    Decima has short black hair and asian eyes, and she seems to like me a little. Hopefully it will grow into love. We both do our best, and fall asleep exhausted a few hours later.


    Meanwhile, we depart for Metalica</a> forge world, the last part of the gift cruise before we return to Antax.

 Fringe 5

    For the next barter, I prepare larger things.


    An X-ray laser auspex pattern that needs a ship sized reactor to scan the void for enemies. Also, tri-barrel laser cannons, that have larger range and damage. Also fire faster by 10 percent, due to less over heating.


    As it happens, Forge Metalica was building a large order of Cobra-class destroyers, at least 20 hulls laid down and completed to various degrees.


    I will receive the first 2 of these torpedo boats when they are ready, probably in 8 years.


    Then I load up three more Baneblades and another fighter squadron, piloted by cyborg servitors. A thousand more hunter-killer launchers, but no missiles.


    Still, I get gifted 20 new torpedoes so it''s all good. My torpedoes launchers are full again, which makes me feel safer.


    We wait a month for the first X-ray auspex to be produced and installed on my cruiser, as well as 100 hunter-killer launchers, mostly on the ventral side, to serve as close defense against boarding shuttles or for planetary pacification.


    As I leave, I notice an empty dock being prepared to construct smaller ships, with a single adamantium beam for reinforcement.


    "You think the Fabricator listened?" I wonder out loud, looking at the view screen with hope.


    Gyron walks beside me and measures the incipient shape of the corvette sized skeleton.


    "Just over 1 kilometer long. Barely enough to support Warp travel. The longitudinal beam will provide support for high-G maneuvers and acceleration, as well as some resistance to ramming. But only one dock, so it''s merely a curiosity test." the Magos answers after a minute.


    I sigh and turn away from the window. Changing the traditions of an ossified empire is not easy. But even a small ship is a start. I would have a hundred such ships around every planet if I could.


    Then every single invasion would need to be much bigger, which would give the Navy warning and time to assemble their battleships. That means 100 million ships for the Imperium, so it''s not very likely.


    I now have 13 Baneblades or variants, enough to create a Heavy Armor Company for my regiment. Ideally I should use 20 of them for better results, but Baneblades don''t grow on trees.


    Then, I''ll have a dozen Leman Russ tanks and Chimeras and Hydras for support and air cover. I am happy with what I have right now, once my tech priests install hunter-killer launchers on every armored vehicle and void fighter.


    And once my escorts are ready, they will receive upgraded sensors and missile launchers as well, in the hope of providing protection against fighters and bombers or assault shuttles.


    There is a pirate empire I know about, from the files left by my father, and while they have perhaps a dozen ships and hundreds of void fighters they are not that dangerous if we''re prepared. If I catch them spread out, I can defeat them in detail.


    But if they have some relic battleship, even half operational...then it would be quite bad.


    I need to be bold and aggressive however. A Chaos incursion might turn those pirates into demon worshipers, and then I wouldn''t have anything to salvage. At best I would push the desecrated ships into a sun, or something.


    At worst, I would get my crew eaten by a Demon Prince or such. My clan has always avoided corrupted worlds, knowing their limits and aiming for easier conquests.


    There are also xenos out there, Tau and Banghesi and H''rur and many others.


    The Forge Worlds would gladly examine their technology and reward us greatly, but I don''t have a Crusade behind me.


    Three years have passed in the galaxy while we cruised a few Forge Worlds and acquired weapons for the next conquest.


    At Antax, my gifts are ready. The new Sword-class frigate, and a dozen transport ships, loaded with food, and construction equipment of many kinds.


    Also, the armored regiment with a thousand new tech priests of lower rank, that will maintain and repair the vehicles.


    We stay here a few months, while everything is getting up armed and upgrades, and new tank crews trained.


    The frigate came with only a skeleton crew, a Navigator, 2 astropaths and perhaps 1000 tech priests, engineers and servitors.


    I split off my own officer corps and appoint a new Captain for the Requiem for the Vanquished.


    As it happens, this guy is a half-brother from a different mother, with some experience in boarding and other void combat. Probably my replacement, if I failed to please my father for a worthy successor of the Warrant. Captain Veryon Tertius, has brown hair and blue eyes, and looks vaguely similar to father. Which is probably normal.


    The Requiem flies around the system for a test drive, fires the lance batteries at a dozen asteroids and doesn''t explode during testing, which is great.


    We depart for Retribution, and the rest of the upgrades are finished during the warp travel.


    Gyron and I monitor the new Gellar generator, and record every fluctuation. The Warp radiation can be measured somewhat, with a kind of psychic-reactive sensor of the Mechanicus, but the mechanical generator doesn''t drop below the safety limit during this trip.


    Still, it only takes once. When demons and apparitions flood the ship in a second of integrity failure, pretty much everyone on board will get corrupted, starting with the Navigator, then the astropaths, and then everyone else.


    I might last the longest, thanks to my Blank aura, but that won''t save me from manifested demons with claws and tails that can rip ceramite to shreds.


    This story has been stolen from Royal Road. If you read it on Amazon, please report it


    "Magos Yridan-Serge has indeed given you a quest, Captain. Because the new ships will be vulnerable to the Immaterium, more than normal, he wants Blanks for officers. And possibly Blank tissues for the Machine Spirits." Gyron reveals when I do ask.


    Damn it. I''ll need hundreds of concubines, to obtain thousands of Blank officers for those ships. And clones for organic parts...if Blanks can be cloned.


    I need to ask Decima what to do. Using my bed skills to save the sector from being eaten by Tyranids? And resist the Chaos as well, now that I think of it.


    Then again, the Emperor had 20 sons given the same task...Maybe 21.


    Every Forge world has tiny quirks and updates hidden in their construction, and a couple of them are made on Mars. I magnify the schematics to the maximum and power up my implants.


    Extra memory and thinking speed will help. A minute later I reach the implant''s memory limit and leave the deep dive.


    Then I close my eyes and enter the trance-like meditation I learned from my Mechanicus mentor.


    Superimposing the designs, and figuring out what changed and how. Some modifications make no logical or structural sense, moving parts added for religious or symbolic reasons, side sponsons that expose the tank to huge danger for minimal extra firepower.


    Energy conduits for laser guns on the outside of the main armor, and hundreds of other design flaws. In my opinion anyway.


    They possibly changed the original design for easier access or due to lack of spare parts. Maybe battlefield repairs.


    All these tanks have seen combat and carry the scars proudly. Even if that scar is now a weak point and would likely result in crew death the first time a large shell or other weapon hits the damaged side.


    The Stormblade, with its plasma cannons is the most advanced model, and could theoretically wear down a Titan. Once I dissect and learn how the thing works, I might upgrade all the Baneblades to that model.


    The Fellblades are nice, their Accelerator cannons have a dual role by design, both vs infantry or armored enemies as needed. But nice is not enough, because the ammunition is expendable, and I cannot produce the advanced shells in the ship''s forge.


    Instead, I will try and learn how to make Atomantic arc reactors like they have, and replace their projectile cannons with the plasma cannons of the Stormblade.


    This will take decades anyway. Advanced relics are not easy to copy, even by the largest forge worlds. And the tech priests are really smart, even if trapped by ritual and tradition.


    One Fellblade is set aside for this task same as the Stormblade. The Heavy company will have to do with 11 super heavy tanks and 11 Leman Russ Vanquishers, and one Vanquisher is set aside too, for reverse engineering. Making my own tanks will be nice, someday.


    We return to Retribution to find it much the same, although most of the dust from the bombardements has settled and all the injured or sick people have already died. Evolution at work, some might say.


    Lack of medicine or care, I argue with a tiny voice inside.


    The Mechanicus transport ships begin unloading their construction machines and servitors, and thousands of tech priests begin rebuilding the planet for me.


    We set up a dozen small forges to repair and produce more equipment, and my faithful bridge tech priest is nominated Fabricator General for Retribution.


    As it happens, here I speak with the Voice of the Emperor, and as such I am obeyed. It is a great feeling, I admit.


    Religious people make great subjects, especially when they see you as their prophet or holy spirit.


    Because the Emperor is not only the temporal leader of the Imperium of Man, but also their God.


    Sure, poor Adam doesn''t do much rule these days, being entombed in his Golden Throne while the Nobles and Inquisitors say and do things in his name, much like I am.


    And lastly, my wife Decima learned of my Antax</a> Fabricator quest and agreed to help, bearing my children and selecting concubines to bear more.


    She is now expecting our first child, and the Navigator says he will be a Blank, while gritting his teeth in displeasure.


    "Lord Duras, a Blank child will not be exposed to the temptations of the Warp. And I expect psykers will have a hard time reading his mind or future. Isn''t this great for a ship captain?" I ask him in a mild voice.


    The Navigator sighs. "Perhaps you are right, Lord Pef. I wouldn''t wish on anyone my own gift and torment." Staring into the Warp to navigate the ship must be harsh.


    We drink a glass of expensive wine, and then return to our own duties. I am training a new cadet class of clan kids, both male and female.


    Daily lessons are then applied on the frigate and the transport ships, while they patrol the system and practice scans and live fire on asteroids or comets.


    I aim to produce a thousand new officers in a decade, because I will get new ships and will need people to operate them.


    The armored regiment trains on the ground, pushing the tanks and personnel carriers to the limit, and finding what can be improved, both on maneuver warfare or assault tactics. Creating a working military doctrine will take time, but that''s fine.


    Defense is much easier, but if you need to use tanks in defense something has gone wrong anyway. My best defense will be offense. There is less need for defense if all your enemies are dead.

 Pirates 6

    Again, we hold a strategy meeting about our next campaign, the Ileviar pirate empire.


    I power up the cogitator screen and put up the findings of my father, notes and rumors obtained during his own travel and conquests.


    My XO...one of the oldest clan members and an uncle of mine, with the greatest experience in void warfare takes over the meeting with practiced words and gestures.


    He doesn''t look over a thousand years old, but he served on the same bridge with my grandfather in the past. I found him while training with the grenadier regiment, relegated to weapons instructor by my father due to some disagreement.


    Decima might have pointed him out as well.


    "If I may, Lord Captain." Clan Elder Wentian says politely. I nod in acceptance and let him take over the holographic screen.


    "Please, Major Wentian." I agree in a mild voice. I gave him the rank for a reason after all. Experience matters with warfare.


    "First thing, reconnaissance. We can insert the Requiem at the edge of this mining system, and send out a fighter squadron coasting with unpowered engines to retrieve operational data. Number of ships, trajectories, target''s mass and everything else we need to plan our assault. We can''t rely on old maps and astronomical observations." he proposes in a calm voice.


    "They will detect the Warp fluctuations anyway. Better to exit in force, and blast whoever we catch." I argue with a glance at my enginseer advisor.


    Signus nods hesitantly, and wipes his cyborg eye with a cloth. Possibly terrified of being the center of attention. He''ll get used to it.


    He''s not quite a tech priest, and his expertise is sort of limited to Warp systems, but he does know them inside and out.


    "The frigate will produce a wide area radiation wake as it exits the Warp, as well as a hugely visible flash. Even at light speed, everyone in the system will know they have visitors, in a few hours." the enginseer explains in a weak tone.


    My uncle nods and tugs on his grey beard. "Knowledge of something arriving is not evidence of an enemy. It could be some ore miner ship or a cargo vessel. Perhaps...yes. We can send a transport ship as well, to serve as bait and draw out the pirates."


    I power up my implant and review the system map. "If we insert behind this gas giant, they will not see us at all. They will see a transport ship, leaking atmosphere as if damaged. We can insert our fighters and let them scan the system while we follow the bait with cold engines."


    Once the decision is made, I speak with every staff officer for more ideas and solutions but the unknown limits our options. Can''t plan for what we don''t know, after all.


    Decima advises me to keep two fighter squadrons for defense, should anything surprise us while we are flying blind and unpowered. It makes good sense so I approve.


    Then she drags me to the bedroom and presents to me two soldier girls from the void marine battalion, vetted and eager to provide babies for the clan.


    Oh well, it is duty after all. Might as well make it pleasant and fun. We all work hard on this for half the night, and then I crash into sleep.


    The two concubines are assigned as permanent guards for my apartment and move in, as there would be no point to lose them in a firefight or boarding action. They have a higher calling now.


    Decima goes exploring a few more companies and talks to a few more women soldiers, looking for more concubines, but she fails to find someone she likes.


    In the end, she picks another cousin of ours as a second wife. Henna Octa looks amazing with brown skin and hair, green eyes and a loving smile. And has bountiful breasts and hips, something rarely seen aboard void ships. Most women crew are solid packs of muscles and training, unlike the fat and lazy groundpounders.


    Octa used to work in the hydroponics, and likely had more fresh food available to maintain her nice looks. Not that I''m upset by that. Not at all.


    Some three weeks later, I''m almost certain to have a couple more kids on the way, and Magos Gyron is rather displeased with my priorities, arguing for the Quest for Knowledge and less flesh pleasures.


    "I won''t say sorry, my mentor. Blank officers won''t appear out of nothing. Did you have any success with the Atomantic reactor?" I wonder in turn.


    He shakes his head and points at the simulation. Still not enough depth with our scans, so no progress. "This reactor is very compact. And the Tigris tech-priests are too secretive on their prized Fellblades."


    "Isn''t that how all Forge worlds do things?" I ask rhetorically.


    A metallic tentacle pokes my forehead. "You are changing things, Captain. Spreading new patterns and more efficient machines. I can barely wait to see what else you might discover."


    I sit down next to him, in the only chair. The Magos never sits down, although with his metal frame he probably doesn''t need to rest anyway.


    "Let''s start with the missile launchers then. We have plenty of them to test and see what can be simplified."


    Waiting for the trap to work and draw out the pirates takes another week, and I do find a way to increase the range of our missiles by 10 percent, with some clever software upgrades, or rather by uncluttering some buggy programming.


    With simpler commands to follow, the logic-engine can maintain target lock for a bit longer.


    Gyron goes to update our missiles launchers with the new patch, and I visit my wives and concubines for a few hours.


    Unauthorized usage: this narrative is on Amazon without the author''s consent. Report any sightings.


    Then alerts blare out and the fun times are over.


    The pirates arrive with 2 Iconoclast-class_Destroyer</a> and an ore hauler transformed into a bastardized weapon platform, with a hundred guns of various types. Possibly collected from whatever victims they have killed during their predations.


    Then we wait for them to start matching speed and board the transport vessel, before we spring the trap and accelerate, launching space superiority fighters and battering their void shields for boarding actions.


    The void marines and 2 battalions of grenadiers, all armored in carapace suits and void resistant helmets attack the pirate ships, while from inside the transport ship, hidden combat servitors spring out and massacre their own invaders.


    A day later, we have a captured destroyer, a rather damaged ore hauler and a lost grenadier battalion as the second destroyer managed to blow up somehow.


    Sadly, we also lose 5 clan members to this victory, although even one destroyer is worth a billion thrones, should anyone sell ships for cash.


    The battalion needs to be rebuilt, officers and new recruits trained and armored.


    We hold another meeting to discuss what went wrong and right, with my brother seeming upset he wasn''t given leave for a boarding action.


    "Captain Veryon, if you were leading the 4th grenadier battalion in the assault, you would be dead now. And I would lack a competent frigate captain." I tell him in a stern voice.


    Major Wentian nods and agrees with me. "I think we should use more combat servitors for boarding. They are smaller, able to enter service vents and have quicker reflexes. Plus...it won''t hurt us that much when they die."


    "Fine. Use servitors if you are afraid to die!" my brother exclaims upset.


    I sigh and drink some wine with regret. Damn glory hound.


    "You do have a point, brother. Perhaps someone with experience and training could have stopped their reactor going critical. We will add tech-priests to the next boarding actions. But no officers, unless they wear power armor." I conclude and wave off the holographic display.


    Hundreds of helmet and servitor mounted cameras and vox transmissions gave us sufficient knowledge what really happened.


    Either a grenadier fired on something critical, or some pirate did. Either way, the ship went up in flames with our troops on board.


    "If we had teleporters..." Decima says in a peaceful voice.


    Everyone sighs at that. Fat chance we will find a working teleporter anywhere. Those relics were mostly the domain of Space Marines and the Inquisition.


    "So, we conquer the system and establish a mining base. Does anyone here wants to be the system Governor?" I ask out loud.


    Nobody raises a hand or tentacle, so I''ll have to promote a grenadier officer. Most likely the 3rd battalion leader, who was wounded during the capture of the Iconoclast destroyer.


    With Major Richard Fynman thus promoted to Governor, we start the tedious task of rooting out the rest of the pirates and assault the mining outposts.


    We liberate a few thousand slaves, including a few Navigators and astropaths as well as a fallen Noble who used to freelance around in his Knight suit.


    His Knight is gone but the guy is skilled and a fierce warrior. His nickname was Whitelance, after he discarded his House. A few centuries ago. It will take some time to get used to the long lifespans of the rich or nobles.


    "Lord Whitelance, I do have good relations with a few Forge Worlds. Once you prove them your genetic ability to pilot a Knight, we will provide a new suit for you." I offer politely beside his hospice bed. The pilot nods and falls asleep.


    The pirates weren''t kind to him, unlike the reverent care that the Navigators received.


    In fact, the Iconoclast Navigator will keep his post, having gone from a planetary force vessel, conscripted to the Imperial Navy, impressed to the mutineers, then captured by pirates and then by us without anyone bothering to replace him.


    Navigators are too rare and useful to waste.


    Luckily I still have a hundred clansmen to send to our new ships, although the ore hauler will be reformed to its old task, and simply upgraded with a dozen defensive multi-lasers.


    The relic cannons are being removed for scans and attempted reverse-engineering, and one of them is a large Bombardment_Cannon</a> that fires plasma bombs. I find it strange that I never heard of it, since it''s very potent, both for planetary bombardments and void combat.


    "What do you say, mentor? A dozen of these on every cheap corvette and they''ll have the firepower of a frigate. Maybe more." I ask Gyron while examining the trophy gun.


    Gyron spins an arm for some reason. "Not a dozen. One per ship. I doubt our own reactor can power a dozen such cannons."


    Damn it. Limitations are not fun.


    "Would it be stronger than the heavy lance on the Requiem?" I wonder hopeful. The new frigate has exactly one heavy lance, just as powerful as the ones on my cruiser.


    Only, the cruiser has eight of them, in 4 twin batteries.


    "At least three times stronger. It would have a longer range but a slower rate of fire. Perhaps twice slower than a heavy lance." the Magos explains while interfacing a few mechadendrites with the captured weapon.


    I hum inward. Not that great then. I need these ships to match frigates in firepower.


    But perhaps I can improve it a bit. I haven''t found a single machinery without flaws, not yet.

 Liberation 7

    The new mining system is now named Liberation, and will take at least a year to become productive again.


    Fortunately, we have a million servitors and half as many captured pirates or their dependents. By Imperial law they should all be killed for rebelling, but I am merciful and will spare the young children for re-education, while the remaining pirates are given to the tech-priests to be converted into productive members of society. Only without higher cognitive functions.


    Miners and combat servitors do not need feelings.


    The Cult Mechanicus still uses babies for their seraphic servitors, grafting wings and floating devices, topped with a burning candle.


    Not in my domain beyond the borders of the Imperium. It''s simply cruelty without reason.


    The kids will grow up as ship crew or new recruits in my army. There is enough pointless cruelty in this hellish galaxy without me having to add to it.


    Of the remaining slaves, most are useless to us, so they are sent to Retribution to live their lives in a modicum of freedom and peace.


    Those that have experience with weapons or ships can stay.


    The tech-priests have just completed a few orbital defenses when a pirate battlegroup warps in system and loudly demands to know why we haven''t sent the tithe minerals to the capital.


    It''s funny, I know. Even pirates operate the exact same way as the Empire they fled from.


    The warships are hidden in the asteroid field, engines powered down, so they won''t detect us until is too late.


    The pirates move in cautiously, and send out a wave of old fighters to scout ahead.


    Those fighters vanish in krak missile explosions when they approach the mining outpost and we power up for another fight.


    It won''t be as easy this time, as they have 3 destroyers, a frigate and an old cruiser without void shields and very few weapons. Hopefully it''s not a trap and it is really damaged.


    The boarding actions are mostly headed by armored void marines and combat servitors, while the second wave is made up of tech-priests and grenadier escorts, along with more servitors.


    We capture the destroyers and the cruiser, but the frigate escapes, being more durable and faster than expected. It sucks, but it''s war. Things rarely go according to plan.


    Emergency repairs and upgrades for the captured ships begin immediately, and the old ore hauler is cannibalized to bring the cruiser back into fighting shape.


    The transport ship leaves Liberation soon after, loaded with captured minerals and a few thousand ex-slaves, heading towards my own Forge World, the Retribution.


    I don''t expect the forges to mass-produce anything yet, except perhaps plows and swords.


    The Mechanicus is obsessed with hand-crafting everything, from lightbulbs to lasers and spaceships.


    I aim to change that here, where my words are law. A munition and tank factory would be great, as well as infantry weapons and armor.


    Even tractors would be nice, as we would be able to farm on large scale and feed everyone, without depending on Antax for food.


    My four captured destroyers get armed with 2 torpedoes each, from my own cruiser, since the pirates have long depleted their torpedoes stockpile. They also get 20 hunter-killer launchers and 1000 missiles each, so they''ll be more effective in escort role against fighters or maybe bombers.


    The Requiem receives a dozen multi-lasers for point defense, and the rest goes to the cruisers.


    Gyron has been forging new weapons non-stop, melting down old weapons for rare minerals and pouring brand-new laser cannons and multi-lasers. One at the time, by hand.


    And for every new weapon, a dozen organic spare parts are spent, harvested for nerves and neurons. Human resources. It''s kinda gruesome, but it is better to give the weapons Machine Spirits, than have them inhabited by demons.


    The Emperor protects, but you need to give him a conduit for that protection.


    An entire grenadier battalion is moved to the captured cruiser, along with a dozen clan members that serve as officers.


    A thousand tech-priests join them, since maintaining a 6 kilometer long void ship is a lifelong duty. They seem quite happy to sanctify every nut and bolt on their new home.


    Boarding holes made by melta charges need to be patched up, sensors and weapons cleaned and upgraded to Retribution standard.


    We have minerals, tech-priests and servitors enough. What we don''t have are forges, which are complicated machines resembling an incinerator with numeric commands, and some lathes for finer work.


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    And sadly, forges are not easy to obtain. Not even Gyron has the knowledge to make a new forge.


    And thus, when the last wave of pirates returns for our heads, we aren''t quite ready, although a whole year has passed.


    A huge flash, and 2 Grand Cruisers emerge, escorted by 5 more destroyers and the same frigate that escaped.


    We have 2 cruisers as well, 4 destroyers and one frigate, so we are technically outnumbered.


    But my ships are upgraded and somewhat modern, at least half of them. My captured ships not so much, and the old cruiser might unravel and fall apart under sustained fire.


    This sucks!


    I order my squadron to maintain range, and wear down the escorting pirates.


    The idiot pirates rush ahead, escorts reaching weapon range first, as destroyers are much faster. They do not have good defense though.


    Our heavy lances core the destroyers one after another, as a single one gets close enough to fire on Requiem. Veryon fires back and blows up the guilty destroyer with his own heavy lance.


    Then the pirates stop to reconsider, as the situation has become unfavorable for them.


    I send Requiem and the more intact destroyer after the frigate, while my cruiser and the rest of the squadron, begin our attack run on the prizes, the two Grand cruisers.


    The fighter squadron helps as well, both with interceptor or strafing missions.


    Then torpedoes begin striking the pirate cruisers, my destroyers focusing one and my own cruiser the other. In huge plumes of plasma fire, their void shields fail, and we can begin melting through the thick armor.


    The Lament for the Vanquished, my other cruiser struggles to keep up, and can barely fire a few macrocannon rounds before the boarding action begins. Nonetheless, the pirates focus fire on it, and damage it pretty badly.


    The Grand Cruisers have enormous internal volume, and the pirates have plenty troops to oppose us, although poorly armed and trained.


    Combat servitors, then void marines, then the rest even a dozen Hydra tanks get transported by assault shuttle to breach barricades and clear the main corridors.


    The fighting is harsh, and we lose as many servitors as they lose crew. A hundred thousand loses on both sides, plus many damaged machines and weapons.


    In the end, it is worth it. We capture both Grand Cruisers and about 200 thousands serfs and pirates, as well as the Navigators, the astropaths and even a few xenos.


    A single Avenger-class_Grand_Cruiser</a> matches my entire fleet in mass, and now I have two.


    Sure, the things are old and in poor repair. But I also have a few friendly Forge Worlds in my pocket. So to speak.


    I doubt the tech-priests even know what friendship is.


    Another year passes while we convert the pirates into more servitors, and execute necessary repairs for a single Warp journey.


    I chose to return to Forge Metalica, because the destroyers would be nearly ready. Forge Graia has most likely moved away, and Antax might not have much to trade anymore.


    But Metalica is rich. And I have a few destroyers to upgrade.


    Their allies, House_Raven</a> also take my attention. They have Knights, and we need Knights if Titans are not possible.


    Like midget Titans, with midget weapons. But still fearsome, when piloted by experts.


    The Requiem and 3 destroyers leave to patrol my Empire, while the old cruiser and the last destroyer stay to pacify and conquer the pirate empire. Without capital ships, it shouldn''t be too hard.


    They have an armored battalion and a grenadier battalion, as well as 100 thousand combat servitors.


    And when you consider the servitors never flinch or lose morale, they make very effective frontline troops.


    My wife Decima stays to oversee the conquest, and heads directly for the Ilevar Hive world captured by the pirates.


    A month later, I arrive at Forge Metalica with two Grand Cruisers, and a dozen new patterns, some real, some self-made.


    The new model corvette flies from the orbital dock and greets my ship, not very politely. The Forge World''s defense fleet is slowly powering up as well.


    "Halt and surrender. Or be destroyed by the might of the Machine God!" the Magos on the Vox orders us sternly and even fires a warning shot on my ship.They might think we are pirates, considering the reputation and profile of my captured cruisers.


    "This is Rogue Trader Pef Lancefire. I bring gifts. Big ones." I answer in a flat tone. Why do I get this lucky?

 Barter 8

    Slowly, the emotions calm down as this Fabricator has met me before. Heh, Mechanicus emotions!


    I leave the Grand Cruisers parked further away and approach Metalica''s orbit in the Litany.


    Then a whole month of tedious negotiations. I mean, I just returned from Beyond, brought back a host of STC designs, and gave them away for free.


    The Mechanicus is probably confused what to do with me. Not even their own Explorator expeditions return this quickly and with so many discoveries.


    "Lord Pef, you are a conundrum for me, and a test from Omnissiah." the Fabricator complains in a small voice.


    I nod and shrug. Yeah, I know. Out of context problem.


    "Is it that hard to allow a friendly trader to advise on things he has experience with? I am the one going out and fighting pirates, or returning lost worlds to Compliance." I quip and sip some wine.


    The Archmagos doesn''t drink, but I bet he wants to.


    The cogitator screen powers up, and brings the corvette schematic out for examination. I cringe while I look over it. Whoever designed the STC pattern for the corvette class had no idea what space warfare is.


    Then I draw a connecting wire and plug it into my head, and download my modified STC design, containing what I want for a cheap ship.


    Armor is not 2 meters of Iridium-tungsten alloy, but a triple layer of plasteel, IT alloy and ceramite plating, with 10 meters of ultra-cheap plasteel as a spall linner. Shock and recoil will deform the less resilient plasteel, but it does return to shape by itself. This also prevents spalling and stops dozens of other problems like boarding pods and explosive decompression.


    The Void Shield is split up into three layers, each decreasing the potency of the penetrating shots, until it splashes on the ceramite plating and dissipates.


    The reactor core has a secondary room, used for emergency or combat levels on extra power. Same thing with the Gellar generator, using two units for redundancy.


    The macrocannon batteries use shell magazines, loaded from an upper deck, and then falling into place and being fired like a semi-automatic gun. They would still need 40 crew per gun, but it would not be 400 like they do now.


    My new LR plasma cannon pattern is mounted on a sealed turret and can track targets in 360 degrees and the whole lower hemisphere, because it''s mounted on the ventral side.


    The ship even has 40 point defense multi-lasers, a pair of space fighters and a shuttle in a hangar behind the bridge. The officers could now evacuate at speed in case of imminent destruction.


    Also has 10 hunter-killer launchers on gimbal mounts, if they need to engage boarders or hive organisms of smaller size.


    The armored prow has two torpedo launchers inside, because torpedoes are the coolest thing ever. They make a big boom when they hit. The torpedoes are also 50 meters long and are expended in one salvo.


    The Fabricator compares my ''Deimos'' pattern corvette and runs a few simulations. Of course, my thing is much better, even if it costs 20 percent more. It is at least 200 percent better and uses 200 percent fewer crew.


    "Does Antax have this already?" he asks me with a pained sigh. So this is not about the ship, but competition with their rivals.


    "No. I have another pattern for them, but it doesn''t have the macrocannon new pattern. Nor torpedoes." I explain and let him draw his own conclusions.


    "At least there''s that. And you want those Grand Cruisers to use the faster macrocannon feed?" The Fabricator asks and stares at me for too long.


    I set down my wine glass and try to look calm and powerful.


    "This humble one would never presume to want anything from the Machine Cult, Fabricator. If you consider the new pattern safe and efficient, then I will use it. The same with all the upgrades myself and my officers dream about. We are not shipbuilders but ship users." I answer in a level voice, trying to appear scared but brave.


    Which I am. The Mechanicus are scary. And I try to be brave, in front of a war machine able to dismantle space marines in a minute. I''ve seen Gyron dismantle people before, a dozen in a few seconds. He didn''t just kill them, he harvested their useful parts while they were still alive and standing. A blur of tentacles, then corpses fell down without brains or nerves.


    "And you know your place too. Must be hard, as you go beyond and speak with the voice of your Emperor. Then you come back as a mere ship captain, like millions of others in the Imperium, without any privilege." He wonders with some irony.


    I nod shyly. "There is temptation of course. I fight it every day, and restrain myself, lest I become someone like those pirates I hunted down."


    Another holoscreen opens, with a new trade list. I can pick 6 brand-new destroyers, a dozen Baneblade heavy tanks, and a fully refit Grand Cruiser, the best of what the Mechanicus can throw at it.


    No Knights though. Damn it.


    I knew Metalica was rich, but this is beyond belief. Not even my grandfather has gained so much favor. Something in my gifts must be worth much more than I thought. I did give them 10 new STCs.


    I tap the remodeled cruiser and examine the refit. Pretty much everything I want. Except teleporters.


    Oh well. I probably need to visit Mars for that.


    "I will need it ready in 90 years." I muse to myself. The Grand Cruiser is nearly battleship in size, and will be able to match older battleships after refit.


    The screen changes to the sector map and projected courses for known invasions. Brimlock is highlighted...and a few others.


    The Fabricator turns to stare at me with a flash of lense glare. "All this, just to stop the tyranids..." he replies with a sad voice.


    I gulp the wine and nod in silence. That, but not only that. "And the Knight suits, if that''s possible."


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    Chaos Incursions cannot be predicted, not by tracing vectors on a map. But I know they''ll happen. They might even happen when I remember, so I can prepare.


    "Come back in a decade or two, young captain. My shipyards are full of contracted vessels. But there''s time to complete your favor as well. For once, I''m glad to find a human that''s not in a rush." he urges me and waves me away.


    And thus, I collect the Baneblades then I fly back to the Litany, and depart, heading for Forge Tigrus first, to collect the other frigate. Waiting 20 years for 6 new destroyers from Metalica isn''t that bad.


    I leave the Grand cruisers behind, one with minimal crew and a thousand tech priests helped by their servitors. This is parked in a neutral orbit and awaits refit. The other Grand Cruiser is taken over by Forge Metalica, as their property.


    Two Cobra destroyers escort me on the journey to Tigrus, with a single clan member appointed as captain for each of them. They are both my aunts, and have centuries of ship experience. Still, I''m running out of clansmen.


    I need a bigger family if I''m to gain more ships...finding more wives as well.


    I also need a better clan name than Lancefire. Best not to mess with that yet. The Warrant is in that name after all.


    The newly recruited Knight pilot is a bit despondent at my failure, but we still have other places to try.


    Meanwhile, he trains the armor regiment in maneuver tactics, speed, flanking, and all that. I already provided some measure of combined arms and flexibility, but it''s better to have an actual expert in charge.


    Although a decade has passed in the galaxy, for me it has been much less, due to the saved time by Warp travel.


    At Forge Tigrus, I get a much better reception, and nobody fires on my ships. That''s improvement, right there.


    I still waste a month with negotiations and bartering, gifting a few STCs patterns for a whole company of Leman Russ Vanquishers and 500 new Chimeras.


    This includes a stripped down corvette pattern, without triple shields or a double Gellar field. It''s cheap, fast and quite effective against small sized targets.


    Then I manage to collect the Sword frigate, from under the nose of some arrogant Navy Admiral, and run away before he gets violent. I get no respect from these high brass Navy types.


    A month later I arrive at Antax for upgrades to my armor regiment, and ask for a single Knight suit. The Fabricator asks to see my pilot, tests him for compatibility and loyalty, and then promises to build him a new suit in 20 years.


    Whitelance cries in relief. His life has meaning again. Especially if the Fabricator manages to craft a Power Sword for his Knight suit. That thing could cut through demons or Necrons, just like a Force_Weapon</a>.


    So I use the opportunity to make him swear himself to my House, and give him a few pretty cousins as brides, to bind him closer. Hopefully, his genes will pass on and allow me to create my own Knight House.


    Forge World Antax has already produced a dozen corvettes, all different variants as they test configurations and reactor outputs, and perhaps engines or weapons.


    I add my own variant, designed for long range missions, thus with very few consumable ammunition, like macrocannons or torpedoes.


    Instead, it has advanced plasma cannons, two of them, 50 multilasers and 10 missile launchers.


    And by advanced, I mean simplified to hell, reducing wear and heat buildup with oversized Iridium and plasteel turrets that serve as radiators. And by oversized, I mean 100 meters wide. Bigger than a lance battery turret.


    With triple void shields and a doubled reactor, this corvette is almost as durable as a destroyer...while the shields last.


    Costs ten times less, because it uses a single beam of adamantium for structural support.


    My transport ships have already arrived with melted hulls from the pirate ships, but once the adamantium is reforged, it will be good as new.


    "I heard you captured two Grand Cruisers, Lord Pef?" The Fabricator asks without any ulterior motive.


    "Yes. Gave them to Metalica. I need ships now, and they promised 6 new destroyers, plus a dozen Baneblades." I answer mostly truthful.


    The Fabricator sighs in defeat. He knows he cannot give me as much.


    "And the Lament?" he wonders in a small voice. The old battered cruiser?


    Ah, he got the transport guys to spill all the beans. But it''s good anyway.


    "Is that ship of any use to you, Fabricator? I doubt it can even travel safely this far. Only calculated jumps, 4 light years or less." I explain with a shrug.


    The Magos stares up, then blurts some binary toward Gyron.


    "I will send a Manufactory ship then. Gyron will have command of it, while it is beyond Empire borders." he explains in a pleading voice.


    Oh? He really wants to grab a big ship then.


    I hum and pretend to think it over. "Fine. You can repair the old ship and bring it home. But afterwards, the Forge ship stays. Crew included. I have 50 planets in need of tractors and pipes and everything. It''s brutal out there, without civilization and wealth like here. And I have a Hive world...plenty of human resources."


    The Fabricator considers this for a long time. "Questor mechanicus?" he asks after a whole minute.


    Hmmm. That would mean near servitude for his Forge World. The clan would mutiny if I just gave away all they fought and died for.


    "One world. You pick which." I answer back.


    "Good. Gyron will decide after he knows more. But if you want those ships, you provide the minerals, organics and officers. Agreed?" The Fabricator demands in a forceful voice.


    I agree of course. Who else would build me whatever I need for free? The Mechanicus are really the best!

 Amusement 9

    My armor regiment takes a few months to be upgraded to my needs, with hunter-killer missiles and multi-lasers, the tracks and drive train modified for more reliability, auspex sensors for day and night combat and so on.


    I even manage to obtain ceramite facing for the frontal glacis of my tanks. This will make frontal assaults of fortified positions much less costly.


    Adamantium is too heavy and expensive for lesser machines, unlike for Baneblades or Titans.


    Plus, without shields most ground units are considered expendable anyway. Too many things can and will pierce armor or ignore it completely.


    It is the very reason I designed the new corvettes with triple shielding. Armor composition doesn''t need to be adamantium if you have three void shields.


    The grenadier regiment gets replenished to full strength as well, although it comes with a few Imperial Guard officers of dubious provenance and loyalty. Might need to sacrifice them on some glorious mission.


    The Eastern Fringe is dangerous enough, without problems caused by insider grumbling and friction.


    My new ships also receive some upgrades in the meantime, and the torpedoes and missiles are re-stocked, which is always a problem once you leave the logistic train.


    The new frigate is named Ode for the Vanquished, to keep the theme and I have to part with another competent relative and send her to become Captain. Lisanna Quinta is either a sister or a cousin, but she is the same age as me and looks much like me.


    Pale blond hair, blue eyes and a thin but robust body. She served in gunnery and boarding actions before, and she''s as trained as any clan member. Hopefully not a glory hound like my brother, but you never know.


    Magos Gyron stays on Antax to await his Manufactory ship being readied for permanent departure from Imperial space. A Forgeship is an amazing gift for me, as it will allow us to produce consumable munitions like shells or missiles, plus the know-how to start a new Forge World for my own domain in the Fringe.


    Thus, the trip to Ileviar is strange, without my mentor and his constant lessons. I have Henna and the two concubines, so I''m not bored or lonely, but I still feel I lost something.


    Of my 3 kids on board, 2 are Blanks, and Decima has another Blank boy with her. So it''s 3 out of 4 so far, a sign of a truly useful mutation.


    Henna is aiming to become pregnant again, but the void marine girls decide to wait and get back in shape.


    Their training has slacked, and they try to return to peak health and strength. They also rotate as nurses and guards for the nursery, which lets me sleep better.


    I train my body as well, with the new grenadiers. It''s an old trick, but always works. It binds troops to their commander, if they see him sweat beside them.


    Then hours of officer lessons, both as teacher and student.


    Wentian and Whitelance teach advance courses in ship boarding, planetary assault and maneuver, and I need to learn it all. Even if I don''t intend to practice the stuff in person, sometimes the war comes to you.


    Then I go to my lab and tinker with STC designs, struggling to create ever simpler and more rugged patterns for various war machines, as well as common tools like lamps and flashlights and anything powered by electricity.


    Except digital computers.


    Although I''m almost certain I could reproduce working PC designs, the Immaterium would notice and certainly infect them with ghosts, daemons or other worse stuff.


    Keeping everything analog is tedious, but much safer. Not completely safe of course. Nothing is.


    Late into the evening I mostly listen to clan stories or amazing feats from Wentian and Whitelance, immersing myself in the culture of humanity.


    Then I return to my wife, and make love and babies. Hopefully another Blank, safe from the Warp and psykers.


    It will take decades for them to grow up and become competent, but I have time. Even my new cruiser will need 90 years to be refit and upgraded.


    Doing things by hand is slow. Even if you have twenty metallic tentacles instead, like the tech-priests of the Cult Mechanicus.


    But then, even the Emperor accepted them and signed the Olympus Treaty, so there must have been a good reason for it.


    I focus on vox and video transmissions next, as communications are always important in combined arms warfare.


    Changing a thing here and there, then testing and changing again. After a month of constant improvement I complete a more resilient but clearer vox transmitter pattern.


    I will wait to arrive at Ilevar to ''discover'' it in some catacomb and then sell it to the Mechanicum in a few distinct variants.


    Generally it takes 3 or more variations for a new pattern to be accepted as distinct, especially if it has a different focus, like range or strength or reliability.


    The tech-priests are not stupid, and some of them have tried this kind of heretek inventions themselves. But they never had a good cover story like I do, returning from the beyond with ships and weapons and patterns after conquering new planets.


    It is exactly the mandate of my Warrant, and nobody can blame me for being successful.


    I kinda expect that Antax''s Fabricator General knows or suspects something, but I will never admit it, and he will never ask.


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    He has plausible deniability if he doesn''t ask.


    New STC patterns, found by a Rogue Trader in barbarian ruins. The Cult Mechanicus sends expeditions out for the exact same reason, after all.


    But as this is a Hive world, I can improve other urban machines, like it is expected a Hive world would have. And if they are simpler and more efficient, all the better.


    Of course, this is 40k and the good times never last.


    We arrive at Ilevar to find it under attack by an Ork Waaagh!


    Is not a huge invasion, like the kind able to conquer a Forge World, but Orks multiply fast. Like fungi. Because they are fungi, only slightly sentient ones.


    And as they gather mass and numbers, they become smarter and more potent in Warp manipulation, from immense luck to simply ignoring the laws of physics or common sense.


    A few hours later, as we approach the inhabited world, we regroup with our cruiser and other destroyer and gather for a strategy conference.


    "Three Hive cities have fallen and the Orks are looting everything to create more weapons." Decima reports and marks the fallen cities. Perhaps 10 billion people on the planet, and 3 billions are already lost.


    This is not a huge Hive with a trillion people like in the Empire. The cities are big, but are still mostly self-sufficient.


    A trio of Ork Roks, sort of powered meteorites, that serve as landing craft for their armies have landed on top of the indicated Hives, possibly because the pirates have already looted their void shields and everything that could have helped.


    In space, there''s a dozen of Ork Kroozers, also of human origin maybe, but refurbished by the greenskins in their usual manner, guns everywhere and rusted steel spikes. Can''t tell what they were before.


    A Kill_Kroozer</a> should pose no problem if logic applied to Orks. Simply blast it from afar until it falls apart. But these ships are painted black, so they should be way more durable.


    They also move quite fast and throw tremendous firepower out. More Dakka than I have, by 100 times.


    A squad of these bastard ships can even take on a battleship. And I don''t have a battleship anyway.


    I open the galactic map and look for a diversion. Larnano was right in the way.


    "Oi, you big boss captain! You want a fight?" I send via the vox channel, to the surprise of everyone on the bridge.


    "You big hero hummie?" another gruff voice answers.


    "You think you''re hard and strong killing weakling hummies in cities? The big bugs would eat you all, like they do at Larnano. Big fight there, a thousand Navy ships lost." I explain politely.


    As expected, greed and stupidity shouldn''t mix. The Navy might have lost some ships, but there''s ten thousand Hive bioships why.


    The Kroozers receive coordinates for Larnano and depart, leaving their brethren on the ground without support.


    Expendable grunts, like expected.


    Now it''s mop up and training for our armored regiment, the grenadiers and the combat servitors.


    We even manage to save one Hive city and half the inhabitants.


    If only all our enemies were such morons.


    I mean, we still lost like 2 billion people to a bunch of overgrown mushrooms, so it''s not all nice.


    The Baneblade heavy tanks have a field day, basically immune to anything the Orks can throw at them. Like spears and javelins. Bullets too, but they only make pretty sparks.


    We barely lose 100 Chimeras and a thousand grenadiers, due to combined arms attacks, including orbital firepower.


    The locals become much friendlier at once, and now we have a recruiting planet for a thousand regiments.


    And while I meet the Nobles and Merchants to discuss their new fate, Decima selects a dozen new concubines for me.


    This will bind the planet to me even more, and I decide to plant the flag here, and make this world my capital.


    The tech-priests and the combat servitors descent into the lower levels of scum and villainy to conscript more human resources, while I begin the long task of rebuilding and civilizing this planet.


    Cleaning the pollution and the warfare scars will take decades, but overall the planet is in better shape than Retribution. They even have some factories and electrical generators, so I don''t start from scratch like I feared.


    Training sadly falls to the side, merely one hour every morning. Then it''s politics and administration, which is no fun without computers.


    Luckily, I have brain implants and a hundred tech-priests in my staff to help keep up with everything.


    Then Gyron arrives with his Manufactory ship a year later and everything is well.


    The Orks do not return, not that I expected them to defeat a Hive splinter, no matter what Dakka they had.


    "The Quest for Knowledge drives the Mechanicus to the stars" Gyron says as his greeting.


    I blink and consider his words. "You were named an Explorator for the Mechanicus?" I wonder and pat his mechadendrite that he holds out.


    "See! You can learn, young pupil. One day you will discard this silly flesh body and turn to the machine for salvation." he proclaims in a confident tone.


    I shudder and shake my head. "Not for many years, mentor."


    The Magos laughs out loud, seeming amused.

 Pact 10

    Every year, Decima holds another huge ball, and invites the socialites to preen themselves in front of their new Governor.


    By the fifth year, I am swimming among 50 concubines and even gain a third wife, from a Noble house with roots going to the Age of Strife and beyond.


    Serena Rinne-Dolean is red-headed and kinda plump. Now a Lancefire by marriage. She is also about 80 years old, though due to anti-aging treatments she looks about 25. And she will keep looking that age for a millennium or two.


    Her family has founded the twin Hive city with same name. One twin is called Rinne and the other Dolean, probably after the original founders. Now the cities are united into a large metropolis with over 1 billion people, although most of those are lower caste workers and servants.


    Even outside the Empire, the hierarchies and the mode of operation remains largely similar, due to inertia.


    You might change the Governor for a King or Prince, but the pyramidal structure of a Hive city will not change.


    And below the factory levels, there''s the underhive, a maze of pipes and conduits and sewage plants, all infested by gangs and criminals.


    Not as numerous now, due to the Mechanicus tech-priests forcefully recruiting them for other purposes, like agriculture and mining and war.


    But, they did find a few Blanks and where there is one there will be more.


    A special compound is created for those with the blessing, and a dozen astropaths now scour the Hives for more Blanks.


    The original Blanks are not very important by themselves, but they are sent to a remote mountain valley for training and breeding and schooling and other eugenic purposes.


    My own kids will join the compound, to reduce the pressure on the Navigator and his astropath choir.


    But only when I have to travel. I want to enjoy loving my kids, and nobody is allowed to interfere.


    In real space Blanks are mostly harmless, not that Navigators are allowed in my nursery.


    I am tempted to create a similar compound for Navigators, but they refuse. Either way, they do come to mingle at the Governor balls and eventually will spread their seed.


    Decima has promised large rewards for any woman that manages to seduce a Navigator. Even bridge positions for her kids or similar boons. For a small merchant house it would be huge.


    There is also a Navigator lady, but she never leaves her quarters on the Iconoclast destroyer. I suspect she has mutated beyond what''s acceptable in society. The Warp just works that way, and flesh is weak.


    An even better reason to want Blanks for officers, as many as possible.


    Also, a reason to post armed guards around that Navigator quarters, most of them combat servitors. And a squad of void marines for every other Navigator. Just in case.


    By the tenth year, we finally manage to unlock an Atomantic arc-reactor from the Fellblade, and copy the original design. Upgrading the thing will be even harder, as the tech is so advanced and complicated it might as well be magic.


    Gyron heads that task, while I focus on the plasma guns from the Stormblade. Again, copying the schematic in original format is possible, but not useful.


    Forge world Ryza</a> holds the ''patent'' for the original Stormblade, and thus I need something significantly different for my own STC.


    A tri-barrel project is possible and will even increase the rate of fire, but it would be unwieldy and cumbersome, as the twin guns are big even so. A single barrel plasma blastgun is better, as I could adapt that for Leman Russ tanks and perhaps even ship-to-ship combat.


    Perhaps even for a small Titan...or maybe a Knight. I don''t have any of those yet, so it''s all theoretical.


    But for tanks...it could be similar to the Macharius_Omega</a>, only with much fewer problems.


    Time flies, and 8 years later I am finished with this project, the Ilevar plasma gun pattern. Gyron is also finished with a slightly larger but easier to manufacture and maintain arc reactor,


    I also have 200 children, and about 30 of them Blanks and ready for service. Not as many as I hoped, but much better than nothing.


    The Blank valley has produced 100 more kids, and half of them are Blanks, possibly due to having both parents with the special gene.


    All their girls are set aside to become my concubines in the future, while the boys are sent to my new naval officer school.


    As officers, they will be given a generous stipend to form their own harems and produce more Blanks for the clan. Like a minor house. It''s not exactly eugenics, but works much the same. I know of dog races that have been created using the same methods.


    A last Governor ball marks my departure, and luck has it a Navigator finds himself a darling to warm his nights. Navigator genes acquired!


    Gyron sets a Magos Biologis on the task of disseminating those genes to willing donors, by surgical implantation.


    My eldest son, Primus Victor, accompanies Magos Yulinaz, to maintain a protective anti-psyker field for the security of the surgeries.


    Victor also is tasked with finding himself a hundred concubines, with his mother''s help. Decima seems rather happy with that task. It will mean grandkids and she can barely wait.


    Most of my forces remain home, as defense against another possible invasion, and only the Rainment escorts my cruiser back to Imperial space.


    Gyron sends a crew of his tech-priests on board the Lament as it departs for Antax as well.


    Then we leave and hope for the best. With 2 frigates and 5 destroyers as a fleet in being, my personal empire should be mostly safe. There are a hundred new PDF regiments guarding the cities now, beside our armor and grenadiers. A thousand more regiments will be trained and equipped over the next decades, but manufacturing laser weapons is slow.


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    A dozen transport ships loaded with minerals and organics follow my cruiser in a big convoy, with a regiment loaded as protection against boarders of any type.


    A couple of weeks later we arrive at Antax.


    Did I mention this is the damn Warhammer 40 thousand universe?


    A large Ork Waaaagh is assaulting Forge Antax, called Whaaagh! Gutstompa.


    The Blood Angels space marines are fighting beside the Mechanicus war engines, tanks and skitarii and Titans.


    Luckily, Forge Antax had just produced 100 new corvettes designed by myself, and they help maintain a protective umbrella over the shipyards and Titan manufactoriums.


    There is no need for desperate pleas for help. Without Antax I am screwed anyway.


    I launch everything I can, fighters and torpedoes, lance batteries fire until their barrels glow red.


    I deplete all the missiles and the Rainment get badly damaged by a lucky Ork Kroozer before its luck runs out and eats a salvo of servitor piloted torpedoes.


    On the ground I cannot help as much, since my armor is back home, but I use the guards and the void marines to safeguard the orbitals, tech priests leading swarms of combat servitors to cleanse the greenskin infestation from the shipyards and mass elevators.


    The multilasers fire rapidly to blow up Ork fighter-bombers, which shouldn''t even be able to fly in vacuum with propellers and chemical rockets.


    But logic is a joke for a big Waaagh, and the Orks don''t care anyway. Their contraptions are red, so they fly fast.


    My arrival breaks the back of the orbital deadlock, and I manage to destroy three Ork Kroozers before they turn towards me. The Lament cruiser helps as well and cripples a dozen smaller Ork escorts.


    The Mechanicus fleet takes advantage and blasts the exposed backside and engines of the Ork ships, then begin launching boarders.


    I fly away and wait, since I''m fresh out of boarding units. Out of torpedoes and missiles as well.


    In a week, the Waaagh loses most of their naval forces, and a few Kroozers retreat, while a dozen more hulks drift in space, with Mechanicus servitors and tech-priests going over everything for salvage.


    A hundred shattered escorts as well, both human and not.


    There is enough adamantium and other rare components in these prizes to craft a thousand new ships. Even if the Ork weapons are worthless, they can be studied and then melted and re-forged again.


    On the ground, the fighting continues for two more months, as there were a hundred million Orks if not more. Orbital bombardments help, but they have to be restricted in close proximity to forges and factories.


    Sadly, 60 corvettes and 20 destroyers have been lost by Antax, about a decade of hard work lost to yet another batch of green mushrooms.


    The Space Marines got away easy, only losing a lander and a dozen brothers. I suspect they were lost to the Black_Rage</a>, more than the Ork weapons.


    Still, I will not ask and respect their dead. Without them, the Orks might have gained access to Titans and Titan making facilities. And then things would have been really bad.


    Thus, I land for a meeting with the Fabricator and the Space Marine Captain Donatos_Aphael</a> and offer my support. And then share a dozen gifts equally with both, since we fought together and thus we are bound by blood honor.


    The Marine almost refuses, before the Fabricator explains.


    "Lord Donatos, such is the way of this Captain Pef Lancefire. Everything he finds out in the wilderness he gives away to the Imperium, mostly to Forge Worlds. We help him in turn with ships and tanks and tech-priests. But as we have fought together..."


    The Space Marine towers over me and shakes my hand in thanks. "We cannot produce these STC designs anyway, Lord Pef. Might as well give them to the Tech-priest so that they increase the arsenal of humanity."


    I nod slowly. In truth, I don''t have anything that could help a Space Marine Chapter. They have the best equipment and priority to replacements.


    Still, I do have a wild card. "I understand, Captain Aphael. But there is something you do need. The same thing the Fabricator has tasked me with. Blank genes, immune to the Immaterium." I hold my hand out to the tech-priest and he blurs into action, draining me of a liter of blood and packing it into a dozen vials for the Space Marine.


    Captain Aphael loses his composure for a second, before receiving the gift of blood with reverence. "Our gene-seers and Librarians will need to test it, of course. But...if it does work. It could be something amazing!"


    "Yes, I have a hundred children out in the Fringe. And their children sometimes receive the same gift. It will take time to spread out the genes to an entire Hive world, but not that much. Perhaps 10 generations. It is exponential growth after all. With no mutations." I explain softly.


    The Space Marine blinks in surprise and hope. "The Emperor protects! Even the mere hope is enough to sustain me now. Thank you, Lord Pef Lancefire!" he proclaims and bows a millimeter. I guess he showed me as much respect as he could, for a mere mortal.


    This is unexpected. But then, fortune favors the bold.


    "Inform the Fabricator General should the geneseed be compatible. In two decades I will assemble a hundred potential Blank recruits and bring them here at Antax. If they work, I will consider a permanent solution." I reply politely.


    This might not work at all. Or it might backfire somehow.


    All three of us hold hands and metallic tentacles as a new pact is forged over my blood, and the blood shared in battle.

 Escort 11

    The Iconclast remains at Antax for repairs and refit, since the damage is too great for it to travel safely through the Warp.


    Gellar fields need the hull to be intact and impermeable, else demons could insert themselves inside the ship. And the Rainment is definitely not intact.


    The Lament crusier stays as well, as a gift and extra protection for the Antax Forge world while it recovers from the Ork attack.


    And I receive a Space Marine bodyguard, because my blood is now really important. Blood Angels value blood very much, for some reason.


    Not sure if I should feel pleased or under arrest, with the power armored giant following me everywhere.


    "Lord Ludvaius, is there a need to guard my bedroom from inside?" I wonder out loud.


    "It is my duty. What if a demon warps right in here?" the Veteran Marine replies with a smirk, and rolls his only eye. The other eye is a bionic one, which does offer some advantages in low visibility fighting.


    I sigh in defeat and jump in my bed, and begin my own duty, as the concubines will not become pregnant without arduous effort.


    If I am to obtain a thousand sons for the space marines, I need to step up and work hard.


    Decima sits on a large pillow and gives me helpful advice, tempo and breathing and pacing myself. She then pats her own inflated belly and smiles sweetly at the Space Marine.


    A few hours later, I crash into sleep, spent and drained dry.


    "Your body of flesh is utilitarian, crudely functional."


    1001111000000


    The implant mocks my weak flesh, but I''m too tired to care.


    Soon we will reach Forge Metalica and begin a new barter process, with the new discoveries I bring.


    I refrain from working on STC designs for now, until I know the Marine Sergeant better. I don''t want a bolter round to ruin my pretty head for heresy.


    Perhaps misfortune mingles with luck for the Blanks, as I find another Navy Admiral at Metalica, trying to confiscate my Grand Cruiser and my Cobra destroyers.


    I don''t doubt the Navy needs ships badly. But that''s also because they use them badly.


    They spend them like torpedoes and just ask for more.


    I personally been in command of five fleet actions and haven''t lost a single ship of our own, and instead captured quite a few.


    So, when I land on Forge Metalica I am rather glad for the big and menacing marine that demands respect as the Emperor''s own son....if thrice removed.


    With a simple link to the Fabricator''s cogitator, I unload my gifts and then load up my combat missions and how I have captured the prizes in orbit.


    "See, Lord Admiral. I fought overwhelming odds out in the Eastern fringe, defeated a multiplanetary pirate empire and captured their big ships. Then I returned to the Empire and gave everything to the Mechanicus forges, including a dozen STC new patterns. I even defended Forge Antax from a large Ork Waaagh, just a year ago, with the big marine behind me as a witness. Haven''t lost a single ship. " I explain with a cold voice.


    The Fabricator General nods as well. "I can attest that. Lord Pef has helped humanity with huge efforts and results. But you refused to include the new corvettes in your battlefleet. They did work wonders for Antax."


    "I was there." Ludvaius says curtly.


    The Admiral looks around for support, but even his loyal retinue won''t speak against a space marine.


    "Then...how many of these corvettes could you produce in a decade?" he asks the tech-priest.


    The Fabricator almost smiles. I never seen a happy tech-priest, but it seems I made his day.


    "With proper minerals and organic supplies, Forge Metalica can provide the Imperial Navy with 100 ships per decade. But if they prove themselves, and the Navy orders more, we will open more dockyards. At maximum output 500 ships per decade." the Fabricator announces proudly, and plots a graph on the holoscreen with the required mineral tonnage.


    It''s still megatonnes of iron and iridium and tungsten, but for a galactic sized empire, this is nothing.


    The corvettes are really cheap in comparison with bigger vessels like frigates or cruisers.


    The Admiral tugs his beard and powers up his own implant. "Well then. I need ships, and 500 ships will help immensely even if they are weaker. Make it so."


    "Please send the request through the Administratum, Lord Admiral. It is the law as per the Olympus treaty. But don''t worry. It may take a decade for your requisition order to be approved, but the ships will be ready." the tech priest answers with a metallic grin.


    With a gruff nod, the Admiral leaves and I can return to my favorite past time in the Empire. Favors.


    "Is the Space Marine your guard, Lord Pef?" the Fabricator wonders a bit worried. Some of our deals weren''t quite legal, now that I think on this.


    "Well, Lord Ludvaius? Can I trade with the cogheads or should I just shoot myself before the Tyranids arrive?" I wonder out loud.


    The Fabricator snickers like a child.


    "I will wait outside, Lord Pef. Your blood must not be spilled yet." the marine quips and leaves me alone with the tech-priest.


    "I never thought I could have fun with meatbags, but today everything seems amazing. Atomantic reactors and plasma cannons templates, and even the corvettes got ordered. Your Emperor must be watching over you, Captain." he says in a pleased voice, while waving his incense burner around.


    I cough politely. "Yes, he has his son watching over me right now. And I expect to receive a whole company soon. In a few decades, I mean."


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    The Fabricator nods as if he expected this. Then he powers up the cogitator and loads the Antax recordings. "Those corvettes...they are amazingly suitable for long range operations, with nearly no consumables. And the schematics you gifted me are bound tightly into the Imperial logistics, for macrocannon shells and torpedoes."


    "They are also easy to operate by illiterate serfs and armsmen. And yes, the Imperium has billions of factories, they can produce shells in any numbers. I don''t have such luxury." I explain without any regret.


    It is true, after all.


    Uneducated people impressed into the Navy can be trained to push shells around and unload them by the thousands. Plasma guns need a bit more finesse and care.


    "Yes, yes. We agree on how incompetent humans are. Or at least the unwashed masses. What do you want for all these patterns, Lord Pef?" he asks me directly.


    "Anything you can spare. You know I will return again, perhaps with even nicer gifts." I quip in a small voice.


    Again with the want. I don''t want things for my pleasure.


    A larger list opens up, now including rare machines and weapons that I don''t even know which side is up.


    "I admit, I don''t know what these are. Rare relics, maybe?" I say in a meek voice.


    "Volkite_Weapons</a>, Arc_Weapons</a>, Hellguns, Inferno pistols and all the good stuff the Space Marines may use. The last thing is a teleporter, though it needs a potent psyker to operate." the Fabricator explains in a teasing tone.


    "Titans too?" I ask in a hopeful voice.


    "Tiny titans, for a tiny captain. Knights. But we will need to test your pilots first." He explains with a wave of tentacles.


    Maximum limit reached, noted. No Titans. I shouldn''t have asked. Not even the Astartes have Titans, silly Pef.


    "I have read about something called a Macharius tank. I wonder if it could be equipped with these reactors and guns, like baby Baneblades. But without needing ammo for weapons, or promethium for fuel." I propose in a curious voice.


    The Fabricators freezes in deep thought. "Normally I would kick you out for trying to impose on my gratitude, but it seems it could work. But I don''t have Macharius STC templates..."


    "Yes, I have been told by other Fabricators...Forges don''t share templates. But they might share with me...for something of great value. If only I knew where to go." I propose in a level tone.


    He probably wanted me to ask, as he would receive the benefit for free.


    "Forge world Lucius holds the original. But Graia also has it. And Anvilus Nine as well. I heard you have visited Graia some time ago." the Fabricator says in a flat voice.


    "I did. But their location was compromised by Hive fleet Kraken, and they have moved elsewhere. Anvilus_Nine</a> it is. If I die out there, I will blame you." I quip in a joking voice.


    The tech-priest just nods. "It is possible, Captain Pef Lancefire. But you have proven resourceful, and always survived and prospered. However, even if you die the Grand Cruiser will be remitted to your clan. I am not trying to renege on my promise."


    With that, we return to bitter bartering and choosing the destroyers I need, then upgrading their sensors for deep exploration.


    More re-supplies like torpedoes and missiles, a new fighter squadron and a squad of Vulture gunships for ground support.


    Whitelance tests a few Knights and picks a melee variant with a Power Sword, and a multi-melta sidegun.


    Sergeant Ludvaius receives a Power Maul taller than him, and an Inferno pistol, which seems tiny in his hand. Makes a big boom though and can pierce tank armor.


    I get a light power armor, because the space marine insists on keeping my blood safe.


    I remember my father having something just like this and it didn''t help him much, except give him a false sense of security. Then again, in this galaxy it''s better to have and not need.


    Then I pick an artificer quality hellpistol, the kind without a huge power-pack on my back.


    Since lasers have no recoil, it suits me better than a bolter or something more powerful.


    Then I also take a small Power Dagger, because some things might get too close.


    And since I lack natural weapons like claws or flexible tail, a dagger will be useful. It can also cut through power armor, so it''s nice.


    More time passes till my squadron is ready to depart, as the 6 Cobra-destroyers are brand-new and their captains too. The Mechanicus provides me an auxiliary guard regiment and a thousand more Tech-priests for maintenance and repairs, as well as an armor battalion should I need to debark on Anvilus in force.


    With this, I am now out of worthy clansmen officers to promote to Captain rank. I shouldn''t complain though. I have quite a few ships now, even if I lack a heavy warship as a fleet core.


    The Grand Cruiser is barely going through initial repairs now, and I can only hope it will be ready in 70 years.


    Then again, building one takes at least 500 years, not that anyone still builds them anymore.


    The Grand Cruisers are relics for a reason. The STC patterns were lost to war and mutiny, so it''s possible Forge Metalica will try to reverse-engineer the design by comparing the two working models they have.


    "Engage!" I command from my Captain bridge.


    Of course, the bridge windows are now closed and armored since staring into the Immaterium isn''t healthy.


    The Warp opens and swallows my 7 ships with a hungry violet mouth. We travel through Hell.

 Krak 12

    Simply training and teaching officers is boring.


    I need to work on more STC designs, and Gyron isn''t very inventive. Good head for math and science, of course. But the Mechanicus have stagnated for a reason.


    When they invent new things, they tend to overcomplicate and go for broke, usually with disastrous results. Many Forge worlds have been lost to genius scientists that open the jar and peek inside nasty things.


    What I do is rather the opposite, most of the time. Simplify the machine and make it easier to construct, repair and maintain.


    And so far, this has worked great, with improved results going from a few percents to 300 percent in a few cases.


    "What are you doing?" the big Astartes asks as I sit at my cogitator and play with a couple Hydra and Manticore STC templates.


    "Trying to save the universe. Imagine this, my friend. There are about 5 billion armored vehicles in the Imperium. Half of them are based on the Chimera template, This ugly thing here." I begin my explanation, going from the far to the close.


    "So it is. We have techmarines in our chapter." the veteran Astartes confirms amused.


    "Of those Chimera variants, 1 billion sit unused in various Munitorum depots, for various reasons like strategic reserve or replacements in case of invasion. But about 10 percent are simply broken. For example, the tracks wear out and nobody can repair 100 million tanks, because only tech-priests know how." I explain further, and zoom in on the tracks.


    "I know, Lord Pef. Knowledge is dangerous and all that. I hear the same from our tech-marines, very often." Lord Ludvaius says softly.


    "But now imagine these tracks were more resilient and very simple to repair. Just the tracks. Broken machines in the field would be fewer. The Munitorum could repair and release the damaged tanks back to their regiments. The Imperium would gain 100 million tanks right now, and would lose millions less every year. The Forge Worlds could produce them faster and free a few forges to craft more fighters or gunships." I announce proudly, and produce the simpler track design.


    Astartes are very smart. Lord Ludvaius immediately notes the simpler design, that even himself can understand now.


    "Is this for real? I saw you gave Metalica a lot of advanced designs with fancy names. Nothing this simple." he wonders out loud.


    "Yes. It is a real design. My best invention so far. Taking a complicated machine and making it simpler." I say in a meek voice.


    If there''s a bolter round coming...


    To my surprise, the Astartes chuckles and pats my head. "So this is your big secret, huh? Making crazy complicated machines into easy ones. More durable too, I assume?"


    I sigh in relief. "Well...only by 10 percent. The ancients were very smart and didn''t make huge mistakes in picking the right materials or such. They just had better forges and technology, so complicated mechanisms were easier to do. But now, they are relics and can''t be made anymore. Only if they were simplified."


    "I understand. If your tracks are 10 percent more durable, humanity will lose 10 percent fewer tanks during maneuvers, perhaps even during combat." Lord Ludvaius comments in a friendly tone.


    I close the schematic and open the Atomantic reactor. "This is a Forge Tigrus made tank reactor. They install them in Fellblades. Very small and expensive to make. Enormous energy output though. Enough to support shields, in fact beside energy weapons."


    "Cogheads are smart, everyone knows that. They make wondrous artifacts. Just like the armor I wear. Weapons too."


    I hold my hands up. "Not the point. It''s complicated, expensive and very hard to produce. A whole planet makes one such reactor per year. Now look at this. My own variant."


    The holoscreen splits up, to produce the larger but cheaper Retribution pattern reactor.


    "It''s bigger and uglier." the marine says dismissively.


    "But a Forge world can make 100 of them per year. And they are cheaper and easier to repair. This other variant is even bigger, but can be installed on space fighters and bombers. Maybe even water based navy, like submarines." I reply turning to observe his reaction.


    He understands, I realize in surprise. Eyes wide and thinking deeply.


    "And they are cheaper too?" he asks to make sure.


    "At least 10 times. No need for adamantium binders. Osmium plated with gold on the outside." Gyron speaks for the first time.


    Osmium can be mined from asteroids. It''s difficult...but incomparably easier than forging adamantium. Especially if you want delicate stuff, not big beams of metal.


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    "In a decade, you could produce a thousand heavy tanks...enough to push back a Chaos invasion." Lord Ludvaius mutters to himself.


    I decide to ignore his ramblings and start working. If he didn''t blow up my brains by now, he won''t do it.


    Gyron opens up the krak missile STC and starts taking apart every component, while I measure them for reliability and damage range.


    We mark two parts as improvable, one a tiny silver pin that is prone to rupture or melting prematurely. We replace that with gold-plated steel.


    The other is the proximity sensor, which was simply awful. This will take more work, but I have experience with other auspex sensors. Late in the morning, we finish upgrading the sensor to the Retribution standard.


    Now we have to build a hundred such new missiles and test them.


    "Going to bed..." I mutter and fall asleep.


    Luckily nobody makes fun of me now. I am only human, and these two are not.


    The trip to Anvilus continues in much the same pattern, but my concubines end up pregnant and Decima gives birth to another Blank, this time a girl.


    Well...she can become an officer without problem. Even a Captain.


    The Empire doesn''t discriminate on sex, not much. There are jobs reserved for a certain sex, like Astartes or Battle Sisters.


    They discriminate on everything else though. The Mutant, the Heretic and the Xeno. Flesh, belief and race make up like 99 percent of the actual discrimination.


    Blanks and psykers are also considered mutants, which is a good reason to spend time away from the Empire.


    Now, there are some things out there which does make sense to discriminate against, with any and every level of firepower available.


    Demons, Tyranids, Dark Eldar...and many others.


    As it happens they would gladly kill mutants, heretics and xeno without prejudice. For biomass, for souls or for pain. They all just want to consume your essence.


    And the best defense against such predators? The Blank gene!


    Offense as well, for those with dominant Pariah genes, whose mere presence can banish demons or chase away Tyranid Bio-titans.


    Pariahs would make a great weapon against these enemies, and some groups out there already use them for this purpose. The Culexus assassin clade, the Sisters of Silence, even the Necrons or the Harlequins.


    Rogue Psykers or Traitor Librarians can simply be shut off by sending a Pariah in their vicinity. And without their powers...they can be killed with normal weapons.


    It is my hope some of my descendants will gain this dominant gene, and be able to fight back effectively.


    Tanks are useless against a Greater Demon or a Hive Queen. Not to mention the Traitor Primarchs or corrupted Farseers and Saints which can tear apart planets with their minds.


    Finally, by the time we arrive at Anvilus Nine, the new krak missile is ready, in three different patterns.


    One is a small shoulder-launched weapon, useful versus power armor or light tanks. The classic version, mounted on vehicles, will damage nearly any tank, as well as gunships and fighters.


    The heavy missile can damage heavy tanks, bombers and small Titans. It is also very expensive and slow to make, but not as hard as a Titan would be.


    It also needs a dedicated carrier, like the Manticore</a> tank, a missile gunship or a Space fighter.


    As we arrive at Anvilus, we immediately discover signs of heavy fighting, damaged ship hulls and drifting hulks.


    All are of Mechanicus origin, which doesn''t bode well. "Every auspex station, sever links and go autistic." I demand in a few seconds.


    If there''s Scrap Code flying around...things might get ugly.


    I send out a dozen Mechanicus servitor pilots in their fighters, to collect scans and observe the Forge world with a close flyby.


    Meanwhile, I turn my squadron around and prepare for emergency Warp to the nearest star.


    If there is a Dark Mechanicus planet here...I don''t know of anything I could do.


    And then we wait, tensely for more data to be collected and analyzed by the sensors and then filtered by tech-priests.


    Even looking directly at an auspex sensor could infect your eyes with Ruin Code.


    The stuff is evil, working on memetic principles instead of machine logic.


    Imagine a viral video, that you can''t ever forget. Slowly drilling into your mind until you go insane. And then you eat your fingers, or the nearby person.


    Damn 40k universe.


    My Astartes guard pats my shoulder. "The Emperor protects." he advises me in a calm voice.


    I sigh inward. I wanted to protect him!

 Chance 13

    By the next day, after the fighters return to the cruiser, we hold a conference to decide what to do.


    It seems the Forge World is dead and deserted, nothing moving or shooting back. This could be the prize of the millennium, should we find anything intact.


    The risks are proportional, as it seems the local Mechanicus Cult has split into religious factions and battled each other to death.


    Gyron believes it our duty to survey and explore the remains, like any tech-priest would. The Quest for Knowledge isn''t just words, but a way of life.


    The Astartes is more cautious, since infected machines could still be awake deep underground, and just bait us to land...and then eat us.


    The clan crew is split up, because the rewards could make each of them richer than a Noble. But only if they survive.


    In the end I chose both major options. My cruiser will depart for Forge Tigrus with any minimal loot that we can grab from deep space, while a single destroyer and most of the tech-priests and servitors will be sent to the planet to start the investigation.


    The other destroyers are sent back to my capital, Ilevar, to bring our transport fleet and mining barges here to carry the loot, under escort.


    Compared to raw minerals from asteroids, scraped hulks made of adamantium and possibly full of rare and ancient technologies are less worthy than dirt. Mining can hold for now, since every planet in my empire has been given a small forge and its tech-priests from Metallurgicus and Technicus clades. They can search for planet-side minerals and be fine for a while.


    Also, I am almost certain that Metalica''s Fabricator has lied to me, since news about this internal conflict must have been known to the Mechanicus leaders.


    He just didn''t want to risk it himself. Plus he knew I would give everything away, hopefully the template designs already cleaned up and upgraded.


    We collect a dozen different turrets and batteries, many so exotic that I can''t really identify them. Perhaps gravity shear or warp or neutron beams. A few broken space fighters with odd design choices, even a few automata. Kept under quarantine and strict security, that hangar bay is locked and depressurized for transport.


    I can barely wait to receive the Grand Cruiser, which will have 20 times more internal space. Volume grows fast with each elongated dimension.


    Although the reactor and generators will also be bigger, the extra space will allow for 30 fighter squadrons instead of the current 3.


    The same with stockpiles of torpedoes and other consumables, like missiles, bolter rounds and autocannon bullets.


    And if I install a few forges, I can even replenish some consumables or spare parts...even construct armor and power armor for my troops.


    Nothing like the artificier-made power armor I wear right now, but even something 10 times simpler would increase the strength and durability of my troops at least ten times.


    So, on the way to Forge Tigrus I dissect more STC templates, this time aided by another tech-priest from the Cogitatrices clade, called Fabricator Minoris Yota-7099. Gyron detached him especially for me, and said the guy had a good brain and a knack for mathematics.


    I am almost tempted to call him Yoda, but they are nothing alike. Minoris is 3 meters tall with a dozen pairs of mechanical arms, each holding a different obscure device that are always flashing or beeping and murmuring prayers.


    Still, he is a good scientist despite all that.


    We change the Manticore template to allow an enclosed box with 10 missiles to be loaded and unloaded fast on a gimbal mount, which in turn will allow field reloads with a crane or some tall automata from Mechanicus.


    This also protects the missiles from any atmospheric trouble, like rain or acid gas, also arrows, bullets and other low caliber damage. A few more upgrades to the auspex sensors and I''m finished. Minoris keeps working to upgrade the targeting cogitators, something I will sell separately, if they work.


    Then I load the Hydra template and upgrade it as well, even adding a hunter-killer launcher in the design. With 2 tri-barrel multi-lasers, and the krak missile launcher, my Hydras will be 50 percent better. In range, firepower and rate of fire, along with better sensors and tracks.


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    If I could, I would promote this simple tank as standard composition to every Imperial Guard regiment. 100 per regiment if not double.


    Then again...that would mean at least 200 million such tanks...and nobody will likely make them. Still, I try.


    If I don''t try, the tyranids will eat everyone. They probably will anyway. I suspect all these Hive fleets are merely the advance tendrils of a much larger Tyranid Swarm.


    The scouts, so to say. And if their scouts are nearly unstoppable...damn it.


    What can I do? Try to direct some more Orks at these Hives? But mushrooms, even green ones, are also biomass. The Tyranids do eat Orks just as they eat anything else.


    Then I do remember something. The second Warp beacon directed at Ultramar.


    "Have you ever wondered why the Navigator can still chart the course, outside the Astronomicon range?" I ask, turning toward my Astartes guard.


    Then I save, the file and close the screen, since a big hand holds my head in a vice.


    "Careful what you say, Rogue Trader. The Emperor sees all." he growls and his good eye turns red.


    I draw a deep breath, and poke his hand. After he releases me, I wave Minoris out from my lab. The Mechanicus would do something stupid once they find out the truth.


    "I was talking about the Navigator, my friend. He locks on Ultramar, which shines in the Warp so strongly he can choose the right currents without error. Macragge</a> the Ultramarines'' capital, in fact." I explain in a sterner voice.


    Damn Astartes and their devotion. Even a veteran lost his cool, from a mere question.


    "I don''t know why. Perhaps Primarch Guilliman guides them." he answers after some thought.


    I shake my head. " I know why, I just asked if you do. I ask because the Tyranids too are drawn to psychic beacons. And the Ultramarines are projecting a powerful beacon. Very similar to the Astronomicon, although it doesn''t need to burn a thousand psykers every day."


    The Blood Angel shrugs in dismissal, rage calming down now that it doesn''t have a target.


    "Seems a good thing to me, if ships can travel safer through the Warp." he adds in a softer voice.


    I nod and smile. "Indeed, it is very useful. Remember, the Tyranids also follow this beacon. But, if I would change the light to illuminate say Charadon</a> ? The largest Ork empire nearby. The Tyranids would change course...and the Orks will have to fight them. And then...a thousand more enemies, even Demon Worlds." I whisper in a secretive tone.


    The marine hugs me to his armored chest, almost crushing me. "We will do this. Directing the bugs to eat the Emperor''s enemies? This is even bigger than your blood possibly curing the curse, or struggling to unlock some old weapons. And as the tyranids fight, they will become weaker too, and we would have some hope to defeat them."


    I cough and pound his pauldron to get set down. "Control your emotions, Astartes. This is something that might get me killed. By the Ultramarines, then everyone else trying to control the beacon." I mutter in a grumble, and sit in my armchair.


    Not that gaining access and control over the xeno artifact on Sotha</a> is even feasible right now. I''d need an Inquisitor on my side.


    And a large fleet to fend off Chaos or Eldar or whoever catches wind of what I''ll be doing. This blasted galaxies have plenty gods, and most of them are enemies.


    The friendlier ones or their worshipers might still kill me simply on principle.


    However, if the Blood Angels rally behind me, maybe the Mechanicus too...then I have a small chance.


    A small chance in hell.


    "Look what they''ve made of our dream"


    000000100000


    Damn it. Even my implant thinks I''m doomed.

 Surprise 14

    Decades have passed since I last visited Forge Tigrus, so when I appear in the system I don''t get a warm welcome.


    Hah. Warm welcome...like laser hot.


    There are a dozen of my cheap corvettes patrolling the system outer edge, and they show signs of repair. Melted holes barely patched and missing the normal ornaments of the Imperial Navy.


    Even my cruiser has a cathedral on top, because it''s the fashion.


    A pair of space fighters come about and escort me into dock, refusing to discuss the cold treatment.


    Could it be they figured it out? That I stole their atomantic reactor design?


    If Gyron was here he would know.


    "Lord Ludvaius, what are our chances if the Mechanicus are hostile?" I ask in private.


    He just stares at me. For a minute.


    That bad, huh?


    We land to meet the Fabricator, but are received by a Fabricator_Locum</a> instead. And she''s a lady...even has a human face.


    "Lord Pef...I heard you have risen in rank, even an Astartes bodyguard." she begins with a wave of tentacles.


    "We fought the Orks at the Battle of Antax. Now we''re good friends." I explain nothing.


    Blood Angels have a single friend: Duty.


    The marine chuckles amused and waves a hand back at the robot lady.


    "Nice powers weapons...from Metalica I''d say." she continues with a glacial voice.


    Shit! She knows...somehow. Or something.


    "This time I returned to the Empire directly here to Forge Tigrus, Fabricator. I have a few STC templates as a gift, and a few relics on board the cruiser. No idea what they are, but they bear the cog sign, so they are obviously Mechanicus weapons of some kind. The hangar has been sealed and quarantined." I say and hold out a physical data storage for my templates.


    Interfacing directly with a dubious cogitator that might be hostile would be ill-advised. See, I can learn.


    The Magos scans the device with a dozen instruments, before plugging into it directly. A few second later, she smiles a little, perhaps satisfied with my meager gift.


    "More low quality designs, though perhaps useful for the Astra Militarum. Clever fix for the Manticore re-loading problem." she adds with a knowing look.


    So...the game is up, I guess. They figured out what I do...after dozens of simple templates spread out among Forge Worlds from a single source...the generous Rogue Trader with a state-of-the-art cruiser.


    I can never admit to it though, not to some unknown tech-priest. They will never find my body, and probably my Astartes friend''s as well.


    "Well then. Should I go, or do you want those other gifts?" I ask in a meeker voice.


    The Fabricator stares at me for a long minute, although she''s most likely relaying my offer to other people.


    "She will join the inventory team in an hour. Until then...you drink tea?" the Magos asks politely and starts a complicated tea ritual with too many tentacles.


    The tea is nice though. I doubt the Cult would bother to poison me, not when I''m at their mercy anyway.


    Even Ludvaius drinks some tea, and holds his thumb up to assure me it''s not radioactive or such.


    "This woman...happens to be an Inquisitor?" I wonder out loud, after straining my implant for a few minutes.


    I might be lucky...but I just wished for an Inquisitor of my own.


    The Magos lady glances at the implant ports visible on my skull. "So you have brains after all. Don''t worry, she wasn''t hunting you. But as you''re here and have a ship available..."


    The Astartes pats my head like someone would a cat. "Lord Pef is rather important for my Chapter. I will decide where and when he goes."


    Now, this is something strange. Even Blood Angels wouldn''t...of course they would. They just need a big enough reason, like I have just provided with my beacon plan.


    The metal door opens to reveal a fabulous black-haired woman in Inquisitor garb, followed by two other Astartes, in black armor.


    Deathwatch marines. Damn it.


    "Please, Sergeant Ludvaius. Tell me more about this important Rogue Trader. Is it the Blank genes, that might cure your curse? I have another Blank in my retinue." she proclaims in a proud tone, holding her Rosetta out for a millisecond.


    I feel something mighty trying to reach my mind, then it fades. Damn it. The Blank protection is not perfect then. It''s kinda worrisome, since a Rosetta is...sanctified on Terra.


    A young platinum-haired woman with piercing green eyes, steps out from behind the space marines. And I know her. I''ve seen her pics. And she knows me too.


    "Pef Lancefire. I heard your father died, out in the fringe." she says in a slightly warm voice.


    "Melta guns are harsh on the skin. Such are the dangers beyond the borders." I answer more kindly.


    I never expected to meet my mother this way.


    Enjoying this book? Seek out the original to ensure the author gets credit.


    "See? Nothing to worry about, Sergeant. We''re all a big happy family here." the Inquisitor quips and grins warmly.


    Is she the true Inquisitor? A rosetta can be held by a trainee as well. Then again, does it matter? Only another Inquisitor can investigate her.


    My Astartes sighs and stands straighter. "Your command, Lord Pef?" he asks me in a resigned voice.


    Hell, we''re about to die?


    Not on my watch! I still have a mission.


    "Fabricator, let''s go and finish our negotiation protocols on the Litany. The Lady Inquisitor may join us, and we''ll talk in private." I say in a flat tone, like I was surrounded by a meter of adamantium.


    The Blank wouldn''t help much, but they can''t read my thoughts or future anyway. It will make them a bit wary.


    Amazingly, my gambit works, as the Inquisitor raises an eyebrow with curiosity, and gestures silently at her enforcers.


    Soon enough, we arrive on the Litany and I open the sealed hangar for the Tigrus tech-priests, and the Inquisitor.


    Then I wait on the launch rails, while a hundred Magi dart from artifact to artifact spewing prayers and blessing, gushing holy oil everywhere, as well as incense smoke and datasphere engrams.


    "I think they like my gifts." I announce a bit amused. These things might be really valuable.


    "Aren''t the cogheads always the same, around machines and weapons?" the space marine asks rhetorically.


    Well they do like machines, but we never seen them like this, not this agitated, not even for new spaceship templates or tank reactors.


    Wait, it''s a joke. "Who knew you still had a sense of humor, Astartes. I thought they removed it surgically during implantation." I mutter in a small voice.


    "They tried, but my will was stronger." he quips and pats my head again.


    Damn it, I''m not a child to be praised with head pats...even if I like look much smaller in comparison.


    The Lady Inquisitor records everything and performs scans on every item, sometime conferring with a small guy with weasel eyes, from her retinue.


    By next day, a Mechanicus cruiser comes about and begins loading the relics at speed.


    The Fabricator points at her Forge world with a cyborg arm, then nods and departs without a word. Well, I don''t need words anyway. This is a capital letter Favor.


    I still won''t get Titans, so I''ll have to pick everything else.


    "Don''t worry, Lord Pef. Forge Tigrus won''t forget this debt. But if they do, I have records. They will pay you, somehow." the Inquisitor remarks in a softer voice, and sits down to sip her own tea.


    It seems I need to supply my ship with higher quality stuff, because she just snorts at everything I have as food or drinks.


    Lidvaius and everyone else wait outside, as it is time for the fated talk.


    I gulp some wine to fortify my courage.


    "You intend to travel outside the Empire, Inquisitor?" I ask after a minute of polite silence.


    She nods gracefully. Ordo Xenos then, if her Deathwatch guards didn''t clue me enough.


    I freeze a second, loading the sector map and considering probable destinations.


    "The Eldar?" I ask curious.


    "Ha! Always fun to watch a savant at work. Perhaps we should implant all the Imperium officers. We might lose fewer people and ships that way, going by your exploits alone." the woman replies in slight praise.


    I nod in agreement. The implants aren''t without problems, but they outweigh that with sheer utility.


    "We do not hate the alien because he is different, we hate the alien because he had naught but hate in his heart for us."


    1111100011110


    This quote makes me smile a little. "They would be useful to reduce Hive fleet Kraken a bit. Orks and Necrons would work better. Maybe the Barghesi too" I muse out loud.


    "Oh? And how would you direct the Tyranids from course, to strike at Mandragora, for example?" she asks dismissively.


    Glad you asked, dear lady.


    Mandragora is the capital of a large Necron dynasty, with prodigious levels of firepower.


    "I would take an Inquisitor with me, and visit Sotha. Then I would shift the Warp beacon from Ultramar on Mandragora. Perhaps Chandron or Grendl after that. Lead them on a merry chase around the sector, and vanquish the nastiest enemies with no loses for humanity." I comment with a shrug.


    She did ask, after all. Grendl is the center of a huge Barghesi empire called Grendl_Stars</a>


    Her hand trembles a little, spilling the tea.


    "No wonder that Blood Angel was ready to die for you...really important, it would seem." she murmurs to herself, wiping away the tea with a telekinetic wave.


    "But then, where would I find an Ordo Xeno Inquisitor that might listen to me? Alas, I''m out of luck!" I complain and sip some wine in victory.


    She grins at me with eyes only. "You weren''t spanked enough as a child, Pef Lancefire."


    "My mother left me. Then my father died. I had to improvise." I quip in return.


    She nods solemnly. "We will need a big fleet."


    I don''t have a fleet, but I know who does.

 Rossete 15

    "I will leave you to catch up with Justine. Just...well. You''ll see for yourself." the Inquisitor says and walks out.


    A minute later my mother enters along with my Astartes. In a second, her eyes dart around the room and then lock to my elbows. I was trained in melee combat too, so I know a dangerous person when I see her.


    "She''s an Assassin, Lord Pef." he explains and hovers a hand over his Inferno pistol. He saw it as well, no doubt about it.


    "Hello mother." I say softly and offer her a hug.


    Justine approaches me hesitantly and stops a step away. "You''ve grown up. And quite a successful man, from what I hear." she comments in a colder voice.


    So, that''s her real self. Always on guard. Not that I blame her. Makes sense to be always cautious, when you live in Hell.


    "Mostly harmless, for nearly every power in the galaxy. But I suppose I live better than a laborer in a Hive." I allow with humility.


    She flinches and scowls in a painful memory. Damn it. I nailed her weak spot, with perfect accuracy.


    "Your Astartes will take care of you, so I feel less worried now. And even the Mechanicus has a soft spot, in their metal hearts. Your aura is weak...but made your life easier." Justine says with a glance at Ludvaius.


    "Want some wine or tea? I want to hear about your life and father." I offer and start pouring wine.


    "The mission to Antax is sealed. But...I met your father and travelled on the Litany. Then I got off for another sealed mission. If you feel abandoned..." she explains and drinks the Inquisitor''s tea, possibly by smell memory.


    I point at her cup. "Need to watch for those habits. One day there will be something else in that tea."


    Justine blinks and stares at her cup, her face going from confusion to fear and then acceptance. "I should be the one teaching you to survive. And I will...if she lets me."


    "The art of war is a matter of life and death." I quote from memory.


    The Astartes tilts his head curious. Probably not in the Codex.


    But Justine only nods with regret. "So Gyron did teach you, like he promised. And now you have a son of the Emperor to teach you even more."


    "Lord Pef is smarter than me, Lady Justine. I feel that I am the one learning from him instead." Ludvaius replies instead, pistol back in the holster. No immediate threat then.


    I shrug and sip more wine. "Anyway, we''ll be flying together for some time. Decades at least. We should go to the nursery and see my kids." I conclude with a smile.


    No point in forcing anything, not for a long time. She will come around in time.


    "Grandchildren...time does fly." mother murmurs softly as I lead the way to the nursery.


    Two of the kids are Blanks as well, and don''t recoil from Justine, merely watching her curious. A dozen normal kids start crying in fear.


    Henna and Decima recognize Justine from my old pics. "Lady Lancefire." Decima says politely, while gesturing to the nearby void marines to quiet down the kids.


    The women nod at Justine then begin hugging and kissing the scared kids, to calm their fears.


    "A whole harem, and even two weak auras. They ignore my curse." Justine comments, seeming impressed.


    "Come, mother. It is your best gift after all. This big guy is the one with a curse." I explain pointing at my Astartes friend with a smile.


    "Blood Angel. Very easy to drive into frenzy." she muses with a knowing look. She probably has a mental database on how to kill anything.


    "The soldier works out his victory in relation with his foe." I quote again, and accept another head pat from the veteran marine.


    We leave the nursery before my kids are crying again. It would be hard living with a Pariah gene.


    A few minutes later, we meet with the Inquisitor again, this time on the bridge.


    The weasel guy is riffling through the ship logs, while my crew is almost paralyzed with fear.


    Stolen story; please report.


    "Make yourself comfortable everyone. We''re working together now, the Throne''s Agent, his sons and his Voice. Just ignore any words they speak from now on. I''m your Captain." I demand in a loud voice and hug the Inquisitor with one hand.


    She slaps my hand away and sits in the Captain chair like she owns the place. "Very cute. You''re lucky I know your mother, Captain." the Inquisitor says with a tiny laugh.


    The officers look at me confused and I point at Justine. "Justine. Mother. Happy family." I explain and turn away, heading back to my lab.


    I have tons of work to do, and playing status games with an Inquisitor isn''t high on my list.


    Minoris is waiting for me with news. "Cracked the logis-engine, Lord Pef. Want to peek inside and work your magic?" he asks reverently.


    Damn idiot-savant. It''s not called magic. It''s common sense, for Emperor''s sake!


    But I suppose I can take a peek. As I expected, the cogitator coding is rather buggy and cluttered by thousands of years of cants, prayers and patchwork repair.


    I leave the prayers alone, because demons. But everything else should be organized into logic trees and priority targeting decisions.


    I lose myself into work, with Minoris adding helpful advice every minute. Even powering up my savant implant, cogitator code is absurdly complicated.


    No wonder big machines like Titans or Land Raiders can still fight even without crew. If a mere missile launcher is this complex, I shudder at what a Titan code would be.


    Still, I sneakily insert a control code that needs a working Warrant to unlock. Since I plan to mass produce these missiles in my empire, I need to make sure they won''t be fired at me.


    Something that can pierce the side of a Baneblade would ruin my power armor, and my life.


    "Captain. The Inquisitor is using the astropaths." I receive on my vox bead.


    "Don''t worry, Wentian. I let her sit in my chair, didn''t I? Anyway, get some tech-priests to build her another chair beside mine. And some plasteel blocks for the Astartes. A few rooms and beds too, I guess." I order with a tired mind.


    A bed sounds great. So tired...flesh is weak indeed.


    I awake at once, as the Inquisitor teleports in my bedroom. The damned Inquisitorial_Rosette</a> blares like an alarm clock in my soul.


    "No hugs in public." she demands as she undresses then climbs in bed beside me.


    Ludvaius blinks in confusion, then shrugs. I guess he has become a little jaded with my love life.


    I''m too tired right now. I hug her nice body beside me and fall asleep again.


    "It is a modest thing, relatively plain, adorned with a single motif and a simple motto. Yet with this little object I can sign the death warrant of an entire world and consign a billion souls to Oblivion."


    1111110


    I wake up with my face stuffed into a nice pair of breasts, while the woman softly caresses my head. My hair has begun growing again, since no tech-priest has drilled into my brain for some time.


    "You could tell me the name that goes with these breasts." I murmur and gently suckle each of them.


    "Death and Duty." she quips lifting each in turn.


    "Duty. It should be much heavier." I muse softly and juggle her boob in my palm. If only duty was so easy.


    "Unlike your mother, your presence doesn''t hurt much, if at all. I never heard of such a mild Blank." she says climbing on top of me and starting to ride.


    Well, my Blank is not a convergence of Immaterium currents that annihilate each other inside a soul. It''s just a word on a screen. It works because I paid 30 points for it.


    "You''ll like my kids then." I say out loud and turn her over.


    I wonder what kind of children would a psyker have with me?


    Don''t worry, we have some time to find out.


    I guess I''ll call her Rossete. No, too corny.


    Rose.


    The name of the rose. For a magic girl, it fits quite well.

 Battleship 16

    Again, I am glad for the presence of my Astartes bodyguard, as the Mechanicus is very, very interested in the origin of those relics they have received.


    They might have grabbed me and drained my brain otherwise, Warrant of Trade or not.


    "Salvaging ancient archeotech is dangerous, Lord Pef. You need to let the Mechanicus spearhead the reclamation." the Fabricator General says and offers me another plate of cake and tea.


    I was never treated this well, not even by Antax.


    Still, the cake is very good and even Ludvaius seems to like it, if his thumb means what it should mean, instead of ''Run! Our ship is in orbit above.''


    I smile politely. "Magos Explorer Gyron of Forge Antax is helping with that effort, Fabricator. You have seen what they did for me, upgrading my cruiser to highest Mechanicus standard."


    He nods in silence and turns toward the cogitator screen, and prints a long list of possible rewards.


    I could gain another Armored regiment and a destroyer, or a light cruiser, and a dozen Fellblades heavy tanks. It is very nice, and the cakes tastes great.


    "What I need is a thousand Deimos pattern corvettes, Fabricator. Hopefully armed with laser batteries or plasma cannons, but you know better what''s possible or not. And I''ll make sure you receive a transport hauler full of Mechanicus relics." I demand in a meek voice.


    I do need a large fleet, and a dedicated Forge World to keep making cheap ships for the Imperium afterwards. Numbers have a quality of their own, like the Tyranids and the Orks prove constantly.


    The Fabricator almost scowls in disgust. For someone like him, cheap corvettes have the same value as Chimera tanks. Disposable trash.


    "It is possible, Captain Pef. It will take five decades though. And divert nearly half of the shipyards'' production for this single task." he replies after a minute of deep computation.


    "Forge Metalica can do it in 3 decades, and that''s because the Navy has ordered 500 such ships already. So two decades is sufficient, if and only if you really want this kind of trade, Magos Terrion." I muse out loud. I was there when the corvette order was placed after all, so delays like this won''t work on me.


    I might have time, and gain more time due to Warp travel, but it doesn''t mean I can afford to waste it.


    More than that, I am considering sending transport ships towards Forge world in other sectors, and just beg to be granted the first batch of new corvettes in return. It won''t work that well without my personal presence, but I will gain good will anyway.


    A megatonne of adamantium plates and various relics among them should make any Fabricator quite generous, even if only by peer-pressure, like I''m attempting now.


    "The future is uncertain, Lord Pef. That transport ship you promise might never arrive, or get caught in a storm and arrive millennia later." the Fabricator argues back, and this time I have no recourse.


    It is true, obviously. Ships vanish in the Warp all the time.


    Also, Gyron might give into greed and obsession for knowledge and confiscate everything for Antax, or himself.


    "Yes, you are right Fabricator. But even then, the Navy always needs ships, so they''ll be requisitioned by the next Admiral to pass by for certain. I only need a thousand ships. The Navy needs millions." I conclude and go to pick a few more gifts for my clan.


    A dozen Fellblades wouldn''t go amiss, nor another fighter squadron and a thousand new Chimeras.


    Then I scroll down and poke a power armor template. The cheapest one.


    "You already have armor, and it is of good quality." the Fabricator comments with a wave of tentacles. Uh, that''s his limit?


    "Boarding operations are very dangerous, Fabricator. My void marines...or at least the officers." I propose in a small voice.


    "Fine. Light power armor for a hundred officers. In three decades. Now go, before you empty all the stasis cells." he orders me and opens the armored door to his study.


    Unauthorized duplication: this tale has been taken without consent. Report sightings.


    A Deathwatch marine peeks inside. "It''s only the trader, Inquisitor. And his bloody guard, of course." the black armored veteran explains as my Rose enters the study room.


    Ludvaius growls in annoyance. "Watch your words, brother. Nice to meet you again, Inquisitor." he adds a second later.


    Rose giggles as if amused. "Boys will be boys."


    I nod politely and leave, feeling her power brush against my mind in welcome.


    She must be at least a Beta level psyker, to manage that feat. Not someone I would normally keep company with.


    Our Navigator, Lord Duros is only a Gamma level, and he seems quite bothered by Blanks, recoiling from Justine with visible pain.


    Not that much by me, because I don''t turn off his powers by mere presence.


    In the next month, we repair and provision the cruiser with new consumables, and my new armor regiment, then replenish the lower deck serfs and load new servitors and a thousand more tech-priests.


    Rose requisitions a regiment for herself, an auxiliary Guard regiment with another thousand tech-priests and more advanced weaponry. The difference from the regular regiments is quite obvious, as even the regular guardsmen have carapace armor and vox beads, not to mention melta guns and missile launchers for every single vehicle.


    The Litany is full to capacity now, and the life support systems struggle to keep up with the increased demands.


    Luckily I have all the idle tech-priests and servitors, to maintain the ship in optimum condition.


    We depart for a Navy base, where we will regroup with escorts and other Navy ships conscripted by Rose for our beacon quest.


    Tigrus provides only one corvette and a destroyer for extra protection.


    It will take time til the shipyards start pouring thousands of cheap ships, but on galactic scale it means little. Travelling to Terra for example, would take a decade of real time.


    A week of ship time later, we arrive at a Segmentum Ultima Naval base, where five battleships and a thousand of lesser ships wait for another deployment.


    Rose goes to confer with the Admiral and requisition some of these ships for herself. A dozen bolter rounds later, the fleet changes leadership and gets split up to her wishes.


    One Battleship, one battlecruiser and a dozen light cruisers, then 20 frigates and 50 destroyers become part of my battlegroup.


    It''s a huge display of political and military power, that the Inquisitor just achieved with minimal loss of life.


    The new Stormtroopers of the Inquisition are transferred on theVictory-class_Battleship</a>, to secure it more firmly. A single battleship has a million serfs and crew on board, and it needs a powerful army to keep loyal, even in better times.


    It also has a hundred lance batteries, so it is well suited for the fringe, where there would be few ammunition depots for macrocannon shells.


    The weasel guy goes with them, now dressed as a Navy Admiral. He even cleaned the blood from the uniform, so nobody suspects anything.


    But even if they did, nobody comments out loud.


    Rose is still an Inquisitor, even if in private she is rather sweet with me.


    Decima hesitates to propose a marriage for now, as the woman holds too much power anyway. Only a Lord Inquisitor could check on Rose, or perhaps the High Lords on Terra.


    I''m happy with things as they are. A powerful Inquisitor on my side is rather beneficial. Well, beside an unexpected bolter to my head.


    Still, my new destroyer is loaded with my kids and sent to Ilevar via Antax. No point is risking the kids in a fleet action, should I die in Tyranid jaws or something.


    Then we head for Sotha, and I return to my favorite pastime.


    Making babies and repairing STC templates.


    I have acquired a dozen agri-world templates, tractors and trains and various grain haulers. They are a mess, as expected.


    But I can fix them, it''s what I do.


    "Fear the iron fist, for its grip is death."


    000100111000


    See? Even the implant spirit agrees.

 Sorcery 17

    We arrive at Sotha by accident or miracle.Travelling through Hell is always risky. The mechanical Gellar generator pulsed twice during the trip, which doesn''t fill me with confidence for their reliability.


    Navigators are almost blinded by the powerful beacon emanated by the ancient xeno artifact buried here.


    Also, 3 destroyers fail to arrive at our destination, and are presumed lost. The corvette didn''t make it either, despite having two Gellar fields.


    They might end up in a different system, if they were lucky.


    We hold a short prayer for their souls, just as our lander begin loading up troops and servitors. I expect ton of problems to pop up soon enough, because this is Hell and a nice way out would disturb many futures.


    My tech-priests begin setting up orbital defenses around Sotha, using asteroids and servitors to create a ring of forts and defense stations, paired with minefields and hidden torpedo launchers.


    Meanwhile, my Rose goes to commandeer the local Astartes Chapter, called the Scythes_of_the_Emperor</a> with not much success. Space Marine are fiercely independent, and they were given this system by Roboute Guilliman himself.


    In the end, Rose is accepted by the Astartes, after a thorough examination of her Inquisitor credentials.


    I admit, I was a bit worried, but it seems she is the real thing. I mean, every Noble house has protocols for recognizing Inquisitors ingrained in their implants and studied as well, just like protocols for every government officials.


    Coded data engrams are emitted by the sanctified Rosetta emblems, and there are other ways to verify, including DNA scans and purity seals.


    The problem is, the Imperium hasn''t changed those protocols for 10 thousand years, and a crafty Chaos sorcerer or a traitor marine would know them as well.


    Surprisingly enough, my own presence seems the deciding factor, paired with Sergeant Ludvaius. It seems some rumors have reached even this distant Astartes Chapter.


    I deny everything, of course, even when invited to visit their citadel and examine some damaged machines or templates.


    I''m not a miracle worker, for Emperor''s sake.


    Still, I can help them a little, by replacing some old machines with my own models, as a trade.


    Broken Land Raider tanks might be useless for the marines, but I can trade them further to some Forge World.


    I intend to visit Triplex_Phall</a> soon, and perhaps Estaban_III</a>. I just need something valuable to trade, and the Scythes have just given me 40 valuable trade goods, even a broken Glaive</a> heavy tank.


    In return, I gifted them 4 brand-new Fellblades and 200 Hydra tanks, which made them quite pleased. But a thousand marines on my side are worth a tiny sacrifice.


    Even so, my Heavy armor company has grown in power significantly.


    Isolated as they were here on Sotha, this poor marine chapter was somehow forgotten, and they were too proud to ask the Mechanicus for new machines, or allow tech-priests to repair the broken ones.


    Well, their loss and possibly another big Favor for me. Especially if I can reverse-engineer the Volkite Carronade from the Glaive.


    That incendiary gun should work wonders on any organic target, including Tyranid bio-titans and the larger bio-ships.


    Deep structural scans take a whole week, and Minoris almost has a brain orgasm when touching the ancient gun.


    Rose has a dozen real orgasms instead, and she promises to unlock her contraceptive implant once we are free of this mission.


    Constructing the defenses, both in space and on the ground takes a whole year, and we only have to chase away a single Eldar scoutship.


    Still, the game is up. If one Farseer has seen us changing things, worse enemies will soon follow. The Eldars are masters at diverting enemies toward the Imperium, the sneaky Slaanesh victims.


    They know eternal suffering is their only fate, so they try to doom everyone else first.


    Rose keeps trying to unlock the security seals that guard the xeno Pharos. Inquisitorial privilege should be sufficient, yet it takes a long time, as every new seal reveals another lock door or forcefield barrier.


    The walls of the xeno bunker are quite impenetrable and using maximum firepower might damage the very mechanism we''re trying to access. So it takes time.


    Then the Warp opens and spills out a host of demonized ships, all painted red. At least 100 escort ships and 3 Grand Cruisers with unknown modifications.


    They are most likely Red Corsairs, not that I intend to ask for names.


    "Auspex sensors, all fleet, go autistic. Vox channels switch to Litany Sigma 03. Nothing may be sent or received except via the Litany." I demand in a command tone as the Machine Spirit starts warming up for combat.


    I bring up the system map, and feel my bodyguard''s hand on my shoulder. It''s a show of support and kindness, which is really appreciated.


    The Inquisitor is still underground, with a hundred space marines as her guard, while the entrance to the Pharos is guarded by two armor battalions and the Stormtrooper regiment.


    She should be alright...as long I can hold the orbitals.


    The Chaos worshipers advance at full speed, a bit faster than possible for those types of old warships. Well, logic is out already.


    They have some kind of magic user speeding them up. And psykers are very versatile.


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    "Chaos sorcerer presence confirmed. All ships crew prepare to receive boarders. By shuttle or teleport." I send out fleet wide.


    Wentian nods and stares at the greenish hologram in deep thought.


    "We need fighters out front. Then form a battle line while the Victory advances." he proposes after a minute of comparing strategy and tactics in his mind.


    I shake my head. Classic naval tactics, and relying of the sturdy battleship as an ice breaker.


    The traitors have studied the same manuals.


    If I wanted to win with 80 percent loses, I could use this tactic. But I''ve read enough history.


    Hannibal would have wasted these morons just as easily.


    Opening the command console, I start sending vectors to each ship individually. It only takes a minute, and will likely save most of our lives.


    Our formation opens up, as the Victory and the light cruisers and frigates start retreating behind the orbital defenses, while I lead 20 destroyers of the left flank, and the other battlecruiser leads 20 more destroyers in an wide arc to the right.


    Sure the planet will be exposed for some time, but that''s why the defenders of this agri-world are all rushing to dig in, under void shields and ground to orbit lasers.


    Lances and torpedoes start flying towards my ships, followed soon by Chaos fighters and bombers.


    But the range keeps getting larger as the flanking groups move away, and the center battlegroup falls back.


    Soon enough, the enemy fighters and torpedoes smash into our defenses, hitting mines or getting targeted by missiles and las-cannons. Even macro-cannons loaded with flak shells fire from the orbital forts, and decimate the incoming wave.


    Defensive fire from the frigates and cruisers finishes off the rest, with a single cruiser eating a lucky torpedo. Its void shield fails and the cruiser is ordered to flee and return when the damage has been repaired.


    "Group center. Launch fighters now. Hunt those bombers." I order as I compute intercept vectors in on my savant implant.


    A thousand space fighters, including some piloted by Scythes make short work of Chaos un-escorted bombers, blowing up the demon engines with little effort.


    The Litany tracks the Chaos fleet with the lance batteries, but I decide to hold fire for now.


    Waiting for their commander to commit his forces.


    I know he can''t peek into my mind or future, so he has no other option now. Retreat would be his best choice after losing his precious corrupted spacefighters.


    Then a destroyer to my port veers of, and heads for the planet.


    Damn it. A traitor captain, or perhaps a successful teleport. My lance batteries turn and collapse its void shield before it goes too far.


    "Group left. Ranged weapons only, target the defector. Immobilize, board and subdue it." I demand while scrolling through ship logs.


    There! The Machine Spirit did detect an energy spike, visible on the low infrared auspex. But I ordered them to be set on autistic mode, to prevent such events.


    Someone didn''t listen.


    "I repeat myself. Set all auspex and augury sensors in autistic mode. Do not give the enemy a way on board." I explain on the vox channel, still keeping watch on the movements of the Chaos fleet.


    It takes an hour for them to decide. Retreat would condemn the leaders to eternal suffering, as Chaos doesn''t tolerate failure.


    The three Grand Cruisers with a bunch of tentacles moving about head the charge, straight into the trap.


    "In groups of three, Group left destroyers engage their escorts." I announce on the vox channel.


    We leave the corrupted destroyer and two boarding destroyers behind and swing around, hitting the enemy in the flank, the course angled to pass behind them as they reach our center.


    A single assault shuttle filled with tech-priest and servitors stays to aid the recapture of the Illustrious sacrifice, the boarded destroyer.


    We launch our own torpedoes and fire every weapon at full strength. I do not intend to salvage Chaos infested ships, and scraps will be easier to push into the sun.


    Torpedoes are wonderful, especially with servitor pilots. My cruiser doesn''t misses even once, and the Machine Spirit is happy as we score a dozen kills with 24 torpedoes and an hour of constant battering demon infested hulls.


    Then the right enveloping attack arrives as well, just as the battleship starts pounding the Chaos ships with its formidable batteries.


    The damned traitors do not retreat and fight to the last, and I have to keep rotating damaged ships from the front line.


    The Chaos fleet launches assault landers on the planet, straight into the Scythe citadel, and Pharos air defense which is aided by Hydra tanks anti-air cover.


    Missiles and multi-lasers, along with fighters blow up half of them before they land, and our forts and frigates firing from orbit catch half of the remainders on landing, resulting in huge craters filled with melted armor and charred flesh.


    Then the Chaos sorcerer teleports just at the entrance of the xeno Pharos, and pushes through, losing most of his Traitor Terminators to Fellblade fire. Every other Chaos marine gets engaged by the Astartes company, and only the foul sorcerer escapes.


    By himself he struggles on, reaching the Inquisitor and her retinue.


    "How cute. A psyker." my Rose quips and holds up a finger accusingly.


    "Foolish woman, now...what is happening?" he yells in despair, as his powers vanish under a Blank aura.


    "I always loved digital weapons." The Inquisitor comments in a cool voice, as her ring discharges and vaporizes the head of the traitor.


    Justine nods in turn, and kicks the headless corpse, sending it back into the Warp, the red and burning soul still screaming in despair as it returns to Hell.


    "The outcome justifies the deed." my mother murmurs in a low tone.

 Pharos 18

    I maintained the communication blackout for another week, directing destroyers and frigates to vaporize small hull fragments and bodies, while the cruisers took on the harder task of collecting and pushing the larger wrecks into the system''s sun.


    Only when the all clear from the surface came, on the vox channel, did I lift the blackout, after all the enemies that have landed have been accounted for.


    No prisoners as it happens. What would I ask the cretins?


    Where is their secret base? Who is their leader? Would you please repent and come back to the good side?


    Fuck that. I had a much better tool at my disposal than some lying traitor.


    And two months later, Rose did get access to the Pharos, the alien device possibly built by the Old Ones.


    "The Old One doesn''t play dice" is a famous quote from a famous Physicist from the past. Who knew Einstein was actually right?


    But I bet he didn''t imagine the galaxy inhabited by demons and xenos by the trillions, while many of those xenos, like the Ork, Eldar and Jokaero were created by the Old Ones to combat the C''tan and the Necrons.


    Taking my Mona Lisa lander, I descend on the surface, observing the devastation wreaked by the small number of traitor marine that have managed to reach the planet.


    Every one of the powered armored traitors had the capability of a powerful tank, but much more agile and mobile. Less than a company of Chaos marines survived, and almost broke through an armor regiment and an Astartes Chapter.


    Almost.


    The Inquisition''s Stormtrooper regiment suffered the worst, without heavy tanks and power armor to balance the odds. A dozen Chimeras and a thousand Guards died for every single traitor they managed to kill.


    A sad remainder that humans were too weak in the face of this galaxy''s horrors.


    Oberdeii, the marine''s Chapter Master meets me as I land, and shakes my hand. "A great victory for the Emperor, Lord Lancefire!" he announces as his brothers cheer in loud voices.


    I almost sigh inward. I did very little, except stopping others from making mistakes. Didn''t even manage a perfect record of that.


    "Glad to be of service, my lord. I intend to enter the Pharos myself, if that''s alright?" I wonder in a humble tone.


    This guy is almost twice my height with his power armor and two large scythes on his back. Makes me feel small and weak.


    "For your service, I will allow it, Captain. Don''t touch anything though. Warsmith Barabas Dantioch has studied the ancient device for many years before he could attempt to delve into its mysteries." the Astartes leader says in a colder voice.


    Yeah, he doesn''t like a stranger nosing into the Pharos, since he was named Warden by Primarch Guilliman.


    However, he does owe me a bit, and he knows it.


    The halls of the Pharos are made of some sort of living rock, and I feel sensations and emotions brush against my mind.


    Almost like a Machine Spirit, though without the familiar babble of prayers and recitations.


    Some time later, after passing endless tunnels and stairs and barriers we reach the central chamber, where an alien machine called the Sounding Board controls the artifact.


    It does look a bit like a DJ console, with a myriad of tuning dials and flips and tabs and gauges.


    As I get closer, I start sensing the operation manual downloading into my mind. It seems the machine has deemed me compatible. Must be my implants.


    Beside the beacon, it''s known function and the reason it was called a Pharos, or lighthouse, I sense other directions and currents.


    I could step on Ultramar with ease, if I want. I could also lock on to Gyron and bring him here. Or just say hi in his mind.


    I do so anyways.


    "It''s Pef, my mentor. I met Justine and she says thanks." I tell him in a gleeful tone.


    "I thought you couldn''t use astropaths... If that''s really you." the Explorator Magos says in a suspicious voice. Mind voice.


    "Well, I can''t prove anything from this far away. Anyhow. Justine works with this pretty Lady Inquisitor, and she has access to some mind device that works even for Blanks. Cool, right?" I ask rhetorically.


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    "You didn''t!" Gyron exclaims sensing something in my thoughts.


    "Errr. We''re not getting married, me and Rose. Just some bed-fun while I help her with some task. By the way, please send a full transport to every Forge around. I will travel to Estaban soon." I explain while waving politely at my Rose.


    "I''m convinced now. Only my idiot pupil would have a fling with an Inquisitor and call it fun. May the Omnissiah guard your soul!" Gyron says with relief and admonishment.


    I change targets to my son, Victor and check on Ilevar, my capital. Everything seems okay, except a new Emperor cult has risen among the lower caste...which makes people more faithful and pliant.


    Victor seems rather happy.


    "Interrogate and execute all the cult leaders. And find what alien is behind it." I order with an inner snort. Good things do not happen in Hell.


    If they do, it''s only a long term plot to undermine the planet for easier conquest. Eldar, Genestealer or Chaos, someone would be behind such a cult and ruin my day.


    "Find anything, Lord Pef?" The Inquisitor asks, as I''ve been staring at the glowing console for a long time.


    "Yes. I''ll need some armchairs and food brought down." I say without explaining.


    Ludvaius pats my head in a familiar gesture. "You never fail to amaze, Captain Pef. A thousand tech-priests and the Inquisitor fail to make any progress and you do it in a minute."


    Lord Oberdeii nods at me with some respect. He probably knows what I could do now, since his Warmaster had similar control over the sounding board. Nothing to do with sound I suspect, perhaps only as cosmic vibrations and energies.


    I don''t reveal anything, because demons. Secrets are only safe in my head, and perhaps with my mother or my son.


    Those that are not Blanks can always turn into enemies, or much easier than a Blank anyway.


    An hour later, I lounge in my armchair and sip some wine, while Rose and Justine drink tea and chat in a soft whisper.


    Repairs and reclamation on Sotha and in orbit continue without my guidance, as the Imperium of Man is quite used to clean up operations after being invaded. Happens everywhere, even on Terra itself.


    It takes a full week to get a grip on the main controls, and locate the Necron capital among a billion other systems in this sector. Not easy, but I get lucky sometimes.


    Then. I simply move the light beam of the Pharos lighthouse on a new target, although it''s not a beam nor a light. The focus is tighter too, to avoid splashing nearby human planets.


    Rose opens her eyes wide, while she stares at her tarot cards, the human method of reading the future. The psychic cards themselves float in midair, spin a few times as if confused, and fall down in a different pattern.


    Mission complete!


    "We''ll need a bigger fleet." I say out loud, without trying to look at the shifting figures on the tarot.


    If a mere tarot card reacts like this, the Gods of this galaxy will react much worse.


    Rose steps away and smiles at me for a second, then she vanishes in a violet flash. Teleport is so useful...


    There''s only me and Justine here, with my Astartes standing guard a few meters behind.


    "Your gift was very useful, mother. That sorcerer didn''t stand a chance." I say in praise.


    She nods shyly, probably not used to compliments. "He was very strong though. Took all my focus to lock him down."


    "I suspect it''s like a muscle, mother. You need training and practice, then low level enemies to test yourself. Just like any soldier trains." I advise her in a gentle tone. Justine blinks and smiles.


    The Astartes steps beside me and stops me before I take another gulp of wine. "You also need to know when to stop and rest. Space marines have superior bodies, you don''t, Lord Pef. No more wine."


    I grit my teeth and sigh in defeat. Perhaps he is right.


    "I was among the few, who stood against many. The brother who spilled his brothers'' blood."


    00111100000001


    Okay then. I can take a hint. Although the damned quotes should come with the source, or they lack proper context.


    Drawing a lever, the armchair lowers and I drift into sleep.

 Discovery 19

    While our troops and ships at Sotha prepare for the next inevitable invasion, I return to my favorite pastime.


    And since the planet is an agri-world, there are dozens of STC templates that I can obtain and engineer, as well as test and donate my other designs to the farms and merchants.


    Of course, a normal Rogue Trader would try to sell such machines as luxuries and receive millions of thrones in return. But my goals are much, much greater than mere peddling goods from one system to another, like most Rogue Traders do.


    Good will is also much more precious.


    A squad of Scythe space marines join my retinue without paying a single throne. Lead by a slightly rookie Captain Mansirius Thrasius of the 3rd Company, this squad is tasked with keeping the secret of the Pharos, by guarding my person.


    It is called the Oath of Moment</a>, also known as the "Aegidan Oath". This Oath of Moment was kept within Mount Pharos, a parchment signed by Roboute Guilliam himself.


    Now that I know the secret, I am quite valuable for the Scythes.


    Either way, they will not allow me to fall into enemy hands. Probably they are ordered to shoot me, if I seem to get captured.


    I wonder if Ludvaius has the same orders. Who I am kidding? Of course, he does.


    The Imperium is known to have destroyed entire planets, even whole marine Chapters to keep some secrets.


    Poor Pef doesn''t rank that high anyway.


    Possibly only the Inquisitor''s presence and company has turned fate in my favor.


    The politics of the Imperium are literally cut-throat, in this case: mine.


    Six months later, just as I finish a brand-new template for a tractor-harvester and tried to work once more on the Gellar generator, another fleet arrives.


    Luckily it''s the reinforcements that Rose has called for, another Victory battleship, two Mars-class battlecruisers armed with nova cannons and an Overlord-class_Battlecruiser</a> armed with many lance batteries.


    There is a method to the fleet requests, as long range fire is more desirable for defense, plus the lack of munitions would make macro-cannons a liability here in the Eastern Fringe.


    A squadron of 20 more frigates and 20 destroyers form the extra escorts.


    Immediately, we begin updating the combat protocols for the newly arrived ships, as well as moving some torpedoes to the ships that have already expended theirs.


    The Imperial Navy needs fleet tenders, transport ships that can resupply a fleet when away from a naval base, but due to politics, the Mechanicus will not allow forges on Naval ships, and the Navy will not allow Mechanicus ships in their battlegroups.


    There are some exceptions, like Inquisitor Black ships, various Ecclesiastic battleships or the Battle Barges of the Astartes that can freely join any group they want, just like renowned Rogue Traders can.


    I eye the nice Overlord Battlecruiser with hungry eyes. I would like a few of those for myself...but even if I could convince a Forge World to build one for me... I''d still have to wait 800 to 1000 years. If I''m lucky and that forge is not attacked in the meantime.


    Nearly every Navy Captain grumbles when I explain how to use or not use the auspex and augury sensors, then how to move the ships on my exact vectors.


    "That destroyer you see being repaired in orbit? Didn''t listen and was taken over by teleporting boarders. Saved me a bolt round as their Captain was found half melted into his chair. The brain was still alive though. He is now a happy servitor for the Mechanicus." I comment in a careless tone.


    We try a few fleet maneuvers, though without live firing expendable ammunition. There are never enough torpedoes.


    Just as the fleet speeds away on their agreed practice zones, the void opens up to unleash the next surprise.


    A Necron cruiser and a couple of escorts. They possibly don''t like getting targeted by our beacon, and getting swarmed by tyranids like a flock of cats would run after a laser pointer.


    "Desist your foolish plans humans!" the Necron Lord speaks on my vox bead, before I manage to send the blackout order.


    The Machine Spirit does it for me, a sure sign a cruiser''s spirit is at least sentient if not sapient.


    Then I focus on spreading the ships even more, to cover the planet from all sides, while the battlecruisers and battleships accelerate towards the xeno ships, firing all weapons.


    Light cruisers act as escorts, while the actual escorts keep a wary distance from the powerful Necron beam weapons.


    It''s difficult to target and hit the more advanced Necron ships, a dozen of their light units returning heavy levels of fire, just like our battlecruisers can.


    Their only cruiser has battleship strength weapons, and one Victory-class battleship has to turn away after losing two void shields.


    I urge the Litany to move in the free slot, and unload our special torpedoes once we get in range. From 24 torpedoes only 3 hit the Necron cruiser, but it is enough.


    Ensure your favorite authors get the support they deserve. Read this novel on the original website.The Necron vessel is damaged and slows down, then takes a Nova cannon straight on, and our heavies pound the fried cruiser to scrap.


    Their light escort flee, after blowing up a destroyer, the one under repair. Unlucky ship, and the first ship under my command to be lost.


    We only manage to blow one more Necron escort before the ships vanish.


    However, compared to other encounters with the Necrons where the Navy lost a dozen ships for a single kill, I still managed to do better.


    Rose seems very pleased with my command and lets me keep the post.


    "Don''t worry about the lost Cobra, my dear. I fear we will lose many more ships soon." she whispers to me in private.


    I sadly have to agree. The Chaos will return, and humanity has many other enemies.


    The ships enter a new repair and rearm cycle while I return to Sotha to check the Sounding board for real time news.


    On Ilevar there''s a small rebellion, and we had lost a thousand grenadiers rooting out some ugly Genestealer infiltrator, guarded by brainwashed zealots.


    Retribution was attacked by an Ork Rok, but we had a million armed servitors to massacre the million Orks. The Tech-priests are rather amused by the pathetic invasion.


    Antax has received the first transport ship filled with relics, and are extremely grateful.


    Gyron is loading up two more ships for Metalica and Tigrus, but the Navigators are worried about the changed position of the psychic beacon. They urge him to wait a year or two for the Immaterium currents to settle.


    The citadel of the Scythes gets a thousand tech-priests to oversee the exterior defenses, building sentry turrets and minefields, and posting more combat servitors beside the auxiliary regiments of the Astartes.


    Sadly, the marines are too paranoid and won''t let the Mechanicus upgrade their void shields or repair some broken machines.


    Instead, they have an entire Company sent to be trained as tech-marines, so they can do repairs themselves. It''s something I guess, though I doubt we''ll have enough time for that plan to work.


    I am teaching my own Astartes guards all I can, from officer courses and some basic science or logic. It''s hard work, not because they are stupid but because they are too faithful.


    Then again, they are implanted with the geneseed carrying the essence of the Emperor.


    Having Gyron as a long range contact has calmed my fears a bit, because he was the one who raised me, in place of my warrior father or missing mother.


    I mean, it was a second life...but I was still a child, with all that implies. These days I would compare my education to a few doctorates in various sciences and a war academy.


    So yes, I am grateful to Gyron even though I suspect he had other projects involved with his mentorship, beside doing the Inquisition a favor.


    Doing it myself, with my own children, so can''t throw a stone for this.


    I decide to test the Pharos displacement ability by sending the newly born kids directly to Ilevar. It takes some misdirection to bring a few young kids inside tool boxes and have them return empty to my cruiser but It eventually works.


    Serena receives the kids in a warm pool, because I wasn''t certain how high or low the translation would send them.


    And with the transfer proved possible a new era begins.


    Instantaneous travel across stellar distances is a huge deal, for me and my close allies.


    It''s probably heresy to use xeno artifacts without the Inquisition''s blessing. I better consult Rose on this, and figure out a system to use it.


    Sending agents across the system or inserting assassins would be quite valuable for her work.


    I wait til we''re alone in bed, before I explain while she is filled with happy thoughts and endorphins.


    "It is a nice discovery, my dear. Too bad it needs someone to operate it with his mind. Atranos could use a vacation on Cypra Mundi</a>, and try to obtain some more ships." my beloved Inquisitor muses out loud.


    I hug her naked body closer, and draw her into a long kiss. "The weasel guy?" I ask to make sure.


    "Careful there. He will be an Inquisitor soon enough. A few more missions to harden himself. However, your mother is hopeless. Decent assassin I suppose, but she needs constant guidance and support." Rose murmurs in my neck.


    I sadly have to agree. Justine is scared of her own shadow. Literally. Her Blank aura terrifies her, although it is such a potent weapon against all the Warp monsters or Warp users.


    The similar tyranid ability is called a Shadow in the warp, a warp presence that can blockade entire star systems from Navigators and astropaths.


    Now, if only I can give humanity the same ability.


    "My mother should not be wasted like this. I could use a thousand brothers, just like me." I mutter softly, and notice Ludvaius perk up at once.


    He thumbs up at me secretly, though Rose can obviously sense his movements.


    Rose hums inward, then turns to look at the Blood Angel marine. "Like him, you mean. But sane."


    I nod in silence. Sanity would be great.

 Kraken 20

    In another year, using the bigger fleet at my disposal and thousands of tech-priests and a million servitors we have constructed a rather solid defense ring around the planet, iron and nickel, even iridium and tungsten filled asteroids dragged into orbit and fortified with spare or improvised weapons.


    My on-board forge is churning more missiles and las-cannons now, after it made a thousand plasma reactors to be installed as power sources for the new forts.


    Sadly we''re on limited supplies of torpedoes, and those need a full Forge World to get produced. I asked Antax''s Fabricator to send me everything they can spare, torpedoes and fighters and bombs and perhaps another Manufactorum ship.


    Their help doesn''t arrive in time.


    A small hive fleet descends upon Sotha, possibly drawn by the psychic emitter of the Pharos</a>.


    It''s only a thousand bio-ships, but they are scary enough. Rose and all the psykers in the fleet are useless now, and some of them faint or gibber in near madness.


    I order all of them sedated and kept close to the Gellar fields. Damn Tyranids and their suppressive powers.


    Humanity lacks long range FTL communications and depends of astropaths. And while I could fake an astropath, the empathic mind link of the Pharos needs some form of soul connection to the target.


    I can barely trust a few people with that, so calling for help from strangers is out. They would probably suspect me of being a demon anyway.


    The bio ships warp gravity and move quite fast, although they slow down significantly as they approach the sun''s gravity.


    I can already foresee how to use this weakness against them, but I don''t have gravity based weapons. Not yet.


    The savant implant is engaged at full strength as I compile a battleplan in my mind.


    "All ships, group in tight formation with escorts as close as possible, just behind our forts. Mars and Light cruisers detach to the left and defend the fort line." I command, while glancing at Wentian.


    My uncle is pale white and trembles a little, although the fight hasn''t even started. I have two Navy Admirals on my bridge, and they seem just as scared, although they control themselves better.


    The auspex crew all look at me with hope in their eyes. Not a miracle worker, guys!


    "This horror fights neither for power nor territory, but rather to feed a hunger so insatiable that it will eventually devour the entire galaxy."


    00011110000


    Yes, I think I even recognize that quote. But thanks.


    "Flanking tactics do not work on the bugs, Rogue Trader." one of the Admirals explains in a polite voice.


    I nod in acceptance. "Perhaps that''s true, Admiral. Still...these Nids don''t have a Queen. I would be ashamed if we lose a single ship again." I add with a thin smile.


    The crew perks up and the Navy guys blink in disbelief.


    My Astartes guard pats my shoulder and points at holoscreen. "Another old Terran history lesson, Lord Pef?"


    Sadly yes. I can learn from the bad guys too. Fortifications tend to make troops to squash themselves against the closest defensive barrier, like a wall or road ditch.


    But if you have a weapon positioned to fire along that wall or ditch, from the side? It''s called enfilade. The cruelest type of massacre.


    The light cruisers extend the line to the left, still behind the asteroid barrier, with the Mars cruisers ending the line, almost out of their firing range.


    The hive fleet dives straight for the planet, hungry for biomass.


    Our fighters hold station to defend the ships from boarding pods and spores. But torpedoes and lance batteries begin wreaking havoc on the closely packed bio-ships.


    The frigates and destroyers support the line with close range fire. A barrage of fire and death holds the incoming wave at the fort line, and the forts themselves fire continuously from point-blank range.


    The tyranids bunch up yet again, trying to force their way through by sheer numbers. As our torpedoes get expended, they seem to almost succeed.


    "Mars cruisers, advance beyond the fort line and execute high energy turn towards the enemy. Fire your Nova_Cannon</a> at optimal range." I command as the Tyranids ships manage to shatter a few forts and break through.


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    I unleash the Litany''s last torpedoes at the writhing swarm of tendrils and hungry mouths. A dozen wounded void organisms explode in a shower of gore and guts and plasma.


    The lance batteries finish off the dying bio ships before they can extend harpoons and tendrils to grapple my ship.


    "Voids shields to maximum!" I shout of the vox channel.


    A blue flare passes over my fleet, and then two blinding lights as the Nova Cannons detonate in the midst of the huge Tyranid swarm.


    Our auspex sensors are blinded for a minute, but as the windows lose the protective tint I can simply look out the window. More than half of the hive fleet is gone and the survivors are all bleeding and floating listless.


    "Destroyers, target the smallest bioships individually. Capital ships, focus fire on the largest enemies that remain. Frigates, maintain protective cover. Light cruisers, free to engage as well, at high speed." I send on a fleet wide channel.


    Without autistic sensors, I do have a much clearer view of the battlefield.


    It''s almost like playing an RTS. With a bolter to your head if you mess up.


    The Litany begs in mind to be sent forward as well and rip the enemy to shreds. Not yet, buddy.


    "Long range augury, maximum power to x-ray scanners." I ask my cousin manning the console.


    We have the extra 7 percent range and an enemy might not be cautious enough.


    "Contact, far range, above elliptic. Eldar ship possibly." the auspex station reports just as the Eldar engage their holographic field and vanish.


    I sigh inward. Damn elves with future seeing powers. They may be sneaky and crafty, but the Tyranids are invisible for them just like I am. And soon, their Craftworld will cross the path of the largest tendril from Hive Fleet Kraken.


    No need to beg them to help. They will fight or be eaten alive.


    I just worry what other foe they might send next. Probably the Orks.


    Even with two battleships and the whole supporting fleet it will be bad, since a large Waaagh ignores physical laws.


    I just wonder why they are trying to save the Necrons.


    Damn it. Xeno minds and xeno reasons. Probably trying to revive some dead Eldar God. Or just weaken the Imperium. Probably both of these reasons and a dozen more.


    Thousands of tyranids spores survive our blockade and make landing on Sotha, and I order the nearest ships to fire beam weapons at the landing sites.


    It''s orbital bombardment and not friendly fire. A quarter of the planet bursts into huge forest fires and volcanic eruptions and a million civilians die.


    They won''t be eaten alive, so it''s perhaps Emperor''s Mercy.


    Our fighters and frigates strain to contain the invasion, and on the ground the regiments and the marines fight the tyranids organisms in close combat, too close for orbital fire support.


    The Litany unloads all the krak missiles and lets them descend through the atmosphere in near free fall, before engaging the long range cogitators and target the biggest bugs they can find.


    Like the fists of the Emperor, krak missiles impact the hated enemies at tremendous speed shattering their carapace armor and explode deep inside.


    With this final aid, the regiments and the Scythe marines, aided by the tech-priests and servitors have a larger chance of victory, as the tyranid forces are denied their greatest champions.


    "You can go, if you want. I''ll be in my study room." I tell my guard marines, including Ludvaius.


    With a polite nod, the Scythe squad and the Deathwatch marine check the auspex sensors one last time before rushing for an assault shuttle.


    Combat is bred into them, and a dozen space marines would turn the tide even more.


    Ludvaius pats my head and stays. "Not getting rid of me so easily, sneaky trader." he comments as Minoris glances at me in confusion.


    "That was quick, Revelator. Did we lose a ship again?" he asks me with childish innocence.


    "Nah. I haven''t drank wine for a week. My cogitators worked at full efficiency today, so zero loses." I explain, half-joking.


    Then I open a bottle and take a long gulp. The taste is...damn it. Who drugged my wine?


    As I fall into my armchair, I see Justine hold her thumb up at Ludvaius.

 Revelation 21

    There is a lesson in my mother''s actions. This time it was a soporific drug, but an assassin could use something much more lethal.


    I can''t help but be a little wary of her, as the notion that I have a mother near me was so overwhelming I forgot her true identity.


    How much of her helpless act was a farce or real?


    Decima holds out a cup of real caf, in the morning. Ship morning anyway, since on Sotha there would be all the time zones at once.


    "Thanks love." I say with a grateful smile.


    "All the officers on the ground are dead." she announces in a grave voice.


    I frown and power up the implant. All of them?


    "And their replacements?" I ask with trepidation.


    "Them too. Some type of Tyranid monkeys with sharp claws. They can tear through tank armor."


    I hum to myself, scrolling through my mental database. Genestealers.


    Luckily, the grenadiers and the armored regiment''s officers were simple nobles or promoted veterans.


    "The Battle-brothers lost many of our own, Captain. The tyranids almost broke into the fortress-monastery. Without the unexpected arrival of your personal guard...well. It would have been much worse." my own Astartes guard explains in a calm voice.


    I know that voice though. Ludvaius uses it when death is near.


    With tyranid access to the Scythe Chapter''s geneseed banks, I am afraid to contemplate what could happen. Genestealers could manufacture or grow at least Titan-sized organisms, but in the millions.


    As bad as they are in space, the damn Nids are a thousand times worse on the ground or even deep underground.


    At least this wasn''t a Hive world, so civilian losses are comparatively small, despite the wide scale destruction.


    "I need to speak with the Chapter Master." I tell Ludvaius in-between gulps of warm caf. Not quite coffee, but close enough.


    He just stares at me.


    "Dead?" I ask in surprise. The old marine Commander was a legend from the old times, a contemporary of Primarchs and the living Emperor. He couldn''t die so easy.


    "The Tech-priests have recovered his brain and allowed him to speak once more. But Oberdeii refuses to be sustained by a metal body. He named Captain Thorcyra as the new Chapter Master. Xenophon, a Hunter-class_Destroyer</a> has also arrived with the rest of the Scythes, and they have begun purging the xenos at full strength." the space marine concludes in a sad voice.


    I frown and set the caf away, just as Rose arrives and gestures Decima to leave. To her credit, my wife asks me wordlessly for consent.


    "You leave as well, Ludvaius. The Inquisition has big secrets too." I explain politely and nod towards the door.


    He listens this time, and leaves taking Decima with him. "Yes, my Rose?" I ask politely and start warming my shoulders and back.


    Perhaps it''s time to begin the anti-aging treatment already. I''m only human, and I have grandkids already.


    Get my clan gene treatments as well. Loyal people were worth their cost.


    "The Xenophon encountered a large Hive fleet heading this way. It was only the beacon shift that saved them, as their course changed by a tiny degree." my lover announces in a stern tone, her face filled with worry.


    "More tyranids...and we''re fresh out of munitions." I muse out loud, and hug the Inquisitor to my side.


    She nods and leans into me. "At least we gave the Necrons a bloody nose. Astropaths report sixteen tyranids fleets heading for Mandragora."


    I lean over and power up the cogitator on my desk. The system opens on the holoscreen, Sotha surrounded by forts and debris, and 150 ships that will barely blunt a big bug swarm.


    "There are positions that must not be defended, battles that must not be fought." I quote from old memories. "We evacuate Sotha. Armor and rock to seal the Pharos. And...incineration." I mutter to myself. Sometimes the best way to win is not to fight.


    "The marines will not listen." she complains in a low voice.


    I think on that for a minute. It is a bit too soon, but I don''t have to promise a timeline. "They will. Get me a meeting with Oberdeii and Thorcyra, sealed by the Inquisition."


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    Rose blinks and takes out her Rosette. "Yet another amazing secret, miracle worker?" she asks rhetorically.


    I almost nod, before I stop. "Secrets are of the past. For the future, we call them visions."


    She smiles and holds out her Tarot cards. "In flux, the future is. And yet you''re certain of this vision?"


    "Primarch Guilliman will return. I know it will happen. The Eldar know it too. And now you do." I whisper the great secret while loading the Gellar STC design and spinning it around, hoping to find anything of use.


    The phase iron components should have worked perfectly, but they didn''t. Somehow, the Warp still managed to get through. Perhaps it was not the machine itself, but its spirit?


    Cloned Blank tissue, or perhaps Pariah nerves and neurons? Justine was the key of this conundrum.


    "I heard of rumors, the Primarch''s cursed wound healing under stasis field. Would a Gellar field help?" Rose asks while glancing at my modified design with suspicion.


    This broken machine? It can barely protect a small corvette, and even that not very well.


    I shake my head. "If only it was that simple. Guilliman needs a God to help him. One such as Ynnead</a>, the God of Death. Not sure why, as Eldar are beyond me just like Necrons. Perhaps a test, or stirring more revolt and bloodshed."


    Rose is still an Inquisitor, and an Ordo Xenos at that. "There is only one true God, the Emperor of Humanity!" she yells at me in a pysker scream.


    "There are other species in the universe, my dear. Yes, we have our Emperor. But Orks have Mork or Gork, the Eldar have others...even the Blood Angels have an incipient divine spirit: the Sanguinator. Not to mention the great enemy." I say in a peaceful tone, and sipping more caf.


    Sadly, the drink has gone cold, just like my Rose.


    "You want an alliance with the Eldar? The treacherous, slimy, craven..." The Inquisitor growls and seems rather pissed.


    "I am not that important, my Rose. I know of it, but nobody asked me. It will happen anyway, at levels high above ours. The point is, the Scythes will follow me into Hell for this. And we get to exterminate a million Tyranid ships." I tell her in a soft voice, and draw her into a hug.


    Slowly she calms down, and resumes her normal demeanor. "Into Hell. You''re bolder than I thought, my dear trader. And I suppose you want me to join you?"


    I kiss her neck and ear gently. "You need to think bigger, my love. A revived Primarch as a test. Who else is wounded to death?"


    Rose tenses in my arms, and grabs me tight. "Truly?" she asks in a breathless voice.


    "Eventually, yes. And even then, that''s only one goal of mine. You felt the Shadow in the warp, right?" I proclaim in a level tone.


    "Damn tyranid ability. It''s horrible!" she says with revulsion.


    "Now imagine humanity, with the same power. Immunity to Warp and demonic influence. No more mutations. No more sorcerers or xenos starting cults with fake miracles." I whisper as my hands grope and squeeze her full buttocks.


    "Like mother, like son, huh?" she growls in my ear and bites it too.


    I fall on the bed and begin kissing my Rose all over, exploiting the moment for fun and profit.


    The Inquisitor is more skilled and better trained, so I quickly lose and get ridden like a bull. I don''t mind losing though.


    Much later, she rests on my chest and thinks it over. "We depend on psykers for galactic wide navigation and communications. If we all become Blanks..."


    I caress her soft back, where scars can still be felt from some intense surgery or torture training.


    "Yes, we do. You realize all of that is going through the enemy domain? They can see everything we send via astropaths. They can see our ships and what''s inside. They can see into our minds and souls. And they can change it with some effort. We resist with prayer or logic, with Gellar fields or phase iron, but it''s not a good strategy, is it?" I wonder out loud.


    "What else can we do?" she asks in a moment of weakness.


    Well then, my beloved Rose. Glad you asked.

 Fist 22

    Escorted by Ludvaius and followed by Rose and her retinue, I take the Mona Lisa and land on the planet, right next to the wreckage of the citadel.


    A Neophyte</a> marine with a flamethrower is casually incinerating bodies, while further away tech-priests and servitors perform binharic rites and convert the wounded into undying servants of the Omnissiah.


    Nobody bats an eye at the scene, even though I can barely keep myself from hurling at the smells and sights.


    War, war never changes...not the smell of death, not the burning buildings and the cries of the orphans.


    Hopefully everyone still alive will get evacuated after I talk with the Astartes.


    A dead body jumps up and sprints towards me, glass-like claws emerging from its hands. Ludvaius swings his Power Maul like a feather and crushes the infected body into a pulp.


    All around, dozens of more bodies begin rising, undead but infected with tyranid synapses. A Deathguard draws his bolter and unloads his clip in a single second, scoring a dozen headshots without breaking stride.


    I contribute too, my Hellpistol firing blazing hot beams and blasting a single enemy into Hell with only three shots. Then I search around, but there aren''t anymore targets.


    Rose giggles and blows softly on her fingertips, violet flames disappearing by magic.


    "At least you didn''t panic." she comments while Ludvaius holds a thumb up in praise.


    "The time to panic is after the fight is over." I declare, trying to sound cool. A Deathwatch snorts amused, so it probably didn''t work.


    Then I check the more distant Neophytes, catching a few giggles aimed at us. A damn prank, using live enemies. Possibly Astartes humor, macabre as it may be.


    Justine steps beside me, and checks me over seeming worried. "You''re too slow" she announces in a sad voice.


    I just shrug and walk faster. Damn killers all of them. I''m a thinker not a damn grunt.


    A bit later, our guards stop as the Scythes honor guard takes over the escort. Not even Ludvaius is allowed into their sacred sanctuary.


    Just me and Rose, and a thousand space marines, and perhaps ten times as many Aspirants.


    These are recruits undergoing testing, selected from the local population. They don''t look so tough, not yet. I could probably take one, if I''m wearing my power armor, and he doesn''t.


    I expect many of them will be inducted early and assigned as Neophytes to replenish lost brothers. The marines spend lives with same ease as they spend bolter rounds.


    Then again...I do the same thing, on an even larger scale.


    One ship would have thousands of crew if it was small and millions for a battleship. The regiments under my command are much the same, line infantry regiments reaching 40 thousand guardsmen while armor regiments have much fewer soldiers but greater firepower.


    "Chapter Master Thorcyra, congratulations on the promotion." I tell the man with a small nod.


    He stares at me in silence, then turns towards the Inquisitor. "We will listen to your maverick commander, Inquisitor. My Chaplain is bringing the coffin with Captain Oberdeii, right now."


    Yeah, I don''t amount to much right now, because Astartes respect only strength. But knowledge is power too. And that''s my chosen field of battle.


    Soon enough, the former Chapter Master is floated inside the lavish meeting room, filled with purity seals and campaign trophies. Skulls, severed arms holding weapons, flags and armor bits.


    "The Chaplain can stay. He has seen the tyranid fleet, right?" I ask to make sure.


    "I have. I was on board the Xenophon when it dropped out of Warp right next to the xeno bugs." Hornindal says proudly.


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    "What do you need of me, Lord Pef? I am waiting to die and join the Emperor." Oberdeii asks from his coffin.


    I glance at Rose and nod.


    "These words are forever sealed under Inquisition''s mandate as the Agent of the Throne. Is this understood?" she demands in a warped voice that tingles in the back of mind. Some kind of engram spell was infused in the words.


    The three marines agree with some reluctance.


    "I am Rogue Trader Pef Lancefire. You may dismiss me as a merchant or profiteer, like many such Captains are. But my Warrant right here says: The bearer of this Warrant speaks with Our Imperial Voice. And I tell you, the Primarchs will return. Roboute Guilliman first, and then more." I proclaim in my sternest voice.


    I admit I practiced it a little, though using different words. It works, and how it works.


    The Chaplain explodes in a golden glow, his eyes burning with bluish warplight. A scroll in his hand amplifies the light a dozen times. A feeling of wrongness washes over me and I feel my knees give way.


    Damn psykers! At least this one is friendly...for a minimal definition of the word.


    "I don''t feel any taint, Captain." the spiritual leader of the Scythes declares after a long minute.


    To the side, Rose is polishing her nails without a care. I mean, there''re no organs or brains flying around yet, so it must be okay.


    With some effort I rise to my feet and push forward, then punch the crazy marine in the jaw. I think my wrist breaks inside the power armor anyway.


    "Enough, Brother Hornindal!" the Chapter Master commands in a sharp tone, and the glow lowers ten times, but not entirely.


    I rub my wrist and wait for the Astartes to talk, but the man turns toward the coffin. "You know this man better than me, brother. Is he mad?"


    A short metallic laugh sounds from the coffin. "He deciphered the use of Pharos in a few minutes. And you''ve seen the ring of forts in our orbit. Plus...he has the Warrant."


    "I asked Lord Pef to divert the psychic beacon on the Necron world of Mandragora. The attempt was successful beyond belief. Hive fleet Kraken is changing course, ignoring human worlds and eliminating the ancient menace like attack dogs. Soon, the Necron Dynasty will be crushed under trillions of tyranid organisms." Rose speaks in my support, making the Chaplain perk up in wonder.


    "Wonderful news, if it could save humanity from both threats at once." he remarks in a hopeful voice.


    "You forget one thing, Lord Hornindal. Sotha is emitting a powerful psychic beam of stellar intensity to illuminate the Necron capital in the Warp. And that hive fleet you had encountered is coming here to investigate, and eat any lifeforms it finds. Trees, crops, animals or people...it''s all the same for the Hive." I explain in polite voice then step away before he remembers I punched him. If he even felt it.


    "You have a plan for another flawless victory?" the Chapter Master wonders with a piercing gaze. Well, I wish I could...but I lack the tools to build the weapons I would need for something like this.


    "Somewhat. I have a plan to exterminate this hive fleet and save everyone on Sotha. You won''t like it, but you can complain to your Primarch about my crazy ideas." I answer with a shrug.


    Rose turns around and leaves without a word.


    "What plan? Speak already, damn trader!" Obredaii asks from its coffin.


    "Well, we have this big fleet here, enough to load everyone on board. Then you change location and let me kill all the nids by myself. I always wanted to see the Exterminatus in action." I say with a joking voice and turn around to jog after Rose.


    I don''t get very far, of course. Damn marines are too fast.


    An armored hand catches my throat and turns me around.


    "You''re too slow." the damn Chaplain explains politely, and punches me with his other hand. His wrist doesn''t break.

 Exterminatus 23

    I wake up in a Medicae bed, and groggily open my eyes to see my big friend smile at me in praise.


    "You punched an Astartes, Lord Pef! Even more, you''re still alive. The Emperor must be watching over you." Ludvaius declares proudly and turns to the side, to let Decima and Hanna come to my side.


    My mouth is bound by metal wires, so I can''t say anything clever. Not that my actions were that clever anyway. Brave but foolish, yes.


    Hanna extends a thin straw and pours soup down my throat, while Decima checks my plumbing for some reason.


    "You haven''t grown balls of steel, my Lord Captain. I was worried for a moment." she quips in a teasing voice and pats them gently.


    I''ll never hear the end of it, will I?


    "Rest and heal, Pef. The evacuation has already begun." Hanna whispers in a loving voice and kisses my cheek. It doesn''t hurt, so I must be rather well anesthetized.


    Oh well. If I''m to stay in bed for a while...might as well rest a bit.


    I drift into sleep again.


    A week later I can move my hands again, and ask for my cogitator. The flesh is weak, but my mind still works. Might as well use it.


    Magos Minoris takes station to my side, and we start working on STC templates in eerie silence. I mean, I have a wire linking my implant to the cogitator, and I can even type, with some effort.


    "You should see the other guy." I write on the holoscreen.


    "I did, Captain. He seems very healthy." Minoris replies without getting the hint.


    Ludvaius does get it, but merely rolls his good eye.


    I suppose the Scythes''s Chaplain was a merciful guy and didn''t use full strength. My head would have been pulverized in that case.


    Anyway, I start downloading everything I have on dataslates, filling them with old and new STC designs for the Forge Worlds, while another one holds my personal inventions and projects.


    Rose is dealing with the Pharos problem, scanning the sounding board with a hundred Mechanicus devices and a few non-human ones. Even if we don''t get everything from it, it will be a start for my greatest project, the non-warp technology based ships and comms. Something of this magnitude would change the Imperium just as much as waking the Emperor or spreading Blank genes to every human.


    It''s very advanced tech, but if others could do it, humanity can do it too. There are plenty genial Magi and tech-priests in the galaxy, and I don''t intend to stop at them.


    The Tau have some incipient designs of their own, slow and low-ranged, but they work.


    The Necrons have an entire civilization built outside the Warp completely.


    And there are more species out there, even the Tyranids use gravity based travel that don''t involve the Warp. Their synaptic Hive Mind is still Warp based though, since Pariahs can disconnect their organisms from the collective in close proximity.


    Because of my leave of absence, Rose and her crew took over the fleet and efforts, but she seems to do okay. Well, Inquisitors are expected to lead entire Crusades sometimes, so I expect she has the training.


    She has her skilled retinue as well, with the weasel guy almost ready to become an Inquisitor himself.


    Rose has kept him away from me, probably to spare my life if he learns too much about my activities.


    A month later I am mobile again, and my jaw is almost healed. Still no talking, but I get some anti-aging injections and gene-boosts from an unspecified donor. The potential donor list is very small and I don''t need a whole hand to count the likely suspects.


    It is just in time, as a Mechanicus ship from Antax arrives with extra supplies and munitions. In a few days the fleet gets re-supplied and gets ready for a decent fight.


    Our destroyers are however sent away, loaded with refugees and their meager possessions. They would serve little purpose for the next part, but they can still carry thousands of people to safety.


    Meanwhile, the bigger ships get loaded with fresh food and crop seeds, as well as expensive machinery and relics.


    The Scythes drag their feet a little, possibly not too happy at abandoning their post.


    Then a patrolling frigate at the edge of the system detects the Hive fleet and everything moves much faster.


    Civilians are rushed into shuttles and landers for evacuation, and I divert nearly a hundred thousand young women on the Mechanicus ship. Females are a precious resource, because they can give birth to an entire new population with barely any male input.


    They get sent to Retribution, to help rebuild a healthy stock of citizens on the blasted world. And since these people from Sotha are the fertile recruiting ground for a space marine chapter, I expect their children will have good genes and limitless potential.


    Instead, the Astartes keep a watch on their precious boys and teenagers, escorting them on board the battleships, so they don''t lose potential recruits.


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    "Mars cruisers, begin Nova-cannon harassment!" I command while keeping on eye on the timer. The hive fleet tendril is slowing down, but they still move fast.


    Huge explosions erupt among the cluster of bioships, but they keep coming.


    The frigates are filled with more refugees and little of their wealth, and they start leaving in the opposite direction.


    Light cruisers next, and then the battlecruisers. The Victory class battleships also fire their Nova Cannons til they deplete all the special shells and leave as well.


    Sotha is now empty and deserted, though still teeming with animal and plant life. A bait for my trap.


    "Only by firm action and resolute faith will mankind survive. No sacrifice is too great. No treachery too small."


    11111000011


    I nod wisely, both towards Rose and my implant''s advice.


    We have a couple of her amazing Atmospheric_Incinerator_Torpedo</a> prepared for this moment. I don''t want to use the other form of Exterminatus, because the Pharos would get destroyed if the planet blows up.


    Just need to erase all life, and make Sotha irrelevant for the bugs. But not yet.


    The Litany inches away, while the automated forts and servitors keep firing at the immense cloud of bioships. The Nova Cannons took a toll on them, but we didn''t have thousands of precious shells to make a real dent.


    We have torpedoes and missiles and plasma generators on the fortified asteroids, and they help, killing thousand after thousand of void organisms, and wounding many more.


    In the end, the hunger is too great and the Tyranids start ignoring the defenses and swarm the planet from all sides, although orbital forts unleash all their ordnance at point-blank range, or detonate their reactors for extra damage.


    At the edge of the system, we wait for the Hive fleet to englobe the planet, and then we spring the trap. Five Exterminatus grade torpedoes fire at once, from five different angles.


    The atmosphere of Sotha ignites, searing everything and exterminating many of the Hive ships and their landed troops.


    A psychic scream of rage emerges from the planet, the tyranids furious for being denied biomass and energy replenishment.


    We speed away at sublight, and slowly escape the Silence blocking our escape.


    The planet''s crust melts and flows under the immense heat, and so do the tyranids.


    The planet still burns a month later when we finally take a last auspex reading and enter the Warp towards Estaban III.


    This Forge World will soon be invaded by the Chaos, but I aim to defend them as best as I can. They could have a whole new fleet built for me, and get lucky enough to have superior numbers available when the traitors arrive.


    Plus, Estaban_III</a> would have many Warp based weapons and templates, that I might disperse in other places.


    During the journey, I assemble a few Land Raider variants equipped with atomantic reactors and plasma guns, as well as 3 multilasers and a krak missile launcher.


    Also, another one with a Vanquisher gun, autocannons and flamer guns, in an Imperial guard variant similar to the Leman Russ but a dozen times more durable. Much cheaper too, because energy weapons are quite expensive at larger sizes.


    These tanks are big enough and the reactor supplies more than enough energy. They can also carry 50 troops with ease, maybe even 100 guardsmen in thin flak jackets, instead of carapace armor.


    I simplify the tank tracks a little, and add extra auspex sensors for night vision, because searchlights are not that useful.


    This takes me 5 weeks, so I''m all healed up and prepared when the Litany arrives at Estaban.


    I get a royal treatment as I debark on the Forge World, possibly because of the spread of my exploits, possibly because of the Astartes honor guard or the Inquisitor.


    "Greetings, peddler of knowledge. The Omnissiah has listened to my prayers and brought you to us, alive and well. Is your mandible healed enough to speak?" the Archmagos asks politely.


    "This...only a flesh wound, Fabricator. An Astartes with psyker powers punched me, for no reason." I explain politely and see him tilt his head in doubt.


    "He punched our Chaplain first, tech-priest. It''s not our fault his flesh is weak." Captain Thrasius explains with a small chuckle.


    The Fabricator waves his mechadendrites for some unknown reason. Probably saying ''stupid humans'' or such.


    I turn towards my rather large guard and gesture them away. "Let''s talk in private, Fabricator." I demand in a soft voice, and hold out a dataslate as a gift.


    "Indeed, Lord Pef. Let''s see what the Omnissiah has blessed us with." he allows in a slightly amused tone while riffling through the STC designs and leading me to his meeting room.


    Ludvaius holds his thumb up in encouragement.


    I smile inward and rub two neurons together for luck.

 Raid 24

    The Fabricator really likes the new Land Raider tanks, and mostly everything I have for sale, including the Glaive relic I got from the Scythes, and all my variants of STCs including multilasers, personal missiles launchers and upgraded lasguns.


    I almost feel he wants to lock me in his basement to produce more upgraded templates for the glory of Omnissiah.


    In fact, he tells me this to my face, but I pretend it''s a good joke.


    "I wouldn''t be able to explore the vast galaxy from a secure research facility, Archmagos. Still, I wonder if you would be interested in another type of collaboration." I ask in a jovial tone, and sip some hugely expensive wine imported from Terra itself.


    The tech-priest blinks from his still human eye, and nods cautiously.


    "My mother is a Blank, and so am I. Also my son is a Blank too. Very useful trait, for a special machine that could withstand the Warp...or psykers. If you could gather some Magi Biologis and set them on this task, I am certain everyone in the Imperium would be interested in Blank Machine Spirits. Your renown as a great Forge World would grow as well, if it works." I whisper and hold my hand out for a blood sample.


    The Fabricator hesitates for a whole minute, no doubt cogitating deeply on higher implications of such machines, and the risks involved.


    "And in exchange?" he asks in a wary voice.


    I just shrug. My purpose is not equal trade after all. Merely providing humanity with the means to defend itself.


    "My mother is also here, the blonde woman in the Inquisitor''s retinue. She could use some Mechanicus upgrades for her difficult job." I ask after a second of deliberation. Not asking for anything would be too suspicious.


    Another long minute passes, then the Fabricator opens his cogitator for a trade window, filled with nice goodies.


    "Filial duty is rare...but you show humanity and modesty. Nothing for yourself, but only the best for your mother. If only more people were like you, Lord Pef." the Archmagos says and plays some cants and hymnals from his vox speakers.


    I nod and start scrolling through the list. A Sentinel</a> walker template would be useful, and a dozen vortex torpedoes would ruin anyone''s day.


    Then I find a Deimos_Vindicator</a> pattern, based on the popular Rhino tank chassis. A similar model is called Deimos_Vindicator_Laser_Destroyer</a> which has 4 Lascannons in a rhomboid pattern, for even greater firepower.


    This configuartion could be adapted for multilasers and ship weapons, perhaps for the Sentinel and Hydras...so I am quite pleased to obtain them.


    "I admit, I was looking for a different machine called a Macharius tank, but nobody has it, around here." I say politely and start selecting replacements for everything I lost in the Sotha campaign, 2 fighter squadrons, 800 Chimera tanks and variants, and a full load out of missiles and torpedoes.


    I stop when the Fabricator signals discreetly the limit has been reached.


    "Tell me about those corvettes, being made everywhere these days." he asks in a patient voice.


    I sip more wine and think it over. "It''s a cache of ancient designs, each with different foci. Antax makes these long range explorers, Metalica makes classic models for the Navy, and Tigrus builds a special type for Rogue Traders. I do have a partial template left, but I haven''t figured out what kind of weapons they are supposed to use. Maybe gravity or infrared weapons, or both. Check it over if you want, Fabricator." I advise him in a modest tone and offer the next dataslate.


    The priest doesn''t call bullshit on my obvious lie and simply looks it over.


    Armed with Volkite guns in the broadside and 3 turrets devoid any weapons, this corvette has instead the upgraded Gellar generators and a hundred internal choke points to repel boarders.


    He thinks it over while I finish my wine. "I think I see. Something that could damage anything organic, like Orks and Tyranids. The Ultima sector is indeed crawling with biological threats, beside the usual foes."


    I fake disinterest and start to turn away. "I''ll try to send something better next time, Fabricator." I manage to say before a tentacle extends and sits me back down.


    "No! It is very useful, an Estaban pattern corvette, able to match Tyranids bioships and cleanse Ork Infestations. It''s not your fault the pattern isn''t complete, since many of the ancient relics are found like this. What would be useful to your endevours in the Eastern Fringe, Lord Pef?" he wonders in a hasty voice.


    What I want is not available though. "Capturing pirate vessels has been the most fruitful activity so far. I''d need light power armor or exoskeletons, better assault boats and even teleporters. Multi-melta guns for my Astartes guardians and any type of low power shielding that can be made portable. A single Grand Cruiser has cost me a hundred thousand lives to capture, and my crew doesn''t grow in Hive cities like the Navy." I admit in fake sadness.


    There were such loses indeed, but servitors not sentient crew.


    The Fabricator glances at the door, and then back at me. "And once more, you ask nothing for yourself, but worry about Astartes and crew, whose lives are already spent."


    I nod in agreement. "Well, I am getting old and slow. The Inquisitor gave me an injection that should keep me going for a bit more...but then you''ll have to continue without me. They shall know me by my deeds and the strength of my life..." I start saying before the Fabricator stands tall and seems agitated.


    "Perhaps not so soon, Lord Pef. You really should ask for things in return, before it is too late. As I first offered, Estaban has a state-of-the-art research facility. Stay for a year to complete an anti-aging procedure, beside your mother. And we''ll try the other thing too. Blank Machine Spirits would be greatly appreciated by everyone, from Mars and Terra to all the Forges or Navy ships." He pleads in a rather desperate voice.


    I reluctantly agree to receive an extra life worth at least a planet if not two.


    "My guards will have to stay as well. They seem to think I''m valuable for some reason." I explain in an innocent voice and look around the room for some special clues.


    Sadly, everything is too obscure or high level to even start to figure out what each machine does. I recognize auspex sensors and fire detectors, but those are common knowledge...well at least aboard a ship.


    "Space marines do have special treatment. They can stay and guard you, of course. I''ll even see they receive better weapons." he allows politely.


    Over all, it is a good deal for both of us.


    The medical leave is not quite wasted, since my regiment and the Stormtroopers get replenished with Estaban auxiliaries, and their weapons and other machines are upgraded to the now familiar Retribution pattern, everything from better auspex sensors, more durable tracks, triple barreled multilasers and Hunter-killer missiles.


    Estaban even opens a few new forges for the Estaban pattern Plasma Land Raiders, more as a test bed for the new technology, using the damaged machines recovered from Sotha as a guideline.


    But they also run parallel tests, and the repaired relics are about 40 percent worse in live fire tests, because they lacked a top side turret. Sponson, or laterally mounted weapons are just not that effective, especially if the tank is moving.


    The original Land Raiders remind me of the early British tanks, slow and long and using side mounted turrets.


    The new Estaban profile with the plasma gun turret is more similar to a Baneblade, although a bit taller. With atomantic reactors, they are also slightly faster and can fire more rapidly.


    A case of content theft: this narrative is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation.For a month''s work, they sure look impressive enough.


    Still, the Fabricator decides to mass-produce the cheap variant with Vanquisher cannons, and only equip elite regiments of skitarii or Astartes companies with the plasma tanks.


    Again, logistics is the determining factor, since access to ammunition and maintenance wins more wars than superior technology, especially here, with poorly educated guardsmen expected to pilot and fire high level tanks without proper training.


    I use my favored relations to order a hundred such plasma raiders for the Blood Angels, and the same for the Scythes. It will help them greatly in the next conflicts, I am quite certain.


    While the treatment goes on for one year, I lose many liters of blood and any disposable genetic samples, like hair, nails and body fluids.


    I get prodded, sampled and scanned a thousand times, and Justine gets the same treatment, but possibly worse. They harvest eggs and other viable cells like stem cells from the spine and outer skin layers, stomach acid and cerebral fluid.


    By the time the year has passed, both me and mother look like newly born teenagers, rosy fresh skin and bald heads.


    I am not certain what the exact results are, but I''m told it will take decades for anything substantial to be produced. I get hints of some unusual accidents and quarantined labs, so it possibly the experiments didn''t go too well, like every time someone has tried to create artificial Blanks. There was a mystery here that someone or something tried to keep secret.


    A transport ship from Gyron arrives just as I was loading the regiment back to my cruiser, having finished their training and field exercises to some degree of competence.


    Sadly, my mentor is not on board, but it doesn''t matter that much right now.


    The megatonne of adamantium and a host of other Mechanicus relics are delivered to Forge World Estaban, and their Fabricator is rather confused about the extraordinary gift.


    I don''t doubt other people would receive a whole system or a Nobility rank for such a prize. But I have no need of secular authority, not inside the Imperium anyway.


    "Reforge the metal for a durable spine for those corvettes, I''d say. And perhaps there would be a rare or valuable weapon among these broken relics." I tell him in an easy voice.


    He doesn''t like being in my debt. "Please Lord Pef. Surely there is something you want for this huge discovery." the Fabricator tells me with a strange gesture with a few cyborg arms.


    His red robes flutter majestically, so I take pity on him. " Fine! If you insist, then I should ask for something. Some escort ships, along with a Manufactorum voidship. I have to return to the fringe, and those people need everything, from trains and tractors to electrical generators and void shields. Orbital defenses would help greatly if more pirates or Orks attack us again."


    The Fabricator sighs in disgust. " Why can''t you ask for a battlecruiser, like any normal Rogue Trader?" he complains at my reasonable request.


    "Still too little? Vaccines for billions of people then. A Storm_Shield</a> pattern for my void marines. Some extra Incinerator torpedoes for the Lady Inquisitor. A small Titan for Lord Whitelance. The pattern for a Volcano_Lance</a>. A light power armor STC template.


    And..." I keep asking in a deluge of increasingly difficult demands.


    A flurry of metal tentacles ends the discussion. "I understand, Lord Pef. Let me think what I can actually do to help."


    He does come through and provides me a Power Shield template, the minimal and least powerful design he could find in his archive. Vaccines are easy, with a whole continent dedicated to servitor and clone research, home to a million Magi Biologis of various ranks.


    Perhaps a few less Magi now, going by the big fires I can see from orbit. Sterilization by plasma works well...but it is not subtle.


    Rose gets her new torpedoes, and I get my Volcano Lance. He adds 5 more destroyers as an afterthought, and promises to build a thousand corvettes in a few decades, using the free adamantium I just gave him.


    I shake his tentacle with satisfaction, then board my ship after a prolonged absence. The crew seem happy to see me, which is always surprising.


    Sure, 5 of them just became Captains for new destroyers, but it is still curious.


    Ludvaius now has a Combi-bolter with a melta gun slung underneath, and so do all the other Astartes on-board, including the Deathwatch and the Scythes.


    They all have melee power weapons too, so I feel a bit safer. Chaos would need a thousand demons instead of a hundred to get me. It''s quite an upgrade, I admit.


    With a promise to return, the Litany and our escort destroyers enter the Warp and head for Triplex_Phall</a>, yet another Forge World here in the Ultima sector.


    I immediately return to my normal routines, spending my evenings impregnating my concubines and wives, even my Rose.


    The rest of the schedule is split between officer training, remedial training for my body and STC heresy.


    I decide to create a better Sentinel walker, with a quad-multilaser in a diamond pattern, and the nice and helpful missile launcher. I also widen the feet for better traction and grip, and install a pair of mechanical arms to the sides.


    It''s not a Knight, but at least it''s something. The hands are inspired by the Magi cyborg arms and can be used for lifting or digging, or holding heavy weapons. But the largest advantage is simply better balance and melee combat.


    Plus they can now stand up if they fall, which is always a problem with bipeds of any origin.


    Perhaps my aid can somehow change the fate of the Triplex Phall, if they are better prepared. But if not, I''ll make sure to rescue as much as possible before the Tyranids engulf the system with millions of bioships.


    Deep in the Litany''s vault, the rescued Sounding Board lies in secret and stasis, for better days. I can''t even try to comprehend the deep secrets of the xeno artifact, but I have time. With the helpful life extension treatment on Estaban, I should reach 1000 real time years without problem. Pair that with constant Warp travel and I might live even 5000 years later.


    And when that time comes, I should have more options available. It''s true that every man has to die, but here in the dark and crazy future, one doesn''t have to stay a man.


    I don''t consider those options just yet. To be noticed by the Ruinous Powers so soon wouldn''t be very healthy, Blank or not.


    Mother listens to my advice and seduces Lord Whitelance, and a dozen of my new Biologis Magi from Estaban eagerly begin gestating a new Knight House for me, even a few Blank brothers among them.


    Knights might not be Titans, but I''ll take what I can get.


    Justine even admits liking Whitelance a little, as he reminds her of my brave father. My clan grows slowly in numbers and ships and overall influence, and soon I might achieve my first objective.


    The Blood Angels are in dire need of a cure, and back on Ilevar my future Blank concubines are growing up into their teens.


    I''m not certain what will result from this trial, but I expect good things.


    With a lurch, the Litany drops out of Warp a bit too far from the Forge World. "The Silence is here" Rose announces with a pained voice.


    Damn it. I hope I''m not too late.


    The void is filled with tyranid organisms, even a large Hive ship possibly containing the Queen. Larger than a battleship, and with claws longer than the Litany, a Hive Ship is a formidable opponent even for a Segmentum Fleet.


    There is no such fleet here, merely a ramshackle gathering of Mechanicus, Astartes and other ships, possibly Rogue Traders or a local Naval squadron.


    I lean back in my command chair and exchange a glance with Rose. She has the same idea, obviously.

 Size matters 25

    My tiny fleet doesn''t even tingle the attention of the Hive fleet, which is possibly great.


    This Forge World, Triplex Phall is considered the largest ship builder in the Ultima Segmentum, with many enormous shipyards in orbit, building the largest ships still possible for these days, medium-sized battleships.


    They build smaller ships and space fighters too, but the focus is on the large ships, and they take enormous quantities of minerals and work-hours to construct. The flow of mineral barges has obviously stopped, as did the large ship construction.


    If I manage to save the shipyards...It would be nice. There are a dozen battleships under construction and perhaps three times as many cruisers, while a host of smaller ships are being rushed into battle without full armor and point defense weapons.


    Rose immediately takes charge by her Inquisitorial powers, and starts assembling the defenders into a semblance of order and a line of battle.


    It even works, to some degree. Concentration of armor and firepower does give an advantage to the smaller force, but only as long as that force stays mobile and avoids getting surrounded.


    She keeps glancing at me after every order, as if I was the one in charge. Wait, I should be the one in charge.


    "Lady Inquisitor, I''m certain you can manage for some time, right?" I ask just as a frigate in the defensive fleet gets grabbed and snacked upon by the Hive Ship.


    "Only if you find a way to save the day, Lord Pef. This isn''t quite what I''ve been trained for." she mutters in a colder voice.


    I nod and glance around the bridge, as everyone stares at me, even the Deathwatch marines. C''mon guys! You''re supposed to be loyal to your Inquisitor, aren''t you?


    "In difficult ground, press on; In encircled ground, devise stratagems; In death ground, fight." I declare in my best voice, quoting from memory.


    Ludvaius smiles sadly and nods towards me. The quote might not be in the Codex Astartes, but the wisdom inside is timeless. Come to think of it, the Astartes do practice this war axiom anyway.


    I delve deep into the Litany''s Machine Spirit, trying to articulate what I want, and when. Without yet another headache, the cruiser listens and changes course, accelerating at our highest sublight speed.


    Meanwhile, I direct 4 destroyers to speed directly towards the combined fleet and provide support.


    The space fighters launch and head for the planet, where their firepower would be most effective. I could also send assault landers with reinforcements, but they are too slow and likely not survive the blockade.


    I eye my last escort holding pace with my ship, just underneath.


    Nah. A sacrifice is needed, but not my own.


    "Those two frigates already infested by spores. Have them ordered on ram course with the Hive Ship." I tell my Rose while the Litany recites vectors and binharic cants on different voice channels.


    I do have implants though, so I can keep track of what''s the relevant part of the machine rambling.


    The unfinished frigates accelerate on a new course, just as the Inquisitor asks them. A final, glorious sacrifice in the service of the Emperor. They were already dead, so might as well use their deaths well.


    Of course, the tyranid Queen reacts shifting a thousand ships to form a flesh and tentacle barrier, defending the precious Hive Ship.


    This also leaves a small gap in the swarm, just enough for my purpose.


    The Litany fires a full barrage of torpedoes, most of them normal plasma warhead torpedoes, but one of them is not what it seems. Still, all of my torpedoes have been modified to allow a miniature organic servitor brain, just smart enough to avoid obstacles and return to course, without needing long range transponders and telemetry.


    At my urging, the first torpedo shifts and impacts a cruiser sized bioship, leaving a burning crater and wounding it mortally.


    The Queen ignores the other 7 torpedoes, thinking them harmless, or at least barely worth of notice. The Hive Ship''s stone-like armor is itself cruiser wide and thick, and it would take a hundred torpedoes to create a penetration, and even that would heal soon enough.


    At the last minute, the regular torpedoes shift targets and cripple other bioships. No point wasting valuable munitions when there is something worse on the way.


    Reading on this site? This novel is published elsewhere. Support the author by seeking out the original.


    The Vortex_Warhead</a> on the last torpedo opens a Warp rift, that splits the Hive Ship into a dozen burning fragments, and demons pour out into the flesh hallways to fight the Tyranids warriors still alive.


    In a minute, the Silence created by the large Tyranid presence proves stronger and the rift closes, just like a Pariah was next to it.


    With the Queen dead or at least gravely wounded, the Hive fleet loses most cohesion and starts turning towards the nearest enemy without any more semblance of strategy.


    The Litany fires another salvo of torpedoes and turns away, just as our lance batteries enter effective range and start discharging city destroyer fascicles at the nearest enemies.


    My escort destroyer fires as well, trying its best to cover the Litany from the furious insects that have been tricked into defeat.


    We lead a flock of bioships on a merry chase around the system, slowly focusing one after another until they stop following or just blow up.


    Meanwhile, the combined fleet is doing quite the same, only in a tighter orbit around the Forge World and the shipyards, forcing the lesser hive ships to follow them into minefields and orbital defenses, while still protecting the ground forces of Titans and skitarii and Astartes with orbital fire or extra troops.


    Battle-automata from the special Mechanicus regiments emerge to shred Tyranid bioforms with exotic weapons like electric claws and neutron lasers.


    Skitarii raiders fire Volkite calivers and melta guns with perfect accuracy, each of them killing a hundred bugs before dying without a scream.


    Tanks and Titans, armsmen and Astartes fight side by side, lasers and krak grenades filling the polluted Forge World air with more and deadlier effects.


    My space fighters strafe Zooantropes bio-titans and unleash a barrage of missiles, doing some damage, though it''s not sure how much. They turn around fire their laser cannons and aid the ground forces resist for longer.


    By next day, the ground fight has aligned on improvised defense walls and long lines of tanks and other Mechanicus machines. Combat servitors emerge to stem the tide and replace lost allies.


    Sometimes, the wounded are simply cyborgdized on the spot and sent back into fight.


    More and more ships begin to arrive to support the Forge World, some by accident, others by rushing with intention.


    Triplex Phall offers free emergency resupply with reactor rods and torpedoes at the smaller shipyards, and so I arrive to do just that.


    I even send a dozen landers to deploy Hydras and Chimeras at some difficult spot in front of a large Titan Manufactorum.


    Then I turn towards the Astartes guards. "Anyone wants to deploy and fight a little? You must be getting bored to death around me." I ask in a curious voice, and notice my auspex crew smile like it''s an inside joke.


    They nod as one. "One of us should stay anyway. Rookie, you''re it." the Scythe Captain declares, pointing at the most decorated veteran in the squad.


    The man pouts and sits back on the plasteel pedestal. "It''s not fair..." he complains in a childish tone and starts cleaning his new combi-bolter another time. Like fifth time only today.


    Perhaps I was right about being bored to death.


    Ludvaius sighs and glances at me with a puppy eye. "Can I trust you to stay put on the bridge?" he asks with small hope in his gruff voice.


    I just wave him away. "Take super extra ammo clips. Make it double."


    Rose giggles and gestures at her own pouting Deathwatch Astartes. " Go have fun boys."


    The marines salute and run towards the hangar bay, already bragging who''s going to kill the biggest Nid.


    Damn idiots all of them, I already killed the biggest one, the Hive Ship. Didn''t even have to lift a finger, using the Machine Spirit link to do it instead. Funny enough, the Silence makes vortex warheads much safer to use, as the rifts would close pretty soon.


    Then I see an eager auspex engineer bouncing in excitement in his accel couch.


    Perhaps the stupidity isn''t reserved for Astartes.


    Humanity has been bred and indoctrinated to glorify bravery in combat. A good thing too, when living in Hell.


    Then again...I wasn''t much better. Just did things on a greater scale.

 Goodness

    Over the next month, the tyranid swarm gets slowly reduced, as we cautiously fire a few more vortex torpedoes at the largest remaining bioships, and unload fresh supplies of normal torpedoes, then run back to re-arm at any free shipyard.


    The last vortex creates a rift that almost didn''t close, and gives me a scare.


    Millions of demons kept emerging from that rift over a few hours, until the Tyrand Silence managed to suppress it and close it down. However, the howling demons did massacre thousands of bioships before then got ripped to bits and sent back to Immaterium.


    "It seems the current size of the swarm is the cutoff, for safe-ish use of the vortex warheads" I muse out loud, and Signus agrees with me while sweating bullets.


    "Indeed, Captain. Perhaps my plan to use a Warp engine detonation was quite foolish, in hindsight." he mutters in a shy voice.


    I wave his fears away. "This time we were fortunate to receive the amazing torpedoes from Estaban. But even without them, a sacrifice ship will work. We just need to take care how we use it, while the Silence is still strong enough." I explain in a calm tone, and I see Rookie take note of that, nodding and muttering to himself.


    I visit the Xeno artifact hidden under the Gellar generator, where Rose spends her days under the reality-imposing blanket of the Gellar field. Even in stasis, the empathic link to my contact list still works, although not the rest of the abilities, which possibly need the console to be returned to Pharos, or a similar installation elsewhere. I remember the beacons being part of a large, galactic wide network, so there should be others. Just like the webways of the Eldar.


    Maintaining contact with Gyron and my distant family makes everything better, for a few minutes.


    Rose is barely able to function, so close to the Silence, and her weasel-like Acolyte has taken over most of the Inquisitor duties, even going around with a Rossete hanging from his neck.


    Fortunately, his duties take him away from my ship, as he quickly terminates any dissent among our allies, forcing the newcomers to comply and obey to his orders.


    As more and more traders and nobles and various Navy vessels arrive at battlefield, the tides turn in humanity''s favor, but these ships need to work in concert and focus fire and keep a tight formation for mutual protection.


    More time passes, and the fight goes on for a whole year, with Triplex Phall revealing more advanced machines and weapons, and even providing free repair and minor upgrades to sensors and point defense systems for their impromptu Allies.


    If only humanity could work together like this, all the time. Just like they did in the days of the Emperor, right?


    Every week I rotate out the ground battalions to give equal experience to all my troops, and heal up or repair the damaged grenadiers and marines, or replenish missiles and fuel.


    The Litany is sadly too small and poorly designed for ground support operations. It might be the pimpest light cruiser there is, but that''s only in void combat.


    Lord Whitelance is a real hero on the frontlines, slashing into Tyranid bugs with his Power Sword and drilling burning holes with the multi-melta gun, his single Knight doing the same damage as an Astartes squad.


    He can''t move as fast, and jump-pack from crisis to crisis like they do, but the troops always cheer when he stands beside them. They would be safe, now that he is there to protect them.


    And Minoris did assemble a few Power Shields to install on his chassis, which increase his defense ten times.


    By the second year, we are starting to push back, retaking lost land and even win a few skirmishes in the void, baiting and massacring a few clusters of bioships.


    By the third year, most of the planet surface has been liberated, and the shipyards resume minimal operations, refitting and finishing up the smallest Navy ships, adding armor plates and extra guns.


    In the fourth year, a corridor is opened up through the swarm, allowing barges and transport ships to pass through, and bring in fresh supplies. One by one, all the remaining destroyers and frigates are completed, and the Mechanicus resumes completing the first light cruiser.


    Our fleet strikes become bigger, and we can eliminate a hundred bioships at every sortie. Then two hundred, then three.


    By the fifth year, the tyranid swarm is in tatters, getting hounded and hunted by packs of torpedo boats and blasted by cruisers and battlecruisers once they were injured and the carapace cracked.


    So, I make my way to the Fabricator General and gift him my new templates, the Sentinels and the quad-lasers and multi-lasers and nearly everything else I can, without infringing the other ''patents'' already owned by another Forge World.


    One of them is a Chimera</a> personnel carrier upgraded with a simple plasma rector and a Volcano Lance, though no room remains for passengers. It''s basically a cheap main battletank, and even has two Power Shields on the glacis and the turret.


    Unlawfully taken from Royal Road, this story should be reported if seen on Amazon.With another multi-laser to serve as close defense, this machine should prove itself right here.


    There are still pockets of Tyranids on the planet and the moons, but Chimeras are rated for NBC terrain and the ultraviolet auspex allows fighting in fog or pollution just like in chemical gas or acid rain.


    The Fabricator General pats my shoulder with a tentacle and sighs. "I will try it, Trader Pef. But I doubt the Red Planet will allow mass-production for the Liberation pattern Chimera. It would provide the Astra Militarum with too much firepower and independence of supplies. If only there was a Rhino tank with a similar pattern." he advises me without breaking protocol. The Astartes and their serf auxiliaries can use it then.


    "I do seem to recall to have seen something like that, somewhere. Anyway, the skitarii would be glad to have superior firepower on their side, right?" I ask rhetorically.


    The skitarii would be glad to chop off their own arms and legs if a tech-priests tells them to, and has the right authorization codes.


    He chuckles and sputters a few electric crackles, like I said a good Mechanicus joke. "Yes they will. Now let me see one of those famous corvette patterns the ancients were so proud of."


    I provide another dataslate and the Fabricator examines it for a long minute. As a latter design, the Liberation pattern corvette incorporates all the newest discoveries, including quad Volcano Lances as main batteries, 4 of them, and a plasma cannon with its own dedicated plasma reactor.


    On the broadsides, there are triple-linked macro-cannons with gravity fed magazines and banks of quad multilasers for point defense. Also, armored skirts to the sides, that would protect against acid or plasma, or deflect piercing shells from hitting the weaker armor straight on.


    He shakes his head slightly. "The plasma cannon is nice, but too fickle for mass-production. It has to go. The escape shuttle will make the Liberation popular with Navy officers, and those protective panels to the side will provide extra protection, for a few times. Easy to replace after battle as well. But the ancients were wise. That whole plasma cannon turret and its reactor can be installed on the light cruisers already in dock. We''ll test the feasibility for a few decades before we decide."


    I shrug like it doesn''t concern me. "There are a couple Admirals here. You could ask if they would want 3000 corvettes to fill patrol routes and chase pirates."


    The Fabricator glances at his cogitator, then waves a metallic tentacle in defeat. Of course the Navy would want them.


    "My Forge World is still recovering from the invasion, but you, or your House have two Favors with us. For the STCs and the aid against the Tyranid xenos. Come back in a few decades if you want ships." he says in a sad voice.


    Well, I won''t push it if things are that bad.


    "Ships can wait. But some nice heavy tanks and replacements for the lost armor during the siege?" I wonder in a polite tone.


    The Magos powers up the holoscreen and lets me see his wares. A dozen more Baneblades, a hundred Sentinels, a thousand Chimeras. This seemed to be an order for a Guard regiment, that I will simply get for free.


    The Army will still receive their tanks, but a bit later. A Tyranid invasion was reason enough for a delay.


    "These machines would be enough right now. But they need a bit of work and upgrades. And as a bonus, I will live test the Liberation pattern Chimeras for free." I offer in a slightly smug voice.


    "Denied. A hundred of them will suffice for live testing. I''ll even add 500 Hydra anti-air platforms, from the goodness of my heart." the Fabricator declares, holding a metal hand over his belly.


    I think it''s a joke...but not so certain. But the balance is not right yet.


    Anyway. "A few tiny things more. My bridge crew might need savant implants, and the big marine outside too. Anti-aging injections for my clan. The flesh is weak, as you surely know, Fabricator." I demand with an innocent voice.


    A string of binary curses and a litany of complaints follows. I just wait, since arguing with the Mechanicus simply doesn''t work.


    They will do what they want anyway.


    "Can I expect one of those famous relic transports to arrive at my Forge World too?" he asks when he calms down.


    The news spread fast huh? Then again, Antax, Metalica, Tigrus and Estaban already received theirs. He wants some, and feels entitled.


    "Yes. But that is a gift only. I''ll try to send more here, because you have the big shipyards. A dozen adamantium transports and one of those battleships might finish early, maybe even this century." I answer in a softer tone and turn around.


    He doesn''t try to stop me, probably too busy cogitating the surprise news.


    But before we finish loading the troops and supplies, I get two hundred Volcano Lance Chimeras for my armor regiment, so he did hear me anyway.


    Good guys, my Mechanicus friends.


    There is still Forge Ryza to visit one day, but I wasted enough time in the Imperium.


    I order my fleet to gather around, and we depart for Ilevar.


    The weasel guy doesn''t join, so he is possibly heading to Terra for his Inquisitor rank. I still don''t like him.

 Peace

    I arrive at Ilevar almost on time, merely 3 months later than the Navigator has estimated, which for a Warp travel wasn''t so bad.


    Other people, like Admiral Spire for example, had arrived 800 years later.


    He is still alive and kicking ass in the Gothic Sector, on the other side of the galaxy.


    Sadly, Spire is too fanatical for me to contact via the Pharos sound board, and he would surely expose me as a heretic and whatever else.


    The Hive planet holds huge celebrations to mark my glorious return, and the Noble houses pester me with invites and proposals of every kind. From pretty concubines to requests for an officer commission or mining rights or land grants, everyone wants something from me. I am fortunate to delegate nearly everything to my family, escaping for some relaxation time and natural gravity in the Blank enclave.


    Here I meet the future of humanity, a small village made only of Blanks.


    Many of my children, and their children too, as well as the local Blanks and their descendants are trying to live in a modicum of peace and civilization.


    There are a hundred tech-priests acting as teachers and doctors and guards, and with their presence the valley looks positively modern and advanced, clean roads and buildings, electric lights and other comforts like swimming pools and shooting ranges.


    It is a good start, and I like it a lot.


    One after another, I also meet the next concubines, and introduce them to the joys of making babies.


    Rose has instead taken residence in the capital, mingling among merchants and nobles and sniffing out plots and treason.


    The lower levels of the Hives are almost clean and repaired, with constant patrols of tech-priests and servitors collecting gangers and other criminals as well as heretics or cultists.


    The Genestealer cult has been smashed, but vigilance is always needed.


    Even the pollution and other contaminants from the Ork invasion have been nearly cleansed, but again mushrooms are hard to eradicate completely.


    Patrols and sweeps continue every day, lest the spores germinate into an Ork Waaagh.


    Because Orks disperse a billion of spores when they die, and we have killed millions of Orks on Ilevar.


    What I can do is promote Magos Minoris to a government position, overseeing research and education. We have a Manufactorum Forge ship from Estaban on the way, but until it arrives we can prepare the ground and train a tech-clan clade to sufficient levels to repair or even construct simple machines like trains and tractors.


    I intend to make every world in my Fringe Empire self-sufficient in a hundred years or less, and Serena has been overseeing this plan for me, conducting immigration efforts to the more unpopulated planets, sending millions of colonists and PDF regiments to protect them.


    Sadly, the PDF are poorly armed, using simple gunpowder weapons and explosives like stubbers and mortars, and few vehicles. Enough to deter a small Ork band or minor revolts, but not for anything stronger.


    Time passes again, but this time I''m not hurting from age or injury.


    I can spend a decade doing whatever I want, and so I do. Making new STCs and more babies. Every single day. It feels great to be a teenager again.


    With vaccines and the new Biologis clade tech-priests taking care of disease and cleanliness, the Hive slowly become a bit healthier too, which increases productivity and wealth.


    Also, 7 huge cathedrals for the Cult of the Emperor are being constructed in every Hive, just as Rose requests.


    I am happy she has found something to do, beside terrorizing my citizens and assassinating dissenters or demagogues.


    Sorry guys, there will be no equal rights and freedom of religion in this galaxy. Those who have power are strong, and the rest are not.


    And those other gods will definitely turn you into Warp portals and try to eat everyone with demons or tyranids or necrodermis.


    Our Big Adam isn''t the best, but he is much nicer anyway.


    Every month, I return to the capital for another Governor ball, and fake being in charge really well. Nobody seems to notice I don''t rule anything.


    Rose has five children in this decade, all girls and all psykers. But one of them is both a psyker and a Blank, and even seems able to predict things, which could make her a Navigator with enough training.


    The Inquisitor is determined to mold her into her successor, because immunity to Warp is quite a big gift.


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    "My special Rogue Trader...what a miracle you have given me." Rose whispers after a few hours of frantic lovemaking.


    I just hug her tight. "If you take Janice to Terra, I fear she won''t be allowed to survive."


    Rose freezes for a second, then hugs me back. "What else can we do?"


    I pat her long black hair while I think on it. "Navigators are allowed nearly anything. And Metalica is working hard on my Grand Cruiser."


    Just like that, in a sweaty bed behind closed doors, we decide to turn Janice into a Navigator. Ludvaius thumbs up at me, grinning like he has heard a great joke.


    Yes, he still follows me everywhere, all the time. The veteran Blood Angel has become such a familiar fixture that I sometimes forget about him and talk about secrets.


    I raise my head and stare at Ludvaius for a moment. "You never heard this, my friend. Or else." I tell him in my best attempt at a threatening voice.


    Ludvaius thinks it over and nods. "Don''t worry Captain. If one such miracle can happen, then it''s likely it will happen again, for my battle-brothers." he replies gently, and pats his bolter with loving care.


    I sigh and turn back towards Rose, kissing her worried forehead.


    I haven''t forgotten my promise to Captain Aphael, but sadly Blanks are not so easy to obtain.


    Even the Blank concubines don''t give birth to other Blanks every time, although the ratio is better than normal people.


    Still, in a decade I should have a thousand Blank people in my village, and from there it will snowball into many more.


    Already my sons are working hard with their own wives and concubines to produce the next generation, and with anti-aging injections they''ll keep doing it for hundreds of years. Then every new generation will begin the task again, and again.


    Meanwhile, my fleet trains and patrols the Trader empire, and chases off pirates or slavers. There are always slavers at the edge of the Imperium, trying to obtain valuable merchandise for mines, or even Drukhari gladiator pits and torture rooms.


    The Dark_Eldar</a> corsairs always plague trade lanes for raids and terror attacks, but fortunately not anywhere near, for now.


    They are just as advanced as their cousins, but even more twisted and insane.


    Justine is raising a clade of Knight pilots, almost 100 of them but with more on the way in Mechanicus gestation chambers.


    Those fetuses which do not survive get lost in tech-priests'' labs, possibly converted into organic components for Blank or normal Machine Spirits.


    I don''t ask and they don''t tell, which keeps our mutual relations amiable.


    Like I said, the peace and quiet lasts a decade, then reality hits back in force.


    Estaban gets invaded by Chaos, and sends desperate pleas to everyone they know.


    I convene the clan to decide what to do.


    "We should sit this one out, Captain." Wentian says in a worried voice. Half of the clan instantly agree with him.


    In truth, we did survive and prospered by avoiding demons and their worshipers as much as we could.


    Victor feels brave, and his uncle Veryon takes the other side. "We have our ships, made even by Estaban. If we don''t help, everything will be solar dust, and the Enemy will have a strong base in the sector."


    I almost agree, but still feel a great unease and danger. "All true, but we have responsibilities here as well. Without us, these worlds will become feral again, and get lost to Orks or pirates once more. Volunteers may go, with as many ships we can spare. All the destroyers I''d say."


    We have a dozen destroyers, 3 frigates and our light cruiser. Nothing we have would tilt the balance anyway, but 12 destroyers would be a show of force.


    Victor volunteers right away. "We''ll stop at Antax first, and see what else they can provide as help. And I should take few transport ships in case there''s an evacuation."


    I think it over and agree. "It''s better if I join you till Antax. The Fabricator likes me a little. Then I''ll travel to Metalica and Tigrus to find more help."


    Everyone seems happy with my decision, and there are plenty of volunteers, both for crew and ground support regiments.


    Each destroyer loads a tightly packed PDF regiment, though without tanks and heavy weapons they don''t take that much space.


    I hope to obtain for them Imperial class weaponry and tech-priest support, from a friendly Forge.


    And we go, travelling through Hell to fight Hell itself on the other side.

 Doctor

    We catch a good Warp current and arrive at Antax just in time to meet Captain Donatos Aphael of the Blood Angels.


    Hastily, we renew our pact and I inform him of my progress, including the miracle birth of my Blank psyker daughter.


    The Captain is heading towards Estaban as well, and promises to look after my son and his fleet, if possible.


    A hundred new corvettes from Antax and the Astartes Battle Barge rush towards the fight, along with Victor and the destroyers. At least we managed to re-arm missiles and torpedoes in these few hours.


    Once the brave warriors leave, I stay behind to conclude business with the Fabricator, downloading a hundred STC patterns of various value, some mere cosmetic alterations, others nearly heretic upgrades.


    I know they must be valuable, if sold on the Cold Market or something, but our enemies would also have them, and I try to prevent that.


    He likes my new Volcano Chimeras but still takes the Rhino pattern for production instead. Chimeras are still light tanks and very fragile, and he prefers sturdier machines.


    Then I unveil the latest air superiority designs, gunships and fighters with quad lascannon turrets, powered by atomantic reactors. They have Power Shields as well, which will allow few losses in the next campaigns.


    Land Raider tanks with Volkite Carronades and even a Baneblade variant with the same gun.


    Lastly, I propose the Volcano Armed Sentinel, a cheap walker armed with a Knight-class beam weapon able to damage Titans.


    "It''s a pity that whoever designed these STC templates didn''t consider how the Lords of Terra do things. No force in the Imperium is allowed too much power, or weapons that can change the balance. Plus...a traitor regiment would be able to defeat Titans." The Fabricator General explains with a pained voice. So he likes them, but nobody will build them.


    "I''m certain every single Rogue Trader in the galaxy would want at least a hundred of these Armed Sentinels. And there are also Astartes auxiliaries, the Sisters of Battle and Inquisitor regiments and..." I begin to explain before he stops me with a careless wave.


    He points at me and then at the cogitator screen. "No need to sell me things like a trader, Lord Pef. I know my clients very well. Just pick and choose what you think will be useful."


    I sigh inward and wish Gyron was here. So I pick and choose, filling the hangars with space fighters, and tanks and another grenadier regiment.


    The Litany arrived at Antax empty after all, since there was no point transporting troops and fighters to my supply base. I came here to collect.


    I then tap a few more vortex torpedoes and a dozen vortex missiles that were fighter launched. The Warp rifts would damage Chaos battleships just as they did the Tyranid Hive ship, and fighters could enter atmosphere and fire the missiles at Chaos Titans.


    Sure, there will be no Silence to repair the rift, but I considered the traitors the greater danger. Demons could not pass through Gellar fields but traitor Astartes could. They did teleport on Navy ships all the time.


    "You''re heading directly to Estaban now?" the Fabricator asks, showing displeasure with a metal hand.


    "Visiting a few more Forges first. The siege will take a decade at least." I explain in a calm voice, since I do have some experience how things work in this grim future.


    He rubs a few tentacles, like trying to decide something important. "Then... I guess it''s time to unveil my secret weapon. Come...let''s take the teleporter right here." he says in a suspicious tone.


    We blink through Warp to a defense station in orbit, then again and again til we reach the destination. The Lament for the Vanquished, being repaired and upgraded with everything the Mechanicus has best, transformed into battlecruiser in armor, weapons and capability. But not a paper tiger like the Navy has.


    I sit in the command chair and sense the Lament remembers me, and shows me proudly what it can do. From electric arc weapons, to neutron radial cannons and a gravity lance that can split moons with their own mass turned inward.


    A million skitarii form the ship''s void marine garrison, while weapons and vehicles fill every hangar and barrack on board.


    It''s not yet finished, as the tech-priests are still installing triple reactor and void shields, but it would take perhaps 5 years to complete.


    The author''s content has been appropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon.


    There are a dozen huge landers that possibly could carry Titans.


    "This grav lance...would work wonders on the Tyranids." I muse out loud as I sit up from the chair and walk around the bridge. It is different from normal Navy ships, as most controls and sensors are designed to interface with tech-priest mechadendrites and implants.


    "Although it''s not a normal Mechanicus name, the ship remains the Lament, in your honor, Lord Lancefire." the Fabricator replies instead, avoiding the sensitive subject.


    "Just make sure to check and triple check all sensors to operate in autistic mode, at the right time. Scrap code or Necron engrams would make a coffin of it." I conclude and turn back, towards the teleporter.


    The Fabricator doesn''t reply, so I know the orders for strict security are being sent to all the shipyard tech-priests.


    In a few seconds of violet light, we return to the Litany, without passing through his quarters. Teleports are so useful.


    "I hear you have some Blank wives and kids on board." he tells me without any ulterior motive.


    Ludvaius arrives at a sprint, possibly upset I escaped his watch.


    "Yes, we can visit the nursery, and we can play doctor and medic for an hour. Just remember, Estaban used orbital bombardments to pacify their failed experiments. And now that they possibly worked, The Enemy has arrived to stop them." I warn him in a mild voice.


    We do so, and the Archmagos fakes being a Biologis Magos well enough. Samples are taken and stored away, concubine fertile eggs get harvested and kept in a cryogenic capsule.


    The kids get tested with some strange device bearing a Blood Angel symbol, like a black drop of blood with wings.


    No doubt Captain Aphael has delivered the device for this exact purpose. Then I get tested as well, just in case.


    Ludvaius holds a thumb up as the symbol turns red. "I think I would enjoy having you as a Neophyte, Pef Lancefire. At least you''d have to listen and stay put." he comments wryly.


    "It would be a mess, I''m certain. I don''t take orders well, too used to being in command. Also, I like having balls." I mutter in a ballsy voice.


    An Astartes is more than a man, and being implanted with the Emperor''s immortal geneseed would transfer some of those powers into me. It would even work, as the gene test shows.


    Sergeant Ludvaius nods in approval. "I''m sure you''ll find a way, Captain. You always do." he says in a completely devout voice, which only shows how naive he is.


    Sure, I try to find the best solution, if I can. But nobody can do it forever.


    I say goodbye to the nice Fabricator and then depart for Metalica.


    Rose meets me in my bedroom, and sits in my lap as I keep working on simpler and acceptable machines for the Imperial Guard.


    A multiple rocket launcher would be useful and cheap, since chemical rockets are considered primitive tech. I still give them a multilaser, because the Guard is always over-run by some enemy. Might as well kill more of those enemies.


    A cheap attack gunship, with a nose gimbal for an autocannon and two large banks of krak missiles, to serve as anti-tank support. I consider giving it a Power Shield, but that would need a small reactor...so no.


    The same for the Sentinel, I arm one hand with a Chainsaw and the other with a rotary autocannon. Pretty much a minigun, but nicer. Still has a promethium based engine, still no shield. What I can do, is give it horizontally folding shutters, that can be closed to defend the pilot from arrows or bullets or claws. Pretty much window blinds, made from plasteel.


    I bet the Army will love them, as cheap and replaceable Knights. I call it the Strongman Sentinel, because it has arms.


    Then I devolve deeper, and create a very simple tracked vehicle with an autocannon and a flamer using the same promethium reservoir as the engine. Small and nimble and light, but has a centimeter of ceramite on the plasteel glacis, so it counts as armor. Only 3 guards crew, because it is meant to provide close support to patrols and convoys and burn down entrenched enemies. I call it the Weasel, for absolutely no reason.


    Then we arrive at Metalica and get welcomed warmly, but without laser cannons this time. How times change.

 Overlord

    I immediately focus my attention on the half-finished Grand Cruiser, being swarmed in tech-priests and servitors, cranes and grav-lifters and more unknown machines.


    Already looks grand and imposing, and one of its lance batteries even tracks my Litany as we approach. Still needs more work, but at least some parts are operational.


    Half of the armor plating is peeled off, and I can see the extra internal bulkheads and plasteel anti-spalling reinforcement being welded on the inside. Just as promised.


    The other cruiser has been moved farther into the asteroid field, barely detectable under another swarm of Mechanicus machines. It appears completely dismantled right now, probably for deep scans and reverse-engineering like I first suspected.


    I''m still debating between naming the ship as Liturgy for the Vanquished or simply the Vanquisher.


    The latter name is kinda grand, and deserves at least a battleship, so I guess it will be the Liturgy. A proper Imperium name, pious and modest, yet still menacing.


    "This is Pef Lancefire, are we allowed to dock with Forge Metalica?" I send via the vox channel.


    "You are welcome, Rogue Trader. Set course for dockyard Eta-09." a polite but mechanical transmission arrives in a minute.


    Meanwhile, I check the other ships in the system. At least a thousand corvettes, the regular Navy kind, and the same Mechanicus defensive fleet, which has grown a bit, with another battlecruiser and 20 new destroyers.


    They are all holding station in a starshell pattern, almost like preparing to be attacked. Makes sense to be cautious, given what happens at Estaban, and many other Forge Worlds in the Imperium.


    In fact, Forge Worlds are amazingly valuable and critical to the Imperium of Man, because they are rare and also the only producers of ships and advanced technology.


    A clever enemy could cripple humanity simply by targeting a dozen important Forge Worlds.


    Of course, many of these enemies try and try again, and sometimes they succeed.


    I would keep at least 1000 ships over every Forge World, just for this purpose, but there aren''t enough of them.


    Soon enough, I meet the Fabricator, and he comes with two other high-ranked tech-priests as escorts.


    "Well met, Archmagos." I say politely and nod in respect.


    "You''ve grown younger, Lord Pef. Someone did you a favor?" the Fabricator asks while changing focus on Ludvaius.


    My guard has also received an injection boost, and savant brain implants, as well as upgrades to his bionic eye and the power armor. It seems they also help control his Rage, which would be a valuable gift if the raging maniacs would accept it.


    I have a feeling they''d prefer unleashing the beast to an implant that forces logical thoughts and organizes memories on data stacks.


    I just sigh. "People on Estaban were very kind. So, I aim to help them if possible."


    "Always heading into battle, even with that flimsy light cruiser of yours?" the other Fabricator asks in a curious voice. An electrical discharge swirls around him for no reason.


    Possibly one of the psyker Magi. He still has human eyes, so I''m not certain.


    "I do hope for a nicer ship, Magos. Like the one getting upgraded right now." I admit with a sad voice. I would like a big powerful ship to cruise in safety and blast xenos with impunity.


    But I have to earn it.


    "How about...we give you an Overlord-class Battlecruiser instead?" the third tech-priest asks in a mild voice.


    I don''t know him, or what faction he might be from. But I can calculate conjectures quite fast. It''s a savant thing.


    "Forge Ryza?" I ask to make sure.


    The Magos waves a tentacle politely and some chip changes tentacles among the priests. Damn it, they had a bet about me, isn''t it?


    "Yes, Captain Pef Lancefire. If you wouldn''t come to us, we came to you. Hope you don''t mind." the tech-priest chides me politely.


    So I''m not the lowest rank anymore. Soon, the big wigs will expect I come to grovel in front of them too.


    "And you waited here, because I had a relationship with Metalica for a long time, so I would return for certain." I conclude sadly, and they just stare at me like it was obvious.


    Well, it''s not, you big brains. I''m only human, if a slightly smarter one.


    "What do you say, Lord Pef? Will you agree to trade us that Grand Cruiser?" the Ryza Magos demands a bit louder.


    Okay. On one hand, that Cruiser isn''t ready and won''t be for a few decades. On the same hand, I want a powerful Overlord-class Battlecruiser. But on the last hand, why?


    Something is hidden on this kind of relic ships. Something a Forge World would pay billions of thrones to discover.


    "With a condition, tech-priest. Firstly, you announce the Navy about this gift. Then, when the Liturgy exploration is complete, you share with me what you find. Only the knowledge, not whatever object or creature interests you. And the name stays: Liturgy for the Vanquished." I pronounce in a final tone. Take it or leave it.


    Stolen content warning: this tale belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences elsewhere.


    The two tech-priests consult each other via coded tentacle handshakes. "Agreed, Pef Lancefire. But only you...not guards or family. We might also require your expertise for decrypting ancient templates." he proclaims with another shower of sparks and currents.


    "Fabricator, if I''m to take charge of the new Overlord, it will need slight modifications, for my comfort." I ask the leader of Forge Metalica.


    He waves it off as unimportant. "You''re a valued friend and ally of the Cult Mechanicus, Lord Pef. Come, let me serve you that sweet wine you enjoy, from Terra." the big robot priest commands in a metallic voice, and escorts me away from the Ryza priests.


    Ludvaius has to wait outside this time, because heresy isn''t healthy in the Imperium.


    "You have found more STC patterns, Captain?" the Magos wonders after I sip some wine and think over my needs.


    "Estaban has figured out how to build Blank Machine Spirits. Possibly with the aid of all those Biologis Magi that fled from Skapula</a>. Risky, but very valuable, even if only for the Inquisition and Astartes. Mechanicus as well, since well...machines." I announce after a minute of polite silence.


    He nods cautiously while he thinks it over. "Big risks indeed, going by that large Chaos invasion."


    I just shrug. "The Immaterium poisons everything, Fabricator. Even Primarchs and their Legions have fallen. Yet, every species in the galaxy fights the demons, even Tyranids and Necrons. But unlike them, humanity and our machines are not immune."


    With a blur of tentacles, I lose my hair, and some blood and skin layers. "It would be a great gift indeed, Lord Pef. But we''d need fertile females and infants for comparison and sequencing." he comments while storing the valuable cells in bio-containers and stasis boxes. Still no common sense, just like all the tech-priests. They just take, without even asking.


    "I have them and I can prove they''re fertile. On board the Litany. And there''s something else. Even bigger." I whisper in a soft voice.


    He nods and points discreetly at the corner of the meeting room. Ancient relics, machines and computer boards on various designs stand on display, glowing with data engrams and shimmering in bluish stasis fields. Something is there, but invisible for me.


    I take out my dataslates and start unveiling the trade goods, taking care not to reveal anything incriminating.


    The new Sentinel will get produced, as will the Krak Valkyries and the Metal Storm, my multiple missile launcher made from a cheap Chimera chassis and various Manticore designs mixed and matched to fit.


    I mean, nearly any enemy would not like having a hundred missiles crashing on its units though Necrons would likely just regenerate and keep going.


    It takes heavier weapons to defeat a Tomb World, and a whole Hive fleet to exhaust a Necron Dynasty, like I did at Mandragora.


    Even so, the Necrons have survived, for now, though the next tendril of Hive Fleet Kraken won''t have only a billion bioships, but ten times more. I give them even odds to defeat that, even with their ancient weapons.


    Craftworld Iyanden</a> keeps fighting the bulk of the Hive fleet, with very advanced technology and weapons. But their numbers are small and getting even smaller. An armada of Eldar Corsair struggles to cut heir way though and aid the Craftworld to save the famous worldship, which gives humanity some respite from constant raids and harassment.


    Hundreds of human worlds are still in the way, as are Ork empires and many other species.


    We need more guns, and fast. And we need ships to stop as many in space, before they reach fertile ground and start multiplying like bugs. Well, they are bugs.


    The more advanced weaponry and templates will be reserved in small numbers for Astartes and other special privilege soldiers.


    "I will depart for Tigrus next, Fabricator. Want to visit the Litany and see my children?" I offer innocently.


    He does. And after another medical checkup, me and the Fabricator go to visit Rose and Justine, deep into the ship''s vault. Justine keeps trying to learn how to use the Sounding board but keeps failing.


    Rose has a small success, being able to locate her Acolytes and agents even across the sector. No mental communication yet, but it will come. She refuses savant implants, because some secrets might be revealed that way.


    I''m pretty sure that if some Dark Eldar or Chaos Sorcerer gets me, I wouldn''t last a day, so they wouldn''t need to download memories or other such complicated procedures. Hot irons are scary enough.


    Then again, I do have a squad of Astartes guarding me, a bodyguard that lives in my room, a whole regiment on my ship, and then a whole ship filled with guns and torpedoes.


    I like being safe, what can I say.


    This galaxy is quite dangerous, you know?

 Shard - Chapter 30

    "This is a xeno artifact" the Fabricator concludes with a single glance.


    "And I, am an Inquisitor of Ordo Xenos." Rose declares proudly and shows her Rosette for a whole second.


    Then a tense silence lasts a minute, the two minions of the Imperial Aquila holding a power contest with invisible meanings and methods.


    The sign of the Imperium is a double-headed eagle, one head for the Emperor and one head for Mars, the original Forge World. These two are lower on the scale, but still act as if there were two eagles, instead of just one body.


    "How many bodies does the Aquila have?" I wonder out loud.


    Both of them glance at me with annoyance and aggravation. "One body, with two heads." The fabricator allows in sad voice, then spills some sanctified oil on the stasis chamber. Still a priest, right at his heart.


    "This is the device Primarch Guilliam has used to form his Imperium Secundus, and illuminate Ultramar in the Warp, some ten millennia ago. Right now it is focused on Mandragora, the capital of the Necron Sautekh Dynasty. Thus, the Tyranids flock to it, drawn by the psychic beacon in hope for rich biomass worlds." I explain politely, then I focus my mind and use the mental wifi to continue. "It has more abilities built into it. Like exchanging messages at distance, and even teleporting people."


    "What distances are possible? What about the Shadow in the Warp?" he asks in a hopeful voice and turns again to examine the device.


    "As it is now, about 100 light-years. At least a hundred times more, when installed into the original location, but that place is toast right now." I answer with a tiny shrug.


    "I can speak with my acolytes through the Silence, Archmagos. And I normally can''t even lift a page if caught inside the Tyranid shadow. So it''s not my psyker power." Rose admits with softer voice, and start pouring tea for everyone.


    She had this null box cylinder that she uses to keep the tea at just the right temperature.


    The Archmagos also tests the tea, dipping a sipping straw into his cup. "Very well. Do you at least know what species made it?"


    I hesitate for a second. "Either the Old Ones, or their enemies, the C''tan. Either way, it has a C''tan shard as a power source." I explain in a soft voice.


    Both of them recoil visibly, because even a fragment of a God is still divine, and thus dangerous.


    "This is much bigger, like you said, Lord Pef. But a stasis field will not contain such a thing." the Fabricator mutters among sparks and chants.


    "This is merely the dialing console. The C''tan is still on the planet where I found this device." I say a bit more confident. Knowledge is power, and I had bits that nobody else knew.


    The Mechanicus priest hums in binharic, and holds out a few devices to test the ambient atmosphere. "No radiation, no Warp emanations...not that I expected any, so close to the Gellar generator."


    "Yeah, the board uses some kind of empathic mind-link. Perhaps similar to a Blank Machine Spirit. But alien or not...humanity needs to create something with the same ability. Sector wide communications, and not going through the Warp."


    I proclaim pointing at the shimmering blue field, with a Sounding Board inside.


    "Copying the device would be heresy." Rose says in a colder voice.


    I know, damn woman. Shoot yourself in the head as well, because thinking is heresy too.


    "Copying the device is impossible anyway. Humanity lacks advanced science and bright minds, and most would just take a warhammer and smash this console just for fun. The cogheads could help, but they lack common sense and would likely awaken a C''tan out of curiosity." I mutter in a fit of despair.


    The Fabricator almost argues back, before standing down and trying to look innocent.


    "So, what will you do?" the Inquisitor asks me in a worried voice.


    "That''s between me and the Emperor. Out in the Fringe, I speak with His Voice. And with this device, he can speak to me as well." I conclude the meeting on a harsher tone.


    Rose raises a finger to object, then turns towards the stasis field in reverence. "I suppose it can work. But the enemy would notice and come after you. Not to mention the priesthood and all the High Lords."


    Yeah, I don''t gather troops and ships for a deck. "I suppose those corvettes are mine, Fabricator?" I ask rhetorically.


    "Only half, Lord Pef. I''m now less inclined to part with such a potent defense, especially if my Forge World embarks on that Blank Spirit quest. But we will build more. You will have thousands more in a century." he says in a pleading tone.


    Half is still good. "Lady Inquisitor, you can take command of the fleet and the Overlord, and we''ll meet at Estaban." I tell my Rose with a heavy heart. I''d prefer to be in command from the start, but Estaban might fall til then.


    Soon enough, the Litany departs for Forge Tigrus, where another fleet should be ready.


    My cruiser seems a bit empty now, without the Inquisitor and her retinue, including my mother.


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    I have Ludvaius, that''s true. But Gyron is gone and so is Minoris. Most of the bridge crew and all the regiment officers are new, the old ones being promoted or dead.


    Wentian is quite happy though. "An Overlord might be a bit smaller, Captain. But it''s new and modern and has speed. We need speed, because we are always outnumbered."


    I kinda agree. Even with upgrades, a Grand Cruiser would be slow as hell. And I lack psykers to increase that speed via Warp magic. Plasma engines are much safer and reliable than a psyker...unless that psyker is also a Blank, like my daughter Janice.


    It is possible I''m also a psyker?


    "It''s not, Lord Pef. You''re as weak and fragile like any human." my Astartes friend replies for me.


    Wait, I said that out loud huh?


    "Is your implant working right, my friend?" I ask the space marine while he stands behind me to watch me work on the holoscreen.


    "Oh yes. I''m recording everything right now. This is a great tool for mission reports." he explains in a half-joking tone.


    I sigh inward and think what to prepare for Forge Tigrus. Another Sentinel, with a lascannon instead of the cheaper autocannon, a better auspex sensor and increase the capacitor size a bit. Now the mech walker could act in anti-armor role as well as sentry and recon. Still has the armored blinds, because claws and bullets hurt.


    Another variant is better armored, including a sealed cockpit for driver and gunner. Iridium-tungsten plates, a Power Shield and a small plasma reactor, all increase cost a few times, but now the Retribution-pattern Sentinel can match a weak Knight in durability. Plus it could be operated in any atmosphere, even toxic or in vacuum.


    Perhaps Tigrus could make a thousand of them for my armor regiments, even if nobody else orders them.


    Another gunship, a sort of attack helicopter but held by anti-grav engines, with a twin cockpit, also armored in iridium and shielded, with a quad multi-laser turret and two lascannons under the stubby wings, as well as twenty Hunter-killer missiles, in retractable pockets.


    The Astra Militarum lacks air support the most, something incredible for me. They have spaceships and space fighters, but little in the vein of atmospheric ground support.


    I decide to designate it as a Retribution-pattern grav-tank STC template. Perhaps then the Imperium will allow Generals to order these machines as tanks instead of aircraft.


    We arrive at Forge Tigrus to find it under attack by Eldar Corsairs, although the world has thousands of fast corvettes for defense so the Eldar can''t really find a weak spot.


    I launch my space fighters and even arm two of them with Vortex missiles. The Eldar may think themselves illusive and protected by holographic fields, but the two pilots are my Blank daughters, training to become ship officers.


    The Augury long range scanner marks the Corsairs as the Balestorm Avengers, a pirate band usually plundering the Eastern Fringe.


    "Approaching an Eldar Cruiser, warhead released." Finona Lancefire announces on by vox bead, as she banks the fighter away and speeds to maximum.


    The Vortex missile isn''t nearly as strong as a torpedo, but then Eldar warships are not very durable.


    They rely on their Void Dreamers for navigation, which wouldn''t detect a Blank pilot or sense their intentions.


    The warhead''s sensor locks on the cruiser''s engine. A flash of violet light, and the front half of the cruiser drifts on, while the engines have vanished into the Warp, along with the engine room and the solar sails on the back.


    The corsairs immediately start fleeing from my fighters, and soon vanish into the void. You better run, alien scum!


    "Well done daughter. All fighters, maintain protective cover. Lance batteries, target the Warp rift and fire till it''s closed." I command as I lean back in my Captain chair.


    We''re fortunate enough that no Demon Champion was around on the other side, so we escape without too many invading demons crossing over.


    The lances keep firing for an hour, until the spinning gateway pops like a balloon.


    A few assault boats with servitors and techpriests depart to secure the derelict. As it happens, Eldar ships mount all their advanced weaponry on the front, and thus we capture all of their weapons. I bet Forge Tigrus will love a few of them.


    "Captain Lancefire, you have returned, in the nick of time" A familiar, female voice speaks from the vox channel.


    Oh, it''s that Fabricator Locum, or the XO of a Forge World.


    "Glad to be of service, Fabricator. We should meet and talk. My place or yours?" I ask with a faint hint of flirting.


    A long silence follows, which means something. Anyway, I still have to wait for the priests to...


    "Heavy resistance on the cruiser...request support..." a crackled transmission emerges from the void box.


    I turn toward to my Scythe Astartes, who were nearly bouncing up and down in excitement. "Go have fun boys." I tell them copying my Rose.


    Their Captain smiles politely. "I will stay this time. Rookie, you lead the squad. For the Emperor!"


    "For duty!" they answer in a manly chorus, then all run towards another shuttle.

 Deimos - Chapter 31

    A company of my void marines and more shuttles with combat servitors escort the Astartes to the corsair derelict, and via pict-transmissions we get an image of what''s going on.


    Demons have infested the ship through that Warp rift, and since these Eldar have cut themselves off from their Infinity Circuits, they now suffer eternal torment in the loving tentacles of their own Warp God, Slaanesh</a>.


    That will teach them a lesson all right.


    "Tech-priests, extract to the superstructure and try to salvage anything of value." I advise my Mechanicus friends.


    It seems the wreck will not be salvageable, but perhaps some guns and sensors can be chopped away. The priests inside don''t respond, so they''re possibly a bit busy.


    The inbound shuttles do instead land of the hull, and the other priests and servitors begin slicing away at the wraithbone armor to scoop out the precious loot.


    Did I mention how awesome Astartes are, especially in close quarters. With their sanctified Power Weapons, these lesser demons stand no chance, although the surviving Eldar are shooting at everyone on principle.


    It takes a few hours till the infestation is pacified, and the Scythes even capture a hundred Eldar as prisoners. I''m pretty sure these Eldar will regret surrendering once the Magi of Forge Tigrus get their tentacles on them.


    Not because the Cult will deliberately torture them. But xenos will not qualify for anesthetics during deep tissue examinations, so it amounts to the same thing.


    Soon enough, the raid is over, most of our early boarders are dead, and the Scythes return with Ebahn Lauma, the leader of these corsairs, now slightly missing any limbs, and the rest of the prisoners.


    The external reclamation continues while I land on Tigrus with my escort and loot.


    A whole battalion of skitarii takes charge of the corsairs, bounding them in metal cuffs and loading them into medical transports. Pretty sure they''ll never be seen again.


    The Astartes squad returns with a dead brother, which is a bit sad. Sure, I expected to lose ten thousand servitors and maybe even some void marines, but well...Eldar are difficult opponents, amazingly fast and all psykers.


    "Fabricators, perhaps you now agree that corvettes are useful?" I wonder as the two priests welcome me together.


    A dismissive arm waves my words away. "You have used a Vortex warhead, Lord Pef. Luckily your pilot wasn''t detected."


    "Blank genes are nice like that. I might even promote my daughter as Captain of the Litany soon. Some guys from Forge Ryza gave me a battlecruiser, so I''ll travel in style soon enough." I answer with a wide grin.


    The two Magi exchange a worried glance. "Forge Ryza is indeed rich. Did they ask for a wondrous STC template in return?"


    I just shrug and shake my head. "Nope. It was simply a gift. I suppose I will have to visit them one day and bring them my own gifts, but right now I intend to return to Estaban with a fleet." I say with a white lie.


    Still, it''s technically truth, because I didn''t give Ryza any STC. No point trading with a lower ranked priest when they don''t have the right to promise me what I need.


    "We have heard of their plight at Forge Estaban. Still, it worries us greatly...so many attacks on Forge Worlds. Do you have to take everything?" the lady Magos asks me in a wary voice.


    I sigh, and taste more tea and cake. "How many can you spare?" I ask after a minute.


    They give me 400 corvettes, which is decent.


    So I take out the dataslates and start the bitter barter we''re all so familiar with.


    Of course, because we don''t use thrones and other hard currencies, I can request fuel and munitions for free, as well as Gellar field inhibitor consumables and replacement tech-priests and servitors.


    A Forge World has billions of them, so they can spare a few thousands for a big deal, as incentive.


    Mentioning Ryza and the battlecruiser has made them even more generous for some reason, and thus I receive 10 Fellblade heavy tanks and 100 Leman Russ tanks without any discord.


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    Even extra lasguns and krak missiles for the PDF regiments are allowed without them blinking an eye, though I suppose bionic eyes don''t blink. The weapons are loaded aboard the corvettes, for the simple reason I lack space right now.


    With 3000 more Chimeras on board the Litany, the hangars become rather full and packed, but it''s for the greater good.


    And I do get promised the new Retribution-pattern machines, Sentinels and Grav-tanks included. Not the Volcano armed sentinels though.


    The Tigrus-pattern corvettes get crewed and filled by the Mechanicus for now, tech-priests and a regiment of servitors and even a squad of armored skitarii as bridge guards.


    Forge Tigrus has installed laser cannons in the turrets, which is not ideal but I guess they were cheap. They still hit like a Titan, so they''ll work anyway.


    A dozen more STCs change hands, and I receive the pattern for a light power armor, like the Sisters of Battle have.


    Pretty sure I will have to change the chest piece anyway, because the boob plates may look cool, but are too distinctive.


    Or maybe I will keep them, should I meet some Sisters and strike a good relation.


    Even the Sisters of Silence would be nice, since I have my Pharos device to talk with our minds. And they are Blanks as well, which hints at some distinct advantages...


    Still smiling at that thought, I board my lander and return to the Litany, while Wentian has pushed the Eldar derelict into the sun while I was away.


    Leaving a corrupted wreck for the Mechanicus was like telling a kid not to open the jelly jar or play with fire.


    "Good job, Wentian. What do you think of Finona?" I ask when reaching the ship bridge.


    "...Errr. She learns well and is smart. Good pilot too." he answers after a minute.


    "Good enough. You will train her as a Captain for the Litany. Well, if we survive whatever Chaos throws at us." I explain in a level voice.


    Behind me, the Astartes check their bolters by reflex.


    In a minute, Finona arrives on the bridge and sits beside me, where Rose used to.


    "You like it?" I ask my daughter with a smile.


    "Yes, Captain. The Machine Spirit is eager to fight again." she answers after she links the implant to her command chair.


    "Great. You have command then, with Wentian as X.O. Call me before we arrive at Estaban." I proclaim out loud, and see the bridge crew is rather stunned.


    The girl...well she is 22 years old, so a young woman now, looks around then back at me a bit frightened. "Really?"


    I just shrug and walk away, Ludvaius smiling at her as encouragement.


    Before I leave, I hear her calling Henna, her mother for help. Children...always a pleasure.


    I return to my rooms, and discharge my stress in bed for a few hours, because I do have plenty concubines traveling with me. New ones but I don''t mind.


    The nobles keep offering me pretty daughters for no reason, and I have a teenager body.


    Sometime later, Decima arrives with a cart of food and drinks, which we share with Ludvaius. He does have some special organ that detects poisons and other threats, so he tastes everything first.


    Then I sit in my armchair with my wife in my lap, and keep working on new STCs, yet again reloading the cheap Imperial Guard templates and trying to make them better.


    Now I have more experience and knowledge, so I figure out how to attach a krak grenade launcher under a lasgun, which seems simple but it''s really not. Not if you want the thing to be cheap but durable, easy to maintain and to fire.


    The range gets extended a bit more, and the battery is slightly better. Now, if only I could make a few trillion of them...


    The problem is not the weapons themselves. Humanity has plenty of better weapons. But they are not allowed to use them. Tradition and complacence, disregard for lives and even tactics, are norm in the military.


    Good officers might never get promoted, because they lack family relations, the Navy will not provide air cover, because they hate the Army...and so on.


    I save the new lasgun pattern and go to sleep. Reality is too depressing.


    And at the end of this trip, there will be a full fledged Chaos invasion that has been going on for years.


    I have prepared as best as I could, but I still fear it won''t be enough.

 Canticle - Chapter 32

    There is a kind of magic in logistics.


    There really is. Armies without water will simply die of thirst. Food and ammunition matter as well, and then there is fuel and spare parts and medical treatment.


    You may use trenches or tanks as shelter, but bunkers and shielded forts are better.


    And while the Chaos did bring some supplies...they wouldn''t last years and years. Plus the armies that invaded Estaban were very diverse, from traitor Astartes to corrupted humans and xenos, mutants and psykers, demons and daemonic engines of all sizes.


    That meant they wouldn''t support each other, as every Chaos Lord, Sorcerer or Warmaster had conflicting agendas and would rather see a competitor fail and die.


    The fleet they had brought was still large and dangerous, but consumables were mostly depleted.


    And thus, my arrival hasten their defeat because I had supplies, and the traitors didn''t.


    Estaban could still manufacture some equipment, especially for the Iron_Hands</a> and their successor chapters, which had arrived first in defense of the Forge World.


    They also replaced as many limbs and organs with machines, as a tribute to Ferrus Manus, the Primarch with metal arms, which no doubt made them very dear to the Mechanicus and vice-versa.


    With my ships, the Imperium side had 1000 more corvettes, and a Battlecruiser. That meant plenty shells and torpedoes had to be sent our way, and thus save the other ships. Rose and Victor have done whatever they could to prolong the siege, waiting for my eventual arrival.


    Almost instantly, my vox box was flooded with a thousand requests from everyone, friends, allies and enemies. I turned towards Finona to see her biting her nails in fear and frustration.


    "People are calling for you, Captain." I told her in an amused voice.


    "This is too big! And they are calling for you, not me..." she exclaimed in anguish.


    I smiled and pointed at the new battlecruiser. "I''m just a passenger, for now. Do try and get me close enough to board my own ship, if you can."


    A flight of demonized fighters turned towards our fleet, perhaps testing us. "Corvettes, disperse into Pattern Gamma, full power to shields and point defense. Launch fighters for close support. And by the love of the Emperor, turn the sensors to autistic mode." I command rapidly, then leave the bridge.


    My Astartes formed around me as I walked briskly towards the landers'' hangar, the one with Stormbirds. Because those boats had Gellar generators, and that counted when the void was full of demons.


    By the time my assault boat was ready and prepared for launch, the Chaos space fighters were blown up, since we had more corvettes than they had fighters in that wing.


    For once, I was the one with superior numbers on my side and it felt great.


    An hour later, the Litany got close enough to the Overlord battlecruiser that personal transfer would be almost safe. Our escorts formed a sphere around to protect my tender body from any missile or fighter, and the Stormbird departed my old ship.


    Another ship was being prepared for my kids and concubines, but first I needed to see where to put them.


    In a minute, the lander entered the huge hangar of the battlecruiser where my son awaited.


    "Victor, you look well!" I announce with surprise. He did indeed grow up, body matured and even his demeanor had become sterner and more composed.


    War changes everyone, but Victor seemed to have done well.


    He came to hug me and transfer the Overlord control to me, with a string of passwords and Machine Spirit protocols. "I have named the ship in your absence, father. Now it''s called Canticle for the Vanquished." he explained as I connected to the special dataslate.


    "Good enough. What''s a canticle?" I wonder in a soft whisper.


    Victor punched my shoulder and laughed, as it this was the best joke ever. Even a few Astartes chuckled in amusement.


    But I really wasn''t certain. Some kind of prayer, most likely. I''ll have to ask someone else.


    While I was a bit familiar with the Cult of the Emperor and most known practices, I wasn''t that involved. While other people prayed and hoped, I knew with certainty the realities of this hellish galaxy. Possibly more than any Inquisitor.


    Furthermore, organized religion wasn''t my favorite, here or elsewhere.


    "Go back to the bridge, Victor. I need to visit the ship and learn what it can do, before I figure out how to use it." I urge my Blank son. "Canticle, Victor Lancefire retains X.O. prerogative!" I continue, speaking in the vox channel reserved for the Captain.


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    A faint response from the ship tells me it has heard me. We''ll have to work on the communication issues, but I had time.


    A few tech-priests from Ryza arrive next to describe every deck and weapon capability, as well as engine limits and reactor output. They aren''t the friendly and humane priests I''m used with, instead mingling machine code and binharic descriptors in their speech, as if unused at talking with people. They possibly aren''t, I realize.


    Unlike high-ranks which enter in contact with humanity regularly, these guys would just work with machines and code and electrical impulses, or what the Mechanicus calls the datasphere.


    "I hope all our auspex sensors are set to autistic mode, right?" I ask to make sure.


    The tech-priests freeze a second then confirm. "All except the Vox communique and IFF telemetry with Estaban. The Inquisitor has insisted, although there is no real need. We have engrams for defensive mazes and subversive infiltration."


    "I see. Scrap Code defenses too? Forge Ryza must be quite secure then." I muse out loud and watch the priests wave their mechadendrites in near panic.


    There, I scared them into being cautious from now on. Perhaps Tyranids wouldn''t use complex data viruses, but pretty much everyone else would. And these coded protections would never be fail-safe, not in an universe with magic and sorcerers and daemon engines.


    The visit continues on the upper decks, where my apartments are ten times larger and I even have a jacuzzi. I bet Victor had that installed, since I did have one back on Ilevar. There are chapels and cathedrals, both for Omnissiah and the Emperor, barracks and tank armories. Not many troops, since most of them must be fighting on Estaban.


    Plenty wounded and servitors, the Medicae hospital filled with burned and mangled grenadiers and Stromtroopers. And here I meet some Adepta_Sororitas</a> for the first time. The first woman to meet me was a Hospitaller Advance from the rank of the Sisters of the Ordos Hospitaller, who serve as physicians and offer care in the Imperium''s war zones. Such as Estaban for example.


    "Who are you? Who let you in here?" the sister demands loudly, an angry hand patting her hip, where she carried a laser pistol.


    I step aside to let Ludvaius deal with the loud woman, and I go to examine one of the wounded. The Canticle provides his name and origin, then the medical prognosis. Crippled for life, if he survives the next week. Third degree burns didn''t heal so easy.


    The rows of beds go for hundreds of meters, and they are stacked high too. Damn hellish galaxy.


    I check a few more, but everyone I see has a chance to survive. Then again, triage is quite brutal in the regiments. A corpsman or nurse checks the injury, and sends the wounded to hospital or grave, on the spot.


    Then I turn and leave, running scenarios in my mind. Perhaps a biokinetic psyker? Some kind of regeneration serum? A saint with healing aura?


    Not very likely. Then my eyes fall on the Scythe Astartes. "That place is the most fertile recruiting ground I have ever seen. Trained soldiers with mortal wounds for bravery. How come there aren''t a hundred Chapters implanting them?" I ask in an innocent voice.


    The Astartes Captain blinks confused and turns towards his brothers. They stare at me like I had grown a few more heads.


    "Some injuries will not heal, even after the geneseed. But...the Iron Hands don''t mind missing limbs." he muses to himself and glances at Ludvaius for support.


    "Lord Pef is always right, brother. But when he isn''t, it''s always fun to watch." the veteran Astartes proclaims in a confident tone.


    I just sigh and head for the bridge. That isn''t what the word ''always'' means!


    Anyway, I need to call a few Iron Hands to visit me. It''s time to end the carnage now.


    I find Rose and her Deathwatch installed comfortably on the bridge, her retinue a bit larger and even includes a tech-priest and another guy with red hair and huge muscles. Not a marine, but obviously very strong.


    "We meet again, Lady Inquisitor. And retinue." I announce while waving my fingers at Justine. She replies shyly. "Captain"


    I stop myself from sighing, as it''s not the place. New officers and crew and all that.


    Then I pat Victor''s shoulder and yank him from the Captain chair. "Go rest Victor. I am here."


    He nods with glowing eyes and hurries away, hopefully to sleep.


    Then I lean into the seat and delve in my new Machine Spirit, to figure out how to end this siege, without too many loses.


    Won''t be easy, I know.

 Serpent - Chapter 33

    I open the system map and examine all the potential weak points among the Chaos warbands and fleets.


    Then I begin simply marking them for the Canticle, by priority and difficulty. Isolated units with no capital ships, minor fleets with a cruiser or two, isolated battleships...and then a few bigger problems.


    On the ground, there was a whole other mess, because psykers and demons made augury scans very unreliable. But again, I try to do the same, marking down isolated bands and separated traitor regiments, then armor groups and bigger demon engines converted from heavy tanks, Knights or Titans.


    "Estaban, this is Pef Lancefire. I''m in position to help. Permission to do so?" I sent via the Vox channel provided for the Canticle.


    "Praise the Omnissiah! Please, Lord Lancefire do anything to stop these traitors and heretics!" a familiar voice replied after a minute. The Fabricator himself.


    Things must be really bad down there.


    Well, this was going to hurt.


    "Lancefire ships, form up in pattern Delta, I will relay vectors for group deployment." I command out loud on the clan''s vox channel, while the implant burns at full power to keep up with a myriad of orders and direction shifts.


    Like a school of fish, the corvettes assemble into a triangular formation with the Canticle in the front, while the Litany is sent in close orbit with Estaban with different orders, like orbital support and landing our armor and gunships.


    The destroyers escort the corvette''s shuttles filled with weapons for the PDF regiments, and they keep doing this for a week. Quite a few weapons to deliver, for a quarter million soldiers.


    My fleet is very fast now, because corvettes have a small mass and are easy to accelerate, and the Overlord is fast by design.


    I aim the fleet to intersect a lone Chaos battleship, and just wait for the fools to react.


    A few different destroyers and frigates speed up to intercept, and even a cruiser with its own escort feels brave. An hour later, the Chaos finds out why the Overlord-class is so wanted by nearly every Captain.


    Our torpedo salvo minces the fragile cruiser and a frigate, while the corvettes main batteries focus fire and obliterate a dozen destroyers with impunity. About 30 corvettes get damaged or they void shields fail, and thus I replace them with the second wave behind.


    Then I turn the fleet away and send a wing of fighters toward that huge Chaos battleship, which had turned to receive my fleet with a full broadside.


    But I never intended to massacre my own ships. Teresa, my other Blank pilot, is speeding towards the battleship, among 30 other space fighters. The enemy launches its own demon fighters for cover, but it won''t help.


    As the fighters begin to duel and unleash hunter-killer missiles, Teresa fires her own payload, and runs away like she was trained.


    A minute later, the warp rift hits the battleship straight above the reactor, and shields, armor or psyker sigils are powerless to stop a micron-wide tear through the fabric of reality. The containment is ruptured and the reactor explodes in a huge ball of plasma, blood and corrupted flesh.


    Of course, this Battleship is a dozen kilometers long and very sturdy, so it doesn''t break up into pieces or something, not from a tiny warp vortex.


    A section about one kilometer long is gone and flames engulf the ship, but without a reactor, the battleship cannot change course or even slow down.


    Farewell, on your long and slow voyage towards the edge of the galaxy and beyond! The Battleship is overrun with demons anyway, so it would be impossible to board and capture it.


    A counter ticks down on the Canticle''s Machine Spirit. 98 vortex missiles remaining, 7 vortex torpedoes, 6 incinerator torpedoes, 1 cyclonic torpedo.


    I turn and raise an eyebrow at my Rose, who smiles at me sweetly. "So you found my surprise. I didn''t know if you''d return in time, so I had to make sure the enemy will not win."


    "Teleport attempt detected. Failsafe engaged, teleport diverted into our plasma wake." the tech-priest on the bridge reports in a smug voice.


    I glance up at the holoscreen to see a dozen things with spiked power armors melt into the fiery exhaust of our plasma engines.


    That was a nice trick, Ryza priest! Perhaps they were useful after all.


    "Good job, Magos. Do update all my clan'' ships with this protocol." I tell him with a wide grin. My Astartes escorts seem a bit deflated because they didn''t get to fight anything.


    The Magos wrings a few tentacles in concern. "Such procedure needs a thousand hours of machine canticles, holy ointments and recitations, Captain. It cannot be done over vox transmissions."


    I frown a little, but such is the way of the Mechanicus. Slow, tedious work and too many prayers.


    "The Litany as fast as possible and then the destroyers." I answer after a few seconds.


    He nods and accepts my orders, which is a good start. Chaos boarders would ruin my ships even faster than lasers or torpedoes.


    Then I turn back my full focus on the next target and the next.


    The trick keeps working, and by the third day we have cleared a tenth of the Chaos ships by ourselves. Running out of isolated morons though.


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    The remaining Chaos fleets are mostly engaged with Estaban''s immense orbital forts and the defense fleet, but they seem focused on winning the ground war, for some reason.


    It seems against logic to me, because controlling the orbitals is the most important part of any space war, but whatever. I did my job and didn''t lose any ships yet.


    Even on the ground, the newly deployed Fellblades and Leman Russ tanks are making a dent into the Chaos forces, and Finona has focused down three Chaos Titans already and massacred a dozen traitor regiments with the Litany''s lance batteries.


    Our gunships and Chimeras are deployed to support the PDF regiments while they re-arm and get trained how to fire the lasguns, but it''s not yet time for an offensive.


    I go to sleep for a few hours, because my flesh may be young again but I still get tired.


    Then a Rose and her Rosette wake me up, and the Inquisitor seems rather worried. "Pef, wake up!"


    I blink myself awake and hold my hand out. Ludvaius fills it with a cup of caf, and everything is better in a minute.


    "What happened now?" I blurt between gulps of miraculous healing.


    "I sensed someone...a Primarch." she reveals with a hidden glance at my Astartes friend, who had gone deathly still.


    I hum deep in thought, going over possible candidates. "Iron Hands Astartes are here. And they have a vendetta with..."


    "Fulgrim</a>. The serpent." Ludvaius mutters as his good eye starts turning red.


    Watch those emotions big guy. I know you hate the traitor, but don''t splatter me by accident.


    I sigh audibly and close my eyes to think, the savant implant running at full strength. A daemon prince wasn''t something that mortal weapons could harm. Even if I could target him from orbit, he would just respawn.


    "That thing is not Fulgrim. Only a demon with his partial memories. But we don''t have a Pariah to break his powers. And Justine would evaporate before she could restrain the thing." I answer with a dismissive wave.


    Ludvaius and Rose focus on me like laser pointers. "Is that true?" they both ask in a hopeful voice.


    "Some Necron Lord has Fulgrim in stasis. Trazyn</a> or something like that. We''ll go get him back, one day. Just need to find something worthy to trade." I explain and stare into my empty cup.


    I really didn''t have anything that could kill a demon prince. Except...


    "Why are you staring at me like that?" Ludvaius asks and draws back.


    "What can the Blood Angel do, Pef?" my Rose wonders with a curious voice.


    Glad you asked, my dear Inquisitor.


    "We will bombard and isolate the serpent from his followers, while Ludvaius calls his boss for help. And when Sanguinius arrives, Justine can get close and weaken the beast a little. It''s a long shot, but it should work." I proclaim in a confident voice.


    The Inquisitor blinks in surprise, then holds out her Rosette. "Sealed by my order, Astartes. What we''re about to try is not quite...canonical."


    The powerful engram in the Rosette burns in the Warp, and Ludvaius starts bleeding from both eyes, human and bionic. "I understand, Inquisitor. And I do trust Lord Pef. Let''s hope we will see another miracle today."


    Well, that revelation didn''t end in blood and tears...even if it technically did


    Thus, we soon arrive in the Canticle''s vault, where the stasis box with the Sounding Board rests now.


    "This is an empathic amplifier, my friend. Kneel and pray, and ask Sanguinius</a> to help. Tell him about Estaban and Fulgrim." I explain while Rose turns off the blue temporal barrier.


    "The Emperor protects!" the crying Astartes shouts in devotion.


    "And have him heal the burned soldiers as well, if he feels like it." I add in a half-joking voice. Pretty sure such a feat is really easy for the Sanguinor, but mortals aren''t usually of notice to such entities.


    Ludvaius just nods and keeps muttering his prayers.


    Meanwhile, the Canticle and our escorts speed towards Estaban''s orbit, firing all batteries as we pass through the Chaos blockade.


    Here, I lose 11 corvettes because we couldn''t avoid all the incoming fire in our rush to get in position.


    Luckily, I can coordinate with Finona via the ancient console, and we start a barrage to separate the serpent from his closest allies. 6 more corvettes are lost to ground fire, because Titans can fire into orbit, but we manage to create a perimeter devoid of Chaos followers.


    Then we keep pounding the demon prince with our medium batteries to keep him still, as the ground melts and burns around him. Magma and lasercannon fire don''t seem to bother Fulgrim much, but it does slow him down.


    And then, a golden glow forms around the Canticle, because Ludvaius has indeed been heard.


    A beam of light descends and an Angel appears, with golden wings and even a sword.


    In a blink, the Sanguinor</a> teleports on the surface and begins to battle the serpent with mountain shattering blows.


    I wish they had popcorn in the future. It made a glorious sight anyway.

 Insertion - Chapter 34

    The serpent kept bleeding a silvery metal instead of blood, and the psychic apparition didn''t bleed at all, instead losing pieces of itself, then regenerating them in a golden glow.


    Still, that two-handed sword had to be at least a Force Weapon, as every single strike hit and did damage.


    The daemon prince struck back furiously, teeth and claw matching the angel blow-by-blow.


    Meanwhile, the Litany kept firing in a wide circle around the fiery arena, while our corvettes bombarded nearly every single Chaos base to keep them pinned.


    But suppression couldn''t last long, as the Chaos fleet decided to attack and rescue the traitor Primarch.


    "Scythes of the Emperor, can I depend on you to escort my mother and support the angel against the serpent?" I asked while turning towards Captain Thrasius and his squad.


    They didn''t hesitate for a second, and nodded politely towards Justine. "Of course, Captain Pef. It would be our honor and our duty. For the Emperor!" the Captain proclaimed in a certain voice.


    I was afraid this might mean their deaths, but such is the fate of all Astartes. Not one of them has died of old age.


    My mother had equipped a light power armor and a Rosarius</a>, which should keep her safe for a few seconds.


    "Follow me Astartes. This ship has a teleportarium, and there is no Silence here to stop me." the Inquisitor commanded and marched out with her retinue.


    I held my thumb up for success and concentrated back on my own mission, keeping the orbitals secure.


    Torpedoes and lances pounded the advancing Chaos fleet, and my corvettes were sent to dart in and around the big ships, to try and deliver a surprise torpedo into their engines.


    Our space fighters flew wildly, dueling other demon fighters and intercepting bombers and torpedoes, while the missile launchers emptied their magazines, firing krak missiles as fast as possible.


    Then the Chaos heavy ships closed in, and our void shields began straining under enemy fire. A purple flash, and then another, and two Chaos battleships burst into flames and demons as they encountered my own vortex torpedoes.


    Of course, even more demons rushed in, somehow managing to swim through the void towards us. The point defense flak cannons and the multi-lasers fired non-stop, bursting the demons into shreds of ectoplasm and fire.


    I urged the Canticle to steer away and hide behind a huge Ark Mechanicus warship, using this time to recharge the shields and reload missiles and torpedoes.


    The corvettes did great, especially against demon fighters and Chaos destroyers, since their own guns fired faster and more accurately due to being new and well maintained.


    I tallied about 200 Chaos escorts destroyed by my meager fleet, and a dozen critical hits on enemy capital ships that had their void shields down.


    The Canticle itself did much better, with about 50 kills to our name, and even 3 battleships damaged with Vortex warheads. Considering the time and effort it took to build such large monsters, it was quite a score for us.


    We lost 200 corvettes ourselves, which wasn''t that good, but such is war. Especially in tight close combat, losses begin to grow fast.


    "All ships, disengage and regroup at the moon, fleet pattern Alpha." I commanded as another corvette blew up from a single heavy cruiser salvo.


    The Canticle''s Spirit marked the guilty Chaos cruiser for retaliation and I approved. Our salvo of torpedoes blew that cruiser apart, and even a destroyer escorting it took some damage from the huge explosion. The lance batteries tracked the wounded prey and finished it off in a single pulse.


    Damn, I loved my ship now!


    Again, we fled and began rearming the torpedo tubes, when down on Estaban an immense psyker scream erupted.


    "Talk to me, Brother Ludvaius!" I demanded without turning, my attention focused on the fleet battle.


    "Lady Justine made contact. It seems that demon got scared and tried to run." he explained while I blew up a Chaos frigate and the hunter-killer launchers brought down a sneaky bomber that got too close.


    The Canticle shook tremendously, and the void shield failed. And backup Ion Shield sprang back into place almost instantly.


    "Teleport detected, lower decks. Combat servitors deploying to intercept." the tech-priest announced in a metallic voice.


    Damnation!


    Most of my Astartes were down on the ground, as were most of my troops.


    "Estimate numbers and composition." I asked with trepidation, while the Canticle fled the battle before something important was sabotaged, and we were left defenseless.


    The Magos screeched something in binharic, then resumed in Gothic. "Estimation complete. We detect 6 traitor Astartes and one unidentified male. Presumed armed and dangerous."


    "Captain, you should evacuate to the Litany." Ludvaius demanded in a stern voice.


    Uhh. The Astartes was right, of course. We''d need at least 6000 troops to match 6 power armored traitor marines, and they had a sorcerer as well.


    Not that these boarders would stand and take fire from 6000 guardsmen, instead hunting us all with lightning strikes and perhaps surprise teleports.


    Still, that would leave my ship, and all those wounded at the traitors'' mercy.


    Not on my watch!


    "Victor, take the bridge. Magos, gather some servitors. We''re going hunting." I commanded with fake bravery.


    Damn it all to hell! I tried to avoid getting into fights with the ugly things.


    In a minute, I had a hundred servitors, two squads of void marines and my bodyguard Astartes prepared, checking our weapons, lasguns and krak grenades, then melta guns and the power weapons.


    I kinda doubted my chances in melee with an Astartes, especially some damned millennia-old veteran with a kill count over a million.


    Then we rushed towards the latest sighting of the traitors, and caught one of them butchering some serfs while laughing madly. Khorne</a> worshiper possibly.


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    My first shot hit his face straight on, but it barely singed his hardened skin, then a blur pushed me away as it sped and struck the traitor with his Power Maul. The Chaos space marine simply broke in two, head exploding into gore and blood, then his chest.


    "Containment and eject the remains into the sun" I demanded while poking the Ryza Magos on his shoulder. Or maybe his hip, hard to tell with the transhuman cyborgs.


    A few servitors stayed behind to complete my order, and we ran towards the next enemy sighting. I vectored their path on my implant. The Medicae ward, of course.


    "Send servitors to protect the wounded. If any are able to shoot, give them weapons." I spoke on the vox-bead, among deep breaths.


    Commanding from the front was exhausting, and my Canticle battlecruiser was really big. Lots of running to do.


    Then we reached a deck elevator and I managed to calm my breath, and observe Ludvaius. The marine seemed barely excited, as if this was only routine or training for him.


    I mean, he probably saw more combat missions than I saw STC templates, so it made sense a little.


    "Wear your helmet, Astartes." I demanded as I remembered mine and drew it on. I rather not get punched in the face again.


    He listened to me, for some reason and it was just in time. The elevator doors opened suddenly, and we entered a hail of bolter fire and shrapnel from grenades and exploding machinery.


    I fell on my belly on reflex and started firing my Hellpistol at any big face I could find. Since space marines are so big, their wide faces make a decent target, with their eyes as the bullseye.


    About a dozen shots later, I did score a full hit, and I saw the traitor''s eye burst and explode into purulent green goo. Nurgulite traitor, most likely. No wonder they headed for the medical ward.


    I kept firing, while around myself the servitors and void marines began exploding into chunks of metal and blood.


    Ludvaius stood in front of me and fired his bolter in loud staccato bursts, then a bluish melta blob from the barrel underneath.


    Another traitor Astartes died, his armor failing him and the melta round burning his organs like creme flamb¨¦.


    Then form the side, a woman''s voice started singing and chanting, and a dozen Sisters arrived leading a few hundred walking wounded.


    I''m not sure how they kept breathing and shooting while also running and chanting, but perhaps they had special training.


    My own breath was painful and getting difficult, and I was lying down and shooting a recoiless weapon, not a bolter.


    Then again, logic wasn''t the strongest suit of this universe. A traitor marine growled something and punched a Sister straight through her belly, but the woman keep singing and shooting the ugly face from point-blank range, til both of them fell to the deck, dead.


    Another sister grabbed an Astartes and flung him over the shoulder, then aided by two other women cracked the traitor''s head open, and then incinerated the brains.


    The guardsmen fired their own weapons in support, without doing too much damage, but it helped.


    The nearest traitor Astartes turned to return fire, and Ludvaius pounced, striking his back with the Power Maul and then crushing the head under his armored boot.


    Did I mention this galaxy is a bit brutal? Oh, yes.


    Almost immediately, my friend was lifted up in the air by some unseen force, his arms forced back, leaving him exposed.


    So I sprang from my safe-ish position and rushed out, firing my pistol at the pink wearing sorcerer. It did nothing, of course. The psyker had a force field around him and simply lifted his other hand towards me.


    Sucker!


    His face scowled in bewilderment, then fear as I got closer and closer and his Warp powers had no effect.


    Then I slipped on some blood and slid on my back towards him, luckily avoiding a burst of bolter rounds from the last traitor Astartes.


    My left hand grabbed my Power Dagger and I sliced the Chaos psyker''s leg as I passed under him, and jumped towards the bigger threat.


    But here, my luck ran out. The space marine simply caught my wrist and broke it like a twig, and ignored my reflex kick to the balls. Damn it!


    These guys didn''t have balls anymore.


    "Funny guy, aren''t you?" The Chaos Astartes chuckled in a baritone voice.


    A thin scream behind me announced Ludvaius had arrived and terminated the wounded sorcerer. "Purge the unclean!" he bellowed in a loud shout.


    His barrage of bolter rounds struck the traitor, only to be deflected by some type of shield.


    But then another melta blast crashed that shield and I fell to the deck as the traitor drew his own weapon to parry Ludvaius''s maul.


    I rolled away and kept shooting with my good hand, which possibly only annoyed the humorous traitor.


    Then, as the two Astartes were locked in a contest of strength, a metallic tentacle flashed by and scooped out the traitor''s brain in a single second.


    "Interesting. I''ve never seen such bionic implants before." the Magos commented while examining the still living brain with fascination. I nicknamed this techpriest the Juggler, for his skill with scalpels, as he had the habit of spinning a dozen scalpels in mid-air before a surgery.


    Juggler lowered the pulsating brain towards me, so I can see it for myself. The brain looked rather normal to me, though why would anyone make black metal wires as a brain implant? Pehaps emulating his Primarch, Angron?


    "Ouch. Perhaps those are slave controls" I muttered as my wrist started acting up, no doubt due to the exposed bones sticking out.


    A Battle Sister came to check me out and give me a medical prognosis. "I fear you will never use that hand again. Pray to the Emperor, for healing and for salvation."


    I sighed inward and fell on my back, trying to rest. Why was everything so bright?

 Vortex - Chapter 35

    I admit, I was never interested in prayer, mostly because in my first life it''s wouldn''t do anything, and here it would also do jack. Blanks were immune to the Warp, so even if some godling wanted to listen I would be exempt.


    But glancing at my mangled wrist, I took a leap of faith and decided to listen to the nice Sister.


    ''Hey Emperor, Pef here. Send a minion and fix my hand, will you? I promise I''ll return the favor.'' I mumbled in my head, while wishing someone would turn off the damn blinding light.


    A golden hand lifted me up in the air, and the pain vanished. So I opened my mouth to say thanks, only to stare at the same Angel from before, now looking rather frayed and full of holes. Must have been a tough fight down there.


    His other hand held my wrist in confusion, possibly wondering why the healing wouldn''t work.


    Of course, as a Warp construct, the Sanguinor was just as powerless as the sorcerer from before. Immune meant immune.


    His head turned towards Ludvaius, eye blank and empty, but he could use some kind of mind-link to speak to the Blood Angel anyway.


    My Astartes friend rushed to obey, slicing open his palm and offering a blood tribute.


    Then that blood swirled and glowed with energy in mid-air, before falling on my left hand like a golden mist.


    And then it hurt, for a second.


    I must have fainted, because I woke up in a hospital bed, with the Sister from before holding my hand in her own hands, and murmuring a lullaby of some kind. Involving murdering heretics and burning mutants alive.


    Very comforting, for someone who was both of those.


    "Hello, Sister. Did the angel listen, after all?" I ask curious and retract my hand to examine it.


    Although it looks intact now, it also feels foreign and strange. Stronger too, I know that for certain. Must be the glowing veins under the skin.


    "What do you mean Captain?" she answers with a frown.


    "The wounded ward." I explain politely.


    She forms the sign of Aquila with her fingers and nods. "Yes, Lord Pef. All the burned guardsmen have been healed. The ones with mangled limbs were only stabilized and the bleeding stopped by miracle. Your tech-priests told us that bionic limbs will be provided freely to every one of them, as a sign of respect for the angel''s deed."


    I nod and sigh inward. So even the Sanguinor had limits. Or perhaps he was too tired.


    Then I lean on the pillow and focus inward, checking the remembrancer implant for a more accurate recall of those events. However, the angel itself doesn''t appear in the recordings. Was a mere a mind alteration?


    I''ll have to check Canticle''s logs and find out.


    "Do I still need bed rest?" I wonder out loud. I feel rather great right now.


    "... Well, our Curia Advance wants to examine you before you are released. I believe she wants to record your testimony and take samples from the miracle hand." the woman pleaded in a wary voice.


    Ludvaius snorts from the side of my bed, seeming amused. "Let''s not do that, Captain Pef. You have enough women after you."


    It seems funny, but the Sisters of Battle number in the millions. I''d rather not have them following me around like a saint or something.


    Thus, I stand up and look around for my clothes, only to find them missing. Classic hospital tactics, but this is my ship. I wrap the bed sheets around me like a toga and walk away, ignoring the outraged look on the Sister''s face.


    Soon enough, I enter my apartments and embrace my family, who seemed quite relieved to see me. They all check my balls again, for signs of metallic transmutation.


    "What were you thinking, my dear husband?" Decima chides me and clenched her fist rather painfully.


    I kiss her cheek and nod inward. That stunt was rather foolish. I mean, if there was only the sorcerer it would have work superbly. That brainless Astartes was way too fast and strong for me.


    "Lord Pef kicked that traitor in the balls, Lady Decima. Fortunately, that saved his life, because that World_Eater</a> was too shocked at our Lord'' balls." Ludvaius explains with an encouraging thumb up.


    "... But Astartes don''t have balls, right?" my wife asks in confusion.


    The veteran Astartes just chuckles and sits on his plasteel chair, his bolter casually pointed at the apartment''s door.


    My Rose and a single Deathwatch enter, and the Inquisitor runs to check my body for damage, tearing away the modesty sheet. "Lucky bastard." she murmurs as she hugs me tight.


    Her own armor is cold and smells of death, but I ignore that. "Decima, please wait outside." I ask in a mild voice.


    Rose doesn''t wait long to undress and start riding me as fast as she can, releasing tension and making both of us a bit happier.


    Sometime later, she draws my chin towards her. "We both lost much and it won''t get better, my love. Only the Captain survived from those Scythe guards, and only him from my retinue." she explained pointing her finger towards the door where her own black armored Astartes stood guard.


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    I feel my heart skip a beat. "Everyone?" I ask in a whisper.


    "However, their sacrifice was not in vain. The serpent is dead and the tech-priests have melted the corpse into a vat of boiling adamantium. I aided them with purity seals and so did a few sisters from the Adepta Sororitas. The daemon prince should be contained now." she adds in a grave voice.


    I curse out loud and stand up. "Justine, my mother?" I shout in anger.


    She just shakes her head.


    Damn it! I knew her job was dangerous, but she had escorts and that force field.


    "Fleet situation?" I ask as I swallow my pain for later.


    "Total naval loses, about 25 percent. On the ground, it''s 45 percent loses. Used to be more, but about 5 percent have recovered and are returning to the regiments. Nearly 10 percent injured guardsmen await bionic limb and organ replacements." Rose says in a dispassionate tone.


    Good enough, some might say. I mean, it''s the worst campaign on my record, but even so it makes me look like a genius compared to the Army''s glory hounds or suicidal Admirals.


    My guts yearn for revenge though. In a minute, I find a backup uniform and head towards the bridge.


    While I was resting, the fleet has resupplied and rearmed the consumables, the shields have been restored and the fighter pilots got to rest as well.


    Victor pats my shoulder for comfort as I sit in the Captain chair. "Avenge her, dad." he whispers in a grieving voice.


    Don''t worry son.


    I check with the Canticle''s Machine Spirit for an update on the system''s map, and begin setting new targets. There are 3 Chaos battleships left, and 11 battlecruisers. I still have 3 vortex torpedoes and 23 vortex missiles. More than enough.


    Once the heavy ships are gone, Estaban and its allies will have a field day with the remaining traitors.


    "Form up, Lancefire ships! Pattern Delta, and don''t be frugal with munitions. Let''s send these bastards back to Hell!" I proclaim on our fleet wide vox channel.


    In an hour, the special munitions are prepared, and 30 corvettes in bad shape are diverted towards Estaban. It''s true that Warp-capable ships cannot land or even maintain bombardment altitude for more than a minute.


    But corvettes are also cheap and expendable.


    We depart from our hidden position behind the moon and accelerate, our vector taking us towards the right flank of the Chaos fleet, and slightly below their orbital plane, just enough to avoid the firing arcs of their main batteries.


    Instead, all our batteries can fire without obstruction, in a similar method once used by German fighters attacking bomber formations.


    It is total surprise for the Enemy, as they maintained a battle line to confront the defenders and their orbital forts.


    One by one, Chaos escorts and cruisers blow up under concentrated barrages of torpedoes, lance batteries or macrocannons. Then a chaos battlecruiser start turning its broadside towards us, a bit too late. A vortex missile detonates its warhead just under the ship''s engine, shearing them off and exposing its unarmored backside to the Mechanicus fleet and the Astartes Barges.


    A thousand lances strike the warp rift and the battlecruiser and boom it goes.


    My fleet passes under and keeps firing, forcing more and more Chaos ships to turn and engage us. But one of five traitor ships cannot keep up with hundreds of corvettes and my other ships.


    Like a forest fire, we scour and purge the heretics with our thrice-blessed weapons, til we encounter another battlecruiser which we also slice in two with a vortex missile.


    These Warp rift weapons are truly fantastic, though much too rare to be used often. I heard the Mechanicus somehow siphons the warp energy from dying stars to make these expensive weapons.


    We lose some space fighters, but we keep going.


    Another battlecruiser blows up, and we reach the big uglies, the 3 battleships that hold the center, and 9 battlecruisers escorting them. Well, 8 such ships now.


    The Chaos battleships are not exactly maneuverable, and cannot stop the vortex torpedoes that I fire before I turn our fleet away and start accelerating.


    Back on the ground, 30 hardened positions with Void shield deflectors and Chaos Titans get a surprise orbital drop, each receiving a warm salute from our plunging corvettes.


    They could have lasted years of bombardment from a corvette''s meager weapons, but mass is mass. The Void shields are powerless to stop our sacrificial ships and pop like balloons.


    In a meteor-like impacts those 30 traitor armor regiments including the Titans are vaporized in cataclysmic explosions, just as in orbit 3 battleships suffer a catastrophic reality check with my vortex torpedoes.


    "Estaban, my fleet will be re-arming and coming about for another run." I explain politely as the defense fleet struggles to contain the Warp rifts and close them, before all the Immaterium arrives at the party.


    "...Err. I think you did enough, Lord Pef. Leave us something to do, and not involving vortex warheads." the Fabricator General answers in a slightly horrified voice.


    Okay then. No more nice warheads. At least not today.

 Iron Hand - Chapter 36

    By the end of the week, Forge World Estaban III had begun their counter-attack, crushing the remaining warbands and other traitors that were now leaderless and slightly lacking armor units.


    That''s a big problem when a Legio Titanica knocks politely at your door, then kicks it open with a 50-meter-wide adamantium foot.


    In orbit, things were going rather well, as without battleships the traitors couldn''t stop the mighty fleet of the Cult Mechanicus, nor defend against constant harassment from my own ships, as I lead the fleet in and out and picked off a dozen more enemies, then fell back to re-load.


    The Canticle''s kill count rapidly climbed and passed 100 then 200 kills. Then again, it took only a full salvo from my battleship grade lance batteries to explode a destroyer, and a salvo of guided torpedoes to sink a cruiser.


    Demons weren''t as much a problem in space, because our guns were much heavier too. What would need a dozen tanks to kill on the ground took a single lance for my ship, and a few more from the smaller escorts.


    Then a hundred cruisers gathered in a kill-squad to hunt me and the Canticle, possibly exasperated and aggravated by my actions, and so I did what any Rogue Trader would do.


    I turned my pretty battlecruiser round and ran, and used my torpedo destroyers to come about and surprise the chasing idiots from behind, with a 50-meter-long suppository that delivered plasma warheads instead of medicine.


    The Litany scored a dozen kills and the destroyers as many, before the Chaos Admiral gave up and decided to return to his fleet.


    Only by then, the Mechanicus fleet has taken advantage and attacked, and shattered the Chaos battle line.


    I ordered my corvettes to group in wings and hunt down the scattering traitors, and we bagged some 20 cruisers more, before they reached Warp limit and fled, tails between their legs.


    While the fighting on the ground continued, I landed to meet the Fabricator General. Beside him it was a huge machine, that I soon learned was called Warleader Bannus of clan Kaargul, the leading strategist of the Iron Hands Astartes.


    "Hello, and good to see you. I need 300 corvettes to replace my loses, Fabricator." I demanded in a less modest tone.


    I mean, fuck that! Lord Pef had golden veins in my left hand now.


    "You only lost 261 of those corvettes, Rogue Trader." the dreadnought interjected with no reason.


    I drew off my armored glove, and held my left hand out. "Talk to the hand, Astartes!" I quipped, since the dreadnought was a terminator in every respect.


    The Fabricator laughed as if I said a wonderful joke. "That''s the famous hand you got from the Angel?" he asked to make sure.


    "Yeah, I''d need to you to analyze what the sword guy did. He used some Blood Angel blood for this construct, and you have my original genes on record." I answered a bit more relaxed.


    Estaban were the good guys, and even gave me 1000 years of youth for free.


    "You seem upset with me for some reason, Lord Lancefire. Have we not fought together?" the dreadnought boomed in a tenor voice.


    "I don''t know you, Astartes Bannus. But my own mother just died, sacrificing herself to kill an Astartes Primarch. Then another Astartes boarded my ship and shattered my wrist. Among those who just attacked Estaban, how many Astartes were there?" I shouted towards the infirm space marine walking around in his coffin.


    Something whirred and sputtered inside the coffin, then the veteran turned away in silence.


    "Don''t blame the venerable dreadnought for the acts of others. I''m certain many Rogue Traders do despicable things someplace, right?" the Fabricator intervened in a peaceful voice.


    "There are 20 thousand crippled guardsmen from my regiments, just on board the Canticle. I don''t see any Iron Hands offering them geneseeds and bionic limbs. They take healthy men and cripple them instead. Fresh young boys taken from the plow or factory, and given power armor and guns. No wonder half the Astartes go mad with power and start pillaging." I muttered with distaste and walked away.


    In a minute, the Fabricator had me sit comfortably in a metal chair with too many needles and probes whirling around.


    "This won''t hurt too bad. Let''s extract some blood and skin samples...then I will sequence them, right away." the Magos explained, trying and failing to sound like a professional medic.


    Still, he tried...which wasn''t so bad.


    An hour later, we had some results, which were mildly promising. Not quite a geneseed implant, but similar enough that I should see improvements in my every stats: mind, body and soul.


    "For now, only your left hand was affected, but this will spread to your whole person in a few years. No Astartes organs, unless some Chapter agrees to initiate you among their brothers. But this proves your conjecture was correct. Blanks, or at least Blanks from your bloodline can become Astartes and be immune to Warp corruption." the Fabricator mused, and took out a palm sized emblem shaped like a coffin.


    "It that a Blank Machine Spirit?" I asked immediately.


    "Indeed it is. This is a Storm Shield applique I intend to gift to Warleader Bannus, for his aid in defense of Estaban. We have already tested them on our holy Titans and battle-automata and they worked with statistical certainty. Instances of Warp corruption have decreased by 20 percent with this simple pattern applied to the chassis, and once we perfect the machine canticles and the consecration engrams that percent will go up." he declared proudly.


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    "What about cogitators?" I asked with a frown.


    "... That will take more time. Or less time, if you agree to stay one year and allow us cloning of your enhanced tissues." The Fabricator pleaded with a hopeful voice.


    It only took a second to think it over. I could spare one year. My regiments will need time to heal or get bionic replacements as well. Ships will need repair, and the armor regiments will have to be rebuilt to strength.


    "I will do it. If you fix my ships and people. My life isn''t worth all of theirs." I spoke in a gentler voice.


    The Magos patted my head with his cold tentacle. "Of course, Lord Pef. We always pay our debts."


    "Then, I could ask for the Volcano_Cannon</a> pattern. My corvettes need some upgrades." I demanded after a minute.


    The Fabricator sighed in defeat. He had to pay his debt, after all.


    As I was leaving the Fabricator, that dreadnought Astartes waited for me, with a few more Iron Hands, all sporting nearly full mechanical replacements.


    Ludvaius was there and so was Mansirius Thrasius, the last surviving Scythe from my honor guard.


    "Captain, these Iron Hands want to offer their support." Thrasius announced in a flat voice, like it wasn''t his business.


    Well then, it seemed my sneaky plan worked. Now let''s see what they actually offer.


    "Very well. We''ll speak on the Canticle. I''m certain my tech-priests can offer them some machine oil to drink." I allowed politely and kept walking without a single glance towards the cyborgs.


    Ludvaius snorted amused and walked faster, to arrive first at the landing pad and check for danger.


    Paranoid perhaps, but then again... Chaos troops were still on Estaban, and even a few ships somewhere beyond the gas giants.


    My Stormbird transport engaged the Gellar Field first, before taking off for the Canticle.


    The Iron Hands muttered at one another while examining my assault lander with greedy eyes. Yes, I bet you''d want this nice craft, and maybe a dozen Fellblades too, as a welcome gift.


    But I wasn''t feeling generous today.


    Ludvaius and Tharsius excepted, I kinda loathed Astartes right now. Bunch of overgrown bullies, who couldn''t even keep an oath.


    I made a note to locate The Sworn Of Guilliman, another traitor chapter who pillaged the Eastern Fringe, and exterminate them. And soon enough, every other xeno or traitor infesting my tiny corner of the galaxy.


    "Can we see those wounded soldiers, Captain Lancefire?" Another Iron Captain asked politely once the transport landed on my ship.


    "Astartes Tharsius will escort you. And if you draw weapons on my ship, you better be faster than the last Astartes who tried." I replied with a dismissive voice and left without turning, Ludvaius stomping on the deck beside me, possibly a little upset.


    A minute later I entered the elevator and stared him in the eye. "You disagree, Blood Angel?"


    "That was Lord Clan Commmander Arven Rauth, Iron Captain</a> of Clan Rauvaan. There is no need to be hostile with him, or any Iron Hand brother." he spoke in a warning voice.


    I nodded and smiled wryly. "And yet, here they are. Begging me to let them recruit my wounded guardsmen." I answered a bit jovially and let out a small snort. In the long run, a mechanical Astartes dying for the Emperor is better than a crippled soldier living on a meager pension.


    Ludvaius blinked while he thought it over. "I see, it was all a trick. Shame them into accepting the crippled soldiers as their Aspirants."


    Indeed, that was the plan and worked fabulously. "And what would the Angel say, after he healed those thousands of burned guardsmen with your blood, Ludvaius? I had merely a broken wrist. Perhaps it was as thanks for my mother. The miracle was for them, not a tiny gift that a tech-priest could repair in 10 minutes."


    "How did you know it would work? Was that our Primarch, returned from the dead?" the Astartes asked me with fervor.


    "You talked to him, not me. I collect only rumours and stories from around the galaxy, repair STC patterns and devise plans and strategies. You created the miracle, Astartes. Your blood is the reason." I answered cryptically.


    Truth is I didn''t know. Some say the Angel is the good part of Sanguinius, a fragment of his soul looking after his children. Other sources say it is a Blood Angel guardian of the Red Grail, that fell into a Warp rift.


    But I suspect the Sanguinor is just like all the other Saints or the Legion of the Damned.


    The Emperor is part of the Warp now, and his dreams are made flesh. If your pleas reach him, then he might send help, just like the Chaos Gods send Champions of their own.


    Sing or pray louder, and miracles will follow you around, like they do with the Sisters of Battle or some Astartes.

 Recruiting - Chapter 37

    Rose met me in my apartment, already dressed in her sanctified armor.


    "Back to your job, my dear Rose?" I asked in a light voice.


    "Yes. I''ll have to recruit a new retinue. So what did you find?" she asks as her Deathwatch marine takes position beside Ludvaius.


    "What the Angel did won''t stop with my hand. I''ll slowly transform into a bulky guy with too much strength. The extra brains will be helpful though." I explained and kissed her cheek.


    She smirked and measured me up and down. "A neophyte body? I bet you could last in bed for weeks." Rose murmured and blushed a little as her eyes glazed in anticipation.


    "Hush woman! Go back to death and duty." I exclaimed in fake outrage and sat down in my creation chair, holoscreens and incipient 3D conversion engines powering up.


    The Canticle''s Machine Spirit seemed quite eager to help me experiment with the STC templates.


    Ludvaius stood behind me, learning the craft from me and sometimes providing important clues why some weapon or emplacement was built in illogical ways.


    I opened the Weasel''s STC template and compared it with the original Centaur</a> troop transport of the Astra Militarum. A dozer blade wouldn''t be of use for a patrol vehicle, except to clear obstacles, like fallen trees and dead bodies.


    But a small, lighter one in a fixed position could serve as both a ram and protection against explosions and mines. Two extra plates of plasteel on the sides would protect the tracks and also take the brunt of an explosion.


    Then I changed the autocannon for a lascannon remote turret and a missile launcher.


    The saved weight from the lack of a big manned turret, would allow more armor and more fuel. The lascannon wouldn''t be limited by ammunition, and it hit 10 times harder than the autocannon, if also at a slower rate of fire.


    However, the main problem of the land armies was not the fire volume. Millions or billions of lasguns provided sufficient volume, but not enough strike power, to pierce armor or chitin plates.


    But now, this tiny and cheap machine would be almost equivalent to a power armor suit in durability and firepower and just as fast in straight lines.


    To compensate for the reduced suppression fire, I added an addendum: The Laser-Weasel pattern of the Centaur transport is designed to operate in groups of 5 to 10, covering each other as they advance or retreat.


    Now, because the STC template said so, the Army commanders will have to deploy larger groups, which squads would obviously be much stronger than a single such unit alone on some road.


    I needed about 70 thousands such machines for my PDF regiments, to provide my 70 feral worlds with a degree of motorization and anti-armor ability, and Forge World Estaban should be nice enough to build them. In a year they should be ready.


    Another variant was the old Weasel but with a long wagon on wheels tracked behind it. This would help logistics immensely, able to ferry food, water, ammo and even soldiers. Suppressive fire from the autocannon would help deter looters, pirates or criminals from attacking the convoy. I wanted 70 thousand them as well, but even a tenth of that will suffice right now.


    Then I drank a big cup of caf, and loaded the new Volcano Cannon, which is simply a big laser lance weapon, normally mounted on Titans or Baneblades.


    After adjusting it a little, I fit the schematic over the Volcano Lance template and superimposed them in the holoscreen.


    Sadly I had no more helpful tech-priest to help, but Ludvaius had the brains and the implant. "What do you see, my friend? Same weapon in two sizes. So why isn''t the schematic simply a larger version?"


    I asked as I began marking the differences with red outlines.


    "I''d say...because same weapon would break under its weight if you just make it bigger. Just like with space ships, right?" the Blood Angel wondered seeming unsure.


    He was correct, but the Mechanicus could have simply used more durable alloys. But no, what the Fabricator gave me was the Mark II Teracharge Volcano Cannon, which was too strong even for Titans. I did say I intended to mount them on corvettes.


    I powered up my savant implant and started to work, examining each component for flaws or easier construction.


    Then all of a sudden my alert went off, the maximum 8 hours of work completed for today. I saved the progress and went to my jacuzzi to relax, also calling Henna to aid me with that.


    Being a big-shot Captain had perks too, not just getting shot at by big Chaos traitors.


    Some time later, my wife rested in my lap, and examined my strange hand. "You were blessed by an Angel of the Emperor, husband. I fear this means more trouble will come for you."


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    "Of course it will, my love. Hopefully it will be more xenos or traitors that I can best with weapons. The corrupted rulers in the Imperium worry me much more." I explained in a soft voice and played with her generous body, the one who gave me Finona, our Blank ship captain.


    A soft growl emerged from Ludvaius but I ignored him.


    "Those Adepta Sororitas keep asking questions about you. Your crew, your family, even the tech-priests." Henna muttered with an accusing glance at my bodyguard.


    I had to get rid off them. Forge Ryza contacted this Hospitallier chapter to aid with injuries and morale, but they were overstepping.


    I tapped my ear. "Victor, take Astartes Thrasius and a company of void marines, and expel those sisters down to Estaban. If they refuse, shoot first." I ordered and laid back to rest.


    "This isn''t wise, Captain." Ludvaius said in a stern tone.


    "My ship, my rules. If they don''t like it, I expect an Angel will arrive to slap my hand." I argued in a dismissive voice.


    I was indeed worried they might uncover something, and then report me to some fat slimy bishop who will simply order them to murder me. It might happen anyway.


    Then I just waited for my son to report repelling the zealot boarders.


    For once, the Sisters didn''t choose to martyr themselves like they usually do, and departed the Canticle for the Vanquished while singing loudly.


    I bet they weren''t all that happy inside though.


    A week later, I met one of them inside the medical research facility, waiting for me in a graceful poise.


    "Captain Lancefire! Please, hear me out." she asked in a rather inciting voice.


    "Ludvaius, if she sings at me, crush her windpipe." I said in a careless tone, while the Astartes stepped to the side, ready to crush the pipes.


    "No singing, Lord Pef. I reflected upon my actions and indeed we may have been imposing on your crew and family. But we need to know!" she demanded in a fervent voice.


    I stepped closer to her and stared into her pure blue eyes. "The whole Church is corrupt the bones, Sister. You wear a weapon, when the decree explicitly said the Church may not have soldiers. The Imperium has more than enough armed orders, and the Church holds the highest authority anyway. You are the symptom of that disease, pretty sister. Join the Imperial Guard or the Navy if you want to serve, not some fat, stinky..." I growled in distaste and walked around her.


    I didn''t walk fast enough.


    "Alright! I will leave the Hospitalliers. Let me join your crew." she yelled at me back.


    Damn it. She really was obsessed. But then again...I turned around and hugged her to my side. Really great body on her, as expected from a warrior order.


    "Excellent news, my dear. I could use a medic for my crew. The job is not very safe though. Demons and xenos abound in the Eastern Fringe." I whispered as if it was a big secret.


    "The Emperor protects! I''ve seen it with my own eyes. Your wish is my command, Captain Pef." she murmured a bit demurely and tone raising into a squeak.


    Right, close contact with a man wasn''t allowed. For Sisters.


    "Report to the landing pad, medic. And see if there are others who wish to explore the galaxy in style." I told her with barely restrained mirth. My Rose will have a fit at my new retinue.


    Then I went to undergo a long batch of tests and sample takings, with a dozen Biologis Magi spinning blood vials and slicing away at my holy hand.


    It was quite boring, but I had my savant implants to continue working on the Volcano STC at a slower pace.


    A month later, I had an early model for a corvette worthy lance, with its autonomous atomantic reactor dedicated for it, as to not strain the engines or the void shield during combat.


    Pretty much like an infantry lasgun worked, with the powerpack battery.


    Then I doubled, tripled and quadrupled the barrels for better range and rate of fire, til I knew I had something amazing, if quite expensive.


    I decided to mount a twin-linked plasma bombardment cannon and two quad-lance batteries on the newest corvette model. Plasma worked better to break void shields, but the technology was clunky and risky and prone to explosions.


    That turret was fixed on the outside of the hull, and due to the costly lessons learned here in the Battle of Estaban, I also decided to armor the turrets further, with a 10 centimeter thick adamantium cover.


    Already tech-priests and servitors were scavenging the useful remains from the lost Navy ships, and even recovered enough iridium plates from my corvettes to start building new ones right away.


    On the third month, Estaban''s surface was declared free of invaders, the last Chaos pockets of resistance burned alive or sent into the Warp.


    In space this took much longer, and even after 11 months there were still sightings of Chaos raiders prowling the edges of the system.


    But they lost hugely in this adventure, at least a thousand ships and 15 heavy ones, battleships and battlecruisers.


    Even if they had Dark Mechanicum Forges in the Eye of Terror, ships took a long time to build.

 Bed story - Chapter 38

    My fleet didn''t depart as one from Estaban, because there was no reason to and good reasons against it.


    The Litany and 4 destroyers were almost in perfect repair, and the same for the Antax-made corvettes, so Finona took that fleet and left for our home in the fringe as soon as possible, with extra servitors and tech-priests supplied by Estaban.


    Another squad of 5 destroyers and 200 more corvettes departed once the ground battle ended, filled with weaponry and tanks and a few regiments in better shape.


    And once the promised year of medical torture had finished, the Canticle and 200 more corvettes were repaired, supplied and ready to go.


    The last batch of destroyers and damaged corvettes stayed behind with my brother Veryon in command, waiting for longer and difficult repairs, as well as a promised Universe_Class_Mass_Conveyor</a> filled with goodies for my empire in the east.


    These ships will be also upgraded to the latest Estaban 3 pattern, the one with Volcano Cannons. Yes, the destroyers will receive two of those lance batteries as well, with the extra reactors.


    The design of the classic Cobra destroyers only allowed a single lance battery at the prow, beside the torpedoes. Not anymore.


    The discovery of a relic King Cobra-pattern destroyer surprised absolutely nobody, and I even managed to fix some design flaws in the ship itself, installing a dozen macrocannons on the sides in two triple barrel batteries per side, the new gravity fed model; then extra armor skirts to the sides for plasma and acid deflection, a few more bulkheads around the reactor and the bridge, slightly better sensors and auguries, and a secondary Gellar field with the Estaban trade mark Blank Machine Spirit Power Shield protecting it from Warp interference by 21 percent.


    Add to this the improved anti-fighter defenses with multi-lasers and hunter-killer missiles, and a destroyer could now actually do its job as escort vessel.


    Nothing fundamentally different, but once this pattern spread into the Imperium, the Navy destroyers will receive a substantial increase in firepower and some extra resilience.


    The Iron Hands selected a few thousands crippled for their Aspirant testing, volunteers only. Curiously, not all those selected by the Iron Hands agreed to become mechanical Astartes.


    Gyron has informed that another pair of transport ships will head towards Ryza and Triplex Phall, the final loading procedure and incense blessing to praise the Omnissiah taking place right now.


    So, I told him about my own blessing and what Estaban have discovered.


    He wasn''t all that happy at the news, expecting a whole lot of trouble from the Emperor''s worshipers.


    My mentor was right, much like always. I now had five former sisters serving on board the Canticle as medics, physicians and spiritual healers for the crew, and Helena, the cute woman with silver hair and blue eyes served in a more private role.


    She had no experience with men, but I allowed her some leeway, and did the hard part myself. Helena didn''t like Ludvaius standing guard, nor my wives enjoying the show like they sometimes did.


    I''d say it was worth it, for a woman in love is a blessing in bed.


    "Are you certain you''re not corrupting me, Captain?" Helena wondered as she rested on my chest and caressed my sacred left hand.


    "Your children could become medics, my dear. And if you teach them, they''ll even be good medics, like you are. Plus, I''m a Blank so the Warp cannot touch me. You heard what my mother did, right?" I replied softly and groped her artful body with my special hand.


    Helena shivered and melted into my embrace. "What about my sisters? Will you demand they join your little harem as well?" the woman asked in a tiny fit of envy.


    "Demand? I have plenty women that beg me for a child. Plus Decima handles the harem thing. You spoke with her, and she interviewed you for this duty. You demanded to stay at my side...even in bed." I replied in a soft snort.


    The Canticle lurched and emerged from the Warp at Antax. It was time to start trading again.


    The old Lament cruiser that I gave the Mechanicus was nearly ready, armor and engines in place.


    A few exotic turrets decorated its hull, possibly archeotech excavated at Anvilus Nine. I wanted some of those myself, and today it was the day everything paid off.


    A company of one hundred young men, all Blanks from my lineage, were already undergoing testing and seed dissemination on nearly anime levels.


    Each of them had 300 concubines prepared and housed by Forge Antax in their biological research complex, some of them getting impregnated naturally while other via surgery.


    I expected Estaban used my genetic samples for the same purpose, trying to obtain as many Blanks as possible for the next growth cycles.


    After a few years of constant martial and marital training, my descendants will be received by the Blood Angels for geneseed implants.


    By then, the next batch of 100 men will arrive at Antax from Ilevar to begin the cycle again.


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    I was promised the test Companies will not be decimated in traditional Astartes training. Sure, they would get tougher and faster like that, but every Astartes was so anyway.


    What the Blood Angels needed were recruits that wouldn''t mutate or go mad from the cursed geneseed.


    Their Chapter could and did test (I mean massacre) a million hive criminals to obtain 1000 Aspirants, but my sons were not chattel.


    My grandkids and nephews were not target practice for bored vampires.


    I even told them so. "I don''t care about shitty traditions and whatever codex. They obviously suck, simply by counting how many Blood Angels go mad and berserk. You want beasts, you can have them. Become Tyranids for all I care."


    Their Captain wasn''t too pleased at my words.


    "Our Primarch wrote the Codex for..."


    I stopped him by holding my left palm out. "The Codex says space marines should give in to dark urges and massacre civilians or their allied guardsmen? Does it say the trainer should butcher a thousand recruits and bathe in their blood, to obtain a new brother?"


    Trying an argument from authority, by referring to your Primarch? I had my own argument right here.


    "Well, that is the curse..." Captain Aphael said in a weaker voice.


    "Very well. Here is my curse, Blood Angel. For every one of my sons that you murder during training, I will incinerate one of your recruiting worlds. That how I see their worth, compared to your corrupted flesh and souls." I proclaimed calmly and walked away, heading back to the Fabricator General.


    I expected they would listen to my warning. I did have a reputation now, for liberally using Exterminatus and vortex warheads on my enemies.


    Not that I would murder civilians without some huge reason, but I could be a spiny thorn.


    Our next Mechanicus project involved establishing a secure network among the friendlier Forge Worlds in the sector, via instantaneous mind transmission.


    It would be a very long process, and I might need to cheat a little and arrange a meeting with Trazyn the Infinite, the somewhat sane, or perhaps too mad Necron Lord from Solemnace</a>.


    The Sounding Board still proved nearly impenetrable to scans and attempts at reverse-engineering.


    Damn Necrons have forgotten more advanced tech than all the galaxy had discovered in the past 60 million years.


    The Necrons from Mandragora</a> still held out strong, despite billions of Tyranids organisms and bioships invading them over the past decade.


    Sure, their world were arid deserts without any biomass, which worked in the Necron favor, but at least humanity got some respite.


    The Eldar were still bravely fighting the large Tyranid tendril that intersected with their Craftworld, so two advanced enemies where checkmated right now.


    The Tau and the Orks were constantly advancing, as expected, but by now every sector fleet had a few hundred corvettes for patrol and intercept, and still big enough fleets to engage large invasions.


    With the large fleet at my disposal, my clan had also began scouting and preparing the next expansion phase, and already chasing away or capturing a few pirate ships operating too close to our borders.


    Soon enough, our rings of orbital forts would be completed, and we could start sending more colonists, tech-priests and mechanized PDF regiments to new feral worlds.


    And once the huge Mass Conveyor arrived, I would begin transforming the dozen kilometer bulk transport into a floating naval base, for a thousand Fury_Interceptor</a>s and also ship repair facilities and supply depots, garrison and armor transport and even a huge defense platform to anchor at in safety.


    There was enough volume inside the huge spaceship to fit 100 Litanies with room to spare.


    Of course, for all that, my Mechanicus priestly friends were my only hope.


    I unloaded two dozen more templates with various utility, from agriculture and mining machines to trains and crate lorries. I wouldn''t credit myself for inventing the cargo container, but 40k seemed to have forgotten this useful artifact.


    Sure, the container was larger and better armored, but the Fabricator General soon understood its usefulness. Standardized containers were a perfect fit for the order obsessed Cult Mechanicus.


    I also expected the Imperial Guard would soon adopt them as campaign shelters for their guardsmen,


    beside the logical use as weapons and ammunition transport and storage.


    I named them Standard Transport Containers, to frustrate all the Farseers and precogs searching for any notion of an S.T.C. among nebulous futures.


    It was also hilarious, just waiting to see who will get the heretical abbreviation the soonest.


    My Rose just snorted and shook her head in exasperation. "Stop doing foolish things like that, dear Pef. One day there will be an invisible assassin waiting behind your door."


    I glanced at the marked corner and drew my weapon. Nothing sprang out, this time.


    Then I decided to shoot anyway.

 STC - Chapter 39

    After another year at Antax waiting for more upgrades and a squad of Knights warmachines getting prepared for my future Knight House, Captain Veryon arrived as well with the rest of his fleet, only this time he had acquired a new Endurance_Light_Cruiser</a>, sent by the Triplex Phall Forge World as a gift, and 5 more brand-new destroyers.


    Veryon had named it Hymnal for the Vanquished, which fit well enough that I agreed to it, and his new command. The Endurance was armed with lance batteries by design, and had torpedo tubes as well.


    "Captain Pef, I want to begin exploring to the north of our holdings, as I compiled rumours and hints of another pirate hideout. With my escorts, we will have more than enough firepower to complete this task." my brother declared confidently.


    I almost denied it, before thinking again. "Of course, brother. I have 4 women to add to your crew as medics and soul healers, former Hospitallier sisters. I''m sure Antax will provision this task-force with new tech-priests and another regiment for ground operations, and you will have a chance to prove yourself. My daughter Teresa will join you to learn how to command a ship herself, as your X.O. and second-in-command. I will also ask Captain Aphael to spare a couple Astartes for bodyguard duty."


    Veryon blinked in surprise, as he possibly didn''t expect so many gifts. "So I can take all the ships I came with?" he asked out loud, while looking at my own bodyguard with apprehension.


    What? No way I would give him 300 ships to start his own empire in the fringe.


    It was also a little too much for a single pirate group.


    "No, of course not. You will take the upgraded 30 Volcano-pattern corvettes, and the 3 King Cobra destroyers from Estaban, then some transport ships to carry the prizes you may find. Plus the Hymnal, after it receives missile launchers and multi-lasers for point defense." I explained with a wide grin.


    It was still a force to be reckoned, and would not depend too much on consumable ammunition. And with a few Astartes on board, Veryon would not dare to mutiny.


    He knew that just as well. "It''s still great, Captain Pef. Are those Sisters as beautiful as I heard?" he asked without any ulterior motive, though his manner wasn''t quite reverent.


    I just patted his shoulder, with a wide grin on my face. "Oh yes. I already turned two of them into concubines. You may pick a few as well, if they catch your eye."


    He returned a lecherous smile and walked away trippingly.


    Poor foolish brother. Well, some women like his type too I suppose. Brave noble Captain, eager for glory.


    Of course, beside Helena, only Catherine seemed interested to make babies with me, so the rest of the apostate Sisters didn''t concern me. Veryon could try his luck too.


    My wife Decima was now conducting final interviews and tests to assure herself that Catherine, the new concubine was loyal and able to bear children for the clan.


    Meanwhile, down on the surface, the Biologis Magi were doing other experiments with my half-brothers from Justine, testing them for Knight pilot compatibility as well as harvesting more fertile eggs from my Blank concubines.


    They were determined to replicate the Blank Machine Spirits from Estaban, despite the huge risks involved. A dozen fetuses yet unborn have somehow vanished, but I pretended not to notice. Sacrifice was the name of the game in this Hell.


    Having a few working samples of the new Blank designs would speed up research a hundred times, not to mention harvesting samples from the primary source, me.


    I kept working on the Predator version of the Rhino, armed with a Volcano Lance and two multilasers, one coaxial on the turret and one installed on the frontal glacis. These would not be troop carriers, but instead dedicated main battle tanks, with reinforced armor, a Power Shield and a few Enginseers in the crew for maintenance.


    Once that was done, I did the same with Land Raider tanks and the Knights, upgrading their templates for better effectiveness and slightly more durability via Ion Shields.


    My Volcano Lance gunship didn''t yet work, but instead the Fury space fighter did, being large and durable enough to withstand the recoil and energy demands of such a potent weapon. A backup Power Shield was added to their already significant Ion Shields, and I made a note to update all the escorts with a backup Ion Shield as well, since I recalled it nullified Necron gauss weaponry.


    The Fabricator met me in his rooms before I left for my next trip, and received the new templates with reverence. "We will conduct immediate testing and calibration litanies for these holy relics, Lord Pef. I have to ask, do you have a real STC database somewhere?"


    I stared at his red robes and mechanical body while I strained my memory for an answer. The Mechanicus did have a few working STCs, on board their Ark Mechanicus battleships. But they didn''t know about them.


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    "I have heard a rumour. The Palomar</a> Forge World is whispered to have built an Ark Mechanicus long ago, deep underground. And it should also have a working STC on board. However, I fear that waking up the old Machine Spirit will destroy the minds and everyone else on that planet." I spoke with doubt in my voice. I couldn''t be certain if this was still true, or just wishful writing in another universe.


    To my surprise, the Fabricator General stepped close and hugged me with a dozen tentacles. "Who cares about Palomar! I will go personally to recover the Holy Ark. Well, once the Lament is fit for travel."


    I patted his eager limbs and shook my head. "Arrange for Palomar to relocate, at least partially. Better have them support the Eye of Terror blockade, and supply humanity with war machines. The Black Crusades will keep coming."


    The metal Magos deposited me on my chair and patted my head like I was a baby. Well in size and age I likely was one, compared to him, not to mention mental ability. "Always trying to save people, even if it would only delay the return of Omnissiah. Let''s hope your descendants will share your empathy, Lord Pef. This cursed galaxy needs more men like you..."


    I nodded a bit shyly. "If you say so, Fabricator. Let''s see about arming my existing troops with sufficient weaponry to pacify the Fringe."


    The Magos calmed down and we returned to business. "The heavy tanks and the gunships will take decades to begin mass-production. Perhaps even more for the new Retribution-pattern space fighters. But these Weasels will not be difficult at all. My Forge will provide 70 thousands Laser Cannon variants and 30 thousand logistics support, as well as production facilities for ammunition and fuel. "


    Well, that was one worry wiped away. Mechanized PDF would be very useful.


    "Orbital defenses and the upgraded Conveyor?" I asked in a hopeful tone.


    "Some extra orbital-class weaponry, and a space mine factory for your minefields. I have already begun testing these mines for our own defense, but your Nova shell mines are not feasible. Perhaps against beasts like the Tyranids or the Hrud." he explained patiently, and deftly ignoring the other item.


    I sighed in defeat. In truth, Nova mines could be captured and turned against us by a savvy technological enemy.


    "And genetic treatments, life extension for my crew and veterans?" I wondered in a more subdued voice.


    The Magos turned his screen on and showed me his projections. The cost scaled immensely for every new crew category, as these treatments needed rare organic components and thousands of work-hours from his Biologis Magi. Damn it.


    "Ship captains and regiment colonels, for now. With light power armor and shields for the other field officers." I mused softly, seeing the cost drop abruptly on the screen.


    "Nobody can support such expensive upgrades, unless it''s the Ecclesiarchy that is donated trillions of thrones and arms the Adepta Sororitas. And even so, not all of them have good gear or shields." the Fabricator replied in a wise voice, and sighed.


    Again, logistics for such upgrades were the main problem.


    "Ion shields for every spaceship or heavy vehicle? I have read somewhere that Necron weapons are ineffective against those types of shields." I said in a wondering voice.


    My interlocutor froze a second, then stared at me intensely. "It''s a worthy conjecture, Lord Pef. I''ll have the astropaths send this data to Mars right away. Necron worlds are terrible enemies for mankind, and their predations are nearly unstoppable due the advanced xeno technology."


    I smiled and drank some wine." Well, don''t hope for a perfect counter to the Necrons, esteemed Magos. I''m quite certain these have many more weapons with different technologies, just like the Mechanicus doesn''t have only macrocannons."


    The Fabricator snorted in derision. Macrocannons were plebeian weapons, used by the Navy or Orks.


    "Indeed we do, like I already showed you on the upgraded Lament, Lord Pef. But if we manage to recover that Ark Mechanicus relic...there should be a trove of better holy machines, from the Golden Age maybe." he announced in a fanatical voice and immediately splashed me with sanctified ointment.


    Damn lack of common sense again.


    "Upgrades to my Canticle?" I asked with little hope.


    "Minor upgrades now, and 20 thousand plasma torpedoes delivered to your base at Retribution, in a decade or so. Gyron decided to covert that world into a new Forge World beholden to us, to supply your holdings forever. So everything else will be done on site" he told me with a wry tone.


    A bit sneaky, and perhaps trying to find real STC templates on Retribution. Then again, I wasn''t attached at all to that world, with painful memories from losing my father and many of my clan.


    He could have it, and good riddance.

 Promise - Chapter 40

    As soon as the Canticle received my needed upgrades, I convened with the clan members still at Antax.


    "As you know, I have allowed Captain Veryon to pursue the exploration expedition to the north. If there are any volunteers among you who wish to try their luck please do so and request transfer to my brother''s fleet. Capturing pirate vessels or discovering STC patterns is very lucrative, but also risky." I began, powering up the holomap and marking vaguely the area that Veryon has chosen.


    There were thousands of stars in that volume, and nobody knew what dangers they may encounter.


    In my view that fleet was expendable, if also strong enough to defeat minor opponents, like I have done. It was also a test and an opportunity to enlarge our empire and increase the richness of the clan.


    There were still older clan members, aunts and uncles with prodigious service, relatives from my own generation now eager to receive a ship to command and blow up stuff. Then the new generation, cadets and young officers that could use the experience and learn more, and thus earn the right for a ship themselves.


    I had about 40 daughters and sons among them, and a few Blank girls approaching their age limit for military service. Still cadets in training, but time passed fast.


    By the time I would return from my next trip, many of them will be adults, and perhaps married.


    My aunt Hesta, a stern, redheaded and bulky body woman with remembrancer implants, also a centuries old veteran elected to go, as Captain for a King Cobra destroyer. She got my approval right away, although she spanked me a dozen times in my youth. I probably deserved it.


    One more uncle, Sevarus with long blond hair braided in dreads and an old sister, Marillene, with curly black hair and brown eyes got the same jobs, and then it was time to divide the corvettes and the X.O. ranks.


    The cadets could offer themselves for bridge posts or spacefighter pilots, though they were banned from direct fighting till adulthood. No matter their bravery, a trained mind and body mattered more when you had to assault a position carrying 50 kilos of gear, armor and weapons.


    Those with Blank genes were ordered to take every possible precaution to survive, because I needed them to produce the next generation.


    Teresa smirked at me and waved her left hand suggestively.


    "I know, but I was stupid. Don''t do as I did, do as I tell you. Unless you have an angel watching over you...in which case I won''t have to worry, right?" I grumbled in fake annoyance.


    "Lord Pef. Can I request Lord Whitelance to join?" Veryon demanded with a pleasant voice. I frowned and thought about it. His Knight might save them from ambush or another mess.


    "You can. But he is my stepfather of sorts. Ask him politely if he wishes to join you, Veryon." I decided after a few seconds.


    And with that, all as left was picking which regiments to send and what equipment. Nothing too critical, but enough firepower to avoid fleeing from barbarians. 50 Leman Russ tanks and 500 Chimeras for the armor regiment, then 5000 Weasels for the mechanized infantry, with support from 100 thousand combat servitors donated by Antax.


    After the Northern expedition left, I also send my newly born kids and the rest of the fleet back home, holding back a dozen corvettes and a two destroyers as escorts for my next Forge visit.


    This time, it would be Ryza</a>. This Forge World was said to be only second to Mars in advanced technology, specialized in plasma designs and weapons.


    On the way, I revisited my early attempts at modelling plasma based STCs and worked out a few more effective templates, such as the multi-melta Chimera, a variant expressly design to combat Traitor Astartes or light armor.


    Then, the real infantry melta gun from Retribution, somewhat simplified for simpler construction and durability.


    Then I cobbled up some partial Land Raider templates with turret with triple plasma cannons and heavy flamers in the sponsons and forward mount, especially for Ork hordes. No passenger compartment, only promethium fuel tanks.


    Help support creative writers by finding and reading their stories on the original site.This heavy tank was provided Ion shields and a power shield on each side, because it was already a ticking bomb on tracks.


    The Fire corvette had a bombardment cannon turret and 20 lascannons on every side and 100 multilasers protecting every angle, beside the usual triple void shields and triple layered armor.


    The last design was a King Cobra destroyer template with 2 plasma bombardment cannons and 6 triple plasma cannons batteries, each turret with its own dedicated reactor. Such a ship, if it worked, would be death to Orks, Tyranids and other short ranged organic enemies. I named it Fire Cobra, because it would make a huge fireball once it exploded. Not my problem.


    I didn''t bother balancing the plasma conduits and energy output, nor containment and cooling. Ryza had enough experts and time, and I didn''t.


    My half-stalled projects for Volcano Lance gunships and Sentinel walkers were added on the datastack, and I left out a tired breath.


    There was only so much a single person could, and upgrading the entire Imperium from the outside was horribly difficult. If they caught on to it...there will be hell to pay.


    Technology was a religion for the Mechanicus, and there have been Forge World exterminated for breaking the rules.


    Advanced knowledge was reserved only for high ranking tech-priests and nobody even dreamed of falsifying STC templates. No wonder the Antax Fabricator suspected I had found a STC database on Retribution.


    A pair of strong hands massaged my tense shoulders. Catherine, the new concubine.


    "Lord Pef, isn''t this staring at the cogitator screen boring? Come, I was promised many babies!" the silver haired woman demanded in an attempt at a sultry voice.


    Well then. Relaxation was prescribed by the personal doctor. I winked at Ludvaius and entered my shower, Catherine following me eagerly.


    We might have wasted some seed with foreplay and gratuitous pleasure, but it was really relaxing. Soon enough we moved to my Captain bed to proceed with our duties.


    For once I didn''t mind her chants, it was music to my ears.


    "Oh God, oh Emperor! Faster...yes."


    She could perform marital duties without being short of breath, which always amazed me.


    Then the ship shook, but it wasn''t our bed.


    I closed my eyes and focused, to hear and to feel the Machine Spirit.


    Another shake and then the familiar thrums of our lance batteries began, vibrations reverberating through the Canticle''s hull. Nevermind then. Combat was certain.


    "Uniform!" I demanded in a rush.


    I had urgent duties on the bridge, but Cathy seemed lost to the world and frantically trying to obtain release.


    Then the torpedoes launched, all of them, and I was freed from the trap, jumping from the bed straight into my jumpsuit. Then Ludvaius rapidly assembled my power armor over the skin tight protective suit.


    In a minute I arrived on the bridge to find ourselves right behind an Ork fleet, heading towards Ryza just like us.


    No matter how strong a ship is, even an Ork Kroozer, this kind of engagement favored us greatly, and Wentian didn''t miss the opportunity.


    Lances and torpedoes, fighters getting launched, lascannons and macrocannons, missiles and multilasers filled the void between us and the enemy squadron.


    One after another, the bigger Ork ships were targeted with torpedoes, blowing up their engines, while the Ork escorts simpy burst into plasma and scrap from our lances and cannons.


    I just watched, as nearly anyone could conduct such a massacre, and Wentian was quite capable anyway.


    With this fortunate Warp emergence, Ryza would owe me a Favor from the start.


    Closer to the sun, their defense fleet was engaged by a second Ork armada, and those were already landing horde after horde onto the surface, disregarding loses in the millions.


    I suddenly regretted not bringing some extra escorts. This was a fantastic shooting gallery.


    We could barely miss in such a rich target environment.

 Wolves - Chapter 41

    Amidst all of the fighting and explosions, I kept an eye for any useful loot, the Canticle augury scans flashing rapidly on my holoscreen and comparing the Ork ships with the Imperium''s known ship profiles.


    While from the front or side the vessels would be mostly unrecognizable, due to erratic weapons and armor plates add-ons improvised by Ork Mekboys, from behind the number and placement of engines was a dead give-away.


    Cruisers of Mars and Lunar patterns, light cruisers and frigates, transport barges and ore haulers, even an Ironclad_Battleship</a> and an Exorcist_Grand_Cruiser</a>. It seemed this Ork Waaagh was composed of at least 80 percent from retro-fitted Imperium vessels.


    Didn''t fill me with confidence about the success rate of the Imperial Navy in their campaigns, nor the safety of the Imperium supply lines.


    The bridge Tech-priest soon achieved long range contact with Ryza and began imputing the Forge World''s designations for these Orks of WAAAGH! Grax and Rarguts.


    The Grax Waaagh! had been ongoing for a longer time, and the promise of fighting and loot had drawn in the newly arrived Rarguts Waaagh!, which we were busy crippling right now.


    "Captain, I have located two main Warbosses, on their largest ships. I recommend we target them with Vortex warheads." the datapshere-expert Magos announced a minute later.


    I mused at that proposal for a minute, then decided not to. Infesting those ships with demons wouldn''t help me salvage them, plus Forge Ryza did not send me a plea to use any means to rescue them. Nor was I confident I could close those rifts with my small fleet.


    I checked the system map for something that could help and noticed a Battle Barge of the Space Wolves Chapter, with an Astartes Strike Cruiser as escort.


    Now, these guys would be useful indeed.


    "Magos, send a vox communique to the Space Wolves and request a Marine Company to support us boarding and capturing the largest ships of Rarguts Waagh!" I ordered, then I turned towards the army regiment colonels standing ready at the holomap table.


    "Colonels, I can expend 2 corvettes as boarding crafts for our guardsmen and servitors. Don''t let their sacrifice be in vain. Those big ships have to be captured and returned into humanity''s hands." I proclaimed quite heroically.


    Without engines to provide constant acceleration, the Ironclad and the Exorcist were falling behind their other ships still pressing the big red button to reach Forge Ryza faster.


    I urged the Canticle to target two Mars-type cruisers next, and to blow up as many smaller ships it could.


    The Machine Spirit seemed angry and excited, and obeyed eagerly, increasing the rate of fire of our lance batteries and adjusting course to gain better angles for the next torpedo salvo.


    No matter how bullshit the warp manipulation of an Ork Waagh was, a ship without engines couldn''t steer as well as one with functional engines. The Orks tried of course, assembling sails made of metal plates and oars made of long antennas or support beams, and it even worked to a very small degree. But paddling in the void with oars, as illogical and nonsensical it might be, was too slow, and we could steer ourselves away from their Big Gunz firing arcs.


    They launched fighta-bombas and other assault craft to annoy us, but my fleet did have amazingly good point defense weapons, and new ships. We barely missed any of their smoking and sputtering contraptions, some even powered by coal and steam engines by the looks of them.


    But if the Orks overran Ryza, they would have the best of the Imperium''s plasma reactors and weapons, and would become a major threat to the entire galaxy.


    Couldn''t let that happen.


    "Captain, the Space Wolves have agreed to dispatch two Terminator squads and some Assault Marines to spearhead the boarding parties. ETA 3 hours." the tech priest proclaimed victoriously.


    Indeed, even with such small numbers the Astartes knew their jobs well. They even had genetically modified dogs the size of a car to help, though I wasn''t sure any dog could serve as a mount for a Terminator-pattern power armor.


    We shall see.


    "The wet dogs of Russ." Ludvaius muttered with a weird voice.


    The other Astartes in my crew remained silent and calm, simply examining the space battle and taking mental notes. At least he was learning, my Scythe Captain.


    Anyway, those 3 hours should give us plenty time to secure and isolate our boarding targets, and even begin initial landings, so I could claim ownership over these relics after the Orks were exterminated.


    Enjoying this book? Seek out the original to ensure the author gets credit.Darting to the sides and below the huge Ork behemoths, my corvettes expended all their consumable ammunition to thin out the more fragile Ork escorts and transports.


    Soon enough, the torpedoes were reloaded again and the Mars-class cruisers under Ork control also lost their engines and speed, drifting behind the main front of the Ork Waagh.


    I then focused the lance batteries of the Canticle on the remaining light cruisers and simply evaporated their exposed backsides, and filled the void with two dozen hulks spinning out of control.


    We also had to slow down to maintain our safe-ish position to the rear of the bigger Ork Battleship, and soon the Ork Waagh left the range of our weapons.


    Torpedoes did have a longer range, and our last salvo caught two Ork infested Lunar cruisers from behind and left them crippled far ahead of my fleet. Meanwhile, our lance batteries began cutting large holes into our targets, exposing the Orks to vacuum and


    clearing a path into the interior.


    Servitors and tech-priests, as well as the smaller armor like Weasels and Sentinels began loading into the two sacrificial corvettes, which will act as a kilometer long boarding torpedo.


    The more squishy guardsmen and grenadiers, with a battalion of void marines would arrive later and insert via shuttle and then through the length on the corvette into the battleship and the grand cruiser.


    Two hours later the first corvette accelerated and hit the Ironclad into the weaker backside, sticking out like a funnel. Good enough.


    "Begin the liberation, colonels!" I ordered while changing the focus of my attention on the next prize.


    The second corvette was ready and impacted the Exorcist just before the Astartes Strike cruiser arrived.


    I just pointed to the next batch of Army Colonels, gifted to me by various Forge Worlds along with their Guard regiments. I didn''t quite see eye to eye with most of them, but they were useful nonetheless.


    Mostly for defending entrenched positions, sadly. They worked great at Estaban, during the defensive phase and struggled to keep up and adapt to maneuver and other attacking tactics in the liberation phase.


    It didn''t matter that much because Estaban and the Iron Hands had more than enough heavy machines and expertise for assaults, but I still wasn''t happy with their poor training.


    "Rogue Trader Lancefire, your arrival was fortuitous. I see you have already began boarding the largest Ork vessels. Very commendable!" a voice with a strange accent arrived on the vox channel.


    "Your target is the Ork Warbosses, Astartes! Try not to damage my salvage prizes overly much. Pef out!" I replied with a wry voice.


    An amused chuckle was the only response from that Space Wolf. Overwhelming firepower was in their codex.


    I should be happy if anything was left standing, after they completed the mission.


    "Escorts, spread out in pattern Omicron. Auguries scans to maximum and keep an eye for any sneaky xenos prowling about." I ordered on the clan channel, dispersing the corvettes farther out in a sphere, to increase visibility and cross-sectional scan profiles.


    Soon enough, the helpful Astartes took the lead and began butchering their way deeper into the derelict spaceships, filling the hallways with splattered green mushrooms and bolter casings.


    "How about you two, wanna go loosen up those violent inner urges?" I wondered idly, turning to my guardian Astartes.


    Ludvaius growled at me, while Captain Thrasius</a> just nodded calmly. "It is our duty, Lord Pef. Do try and avoid getting into more fist fights, if you can." he advised me politely, and checked his combi-bolter the tenth time.


    I just waved him off. Your own Chaplain punched me, you wise ass!


    "You too, Ludvaius?" I wondered out loud.


    "Stay safe, Captain" he replied with a serene voice.


    After the space marines left, I turned towards the Ryza tech-priest. "Magos, assemble the rest of the available servitors and tech-priests and secure the crippled cruisers. Once the reactors are safe and powered down, we may begin cleansing the greenskins as well."


    "Captain, that would leave our ship without vital security and tech support!" he argued just like I taught him. It made sense to have your subordinates point out critical mistakes, after all.


    "All true, tech priest. But we are here at Ryza. I''m sure your Fabricator General will replenish my loses, once I gift him a captured ship or two." I replied a bit amused, pointing at the system map.


    The tech priest blinked and then nodded a second later. "You are correct, Captain. A cruiser is worth a hundred times as much as any loses we might sustain from boarding operations."


    I know, my friend. I invented the gift game.


    Each capital ship salvaged would be a Favor with Ryza, and if they wanted the relic Grand Cruiser I would get something even nicer in return.

 Ironclad - Chapter 42

    And losses we did sustain, tens of thousands of servitors and some guardsmen, even with light armor support and void marines lobbing krak grenades into every corridor.


    The Orks fought back with passion and disregard for losses, and our salvage expeditions to the Lunar cruisers farther away had to retreat ignominiously, although they did achieve the primary objectives and shut down the reactors.


    I redirected the remaining troops and servitors on the Mars cruisers and sent out more light tanks and Sentinels to compensate for the obvious lack of power armor.


    Imperium ships were built with huge inner hangars and wide hallways, so this strategy worked somewhat. Flamers and grenades were much more useful in tight spaces, frying thousands of grechins and Ork boyz, and somewhat countering the more armored Nobs and Mekboyz.


    The ''Ardboyz were a more difficult target, protected by heavy metal plates and impossible biological resilience, than the normal Shoota Boyz or Slugga Boyz, but fire is a great equalizer.


    By the end of the day, the Space Wolves had terminated one Warboss on the ironclad and diverted some Grey Hunters to help clear out the Mars cruisers, while the Terminators transferred on the Exorcist Grand Cruiser, after they reloaded all the spent bolter ammunition.


    Immediately, the tides changed, as the Astartes simply plowed through the fierce Ork resistance and cleared the main hallways towards the bridge and the reactor bulkheads.


    Sometime during this engagement, the real Warboss died under Astartes Terminators assault, and the Rarguts Waagh simply shattered into a hundred small splinters all around the star system.


    Their warp distortions also failed, and many illogical Ork weapons or armors became ineffective or just stopped working.


    Thus, we renewed our offensive boarding with 10 times fewer casualties, and rapidly overran the Mars cruisers.


    The assault landers returned to the Lunar cruisers and managed to capture them as well.


    After that, it became even easier, and one by one the light cruisers were boarded and disinfected from the fungal infestation, leaving the tech-priests to begin reconsecrating the derelicts and cleanse the corpses.


    Of course, that meant my medical bay was again filled with wounded and cripples, giving something to do for the Biologis Magi and my dear doctors/concubines.


    Thousands of irradiated and sick serfs from the lower decks were called to be converted into more servitors as a stop-gap, and during this culling the tech-priests detected 9 more Blanks among the indentured crew.


    I set them aside as a gift for Ryza, should it be interested in replicating Blank Machine Spirits. I was quite certain they would.


    Made me wonder if constant exposure for generations to the Warp had created even more Blanks among the serfs of the Navy, which seemed probable. It could be simply my extraordinary luck, or it could be a general trend among humanity.


    Clearing the big ships took more time, as expected. My troops soon ran out of bolter ammunition and had to fallback on lasguns and flamers, while the Astartes had their potent melee weapons and servo-powered strength to keep slashing and chopping.


    I provided a hundred STCs produced at Antax to serve as temporary barracks for my organic troops, as well as for sleep and recovery on board the enormous Ork warships.


    The tech priests were poking them in confusion, as intended. Containers with the STC designations didn''t quite compute in their Mechanicus Cult dogma.


    Of course, the grenadiers and void marines were too tired to care, simply glad at having a safe-ish place to eat and sleep.


    Nearly a month later, both ships were declared reasonably secure and the Astartes departed for their continued Crusade against the other Ork Waaagh.


    I decided to wait and let my troops rest and recover while the tech-priests inventoried and collected anything of value from my prizes.


    Sadly, most of the comical looking weaponry that we captured didn''t work anymore, possibly because the silly Mekboyz used welding or hammers to fix their devices, powering them with belief and stupidity.


    Once the Waagh field dissolved, the Ork weapons became rusted scraps and unstable power cells ready to blow at nearest touch.


    However, the dead Painboyz</a>, known also as "Mad Doks" did have real artifacts stapled onto them, some of them relics of Astartes genetors or Librarians, including trauma packs and valuable Life_Extension_Technologies</a>.


    This tale has been unlawfully obtained from Royal Road. If you discover it on Amazon, kindly report it.


    One of them was a huge claw with the ability to connect a human mind, or even an Ork, to a Mind Impulse Unit and allow that person to control machinery with their minds, just as a Princeps</a> mentally controls an Imperial Titan</a>. Or so my Antax provided advisor whispered while measuring me for some future upgrade.


    Other serums and injections would be valuable as well, after the Biologis Magi checked them ten times for safety and doctrinal integrity.


    The other find was a Wierdboy bound tightly by the Orks themselves into a prison cell, eyes exploded but still alive. His neck and chest were covered with phase-iron manacles and chains, possibly to keep the Warp user from exploding the ship or the Ork tribe itself.


    He wouldn''t be that dangerous right now, and nearly irrelevant to myself. I also decided to keep him as a gift for Ryza, complete with the ton of ultra-rare phase-iron bindings, worth a battlecruiser by itself.


    Then I thought again and decided to chop off the Wierdboy''s arms and salvage some phase-iron for my own use.


    Something like a crossbow bolt tipped with phase-iron couldn''t be parried by the next Chaos Sorcerer trying to ruin my wrist.


    The adamantium hull of the Ironclad battleship was of enormous value again, and I just realized how lucky our Warp emergence had been. I doubted a vortex missile would have damaged the Ironclad sufficiently, and it would have been impervious to anything else I had.


    I managed to steal away a hangar full of adamantium plates from broken bulkheads and doors, since the Astartes haven''t been careful or frugal with their firepower. Luckily, I did have Armed Sentinels and logistic Weasels to help me transport and handle the heavy adamantium plates.


    A day later, an Ark Mechanicus cruiser arrived from Forge Ryza, with the Fabricator Locum on board.


    It was time for gifts and making friends. At his place, not mine.


    "Captain Lancefire. We meet at last. Who knew you would employ the Overlord in aid of our Forge World, and so soon?" the Fabricator began with a rhetorical question.


    Ludvaius gestured with three fingers at me. Something in Astartes battle speak about being cautious and thinking thrice before speaking.


    "Obviously, Forge Ryza did. A sign from Omnissiah, as a gift would be returned thrice if given with a pure heart." I answered gently and followed him inside his armored quarters.


    Ludvaius snorted and leaned on the metal wall of the hallway, to await my eventual return or survival.


    The Fabricator stared at me for a minute, waiting for the punch line. "I admit I don''t understand." he replied with a wave of tentacle.


    "There''s a Grand Cruiser, a battleship, a few Mars, Lunar and dozens of light cruisers in my gift, Fabricator. I''m sure even the outer shell is worth something, if sold for scrap." I argued humbly and sat in the indicated chair.


    The Magos sighed audibly, emitting a wheezing noise like something mechanical wobbled in his chest.


    "You''re being ridiculous, Lord Pef. That adamantium Ironclad is worth some 3 trillion thrones, even if ''sold for scrap''. And a nearly intact Grand Cruiser is worth at least another Overlord-class cruiser, just like the Canticle." he answered with a flutter of mechadendrites.


    Perhaps upset or irritated, maybe both. Cyborg body language is hard to read, because they never seem to have the same numbers of limbs and joints.


    I just shrugged. "If you say so. Here, more gifts of another nature." I said flatly and began handing over the plasma-based templates and my failed Volcano-patterns. Surely Ryza will manage to make them work.


    I never seen a tech-priest cry til now, but perhaps insurmountable joy was not something their logis-engines were prepared to counter.


    So, I patted his orange robe over the shoulder. "There, there. No need to cry Magos. I know the STC templates are a bit damaged, but you have a million genial Magi on Ryza. Perhaps they can be repaired in a few decades." I advised him in a sad voice.


    The Archmagos sobbed harder, so perhaps I fucked up worse than I thought.

 Machines - Chapter 43

    A minute later the Fabricator composed himself and patted my head in a gentle move.


    "We will remember this gift, Lord Pef. There is little Forge Ryza cannot do, as we have entire sectors beholden to us, shipyards, regiments and technologies as advanced as Mars itself." he promised in a more sober tone.


    I just nodded, since it made sense. "Your world is in trouble right now, Magos. I''ll try to help, but my troops and servitors are nearly depleted. The same with our torpedoes and missiles, and most consumables. A hundred thousand injured and crippled guardsmen. And then, I had to sacrifice two perfectly good corvettes to deploy sufficient forces for a beachhead."


    The Magos blinked in confusion, then acceptance. "Anything you need, Captain Pef. Two corvettes are..."


    "Precious for me. Perhaps your Forge can repair them at half cost?" I asked humbly.


    The Fabricator sighed and turned away. "Yes. We will repair the ships." he allowed in a softer voice.


    I pumped my fist in obvious joy. "Many thanks, Magos. I''ll let you return to your duties, while my surviving tech-priests complete whatever repairs they can." I announced in a pleasant voice and left his rooms, and followed Ludvaius back to my ship.


    Obviously, this won''t end here, but Ryza would need to check everything, before agreeing to trade some rewards to the peculiar Rogue Trader.


    What I wanted was not to empty their stasis cells of valuable machines and weapons already promised to the Navy or the Army. I wanted production templates and forges.


    I wanted their plasma technology spread towards a thousand Forge Worlds, large or small.


    In my view, the Mechanicus had too little power in the Imperium, for a group that should have held half of everything. Among the Lords of Terra, there were not 6 tech-priest Magi, but only one. The eleven other Lords were too strong with their majority votes, and could dictate policy and even exterminate entire Forge Worlds at their whim.


    Even the Rogue Traders were beholden to the Administratum, their Warrants subject to censure or removal, something that didn''t stand well for my own safety and freedom.


    In theory, I could send requisition forms to Terra and demand to be granted more ships and regiments for my exploration efforts, or to repair loses in defense of the Imperium. In practice some scribe in the Administratum would flag my request to the Inquisition or the Vindicare Assassins, because it would be cheaper to solve my legal but expensive procedure due to my expiration date.


    This was also the main reason I avoided big merchant or Hive worlds, where the Administratum would begin auditing my conquests and plunder for a substantial tithe, or perhaps simply confiscate my empire with a stroke of their brass typewriters.


    By giving away the stuff I earned to various Forge Worlds, I sold nothing and received no revenue.


    Hopefully, other Rogue Traders would begin catching on, and start doing something similar.


    They just needed me to create a workable and rich path, something too attractive even to some rapacious Trader like my father had been.


    I even had the perfect and unassailable motive, as donations to the Cult of Omnissiah. If the Administratum wanted to impose taxation on religious donations, the Ecclesiarchy would promptly object and veto that, as they too received humongous donations from nearly everyone in the Imperium. Very little from my own Dynasty, as it happens.


    And here, Forge Ryza was the key, with their strong ties to Mars itself, having been founded by the Red Planet way back.


    A week later, my fleet started moving again, shifting course to approach the larger ships of Waagh Grax from below and behind.


    This potent armada had three Grand Cruisers and two battleships among their heavy ships, with over a two dozen Kill Kroozers and a small space hulk composed of some fifty different ships of various races and ages.


    My fleet accelerated to flank speed and unleashed everything we had left on the optimal placed Ork_Battleship</a>, shutting off and melting the engines before the rest of the Ork Armada could turn and chase us.


    Sadly another corvette got lost to this daring raid, because a crazy Ork simply flared their Kroozer''s engines to the maximum, and aided by the Waagh magic reached a faster speed than a ship a thousand times lighter.


    However, that also exposed their weaker sides and rear to the defense fleet of Forge Ryza, who didn''t lack torpedoes and other weapons to punish the Ork stupidity.


    For this single stunt and my precious corvette, the Grax Waaagh lost 30 ships and even a battleship, which continued its spiraling orbit and crash-landed on a nearby moon. Still, the damn thing seemed intact and kept shooting the remaining Gunz and Big Gunz at anyone approaching that moon.


    "I estimate with 80 percent probability for the Grax Warboss to have been on the crashed battleship. Still alive it seems." the bridge tech priest explained after trying to figure out how that ship didn''t simply make a deep crater or explode, or both.


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    Lucky targeting perhaps. "Let Forge Ryza and the Astartes know about the Ork Boss. And tell them we''re out of torpedoes, except that fancy one that the Inquisitor ask me not to use. Bicycle torpedo or something." I demanded with an innocent voice.


    Ludvaius snorted in amusement, as the Magos began spluttering binharic cants and litanies about the sacred flame of the Omnissiah. Cyclonic torpedoes were not bicycles, but I was not a tech priest, so I got the benefit of doubt.


    It didn''t take an entire minute for a couple of Mechanicus cruisers to break off from the battlelines and speed away, then change course to intercept us at a fairly good distance from the fight.


    Soon enough, the servants of Omnissiah began transferring a hundred torpedoes and replenishment servitors, without any more hints of half-cost.


    Did I tell you how stupid Orks are?


    We repeated the same trick a dozen times over the next month, slowly but surely eliminating the larger Ork warships and causing them to drift away without a real chance at steering or slowing down.


    The Astartes failed to kill the Warboss stranded on the moon with their small strike teams, but I focused my attention on capturing the other battleship, this time without sacrificing another corvette.


    Using our lances to open up landing spots for assault boats, and nearly all the replenished servitors, we began boarding the derelict battleship, while still enduring near suicidal waves of Ork bombers and escorts trying to save their big ship.


    We could only shut down the reactor and silence the weapons, then we held a defensive positions inside the deformed bulkheads with more Weasels and Sentinels, waiting for reinforcements.


    In the end, the Space Wolves began helping with more Grey Wolves as Tactical Marines and some tiny tractors with huge guns on them, called Rapier</a>. They did a good job despite the silly looks, but then a big gun on a long hallway would be quite lethal.


    Ludvaius went inside to take a look and meet his brothers for some banter, but I was told it was a real warzone, so I should stay put. So I did.


    He brought back a shuttle filled with exotic archeotech and even xeno weapons, which we hid away in a hangar for my later perusal and deep scans.


    He was also badly injured and leaking stuff from his ears, because the idiot thought helms were for bitches.


    While Ludvaius recovered, Captain Thrasius took the job of bedroom guard, and he didn''t seem to like it, hiding his pure eyes from my carnal pleasure.


    "You want my descendants to consider joining your Chapter, Astartes?" I asked after the last concubine departed with a dreamy smile.


    The Scythe blinked in confusion. "Why wouldn''t they consider it? It is the greatest honor to serve the Emperor, even in death."


    "Alright then. It''s not like the Blood Angels don''t need more Blank recruits, immune to Warp or mutations. I suppose your Chapter is free of any such problems like demonic taint or corruption." I answered with a shrug, and sat down in my cogitator chair.


    And did nothing, because I couldn''t know how this space marine might react.


    I missed my Rose and her ''sealed by Inquisition'' perk. Hopefully she''ll find another batch of Deathwatch Astartes and other sneaky Acolytes for her retinue.


    And if she could find a rogue Navigator to train our daughter, it would be even better.


    Navigators had dozens of special skills and abilities, but not the weak guys in the employ of the Mechanicus. Every Forge World had contracts with various Navigator Houses that would provide their heirs and lower talents for a cost, and poor Pef didn''t qualify for a Beta-level Navigator. Even Gamma-level like Lord Duros on the Litany were hard to find, and the deal made by my grandfather wasn''t worth all that much. Possibly a rare trade route or a secret planet somewhere.


    Lord Duros wouldn''t say, or possibly couldn''t.


    Still, one day I would have my own Navigator House, as well as a Knight House. Perhaps my own Astartes Chapter, if I didn''t get killed too soon.


    Constructing a real Forge World at Retribution would take at least decades, or perhaps a century, and that if we managed to avoid getting invaded by something big.


    Anyways, we conducted a last raid and demolished a dozen more Kroozers, expending most torpedoes and tricking more Orks ships to follow us on a chase, when the fleet at Ryza changed stance and began attacking.


    Gravity beams, neutron guns, plasma guns of a dozen types, lascannons and macrobatteries filled the void, and breaking the back of the Ork Waagh.


    I launched another boarding party on a Grand Cruiser, just to be able to claim it for my clan.


    Soon enough, skitarii and servitors and various battle-automata from Ryza joined my troops and unleashed promethium, phosphorus and plasma on the silly Ork crew, crushing everyone in their unstoppable march.


    The machines fought back, and they won the day.

 Puppy - Chapter 44

    While the surface of the Ryza was still crawling with billions of Orks, with the orbital siege lifted the hardest part was over.


    Billions of servitors and their commanding tech-priests arrived to engulf the derelict Ork ships in reclamation workforce. Under my eyes, smaller escorts and even the light cruiser hulls were being swiftly dismantled and brought to the orbital shipyards for reforging into new Mechanicus or Navy vessels.


    As Ryza had the best plasma technology and expertise around, they kept the larger hulls intact and just pushed them farther out, to have their plasma engines rebuilt and the hulls cleaned and sanctified.


    It would still take decades to rebuild a Grand Cruiser and even longer for a battleship.


    Meanwhile, the bulk of the Mechanicus Navy fired salvo after salvo at the crashed Ork Battleship on the moon, without visible effect. The damn Waagh field was still going strong, anchored into the body or soul of that Grax Warboss.


    Still, it seemed to me that Ryza wasn''t really trying to end the invasion, and instead used it as opportunity to test their machines in relative safety, close to supply lines and without having to transport the huge Titans and robots to another system.


    "Good target practice, right Magos?" I asked idly, while examining the battle lines from orbit.


    "Perhaps so, Captain. Forge World Ryza should posses more than enough firepower to wipe out these Orks." Majoris replied after a few seconds of contemplation. Not his full name, but there was a Majoris title in there, so I went with it.


    I engaged the savant implant to consider why this was happening. If a Forge World was under invasion, their quota and tithes would be obviously much reduced, or perhaps even suspended.


    Sneaky way to conduct tax evasion, while also field testing various war machines on a nearby battlefield.


    "Try to see if the Fabricator General can receive me, in private." I added in a fake whisper and left the bridge to Wentian. My elder uncle had good instincts and plenty command experience.


    Then I went to my rooms, and began importing schematics and templates on another database, things that were not finished but would be useful to the millions of worlds in the empire.


    From weapons and vehicles, to industrial designs and agricultural machines, logistical upgrades and facilities, including the standardized containers, wheeled and rail transport beds for them, also water based transports like container ships, cargo carriers for the Merchant Navy and Chartist Captains. Then I had health and ecologic designs, chemical filters and ultraviolet light barriers, electric trains and tramways for faster and cleaner transport, water purification and desalination, and more.


    For defense, I compiled a set of forts and Orbital fortresses without major or glaring weaknesses. Metallic asteroids, powered by a plasma reactor and enveloped by a shield. Variants of them were armed with Lances, Torpedoes, attack craft, point defense and even Nova Cannons.


    Then a simple corvette pattern without Warp Engines but stronger shields and point defense and extra torpedo launchers, in vertical cells. Practically a system missile boat, that could emerge if the system was under attack, or be carried as a parasite craft inside a Universe-class conveyor.


    A thousand of such system corvettes, if the carrier was well-designed, with launch decks and wide hangars. I sketched a possible variant, envisioning a central rail line to bring torpedoes out from the armory and load them in blocks on the corvette, 30 per ship.


    With its 10 kilometers long and 3 kilometers tall cargo hold, a mass conveyor could have 10 decks with 100 corvettes ready to be launched like torpedoes, and still have plenty room to spare.


    Another similar design was a missile destroyer, but with normal Warp Engines and slightly bulkier as a result of the torpedoes stacked in a vertical cell block. STC template name: Los Angeles.


    Then a Light Cruiser with a hundred dorsal torpedo tubes and 3 lance batteries on the ventral side, called the Macross-pattern cruiser.


    I had begun loving the torpedoes, especially the servitor piloted type that I used. Enormous range and devastating firepower, with little chance of being hit yourself.


    While my other sets of memories didn''t include the exact operating principles and standards for these machines, they didn''t need to. A Forge World would have a billion engineers ready to be assigned those designs and told to make them work.


    Funny enough, these were in fact ancient terran designs, like the missile cruiser of the navy or the missile submarine, even the cargo vessels and electric trains.


    Then again, Terra was now an arid planet without a drop of water, and the Himalayas mountains have been sculpted into the Imperial Palace.


    Many parts of the Holy Planet were still greatly irradiated or polluted so much that the pollution itself seeped into the ground to form new oil fields.


    Scars of tens of thousands of years of constant warfare were visible in every pict, craters and canyons formed by titanic weapons in place of the old cities.


    The future had not been kind, and it would only get worse.


    My musings were interrupted by Helena, who entered my room looking tired and drained. Most likely another hospital shift.


    Unauthorized use: this story is on Amazon without permission from the author. Report any sightings.She sat in my lap and starred at the Holy Terra pict on the holoscreen.


    "Will we ever see it for real?" she asked in a longing voice.


    Her Emperor, and grudgingly mine as well, rested on the Golden Throne, sustained by the daily sacrifice of a thousand psykers.


    My own hand was proof of his real powers, even mostly dead as he was.


    "Soon enough, my dear. A few more Primarchs need to die, and others found again. Give me a thousand years to get my affairs in order." I answered softly and massaged her tone body with deft hands.


    Tharsius coughed in warning. Right, big capital I sealed secret for now.


    She fell asleep, and I carried her to my bed, and went on another tour of the ship, inspecting for damage, checking with the Master of Arms and all the various service heads.


    A single campaign, fairly short at that, and the Canticle needed at least 6 months in dockyard, plus near total replenishment of servitors and lower deck serfs.


    Perhaps Ryza will be nice enough to install triple void shields on my battlecruiser, and provide other upgrades to armor and torpedo tubes.


    Then I visited the fighter deck, which was kinda small for a ship of this size. The Litany could carry 3 squadrons of fighters, and the Canticle had only 4 squadrons, being designed for long and medium range battles via torpedoes and lances.


    Of the total 100 pilots, 22 were my daughters and 37 other clan members. It seems being a spacefighter pilot is still an honour and probably an adrenaline rush as well.


    This wasn''t my mansion on Illevar, so the girls wouldn''t try their wiles on me, and "Daddy, kiss my elbow, it hurts" tricks.


    While my kids were healthy and looked well, their machines were not. Riddled with bullets holes and missile shrapnel, I would be safer to just kick them overboard.


    Perhaps Ryza could replace them.


    "Need anything from me, pilots?" I asked to make sure.


    They hesitated and glanced at the damaged fighters. "Better armor on the birds, and more missiles" their Flight Leader demanded as everyone laughed.


    "I''ll see what I can do. Prepare an escort for my shuttle, the most damaged Furies that can still fly." I commanded with a wry tone, and walked towards the next hangar, with the shuttles and assault boats.


    These were riddled with holes and burn marks as well, due to hostile boardings under fire.


    I almost decided to pick a wobbly shuttle, then I thought again. My own person would be at unnecessary risk. A Stormbird had the Gellar field as well, and Chaos wouldn''t just wait to be purged.


    "Heading towards Ryza?" Tharsius asked with a wary tone.


    "Of course. We''ll have air cover and orbital support, my friend." I answered a bit more confidently.


    "Fine, helmet stays on." my bodyguard demanded as the ramp began to close.


    I nodded in agreement. Wouldn''t want my lungs to freeze if the lander depressurized for some reason.


    As the Stormbird lifted off, I obediently mounted my armored helmet and checked my weapons, just like the Astartes did. Hellpistol, power dagger and three flash grenades, just in case.


    My void guards became alert and silent now, and two Armed Sentinels locked their feet with magnetic clamps to cover the ramp.


    A minute later the fighters formed a protective wing on us, and we began descending towards the main spire of the Forge Ryza.


    "Passing through Ryza air defense corridor, IFF check." the lander''s pilot announced on the intervox speakers.


    "Clear to land now, beginning retro-burn." he continued in a professional tone. The Stormbird shook and trembled then settled down. "Be advised, I see Astartes and dogs among the welcoming party"


    I sighed and pointed at the ramp, letting my escort go first and secure the landing pad.


    Probably made quite a sight, two large walkers with chainswords and autoguns providing deterrence and a show of strength.


    My void marines were not as imposing, even with their burned and scratched carapace armor, but then Tharsius emerged and observed the landing pad for a minute, before urging me to come.


    "Landing secure, Lord Pef. Still, head directly inside and don''t pet the dogs. They might bite." he announced in a loud voice.


    A dozen wolves growled menacingly, showing long canines and shaking their furs.


    I advanced and slapped the biggest Space Wolf on his furred shoulder. "Well met Astartes. Don''t bite my hand, okay?"


    He slapped me back and nearly broke my spine. "Hahaha, you really are a funny guy. Is it true an Angel grew back your hand?" he wondered out loud.


    "I wasn''t conscious at that time, and my implants didn''t record anything. But before that, I recall slashing a Chaos sorcerer and trying to stab a Word Bearer in the face. He was too fast though..." I admitted in a pleasant tone.


    The big Astartes chuckled and glanced at Tharsius in disbelief.


    "I was on Estaban, busy killing Fulgrim at that time. But witnesses say he kicked the traitor in the balls after his arm was caught." the Scythe explained with an amused voice.


    The other Space Wolves howled in mirth and glee and pounded my shoulders for my bravery. "Good enough for a puppy, Lord Lancefire. Any smart idea how to get to that Warboss?" another Space Wolf asked in a more sober voice.


    I nodded and walked away. "Of course. But I want a puppy for that." I quipped, pointing at the ferocious guardian wolf to my side.


    The wolf snarled at my hand and drew back. Damn Blank aura.

 Ogryn - Chapter 45

    Inside the barricaded entrance, I was met by a company of Catachan_Jungle_Fighters</a>, as their planet was nearby and was able to send a dozen regiments to defend Ryza.


    A big Ogryn bodyguard in makeshift armor stood in front of me, and eyed Tharsius with suspicion. "Oi, you''re kinda small for a space marine." Nork_Deddog</a> commented, possibly referring to my light power armor.


    I nodded and smiled. "You''re very smart, buddy. I''m a puppy marine, but I have this big spaceship, so it evens out. I also have this real Astartes as my bodyguard, just like you."


    "Nork sees. A ship Captain then. My boss is a Colonel, so I win." the Ogryn proclaimed proudly towards the Scthye, pointing carelessly with his enormous hand at his commander, someone named Colonel Greiss.


    Tharsisus snorted and banged his chest plate in salute. "We could use a regiment like them, Captain. Catachans are fierce warriors." he suggested without any ulterior motive.


    I took a mental note and stayed silent. Something to ask the Fabricator then. It wasn''t like regiments could simply be poached...although I technically could.


    The Catachan Colonel glanced between me and my bodyguard with surprise. I mean, it was quite rare to see an Astartes in the retinue of a mere Captain. Plus Tharsius was a Captain himself, visible from the markings on his shoulder and knee pads.


    "You are in command of that Overlord battlecruiser, Captain?" he asked to make sure.


    "Indeed. Inherited from my father. But since we lost most of our troops capturing that Ork Battleship and two Grand Cruisers...we might need some fresh troops on board. You know, travel the galaxy, meet new and exotic people, and then kill them brutally."


    I mused out loud, and waved him goodbye.


    The man stared after me in confusion and perhaps amusement.


    Always made sense to use the helmet''s visor to see behind you, via the implant link.


    A delegation of high ranking Magi received us in a sumptuous antechamber, decorated with metal cogs and tons of obscure heraldry or old relics.


    "Welcome to Ryza, officially, Captain Lancefire and Captain Tharsius. I heard about Sotha." the Fabricator General told my bodyguard with a nod.


    "Lord Pef evacuated everyone before he incinerated the planet, with a billion Tyranids xenos killed while devouring all biomass. A worthy sacrifice, to stop that huge Hive fleet." the Astartes allowed in a mourning tone. Well, it wouldn''t have been pleasant to see your home go out in flames.


    "I suppose we could repeat that trick, though perhaps using some Ork planet and spare the Imperium from another loss. Two xenos with one shot." I mused to myself, and saw the Mechanicus perk up with attention. Wouldn''t need to tell them twice, as they had better implants and logis-engines than I had.


    A large adamantium door opened in front of me, leading to a proper strategy room, with a dozen holomaps and a hundred Magi of every clade busy coordinating the defense of their Forge World.


    Every Magos in the retinue entered that room, except the Forge leader who pointed at a smaller door to the side. "Alright then, Captain. You earned a private meeting." he invited me while pointing at a plasteel dais towards Thrasius.


    The room was lined with copper and brass inserts, and a myriad of bafflers and shield emitters sprang up as the door closed behind me.


    "Tea, wine or something else?" the Fabricator offered politely.


    "Something else, of course." I said and sat down on a metal throne, since my power armor would damage a leather couch. "Your Forge World is amazing, but you have forgotten your purpose." I spoke in a sterner voice, and poked my chestplate with the golden aquila symbol.


    "You mean the Imperium? A Rogue Trader that only deals with Forge Worlds?" he wondered in surprise.


    "This eagle head, right here...it''s you, Fabricator. The Cult Mechanicus. The other eagle is the Emperor''s domain. There are a thousand times more human worlds than Forge Worlds, and a single Lord on Terra. Does that seem like parity of power to you?" I asked rhetorically.


    He nodded slowly as he analyzed what I meant. "So that''s why the gifts. I begin to see why my fellow tech-priests here in the Ultima Segmentum hold you so dear."


    I smiled gently and leaned back. "I have a device...of sealed origins, that is used right now to redirect Hive Fleet Kraken on Mandragora. Really similar in ability with the Astronomican. The Tyranids follow the psychic beacon in hope of more biomass, though the Necrons lack such weakness."


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    The orange-robed Archmagos froze for a second, then began making tea with a few tentacles, possibly as a calming ritual.


    "Terra itself will draw more Hive fleets then. Perhaps even the Eye of Terror...if what our Navigators tell us is reliable." he mused in a wary voice.


    Excellent logical deductions, I had to admit. I did mention the Astronomican, just for that.


    "I have another gift...of a relating nature. Estaban makes Blank Machine Spirits now, and there''s nine such Blank persons kept safe on the Canticle, if you can spare some effort to replicate the process. Plus myself and my Blank concubines...for calibration tests. Could be useful to have robots and Titans immune to the Warp and psykers." I mused after sipping the nice tea.


    The Fabricator General of Ryza just sighed and powered up a holoscreen with his own gifts. "Let''s not upset the trade balance that much, for now. We''re deeply in your debt, Lord Pef. Pick whatever you find useful, and request what else it is not here."


    There were thousands of machines and weapons, spacefighters and bombers, spaceships and auxiliary regiments, even Navigators and astropaths.


    I didn''t see anything really useful though, not in the long term. Sure, new fighters and a few escorts would be nice, but they weren''t my own templates. Gunships and tanks, Sentinels and troop carriers, artillery and anti-air vehicles.


    I did select a Catachan regiment, one that had more women. Hopefully I could seduce a few hundreds of those fierce warrior women, for a stronger gene pool.


    Then I shrugged and closed the screen. "What I would need is not here, Fabricator. Replacements are great of course, so you have my thanks."


    "This isn''t worth much, Lord Pef. Please, surely there is something Ryza can do, even though we''re in a small trouble for the moment." he argued and waved a few arms.


    Getting irate with my frugal ways, as expected.


    I tapped my backpack and removed some 30 dataslates, and placed them on his work desk. "What humanity needs Fabricator, is civilization. Clear air, clean streets, cheap transport, open markets. We also need solid defenses for our worlds, not running from crisis to crisis. That means a thousand ships over every Hive world. It means a million warships at every Forge World. We should crush those bugs with impunity. They have claws and we have guns. Space guns!" I exclaimed in disgust and sat back down with a thump.


    One could almost see the cogs spinning inside the cyborg''s head. A few data cantrips escaped from a prayer box, before the tech-priest stopped it.


    "And how would this be achieved, Lord Pef? The Imperium strangles the Cult with absurd rules and Inquisitorial controls. Nearly every year, another holy forge gets bombarded by our so-called allies." he muttered, seeming desperate.


    That was it! Ryza refused to work for the Imperium anymore. Sort of work strike, imposed by an Ork invasion.


    "I have nearly a hundred worlds in the Fringe, my friend. And there, I speak with the Voice of the Emperor. My rules...for those who want to live there." I said opening up the sector map. "Here, in this small corner of the galaxy, there are 50 million stars and planets. Enough metal to build a billion ships. And once my Blank genes spread among the people...the usual enemies will become much easier to defeat. Just another type of xenos, that we can shoot with our Blank Machine Spirits guiding our fire." I explained with fact-checked logic.


    Sure, the genial idea came from Antax, but their small Forge World couldn''t sustain such an enterprise. Even pimping out a cruiser took all their effort.


    Meanwhile, the Fabricator was examining the other designs I have envisioned, or remembered.


    "For starters, an exploratory expedition, in force. We''d need to map out your future realm, and plan our strategy. And all this will take centuries, maybe millennia." he concluded after storing the dataslates into a coded vault.


    I went and hugged my new best friend while he was quite confused. "We''ll need to coordinate with my other partners. For now, corvettes by the thousands to cover as much volume at once. And more Catachans would be nice. The Fringe is quite hostile to humans." I quipped as I waved goodbye and left his room.


    "You didn''t punch the Fabricator, did you?" Tharsius asked while checking me for damage.


    What the hell did he think I was? An Ogryn?


    Wait...Ogryns...in power armor. We''ll need savant implants for all of them...but it could work.


    Or maybe some eugenics, select the smarter descendants? I wondered if I could procreate with an Ogryn female.


    Oh well. Time to find out.

 Canis - Chapter 46

    My fleet grew and was upgraded in the orbital shipyards of Ryza, and in these 6 months I received 10 brand-new Los Angeles-pattern missile destroyers, hastily converted from nearly completed hulls already in production. With 30 torpedoes prepared in their launch blocks, a single such destroyer should be able to cripple or destroy even a battlecruiser.


    They have also started testing those system-only corvettes, and even produced about 30 of them, using them as test-beds for the large numbers of STC templates they have just received.


    My own forces were upgraded with 16 Stormblade</a> heavy tanks, 400 Armed Sentinels with multi-melta sidearms, and 4000 upgraded Hydra tanks, each with extra ceramite armor and a multi-melta remote-control gun for close defense, beside the twin anti-air multilasers. Hydras were amazing against air and land targets with thinner armor, and since air cover was always lacking I had to provide my own.


    Also because in this time one of the continents of Ryza had been cleared of Orks, 4 Catachan regiments, about 80000 guardsmen, and about 500 Ogryns for special duties were donated to my own fleet.


    Sadly, I was refused the pattern for an Emanatus_Force_Field</a>, although the Fabricator did install these amazing shields on my heavy tanks and armored gunships. The hard way it will be then, scanning every micron of the device and then selling variants to other Forge Worlds.


    Nearly a million Servitor</a>s were transferred to my fleet, and everything was repaired and upgraded, to a small degree. This was not Antax, and they wouldn''t let me demand the sky and the moon at the first meeting.


    But I was promised a few more capital ships, and the Universe-conveyor carrier upgrade and refit, sometime in the future. Perhaps in a century.


    My transport ships were filled with Lasguns, flak jackets, helmets, backpacks, boots and other Astra Militarum supplies, since I did have a thousand PDF regiments planned for my empire''s defense.


    By the time my transports and a few escorts departed for Ilevar, and my own fleet towards Forge World Shenlong</a>, that crashed Ork Battleship was still kept intact but grounded.


    Ryza was surely faking being invaded, because I had a fearful puppy crying beside my bed, which meant the Space Wolves considered my tunneling plan viable, but were not allowed to proceed.


    Ludvaius has also recovered from his injuries, and was given a Refractor_Field</a> to guard me better. They didn''t give me one, which kinda made me sad.


    Luckily, I had a few hundred Catachan concubines drafted for a new sacred duty, and they kept me busy and rather satisfied, in bed.


    Strong in body, and very fast, also funny accents all of them, but I didn''t let Decima discriminate on that account. Only loyalty and fertility.


    However, no Orgyn females were available, and I would need to travel to one of their frigid homeworlds to recruit a stock of super-humanly large amazons.


    Majoris was busy buying my new regiments loyalty by crafting Devil''s Claw-pattern combat knives from our salvaged adamantium, first for the commanders, then sergeants and then lower ranks.


    The Ogryn were being implanted with savant and remembrancer nodes, and covered in fatigues made of flak jacket material with armor plates pockets, which will also be filled with adamantium armor plates.


    For the Catachans I tried the same type of armor, but the silly jungle savages preferred thin tank tops, to show off muscles and tattoos.


    If my destination was under attack, like the astropaths claimed, then as every Forge World the climate would not sustain jungles, or even breathing.


    Some sort of Krieg type of covering might be needed. For the combat servitors as well.


    I launched a final duty into the new concubine and ran for the shower and then the ship''s armory. Like I suspected, there wasn''t enough Flak material for a million servitors. Not even for 100 thousand.


    Barely 90 thousands sets of coveralls could be made, just enough for my new jungle regiments. Those Ryza tech-priests in charge of logistics possibly didn''t even consider protecting the servitors against bullets or harsh weather.


    "Can we craft more plasteel plates for at least 100 thousand combat servitors?" I asked in a tired breath.


    Majoris blinked and blurted some binharic to his enginseers. "Perhaps 20 thousand suits, with what we have on board. Also, I suggest we do not waste precious adamantium on mere servitors, Captain. At most, a thousand solid shields for the first ranks to board an enemy ship. When they die, those behind them can be programmed to pick up the fallen shield and advance."


    I thought for a minute and agreed. Forge Shenlong will probably replenish the dead servitors anyway, and we also had a lot of them right now.


    "Good enough then. And we need to craft adamantium weapons for the Ogryn. The shaft can be as thin as we can get away with, or even better, hollow. But the head has to be an Aquila with two heads, like a double axe. We can stamp a simple pattern, right?"


    I wondered without thinking too much.


    "As you say, Captain. I would recommend stamped armor plates as well, if you want to be ready when the fleet arrives." the tech priest replied, producing a sampling box with plates of various quality of add-on armor.


    Sure, the hand crafted models looked great and would likely be more resilient, but I wasn''t going to a ball.


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    "Pretty looking plates for officers, and stamped plates for everyone else. Perhaps even for your own tech-priests, if they are part of the boarding teams. Their knowledge should not be lost to accident." I ordered and turned around, bouncing off a grinning Astartes.


    "I''m not an officer, Lord Pef. Just a meager Sergeant." he complained like a child.


    Well, he did have a point. "Fine. Pretty stuff for sergeants too!" I yelled and saw Ludvaius holding his thumb up for success.


    Damn man child. He had power armor already and the fancy shield that could block tank fire.


    I continued my march to check the bridge then the Gellar generators. The Armed Sentinels tracked my approach, and the void marines confirmed my identity twice before I could inspect my own damn ship.


    But I wouldn''t change those orders, and even instructed the marines to shoot anyone looking like me, without an Astartes bodyguard with him.


    Shapeshifters were possible after all, and losing the Gellar fields inside the Warp to a saboteur wouldn''t be quite healthy.


    "You think the Angel would return if we call, my lord?" Ludvaius asked in a reverent voice as I turned off the stasis field for another check on my family and friends, here in the future.


    "I''m certain he will, my friend. Already the transformation has reached my shoulder. In a few years, we will be brothers, by blood" I mused out loud, then focused on Gyron.


    "Hello, mentor. It is Pef. The Space Wolves gave me a puppy." I began my mental link. Always start the connection with something true but seeming absurd. My mentor knew me quite well.


    "Why am I not that surprised, my pupil? I take it you saved Forge Ryza by accident. Or so my Archmagos said in the last dispatch." Gyron replied seeming amused.


    This wasn''t quite right. Accidents don''t shoot people. "We didn''t fire lances and torpedoes by accident, dear tech-priest. But we were lucky to emerge from Warp at an advantageous angle."


    "Yes, yes. Lucky as always, young Pef. I am returning to Antax, even though the Exploration at Anvilus is still ongoing, with a new leader. You know why?" he asked me a bit rhetorically.


    "I suspect because the Lament is finished upgrading and Antax has sufficient ships for a bigger expedition. And you are an Explorer Magos now." I replied curtly. I didn''t dare blurt out words like STC over a long distance call.


    "I see you''re learning. Sorry again for Justine, although I say it was worth it. It''s rare that a mortal can strike such a deadly blow to the Enemy." he added as a parting gift.


    He was right, of course. It still hurt, and the Chaos would still corrupt others. Plus I wasn''t fully certain the serpent was dead. Too many Chaos Champions had been resurrected by their patrons.


    Then I decided to take a risk, minor as it may be.


    I searched for a certain Necron world, til I located Solemnace</a> and then Trazyn the Infinite.


    "Quick question, Necron Lord. Is your Fulgrim getting stronger?" I asked with a cautious mental transmission.


    In a few seconds, a mental image of the Necron mage appeared in my mind. "Oh? Someone has figured out how to operate the ancient Sender?"


    I shrugged mentally. "Is that your important question you desire as a trade?"


    "I suppose not. My Fulgrim, huh? So the Serpent Daemon is dead? Or is that how you can be certain?" the ancient lich wondered to himself.


    I decline to answer, because I knew there will be a big trade to follow.


    "Paranoid...but I like it. Let me check...conversion...stasis...there! Measuring psychic output...now this is peculiar. Half of his soul has grown indeed. I''d say the original has been split...and now the power is returning to the familiar body. I wonder what kind of weapon can split a soul in two." he mused to himself, while no doubt examining his Fulgrim clone with arcane devices.


    "I''m getting tired, Necron Lord. Ask me the question." I demanded more abruptly.


    "Right! A fair trade, even after learning the answer. We should really meet one day. Wait, my question. How did you know about me?" he asked in a rather self-serving manner.


    "You were defending Cadia, when the Black Crusade cracked the planet apart. The pilons worked as well. You were just too late. Too hesitant, even after the galaxy broke in two." I answered with a sad voice.


    "I see now. You''re trying to make me act. Not your puppet, whoever you are!" the Necron complained half mad.


    I thought for a minute. "You did act Trazyn. And you will act again. Last time...you were alone. I''ll see what rare item I can offer. Hmmm. A C''tan shard...nah. You should have one already. Astartes...you have too many anyway. How about a Daemon Primarch?


    Nah..Fulgrim...wait..the Tau have this chronoblade. Can make anyone immortal. But you are already...I don''t know. Maybe some Dark Eldar stuff? Nice things are hard to find." I muttered in a rambling kind of way.


    "No, wait! There is such thing as a chronoblade? The Tau are too backwards to invent something of that level. A C''tan shard is valuable too. And that Primarch...you have the other Fulgrim? We should really trade. I rarely find anything nice." Trazyn demanded a bit more eager.


    I smiled inward. The hook was deeply caught.


    "Don''t call me, I''ll call you. But you''ll know me easily when we meet. I have a puppy." I sent with some effort and ended the call.


    Then I engaged the stasis field again, and went to bed.


    The puppy jumped on my left arm and went to sleep as well. Good senses on that wolf.


    I continued my normal schedule, crafting fake STCs, making babies and inspecting the troops. Taking the puppy with me made me more popular, for some strange reason.


    His name was now Canis, the High Gothic for dog. Keeping things simple worked best, and I had enough balls in the air to juggle already.

 Lorgar - Chapter 47

    The second our fleet translated into real space, sensors and auguries switched to autistic mode. Then, we burned plasma at maximum and turned away, as exactly above us there were a dozen of the famous Universe-class mass conveyors, only decorated with the hated spikes of Chaos.


    I had 10 destroyers and 8 corvettes, and my slightly more durable Canticle.


    But closer in system there was the siege fleet from Ghalmek</a>, the Dark Mechanicus Hellforge in the Maelstrom.


    Of course, we didn''t simply run away. We had torpedoes and were not afraid to use them.


    One by one, the new Los Angeles-pattern destroyers launched their ship killing salvos, each of them aimed at a different troop transport. For no doubt, these were the Titans, daemon engines and other dark machine transport vessels, with the needed ammunition and fuel and food and everything else a force expecting to besiege a Forge World would need.


    The Canticle and the corvettes unloaded on the eleventh conveyor, torpedoes and lance batteries, bombardment cannons and Volcano lance batteries.


    The Los Angeles destroyers simply turned at 90 degrees to allow their own batteries to fire, and then the explosions began, first the chaos flak batteries firing too late at our torpedoes, then the torpedoes striking the enemy void shields, then the hull and finally the reactor and munition depots.


    Eleven new suns appeared at Shenlong, far behind the gas giant. The explosions were so powerful we lost our void shields even this far away, and the Ion Shields barely saved us. Somehow, the corvettes got away easy, riding the shockwaves like leaves in a storm. The destroyers suffered worse, and reports of massive damage filled the clan''s vox channel.


    The Canticle was shaken so strongly that I had to use my armor''s servomotors to hold on to the command chair, and many bridge officers were flung out of their seats.


    It would have been nasty in the lower decks, but I didn''t have time to pity the serfs and servitors right now.


    "Torpedo room, time to reload?" I asked in a command voice.


    "Captain...full reload estimated at 714 minutes with current effectives. Most of the gunnery crews and some enginseers are wounded or dead." the voice replied on the vox. Not the usual torpedo guy as well.


    Must be really messy in there, torpedoes bouncing around and crushing people.


    "Understood, help will arrive soon. Meanwhile, load only the vortex warhead in the sealed cell - Rho 0888. Not the other one!" I shouted in the vox box.


    "Roger that, Captain! Vortex not bicycle warhead, aye." the voice answered seeming amused if also in pain.


    I almost sighed and glared at Majoris.


    He waved a few tentacles to show he was sorry for gossiping. Or make fun of me.


    "Replacement servitors and a hundred tech-priests and medics to torpedo room. Lance batteries repairs secondary. Engines and shields tertiary. The rest can wait." I demanded while checking damage on my bridge.


    Broken bones and lacerations weren''t too bad.


    The woman at long range auspex console was dead. Neck broken, seemed like.


    My ship''s escorts began speeding away, trying to enter the huge cargoships dead-weapon zone in the aft.


    I had some distant uncle in command of those destroyer escorts, and he knew his job. Cripple the engines and we could come back later to finish them off.


    The Chaos behemoth still had engine power, but was very slow to turn, due to starting from an immobile position.


    The Canticle still had our last vector, aiming us outward. We wouldn''t have 12 hours for my vortex torpedo to be loaded, even with the injured behemoth failing to turn yet.


    "Air wing, any fighter operational right now?" I asked without much hope.


    "No fighters for a few hours, Captain. There''s an intact shuttle though. Somehow." the wing commander answered after a few moments.


    It would have to do.


    "Prepare it for vortex deployment. We have a 12 kilometers-long Chaos ship just above us." I spoke and glanced at Ludvaius.


    He showed me 4 fingers, which I didn''t know what...nevermind.


    Just act, don''t think. I was doing fine then.


    I leaned back and scrolled through the howling Machine Spirit''s demands for fury and vengeance. The Gellar field was broken. There would be no retreat then.


    "In death ground: fight!" I said softly, and immediately the bridge became quiet.


    "You wish us to board that conveyor, Captain?" Wentian asked in near horror.


    "They have a Titan Legion aboard, Wentian. We have one Knight." I replied shaking my head. A single shuttle too.


    Perhaps that Legion was not complete or fully operational, but it wouldn''t matter.


    I switched the vox channel back to the flight deck. "ETA on the shuttle?"


    "We''re moving sir. Perhaps one hour, maybe two." the man replied in a suffering voice.


    The Canticle ran the calculations for me. One hour would work, two hours...would be probably too late.


    Damn my luck.


    Uncle Jorias began firing at the conveyor soon after, and one engine blew up after some 10 minutes of intense low damage fire from all the escorts. Then again, one engine on that monster was larger than a destroyer.


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    Our timer grew, adding more lifetime for the ship.


    "Auspex scans detected, Captain. They might be preparing to teleport aboard. Our Ion Shield cannot prevent transdimensional transports." Majoris announced from his own console.


    Ludvaius stepped closer to me, one hand on his bolter.


    Thrasius just leaned on the wall and seemed relaxed.


    Very well then. A bitter fight it was. "Battlestations! Prepare to receive boarders. Deploy armored units in hallways. Snipers, report to armory for phased ammunition."


    If those Chaos marines or sorcerers dared to come, I was slightly prepared now. Phase-iron tipped bolter rounds would ruin their fancy Ruinous Powers.


    My skin tingled as something deflected from the Refractor Shield up into the ceiling.


    A single shot from Thrasius and the assassin melted into burning goo. Astartes were great, if they were watching my back.


    "You may begin praying, everyone. This will be slightly unpleasant." I commanded just us the first lance battery came online.


    With my eyes closed, I guided the Canticle to fire towards the opening hangar doors on the conveyor. Something exploded inside, then something else. I fired again, just to make sure.


    A bigger explosion, and the void filled with burning daemon fighters and melted armors.


    Another engine exploded from our escorts, and I decided to call the corvettes back as a protective screen.


    The timing would be close, but even just the destroyers would suffice to cripple a few more engines.


    But if a horde of fighters and bombers arrived, the Canticle would be in more trouble.


    "Teleports detected around the engine and reactor rooms. Sentinels and Hydras have engaged the enemy." the tech-priest announced with a dispassionate voice.


    Well, the reactor would be an obvious target. And that''s why I had armor posted there.


    "Navigator quarters under attack. And...it''s over. Lord Holburn is a pyrokinetic as well." the Magos reported somewhat amused.


    Although we had guards posted there too, in truth a Navigator with skill was worth a dozen tanks, at once.


    "Medical quarters now. Lady Helena has good aim with that heavy bolter. Lady Catherine sings louder than the roar of a heavy flamer. And our sweet Catachans have wired the door with a melta bomb." Majoris said with a tiny snort.


    Even Ludvaius chuckled a little, then swung his Power Maul at something invisible. The squelch of broken bones and crushed organs informed me he did not miss.


    Another melta gun shot incinerated the remains before they reformed.


    Then all the lance batteries sprang back up, and I began enjoying the battle a little more. The Canticle fired furiously, starting fires and explosions onto the exposed Chaos conveyor, hangars and barracks being lit up with continent erasing beams.


    If this could last, just our numerous batteries would be sufficient to ignite the whole ship.


    I tried, I really did. Fuel depots, munitions bunkers, fighter bays. I targeted anything that could propagate farther inward.


    But just as my destroyers blew up another engine on the conveyor, its void shield came back up.


    I held fire now, and simply waited for my corvettes to get in formation, then fired sporadically at any opening.


    But whoever was in charge of the enemy transport wasn''t stupid. He gathered more forces, and launched a big wave of bombers and assault shuttles.


    The Canticle marked the bombers as more dangerous, but I disagreed. Torture for eternity was a worse fate than a fiery death.


    I marked the landers for priority defense and began picking them off a dozen at a time.


    The corvettes fired on the bombers instead, using point defense or main batteries as fast as possible.


    Huge melta bombs fell towards my ship, but there had to have been entire regiments in those landers. I was almost worth it.


    With a lurch, our engine came online and we accelerated, then our void shield came back as well. I urged the ship in a high energy turn, dodging most of the bombs or leaving them behind.


    "Teleport diverted in our wake. Oh. It was something big...too bad it will intersect that melta bomb..." Majoris commented like it was a gladiator match.


    Already fried by our plasma engines, that titanic winged construct took a melta bomb straight on and burst into hellish flames.


    I urged the Canticle to finish it off, and with 10 lances it died, sending a pulse of Warp energies and screaming souls outward in a huge nova.


    "Was that thing someone familiar?" I asked to make sure.


    "Yes, Lord Pef. That was Lorgar</a>, the Primarch of the Word Bearers Traitors." Ludvaius told me with a pat on my head.


    I sighed inward.There was a Daemon Prince howling for my blood now. Or will be, as soon as he got respawned back in Hell.


    "Lorgar wasn''t so tough." I declared in a small voice. Really, he died like in 2 seconds. I kinda expected a Primarch to be stronger.


    "Captain, the shuttle is ready to launch!" the flight deck declared loudly, as the bridge was kinda silent for some reason.


    "Blow their reactor, and try not to die" I ordered the pilot.


    "Sure thing daddy. By the way, I skinned my elbow earlier. Learn how to drive a damn ship!" my daughter Larrisa admonished me, with the whole bridge listening.


    I sobbed and leaned back in my chair. My reputation was ruined now.

 Enslaver - Chapter 48

    As soon as the vortex missile hit the Chaos mass conveyor, its reactor exploded and split the immense troop transport in two, opening up a warp rift much too wide for such a small warhead.


    Damn Warp shenanigans.


    I ordered the escorts to fire on the rift, while my lance batteries scoured the unprotected hulk and its furiously screaming cargo.


    Chaos Titans, Baneblades, Chaos Knights, Land Raiders, entire Chaos marines Companies, millions of traitor guardsmen, cultists and thousands of corrupted types of Mechanicus automata.


    It was a shooting gallery, with row after row of carefully placed miniatures of every deck. And that ship had a thousand decks.


    My lance batteries had battlecruiser strength, like all the Overlord-class battlecruisers, but it still took hours to vaporize all the contents of that ship, while my escorts struggled to close the rift and defend the Canticle from emerging demons.


    Meanwhile, I had the small Gellar generators from the Stormbirds removed and placed in key locations to protect vital areas from those demons that survived the escort fire.


    Nearly everyone on board had to fight or at least support someone shooting at the boarding demons, my Ogryns and the Armed Sentinel walkers providing the bulk of the melee defense, and the Catachans, the servitors and the tech-priests forming the second line of defense.


    Majoris had gone to fix the main Gellar generator, with more high-ranking Mechanicus priests and a spare astropath. The poor guy did not return, and I wouldn''t even ask what the Tech-priests did with his flesh and soul. Still, an improvised Gellar field sprang back over the Canticle an hour later, so it was worth it.


    The crew and regiment losses grew once more, and my heart broke, because my void marine concubines had been killed defending the nursery, alongside many of the Catachan concubines who were superb warriors as well.


    The Blank aura of my concubines and the few Blank babies helped them resist long enough for a Catachan battalion to arrive with flame throwers and melta guns, saving the kids and more than half of my harem.


    Someone or something must have been quite irate with me, to target my kids, born or unborn.


    A dozen times Canis alerted the defenders to the presence of a sneakier demon, crawling through a vent or phasing through a wall.


    When Majoris returned to the bridge, I had a solution already. Not all the phase-iron had been used to create phased ammunition.


    "Majoris, I have a hundred kilograms of phase-iron in the vault, could you turn that into a metal mesh and glue it to the ship''s walls?"


    The Magos blinked and stared into the void, considering my request. "I could, Lord Pef. But I don''t have the tools or the time for such a finesse and consuming enterprise. Slicing off a centimeter for a bolter round is very different from spooling micron thin wires for a mesh. Perhaps a rough job, millimeter thin wires and repurposing the flak armor knitting device, with a thousand hours of holy litanies and data sequencing."


    "Okay, this is not urgent, as there is a Gellar field over us right now. But as you saw, combat damage is unpredictable, and I want to be prepared for the next time." I answered him, then concentrated back on the damned Warp rift, with all the Canticle''s batteries.


    Just before the rift closed, one of the damaged destroyers turned and accelerated away without notice. "Escorts, immobilize and board the defector!" I ordered at once.


    "...Stay away...countdown...for the Emperor!" a crackling voice emerged from the vox box on the bridge, then the infested destroyer started powering up its Warp engine.


    "Open fire, all batteries!" I yelled and urged the Canticle to track mutineer and fire.


    The outward rift opened and a thousand white tendrils emerged from it, capturing the doomed warship and withstanding our lance batteries for too long, drawing the destroyer into the Warp.


    I''ve heard of such creatures, called Enslavers</a>. Denizens of the Immaterium, they followed conflict and preyed on injured vessels, just like now.


    Possibly another nice gift left by the Old Ones, just like the Orks and other exotic races crafted to fight the C''tan and the Necrons.


    A salvo of plasma rounds from the corvettes ignited the Enslaver while my lances closed the rift, shearing the giant creature in half. Then the destroyer''s reactor detonated, and the huge plasma and shrapnel fireball scorched the Enslaver to the bone, leaving only a dozen meter-long and quite thin bones floating listless. I wasn''t sure how it could work, but it seemed in realspace the creature was much smaller than inside the Warp. Its bones would be very valuable though.


    "Flight bridge, prepare a shuttle for me." I spoke on the dedicated vox channel, and glanced at Ludvaius.


    "I can go collect those Enslaver bones for you, Captain." he uttered with a frown.


    "I know you could, Astartes. But I am immune to the Warp...and you''re not. Perhaps that phase-iron mesh could be inserted inside your armor or under your skin, one day." I mused in a thoughtful voice.


    Majoris glanced from me to my bodyguard and back. "Let''s not get ahead that far, my lords. We don''t even have a simple mesh, let alone an organic compatible bio-upgrade. Though it would be quite thin and durable, even at micron size. Astartes biology is also very different and it might reject such an implant...or interfere with the Black Carapace."


    Right, not something we could do hastily aboard a damaged ship anyway.


    Using a disposable pilot servitor, I flew out and collected the bones with my power armor serving as space suit, finding them too heavy and resisting movement with my right hand, but easy to wave around with my blessed left hand.


    Were they bending gravity somehow? My left hand was only three times stronger, not a hundred times. More weird Warp magic.


    After we docked back on the Canticle, I tested the bone''s effectiveness on the pilot, and found out the Enslaver bone worked quite similar to a Power Weapon, crushing the cyborg as easily as crumbling a newspaper. With that, the risk of a Warp infiltration into the exposed pilot was also eliminated.


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    So I went to have a chat with the resident psyker on my ship, the Navigator. He kept me waiting a minute, then emerged dressed in red and black robes, ornated with glowing runes, and wearing a necklace with the Imperial Aquila on it, only the eagle''s eyes were glowing gold.


    I''ve seen other Navigators, but this guy seemed very rich. Maybe richer than me. I didn''t have holy relics to wear around.


    "Lord Hulburn, excellent job with the Warp emergence. We caught the traitors with their pants down" I began, praising his skill from the start.


    The man muttered something and avoided looking at me. "Not my doing, Captain. The Warp currents shifted a second before we emerged. Like an invisible hand pushed the fleet into the right  place and time."


    So it had been a turn of fate, like I suspected. "Anyways, good job frying the pests that assailed your quarters. Now, what can you tell me about this Enslaver bone?" I asked, holding the bone for inspection.


    "Leave it in mid-air, Captain and step aside. Your aura is distorting my readings." he demanded.


    I did as asked, and the bone remained floating parallel to the deck. The Navigator opened his third eye and gazed at the bone, taking care not to look at me.


    "A young Empyrean, not yet a million years old. Stupid too, by the looks of it. Hunting alone, without a pack. The bone can be used for weapons or maybe a mind shield, if you find a tech-priest with the right knowledge, or maybe a bonesinger Eldar. There is one in the system already, aboard that cruiser shadowing us." Lord Hulburn explained in patient voice.


    This guy must be really skilled, to discern so many things with only a minute-long reading. Then again, battlecruisers were rare and expensive. Made sense Ryza hired a good Navigator for the Canticle.


    "I see. And what happened on that destroyer, can you tell me?" I wondered with a smaller voice.


    "The Empyrean was hunting and found a silly Navigator without proper mental defenses. The rest is rather tedious, gruesome and terrible to divulge. But you have handled the crisis well, Captain. I wish you good fortune when you engage the siege fleet at Shenlong." the Navigator muttered in a slightly less upset voice, and entered his shielded quarters again.


    "Wait...is it safe to carry around?" I muttered in a dejected voice.


    "Go away Captain. Your luck makes me sick to the stomach." came a shout from inside the shielded rooms.


    Alright then. Probably safe on my person, but would need a specialist to convert it into a proper artifact.


    And the damned Eldar were keeping an eye on Forge Shenlong, waiting for something to happen. Something other than my unexpected arrival. Someone else would be coming.


    Knowing my luck, it could be a Navy fleet, another Inquisitor or an entire Space Marine Chapter.


    So I grabbed the floating bone then I returned to the shuttle hangar and collected all the bones under my left arm, and deposited them in my adamantium armored vault, for another day.


    Then a feeling alerted me. Almost like...


    "Come out Ludvaius." I said gently, and my bodyguard emerged from a hidden corner.


    "Good. You''re learning, Lord Pef." he exclaimed with a slight snort. It wasn''t just that. I knew he would be near.


    Either my brain jumped a few scales and reached Inquisitor levels, or the blood connected us more than it seemed.


    "I felt you, my friend. We are close to that empathic amplifier here." I mused to myself, and headed towards the torpedo room to check the damage and repair progress.


    "You too?" he answered in surprise.


    "Is it the same with other Blood Angels?" I asked curious.


    "A little bit, yes. Nothing this tangible, not even with the Chapter Master or the Librarians." he admitted with a frown.


    "But the feeling is stronger when there are more you present?" I asked just before reaching the torpedo room door, and got my identity checked again.


    "Right! Just like that...the entire second Company would feel similar. How did you know?" he asked in surprise.


    I just shook my head. I didn''t know, but I suspected. Well, now I knew, after Ludvaius confirmed his own experience. The Blood Angels were coming to Shenlong.


    It made sense, as Forge Worlds did depend on rapid Astartes deployments for defense. Same thing happened with Antax, Estaban and Ryza.


    Inside the torpedo room, there were no more wounded or corpses, as the Mechanicus made use of organic tissues for every machinery. Servitors and Machine Spirits, the victims would keep serving the Omnissiah, even in death.


    Probably for the best, considering what the afterlife was, around here.


    The Eldar used a similiar approach, with their Infinity Circuits, becase having your soul enter the Warp would mean eternal torture or worse.


    "Captain! We will be fully loaded and prepared to fire in an hour! Excuse the mess and the blood spatter." A jovial enginseer exclaimed as he spotted me inspecting the damaged walls and conveyor belts.


    I nodded and patted his shoulder. "You''re in charge here. But, no more bicycle rumors." I whispered in fake secrecy.


    The man grinned and wiped his greasy hands on a dirty towel. "I heard you killed a traitor Primarch, Captain?" he asked a bit too loud and patted my own armored shoulder.


    I shrugged. "His demon wings didn''t help. I just shot Lorgar a few times and he exploded. The flesh is weak."


    The tech-priests around began chanting praises to Omnissiah and showerd me with santified oil.


    "Hah! You hear that, crew! The flesh is weak...hahaha. Now back to work and stop gawking at the Captain! We have more traitors to kill!" the man yelled then pointed at his stuppefied engineers and gun crew.


    They all rushed back to work, so this guy will work well enough as Torpedo Master.


    Ludvaius chuckled and escorted me outside. "I admit, I was skeptical when you became my charge, Lord Pef. But I feel you''ll be doing fine. Not that many Primarchs might survive once you grow up a bit."


    I grit my teeth. "I''m not a puppy! Canis is the puppy." I muttered in defeat and accepted another head pat.

 Fishing - Chapter 49

    Cleaning up the void of infectious or tainted hull bits and machine parts took us another day, and my destroyers were tasked to push the larger fragments onto a trajectory leading into the Sun.


    Emergency systems repair or crew limb replacements continued throughout the fleet, and I was glad for having so many tech-priests and servitors on board, ready to donate the missing limb to a much more valuable crew or guardsman.


    I also had to stop my regular schedule and invigorate the ship with visits and rousing speeches. Morale was important, even more so when fighting the Chaos.


    But we did emerge victorious against overwhelming odds, and the escorts were somewhat re-supplied from the Canticle''s torpedo stores.


    Easy to do for the corvettes, as only 2 of them carried torpedo tubes, the rest using plasma cannons. We didn''t have 270 torpedoes to supply all the destroyers, but I managed to provide 6 torpedoes to each of them.


    More than a regular Cobra-pattern had, anyway.


    A squadron of fighters was also repaired and prepared for launch, and a host of other departments got some tech-priest care, like the medical ward, kitchens and sensors.


    "Fleet effectiveness at 65 percent, Captain. We can start our attack run if you wish, though the traitors will be aware and prepared for us." Wentian pronounced as I returned to my Captain seat.


    "Magos, see that safety belts are installed on the bridge seats and other critical areas. We don''t have many expendable crew left." I demanded, pointing at Majoris.


    The Tech-priest turned to look at the auspex console, where a flight cadet had replaced the dead officer.


    "Very wise, Captain. It will be done, using flak jacket material for the belts. Bridge first, of course." he answered with a flurry of binharic commands to his subordinate priests.


    "Permission to flare our long range auguries?" the cadet asked in a timid voice.


    I thought for a second, then denied it. "Don''t want to scare off the Eldar. They might provide a distraction for the Great Enemy."


    In this, every species in the galaxy were allies of necessity. Necrons, Tyranids or Eldar, even Orks, the Dark Eldar and the Tau. Everyone shot at Chaos first, if they had any common sense.


    Of course, they would shoot at humans just as well, but perhaps after the Enemy had been vanquished.


    The Imperium lacked such common sense, and often targeted everyone at the same time, proving a lack of critical thinking among most Admirals, Inquisitors and Astartes. The Rogue Traders were a different breed, and were slightly more reluctant to shoot at someone they may need to trade with.


    We began a series of short bursts of acceleration and course changes, to deny the invaders a proper vector to intercept my fleet.


    Sure, I intended to arrive behind the Chaos fleet and enact surprise suppository treatment, but they saw us from half a system away, and were quite wary, since we did blow up the landing forces.


    So, a segment of their fleet detached from the besieging orbit, and moved to intercept, a whole battleship, 3 cruisers and 20 destroyers.


    But retreat wasn''t an option, as it would leave the Forge World at their mercy, and a new landing army could always arrive from the nearby Maelstrom.


    "When encircled, use stratagems." I said in a calm voice, and looked around the bridge.


    Nobody said anything, too used at getting amazing victory plans from their Captain.


    "Ask the Eldar for help?" the cadet muttered in a shaky voice.


    I sighed audibly and leaned back. "Doesn''t work like that, my young friend. You show weakness, they kill you. But, perhaps providing them with an opportunity for glory will work. Their ship captains are just as idiotic as the Navy." I answered while thinking hard how to achieve that.


    The Eldar would prefer to stalk from above the planetary plane, so if I sent the fleet downwards, the Chaos ships would expose their engines to Eldar fire, by turning their front and prow armor towards us.


    "Torpedo corvettes, stop accelerating and swing around to strike from our right." I ordered with a sad voice. It will probably mean their deaths, two corvettes with 4 torpedoes.


    "Roger that, Captain Pef. Opportunity fire or designated targets?" a cousin of mine spoke on the vox, as the two ships fell behind.


    "It will depend on what the enemy does. But a cruiser or two crippled will be the best result I can expect." I said and turned the vox channel off.


    Then I turned to see Wentian gone pale and clenching his fists. Oh, that guy was his son...nasty business.


    "Don''t worry Wentian. We will all die, one day. But how we die is what matters. It is the strength of humanity, to draw power from sacrifice" I told him gently.


    The old veteran sighed and began breathing a bit calmer. "Yes, Captain. But perhaps not today."


    "Perhaps not today. But all men die." I concluded on a somber tone.


    Majoris immediately proved his common sense. "But the Machine is immortal. Only the flesh is weak."


    I chuckled at his words, although they were rather true. Trazyn, the Necron Lord was living proof of his faith. Not that I contemplated that approach yet. Perhaps the Eldar way, if I could one day get access to the right circuits.


    Saving your soul and getting reborn on a new Path seemed rather nice, compared to necrodermis or the Machine Spirits of the Mechanicus.


    Then again...humanity already had its own immortality path, joining the Emperor''s Angels or his Legion of the Damned.


    On the ship''s holoscreen the autistic auguries reported the Chaos fleet splitting off again, sending a cruiser and two destroyers after the sacrificial offering.


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    "Task force 2, dive and force them to turn." I provided my order to the few torpedo corvettes, while the Canticle Spirit murmured prayers and vectors for every ship in the fleet, directly into my mind.


    "Jorvis, begin dive with your escorts now." I demanded from my uncle.


    The Canticle kept accelerating in a slightly zig-zag manner, until we reached torpedo range with the Chaos Battleship.


    "Torpedo room, full salvo and secure yourself for aftershocks. Yellow alert, entire ship." I ordered as our battlecruiser lurched from losing the mass of the departing torpedoes.


    We didn''t have more vortex torpedoes, but just this one should be sufficient if it wasn''t intercepted.


    And since the leading enemy admiral has split off his Chaos destroyers to engage my own, he wouldn''t have much chance of an intercept.


    Indeed, the leading 5 plasma torpedoes were shot down too early, but we could launch 8 at one time.


    Their void shield faltered for a second as 2 capital class torpedoes struck in head on, and the vortex torpedo passed through the flaw and detonated at the impact with the battleship''s hull.


    Immediately, a large Warp rift emerged and devoured half the enemy battleship, setting fires and infesting it with more demons.


    The Canticle began to slowly veer around, trying to find a spot where we could fire without getting mauled by the surviving batteries on the battleship.


    At this moment, the auspex sensors flared in warning.


    "Xeno holofield scrambled high above our transversal plane. We detect energy emissions. Eldar lances!" the cadet yelled in excitement.


    I just nodded and focused on my task, waiting for another torpedo salvo to reload and the lance batteries of the Canticle to get into effective range.


    "Objective achieved, Lord Pef. Engines to full!" my cousin shouted victoriously on the vox, as his target was hit by 3 torpedoes and the Eldar lances finished it off.


    "Targeting enemy cruisers. Torpedoes away. Executing high energy turn!" my uncle Jorvis added as his escorts unloaded their own surprise gifts on the Chaos cruisers.


    My escorts were all running away now, with 20 Chaos destroyers chasing after their blood and souls.


    "Transmission incoming from Eldar cruiser, Captain. Allow vox or pict?" the hymnal officer asked with a suspicious voice.


    "Negative, on that. Don''t want us involved with any Eldar plots." I answered in a level voice, and Ludvaius growled in approval.


    "Teleport detected and redirected, Captain. Is that traitor shooting us with a bolter?" Majoris said in disbelief.


    I glanced at the holoscreen to see the Chaos Astartes receive a warm greeting from an escort corvette, with a few Volcano Lances that would even damage Titans.


    The idiot was not wearing a Titan though.


    "Not anymore." I said wisely and began firing the lances at the half-battleship wreck.


    Then a few seconds later, a flurry of explosions marked the detonations of the torpedoes launched by the Los Angeles destroyers, forming a pretty blue constellation and even damaging a couple enemy destroyers that ventured too close.


    "Well done, destroyers. Form up in pattern Delta on the Canticle. Volcano corvettes, dive and engage the pursuit from behind." I commanded while keeping an eye on the torpedo reload time.


    Another lance volley and another, all hit the enemy, scouring the adamantium armor and melting the macrobatteries of the battleship.


    Unlike cannons, lances were near instant weapons at shorter range, and we almost never missed.


    The reload was slower though, but we wouldn''t need ammunition. Lances were still better, in my opinion.


    But I should try to obtain some Nova Cannons. If only a Forge World would be generous enough. Nobody was till now.


    "Captain, we have loaded the last 6 torpedoes. Well, except the pretty one with golden words on it." the head enginseer reported in a wry voice.


    Not calling it a bicycle was an improvement already.


    I leaned back and consulted with the Machine Spirit. We could spare 2 torpedoes for the enemy destroyers, and use 4 right now. So I did.


    The Chaos battleship cracked and ruptured into the void, and another lance volley ignited something important, as it went boom with roaring flames and psychic screams.


    "They had a ritual going, my lord. We stopped it just in time." Ludvaius muttered in pain, and I turned my head to see him bleeding from his eyes.


    "Silly traitors. I could have bagged another Great Demon or something. They were too slow!" I complained petulantly, for morale.


    Captain Thrasius laughed and slapped his knee in mirth, and soon enough the entire bridge crew joined him in hoots and laughter.


    "We are in position, Captain Pef. Enemy destroyers in pursuit." my uncle announced on the vox.


    "Break off in pattern Beta. Then wait for the explosions." I said as the Canticle left skidmarks on the void, turning the ship''s bow towards the pursuers and flying backwards by inertia.


    And...launch. The servitor guided torpedoes stuck two destroyer squadrons head on and vaporized two small targets, also collapsed the voidshields of the nearby enemies.


    Then my fleet started firing our direct beam weapons, popping one Chaos destroyer after another, with the corvettes supporting from behind, targeting engines and their exposed backsides.


    The Eldar cruiser flashed by and scored a few more kills then vanished under a cloak of illusions and fake augury returns.


    I decided to ignore it for now, as I had bigger fish to fry.

 Backup - Chapter 50

    We circled back and began finishing off the crippled destroyers, then incinerated what was left of the corrupted battleship.


    Adamantium wouldn''t quite burn and evaporate, but I was cautious not to try to salvage something that would surely be imprinted with demons or psychic emanations.


    Perhaps if I had a company of Grey Knights, but those walking purification engines were very rare, secretive and likely busy doing more important work.


    We still had more repairs to do, and nothing to surprise the Chaos siege fleet with. But they wouldn''t know that, so my own fleet would prevent them from committing to a desperate assault.


    "Commodore Jorvis, you know the drill. Largest hull fragments into the sun." I ordered at my destroyer squadron leader, and went back to my room.


    Then I looked around at the melted walls and furniture, and walked out.


    "I''m homeless now." I muttered towards Ludvaius.


    "You have 18 ships right here, and those planets in the Fringe. I''m certain we will find a place for you to sleep." the veteran Astartes said without changing tone, simply flat.


    "It was a joke, big brother." I replied in a tired voice, leaning on a blackened wall. I then voxed my other guard for help.


    In a minute, Captain Thrasius arrived and led me to his own room, which had been the Scythes'' dormitory when there were more of them. "You sleep as well, Brother Ludvaius. I will keep watch." my guardian declared and sat beside the door, then started cleaning and oiling his bolter.


    I never slept better, being very tired but knowing I was safe.


    Even took my armor off, which was not recommended during a Yellow alert.


    Unlike Astartes, who could keep going for a month without sleep, or sleep with an eye open, I was still human and got tired.


    Much later, I woke up to find a Biologis Magos poking me with a hundred sharp instruments.


    "Common sense priest! Wake me up for a check-up." I growled and held my hand for a cup of caf. But Ludvaius was missing.


    Tharsius didn''t serve coffee, or even seemed to care I was being probed in funny places.


    "Incorrect, Captain. It is better to investigate a patient that is sedated or asleep. Less chance I sever an important nerve or leave you sterile because you thrash around." the Magos declared serenely.


    "Fine! Sedated yes, asleep no." I muttered still groggy. The priest had some logic, but I felt violated. And I probably was.


    "Is this Astartes cleared for my report, Captain?" the tech-priest continued without care, and took out a holoslate with a hundred indexes marked in yellow and green.


    "I''m slowly turning into a neophyte, Thrasius. Probably the work of the Angel on Estaban. It already reaches my shoulder." I explained and held my left hand out.


    The Astartes blinked and stepped closer to grab the holoslate. "It should hurt tremendously. And it never starts from the wrist." he mused to himself, while scanning the data on the device.


    "I have participated in the transformation of a few Space Wolves. The numbers do not lie, Astartes. It is just going very slowly. A thousand times slower." the Biologis Magos replied a bit offended.


    "Also I am a Blank, so whatever is happening has to overcome my innate resistance." I added helpful. ''To Warp bullshit'' I continued in my mind.


    Thrasius sighed and sat down again, after handing me the slate.


    "It shouldn''t work anyway. But miracles keep happening, as the Emperor wills. By the way, there''s another fleet parked beside us. Blood Angels, led by an Inquisitor." he explained softly.


    "And they called Ludvaius to report? Of course they did." I answered then turned towards my priest medic. "I will need your expertise, Magos. And something to subdue an Inquisitor, if he''s corrupted."


    A few rites of purification and logic cantrips emerged from my doctor.


    "...I cannot help, Captain. Only another Inquisitor can..." the tech-priest began while I walked to my power armor and removed a tiny box in the backpack.


    "Will this help?" I asked jovially, holding a Rosetta made from a palm-sized coghead, but still inscribed with the capital I. It also contained the necessary Clavis</a> type engrams and DNA authentications.


    My Rose wasn''t stupid, after all. That cyclonic torpedo could only be activated by an Inquisitorial Rosetta. In this case, my own.


    "In that case...this obedient one will provide chemical and hallucinogenic means, to subdue any human without Astartes organs. Power armor and refractor shields may render them ineffective." he answered in a completely subservient voice.


    I waved my finger in denial. "And, the means to penetrate armor and shields, Magos. The Inquisition is quite dangerous, but I never underestimate the Mechanicus. Some sort of Power Syringe or such."


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    Then I turned towards Thrasius. "And you Astartes, report to the armory and request 3 phase-iron bolter rounds, and a separate bolt pistol." I demanded, playing with my unlimited power coin.


    "Understood." he growled and left at a brisk pace.


    After that, I hid the Rosetta again and went back to sleep. Nobody expects the Inquisition.


    A strong hand woke me up, and I groggily opened an eye. Ludvaius...and not very happy.


    "Lord Pef...we should leave...as fast as possible. The Inquisitor is coming here to investigate you. And...he claims that my Battle-Brother Arkio</a> is Sanguinius himself, reborn. The idiots on the barge believe it too." he explained after checking the room for spies or something.


    "Ludvaius, my brother from another father. You seem worried, for some reason. Is Librarian Mephiston</a> on board that barge?" I asked with another motive.


    "We don''t have that name in our ranks, Captain Pef. Perhaps he is not yet born?" he asked with curious eyes. Good reasoning, as I asked for a rank as well, and Librarians didn''t grow on trees.


    "Obviously, if you never heard of him. That guy will indeed contain a part of Sanguinius. Not the left hand, but probably very similar in some aspects." I proclaimed confidently.


    If Mephiston hasn''t appeared yet...there was still time. I should go get the other hand, as soon as my ship could travel through Warp.


    Which meant, I needed this Forge World.


    I started dressing and placing the armor, and Ludvaius helped eagerly.


    In a minute, I started assembling a welcome party in the shuttle hangar, some 30 Sentinels and 300 Catachans with heavy weapons and sniper rifles.


    A squad of Ogryns in full gear took the honor guard place, with their ears blocked. No need to tempt the impressionable giants to the dark gods.


    And then the Blood Angels arrived, a full Company escorting some Inquisitor named Ramius_Stele</a>.


    Unlike the other Blood Angels, wearing proper red armor, this Arkio was wearing a golden one, like a Primarch.


    Compared to my own modest dark green and blue armor, he looked like an Emperor. Plus, the guy had a holy spear and bloody wings!


    The Inquisitor had power armor too, because why not. Artificer-class, and painted gold and black. All it was missing were Chaos spikes.


    "Blood Angels. Move aside and let me speak with my guest." I demanded in my loudest voice.


    "Rogue Trader Lancefire. There have been rumours about you. Rumours that need to be investigated." the Inquisitor interjected, possibly worried about lacking protection.


    He also tried something psykery, waving his staff at me, but it had no effect. Challenge accepted!


    "A servant of Chaos wants to investigate me? Pef Lancefire, who just killed the traitor Lorgar, Primarch of the Word Bearers? Laughable! And you Astartes, I gave you an order!" I shouted holding out my Rosetta.


    The Astartes stood undecided, while I advanced on the traitor Inquisitor with my guards flanking me.


    "What? His words were lies?" Arkio yelled and crashed to his knees.


    Stele tried to grab the Spear of Telesto</a>, but a shot from Thrasius deflected his impure hand. The phase-iron burst on impact and produced a psyker inhibiting dust cloud, making the traitor fall to his knees from the shock of being depowered.


    So I just nodded, and watched Ludvaius inject the fallen Inquisitor with the Mechanicus contraption.


    Then I marched forward and confiscated the spear with my left hand, while still holding my Rosetta as a shield. "Magos, take this idiot Astartes, and see how to repair whatever the corrupt scum has done to him. Some implant in his spine I expect."


    Meanwhile, Ludvaius has begun dis-armoring the Inquisitor, and disarming him of too many weapons.


    Now this was a nice looting opportunity, once I checked all the relics for corruption. The spear seemed light and easy to use with my left hand, but I didn''t dare trying with my right, not in public.


    "In the name of the Emperor, I declare you, Ramius Stele a heretic and a traitor. Excommunicate_Traitoris</a> !" I proclaimed in a grave voice, and stabbed the tattooed man with my new spear.


    He was unpowered and sedated anyway, but those Chaos spikes on his chest told the real truth. And thus, the traitor died on the very spear he had discovered.


    There was no explosion or demon jumping out.


    Just a fool, played with by Chaos and left to die ignominiously.

 Profit - Chapter 51

    An imposing Librarian rushed to the side of Arkio, standing watch as my tech-priest deftly disassembled the golden power armor, and threw the golden pieces towards me.


    I waved an Armed Sentinel to pick up the irregular armor for me.


    "Now, Astartes. What should I do with your traitor Chapter?" I asked Ludvaius in a soft voice.


    While I never claimed to be an Inquisitor, I did carry a Rosette, and Ludvaius knew exactly who gave it to me, as he has been in the bedroom when I gifted Rose her children.


    In this case, politics made excellent bed fellows.


    The Veteran looked with pity at his deluded Battle-Brothers. "You will do what is best, like you always do, Lord Pef. Even the sacred spear doesn''t harm you one bit."


    Right, I still had that idiot stuck to my spear. "Captain Thrasius, head and heart if you will. We don''t need a Great Demon to spring out and maybe ruin my excellent Canticle."


    Two loud bangs sounded, as the phase-iron bolts struck the traitor, with bone shattering energy and psyker inhibitor effect. Eh, should be enough.


    I withdrew the spear and stood ready to strike, but nothing arose from the shattered brain and chest of the excommunicated Inquisitor.


    "Every one of you Astartes, come and taste the truth. Guardsmen, about face and return to barracks!" I yelled through my vox box attached to my helmet, then tapped my helmet with my free hand.


    Ludvaius reacted promptly and took off my helm, and locked it to my belt.


    The Scythes'' Captain advanced first and scooped a tiny piece of brain, then ate it. Space Marines could indeed absorb memories this way, which made quite a great way for fact checking.


    Sure, there was also torture and Mechanicus mind downloads, but the Inquisition would know how to protect their own, with implanted mental defenses and mind mazes.


    He soon scowled and spat in disgust. "Malfallax</a> !, the fool sold his soul to a demon."


    I remembered that bit, but not everything. It wouldn''t matter though.


    "They are still not listening, Sergeant Ludvaius. Oh well. I guess we''re visiting Baal next. I still have that golden torpedo." I announced with distaste, then turned around and began walking away.


    My words possibly remembered the Blood Angels that their autonomy and powers were still at the behest of the Imperium.


    And Astartes did have good hearing. They had just elected not to obey.


    Captain Thrasius ran after me, just as I began flipping the Rosette like a coin.


    "Lord Lancefire, wait! They are tasting the truth, now." he spoke hastily.


    I didn''t stop, but instead returned the Rosetta to its protective casing at my back.


    "Isn''t this spear supposed to be heavy and too hard to use?" I asked instead, trying a few left-handed stabs at the air.


    The Ogryns saluted with their own adamantium staves, probably thinking something stupid.


    "Guard the hangar door, brave soldiers of the Emperor. Nobody is allowed in my ship, unless I say so." I commanded them via the vox beads implanted in their inner ears.


    Leaving the Blood Angels stranded in the hangar, I rushed towards my Sentinels carrying the loot. "Deposit everything separately, item by item at the vault entrance. I''ll send the tech-priests to purify the items if it is needed. Do no touch them with hands or anything organic."


    "Roger that, Captain. Nice spear too!" a Catachan pilot replied irreverently. Almost like they were raised in a jungle...wait. They were.


    More pilots started hooting and describing my bravery, although I did nothing of that sort. Well, except stealing the spear, from a demoralized Astartes.


    And stabbing a sleeping man.


    Well, legends were formed like that. In a thousand years, the myths might I say I slayed a dragon and an angel wept.


    On the way, I did encounter some tech-priests and had my orders transmitted up the chain, then to the relevant priests with the specific database knowledge. Chaos artifacts and purification.


    The Cult Mechanicus was still a religion at the base, and thus their prayers and rituals worked, because a trillion tech-priests believed they worked.


    They also had more practical experience, due to their Forge Worlds being constantly attacked by nearly every enemy possible.


    The missile corvettes and destroyers will soon change that, and hopefully reduce the Imperium''s dependence on capital ships for defense.


    After Shenlong, I wouldn''t return to the Empire. My sons and daughters will still trade and exchange goods, but getting involved in politics would place me in the sights of more corrupt individuals with immense power.


    Bluffing once might have worked, but it wouldn''t work again.


    A hundred tech-priests from a dozen clades arrived to examine and sanctify my loot, and quickly separated a few valuable relics that I could use.


    A Rosarius, looking like belt buckle with a griffon on it. Basically a portable faith-based forcefield, with minor defense unless you were a true believer, in which case it could tank Titan-class wepaons.


    A ring, with a wolf paw on the signet, which could detect movement and sounds for a hundred meters and alert the user.


    Another ring, with a monkey face with long canines, could fire once with a lascannon beam. The priests didn''t know how to recharge it. Very likely xeno-tech.


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    An Inquisitor coded book, with agents and informants and secret routes. Very useful for Rose, no doubt.


    The big staff itself, acting like a psyker focus and a shield barrier against other psykers. Nice, but I lacked that gene myself. Rose maybe.


    The Rosette and its covering case, disguised as a holy book. The other Rosette was coded to the traitor and will have to be sent to Terra.


    The case was a Null_Box</a>, so it could even tank battleships lances, for a million years.


    I kept the book case, of course. It was more precious than my battlecruiser. Perhaps I could mount the box on my chest, as a heart plate. Would look a bit bulky, but I had battleship-strength enemies. And I could store stuff inside as well, so win-win.


    The golden power armor was artificier-grade, and had everything a space marine could want. Well, except the wings flap, which will need to be covered, as I lacked wings.


    The Inquisitor power armor was same grade, but didn''t require a Black_Carapace</a> organ to use, nor Astartes muscles and size. Confiscated as battle loot from boarding actions.


    Then a dozen more mundane weapons, knives, poisons and garrote wire, truth serums and chemical sprays with euphoric and paralyzing effects, bolter, inferno pistol, dart thrower, grappling hook, a few grenades with various effects, from viruses to vortex and incendiary.


    The guy had been loaded and armed for bear. But he didn''t use what the Inquisition trained him to, instead he relied on psyker powers and his Astartes escort.


    "Captain, some red Astartes are making noise at the hangar door. Permission to ventilate?" A Catachan officer wondered as his buddies in the Armed Sentinels whirred their chainsaws loudly in the background.


    "Not yet, Major. I''ll be right there soon." I spoke calmly and directed the priests to store the good loot in the vault, including the nicest spear ever.


    "What do you want to do with these foul items, Captain?" the priest asked me pointing at some red candelabra and other ritual items.


    I hummed deep in thought. "Can they be melted into bolt rounds? Might be nice to have something that harms Eldar souls."


    The priests all stopped to stare at me. "They would go straight to hell, Lord Pef. The foul Immaterium demons would feast on their souls." one of them said a bit wary.


    I nodded and walked away. "A hundred rounds then. Eject what''s left into the sun."


    It was time to receive my own Astartes Company, like I always wanted.


    A short trip on the elevator saw me adjusting the Rosarius on my belt. I wouldn''t tank even a Knight with my feeble faith, but Astartes were two steps lower on the danger scale, with dreadnoughts and Sentinels in between.


    I was probably safe, unlike the faithless Inquisitor. I mean, even an Angel came to my help once, although I surely repaid that debt by killing Lorgar and saving him another frayed body or soul.


    "You seem curiously happy, going to meet a hostile Company of Blood Angels." Captain Thrasius commented after checking his bolter again.


    "You should be too, my friend. I bet you have never killed an Inquisitor before, right?" I asked rhetorically.


    You never heard of people offing full Inquisitors. Those guys could battle Daemon Princes in hand to hand. Chaff like a Rogue Trader wouldn''t even register as a threat.


    Then I arrived at the hangar deck, and pushed through the angry guardsmen who were ready to open up on the Blood Angels with melta guns and krak missiles. And possibly other weapons not registered.


    "It''s the Captain!"


    "Make way, wanna get roasted by accident?"


    "Now these traitors will pay!"


    I emerged among the huge Ogryns, all holding their adamantium shields and staves menacingly.


    "Good jobs, big guys. Let me talk with your smaller cousins." I spoke on the vox bead and stepped out as the Ogryns made a path for me.


    "Lord Lancefire, we were deceived..." the Librarian began in a pleading tone.


    "I know you were, Astartes. You don''t seem very sorry though, threatening my people and all." I spoke while walking right in his face.


    "Perhaps we could talk in private, Lord Lancefire?" he begged in a softer tone.


    I nodded and walked past him. "Magos, you found the source?" I asked my Biologis expert, standing over a slightly dissected Arkio.


    "It is not curable, Captain. In fact, it has been getting worse...since the traitor died." he explained while waving a tentacle for urgency.


    I turned towards the Librarian, who seemed to be in charge. "Take him to your barge. I would offer him mercy, but I don''t have any. May the Emperor save his soul."


    "May I ask you to accompany us? The Captain asks every minute to speak to you. And Brother Ludvaius." he whispered in a low voice.


    "Captain Thrasius, you are to return to Ultramar and enact revenge, if I don''t return." I commanded and patted his shoulder.


    "As you say, Lord Pef. There will be no place for the traitors to hide." he spoke sternly and departed without looking back.


    I ignored the outraged looks of the Blood Angels and walked on, and entered their nice Stormbird lander.


    I could use a few more like this one. Nobody made them, like they did in the old days.

 Battle Barge - Chapter 52

    The Battle-Barge was named Bellus, which meant pretty or cheerful, in High Gothic. Also, a pun for war.


    Their Brother-Captain Ideon was leading the 6th Company, and awaited me as the transport landed in their much larger battleship class barge.


    "Lord Lancefire...we have been tricked by that corrupt warp-spawn of an Inquisitor." he began in a meek voice and fell to one knee.


    Well, there were only Blood Angels around, and they too followed their Captain, with the Librarian visibly struggling to bend his knee in rage.


    "I am not an Inquisitor, Astartes. Out in the Fringe, my Warrant as a Rogue Trader already says I speak with the Voice of the Emperor. But, I find a Rosetta very helpful when travelling the Imperium, filled as it is with treachery and corruption. Like today, for example." I announced in a loud voice, and waved them to their feet.


    "So, the Exterminatus was just an empty threat? I would say it worked wonders." the man replied in a relieved voice, and stood straight again.


    I just turned towards Ludvaius. "He knows me better."


    "Captain Ideon. Lord Pef did enact Exterminatus on the Chapter-homeworld of the Scythes of the Emperor. And a few days ago, he killed Lorgar, the traitor. I have seen it myself." my bodyguard proclaimed proudly.


    It did have an effect, as claiming valorous deeds by yourself was common among the Nobles of the Imperium. Having a Brother confirm it as a witness, was different. Especially a Veteran Sergeant.


    The Captain nodded cautiously and went to examine their corrupted brother Arkio. Pustules of infected flesh were spreading along the spine, and the taint would be palpable to those with psyker powers. The Librarian shook his head in defeat, and signaled something with his fingers. No recovery possible, most likely.


    "Oh, you idiot Arkio. What did you do?" the man lamented in a mourning voice, then his hand flashed, decapitating the sick Astartes and ending his suffering. "May the Emperor grant him Mercy."


    "Back to your posts, Astartes! Don''t just stare like it''s a pict show. You will all die one day, and probably in worse ways." I shouted pointing at the gawking spectators.


    Now it worked, and the lower ranks rushed away inside the Barge.


    "I will cremate the remains. Too bad about the geneseed." the Librarian spoke gently and gathered the deceased marine and left with him.


    I waited till it was only me and Ideon, who cleaned his power sword while murmuring prayers.


    "Take me to the bridge, Captain. We have a Forge World to save, and my fleet spent all munitions already." I demanded after a polite minute.


    The Captain nodded and took the lead. "Those destroyers of yours...they seem very potent for such small vessels."


    We entered an elevator that should take us to the bridge deck.


    "I lost one Los Angeles destroyer already. But the sacrifice has been well paid, I''d say. Two minor Chaos fleets, plus that Primarch and an Enslaver." I admitted with a heavy heart.


    In truth, most of my losses have been to Chaos, both ships and family members, with the largest casualties at Estaban. They were indeed the Great Enemy.


    "Not so minor fleets, Captain Ideon. A dozen Universe conveyors filled with troops and a battleship with its escort group. A thousand times the mass of Lord Pef''s fleet was sunk, in a few days." Ludvaius explained after a snort.


    The Astartes Captain focused on me with new eyes. "I have heard of your fantastic exploits, though nothing solid. You always seem to appear at the worst time then vanish again."


    I smiled and shrugged. It was my intention after all. "The Navy doesn''t like being proved idiots, and they always try to confiscate my ships. Not to mention the Astartes, who always want to injure me, for some unknown reason. The Adepta Sororitas also chase me, and now an Inquisitor. I fear I ruined some carefully planned plots with my mere presence."


    Ludvaius chuckled and leaned on the elevator''s wall and just nodded at his Captain. "All true. The Chaplain of those Scythes even punched him in the jaw. Took him a few months of bed time to recover."


    "Might be your Blank aura, Lord Lancefire. Psykers are rather annoyed by that." The Blood Angels Captain mused to himself.


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    I nodded wisely. Probably so. Or I was just annoying.


    Soon we reached the bridge, the door guarded by a few Sanguinary Guards, with golden power armor.


    I just walked ahead and sat in the Captain''s chair, linking my mind to the throne controls of the battle-barge. The Machine Spirit was ancient and loyal, and rather surprised at my inopportune visit and usurpation. But I trusted my luck and the genes gifted by the Sanguinor. If I could wield that sacred spear, which should have annihilated an unworthy carrier, then a simple warship couldn''t be so tough.


    I was wrong.


    I mean, right...because I lived. But the pain and resistance from the Spirit was a thousand times stronger than even the Canticle. ''Calm down Bellus. We have a mission, and I have a Rosette with me. Don''t make me use it on you.'' I sent towards the angry Spirit. Slowly, the resistance ceased, and the ship''s functions opened for me.


    It must have taken only a second, even if the pain lasted years of subjective time.


    "... Lord Lancefire... it''s dangerous!" I heard the Captain yell in surprise.


    "Ouch! A bit painful, like all Command Chairs. But not dangerous for me. Now let me see, what I can do with Bellus...torpedoes...over 500. Good enough. Batteries, bombardment cannons, fighters, dropships, drop pods. Oh well. At least the void shields are strong. We can use that." I commented while powering up the holoscreen and marking the Siege fleet by priorities.


    Two enemy battleships, 9 cruisers, 30 destroyers. Should be easy.


    A decent fleet, but I had a battleship of my own now. On loan.


    "Wentian, I''ll have the Bellus close in for torpedo transfer. Have the Sentinels ready to assist with logistics." I voxed towards the Canticle. Then I switched channel to the escorts. "Jorvis, bring the destroyers about and line the up for reload. Corvettes, pattern Omicron and auguries to full."


    Then I proceeded to do so, carefully balancing vectors to perform the docking maneuver, without breaking the fragile eggs inside.


    "I take it you will remain on the Bellus for now, Captain?" I heard Thrasius ask in a suspicious voice.


    I thought for a moment then glanced at the Astartes Captain. "I think I will, Thrasius. These flesh-eating cannibals might not follow orders again, and ruin my awesome battle plan. Then, I might lose a battle. Can you imagine that?" I asked rhetorically.


    Thrasius laughed as if I said a good joke. "I''ll safeguard the bridge here. The Emperor protects!"


    "... We''re not cannibals." I heard a meek voice from Ideon, while the bridge crew stared at me with concern and anger.


    I waved his fake and untrue complaint away. They did just eat a man''s brain, only an hour ago.


    "Quiet on the bridge! I''m working here." I demanded in a command voice.


    The bridge fell silent, as I focused on the delicate piloting of a battleship, only with my weak brain and the savant implants.


    About an hour later, the lumbering battle barge finally matched vectors and docked with the Canticle, so I stood up and stretched my tense back.


    "Torpedo armory next." I demanded in a flat tone. Captain Ideon grunted and took the lead again, while Ludvaius grinned and held his thumb up for success.


    On the elevator, the Astartes glared at me for a whole minute. "The Bellus is gene-coded for the Blood Angels Chapter. Even with that Rosette, you shouldn''t be able to control the Machine Spirit."


    "I know, right? Must be a miracle from the Emperor." I explained with a careless shrug.


    "It''s more than that. Our astropaths contacted Lord Commander Dante on Baal. We were ordered to guard your life at all cost." he wondered in a doubtful tone.


    They were? Perfect!


    "I''ll hold you to that, Astartes. Brother Ludvaius keeps trying, but a barge and this Astartes company around me would work better. I keep getting in trouble, for no reason at all." I complained in a meeker voice.


    Ludvaius just nodded. "You shouldn''t kick a World Eater in the balls next time, Captain. Or any space marine. Nor punch one in the face. And you need better armor and weapons." my bodyguard advised me seriously.


    I sighed in defeat. "I''ll get better, I promise." I murmured softly.


    Just needed to finish the slow transition to my new body.

 Blind - Chapter 53

    Reloading torpedoes is quite difficult, even in dock. The things are very big and thus heavy. In fact, if you empty the warhead out and weld some seats, it becomes a 50-meter spaceship called a boarding torpedo.


    Luckily, I had Armed Sentinels and servitors to help, and transferring 300 torpedoes didn''t take very long. Just a single day.


    Meanwhile, I continued repairs and had the tech-priests prepare my new power armor, by painting the horrible gold over, with my House colors: green and blue. Possibly a reminder of Terra, before it became a yellow dust ball.


    When I emerged in my awesome armor, I felt much stronger and safer, especially with the Null box replacing the ceramite plate on the chest. I kept my Rosette and a few rings inside, also some spare cash and a vox bead, just in case I was left stranded somewhere.


    On my hip I had a bolter pistol, with thrice-blessed, cursed and phased bolt magazines, also my trusted Power Dagger, a few grenades and my Rosarius.


    Felt much better and looked great, so win-win.


    "Lord Pef, you look dangerous now." Ludvaius said turning towards me and nodding approvingly.


    Compared to a puppy, I probably was.


    Another veteran Blood Angel had joined my friend as my close guard, his name was Rafen</a>.


    I checked him out for a second. "Guarding me will be a life long and boring job, Astartes. Plus, you may see things not meant for lesser minds. Thus, you need savant implants."


    "So I''ve been told, Lord Lancefire. But I don''t believe it will be boring." the new bodyguard answered in a cheeky tone.


    I waved his claims away. "Captain Ideon is on the bridge?"


    "Not yet, my lord. The cremation of Arkio has most of our Brothers occupied." he answered with a frown.


    I sighed and began heading towards the bridge. Time to settle the score, and wipe out the traitors.


    The leader of this Word Bearer fleet was someone called a Dark_Apostle</a>, second-in-command to Lorgar and bitter enemy of the Blood Angels.


    It was time to convert his mass into energy.


    Soon enough, the fleet was under way, slower than usual, because barges are by definition very slow.


    "Set all sensors to autistic mode!" I commanded towards the auspex console.


    The neophyte blinked at me in confusion. Damn it.


    No wonder these Astartes ships were always being boarded, and they had huge fights among delicate machinery.


    I leaned into the command chair and simply turned off all sensors and auspex consoles from the override control in the chair. Not like I actually needed a big crew, with such a potent Machine Spirit for navigation and targeting.


    "Torpedo room, load a Vortex torpedo in tube 6. All other tubes with plasma warheads." I demanded after checking the loadout from the Bellus, and getting confused then angry.


    Whoever has heard of incendiary and atomic warheads pre-loaded as default?


    I mean, it was nice to have them, in case some place needed cleansing, but first one had to control the orbitals, which meant ship combat, which meant anti-ship torpedoes. Damn idiots.


    "...Errr. Where is Captain Ideon?" the voice on the vox asked instead.


    I turned towards Rafen. "Go there and shoot whoever doesn''t listen. There''s a big pyre for idiots in the hangar, might as well clean house while the fuel burns."


    To his credit, Rafen simply pounded his chest and ran off, loading his bolter, and checking his hip for sufficient ammunition.


    The neophyte at the auspex console lowered his hand and stared at his black screen without asking the idiot question. Good enough.


    And then, I just waited, because barges are slow.


    Not doing nothing, as I did have a lot of things to check on the Bellus, from secret vault rooms to concealed armories and ritual chambers for blood infusion, to the other systems, reactor and Gellar field and weapon batteries.


    They all worked, but Bellus was unhappy at the shoddy maintenance. There were a hundred spacefigters lying in disrepair, for lack of time or skilled workers. Hundreds of tanks and other vehicles with numerous problems, and the teleportarium haven''t been repaired in 5000 years.


    The narrative has been taken without authorization; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident.


    Nothing I could do right away, but there was a Forge World right here, and plenty specialist tech-priests already on the Canticle.


    Then I felt a Blood Angel moving to stand by my side, and peek at the command holoscreen. Then again, most of the tactical consoles were blank now.


    "Who are you?" I asked without turning.


    "Astartes Solus, X.O. on the Bellus." he answered curtly.


    "Alright Solus, you may stay, if I have questions not found in the Machine Spirit." I allowed generously.


    I could hear his teeth grinding. "This is highly irregular Lord Lancefire. We are flying blind right now." Solus muttered, possibly upset.


    "Oh, you were not blind before? I changed my mind, go oversee the torpedo room, Astartes Solus. The people there refuse to follow orders." I said in a soft voice, like talking about weather.


    Astartes were smart, but so naive it was cringing.


    Sanguinius reborn!


    No wonder entire Chapters or Legions fell to Chaos.


    "Brother Ludvaius, today you are Sanguinius reborn! These morons will believe it, I can bet a throne on it. We''ll see about tomorrow, I have a puppy with holy blood back on the Canticle. Kids love him, so he must be Sanguinius." I proclaimed pointing at my bodyguard.


    Solus grunted as if in pain and left the bridge, while Ludvaius began posing heroically for his Brothers.


    "You heard Lord Pef! Today, you witness our Primarch, returned from death. Minus one eye and wings." he announced with his Power Maul held high.


    Everyone on the bridge seemed rather skeptic. As if they weren''t ready to crucify me a few hours ago.


    Ludvaius glanced around and holstered his weapon on his back. "You owe me a throne, Captain. They didn''t believe me." he added with a smug face.


    I ignored his demand for a bribery and relaxed in the chair.


    A few hours later, the fleet began to approach the torpedo limit.


    "Battlestations! Heavy weapons, deploy on the larger hallways. Astartes, guard the Gellar generator, the reactor and whatever else we may need to fly. Medical crew, prepare to receive wounded. And everyone else, pray hard!" I ordered on the intercom vox.


    Then I started maneuvers to avoid getting targeted by long range weapons, and fired two torpedoes at the nearest Chaos cruiser.


    "Jorvis, same trick" I sent to my escort destroyers.


    To their credit, in a minute the bridge received a dozen Astartes with full gear, ready to protect this vital part of the fleet, meaning myself.


    And then the torpedoes started flying, and I launched the fighters and plowed straight into the midst of the Chaos fleet, contrary to all tactical sense.


    There was a method to my madness, as pretty soon the Chaos battleships were hit by 50 torpedoes each and began drifting into the void, while my barge unloaded the other torpedoes and the batteries on the destroyers who just flew about without evading or dodging.


    The Bellus rammed and simply crushed 3 Chaos destroyers without slowing down, and we arrived over Shenlong with half our void shields intact.


    In my wake, the Canticle followed and unleashed its own torpedoes and lances, blowing up the wounded ships then turned at speed and departed to regroup with the destroyers below.


    My corvettes stayed with me, providing close support against torpedoes and bombers.


    "Vox transmission from Shenlong, Captain! They need help to regain the shipyards and the orbital forts. Their remaining fleet is also forming up behind us." the vox officer announced while writing down the text of the transmission in full.


    I nodded but did nothing. Launching an assault under fire would create more casualties, and might even prompt the traitors to suicide, just to kill a few Astartes in a blaze of glory.


    "Jorvis, once again, on secondaries." I sent to my uncle while waiting for the torpedoes to reload.


    Didn''t need to use the vortex warhead with such overwhelming advantage, and a Warp rift might provide the traitors with unexpected help, from someone or something interested in this system.


    An hour later, we struck again, this time with Bellus escorted by the Mechanicus fleet, while the Canticle and the destroyers attacked from behind.


    It was a massacre, and nothing in the siege fleet survived.


    For once, the battle went as planned, with a battleship on my side.


    One day I will have one of my own, I promise.

 Chance - Chapter 54

    Once the battle was over, my escorts began the tedious task of incinerating whatever dregs still survived in the void, burning the corrupted wrecks with lance and plasma cannons then pushing them into the sun.


    There was even a Power-armored traitor marine with a forcefield around him, but a hundred Volcano lances from my corvettes made him convert back to the light.


    The Mechanicus protested a little, trying to recover some valuable tech or minerals from the Chaos wrecks, but I wouldn''t risk it.


    Instead, I launched the servitors and a few tech-priests, some Ogryns and a Catachan regiment with all the Armed Sentinels in support, to cleanse the orbitals of cultist and traitor invaders.


    The Blood Angels were only called where traitor marines were spotted, to prevent thousands of casualties to my own troops. They were appropriately brutal, and losses were total on the Chaos side, and moderate for our own.


    The liberation worked quite well, and we even saved a dozen docks and three orbital forts, however two corrupted forts had to be torpedoed and lanced into oblivion, while my battlecruiser, the Canticle glassed a Chaos infested Hive city from orbit, using only its powerful lances.


    Forge Shenlong got away with minor damage, from an invasion that should have conquered it easily.


    The Fabricator General knew that as well, and I was received like a Holy Savior, although a dozen Astartes around me helped secure my image too.


    Then we got to chatting in private and trading, and I unloaded two dozen templates on him, including a cheap system-only Volcano-pattern corvette and the Lima-class destroyer, both still with 30 torpedoes, but using twin Volcano cannons instead of single barrel lances for its batteries and a hundred quad-multilasers for point defense.


    "This type of ship...no wonder you massacred the traitors so easily. We could build a dozen of them in a few years..." the Red-robed Magos mused to himself.


    "I would start with a thousand corvettes. Use 10 docks to mass-produce them, while the other two docks complete the hulls you have already begun. The Bellus will stay to provide cover till you have a large enough fleet to defend yourself." I explained in a gentle voice, and drank the wine in deep thought.


    Having the system corvettes will prevent other Admirals from taking them away, because they lacked Warp engines. They also didn''t need Navigators, which were rare and expensive.


    The Fabricator had even better implants than mine, so he figured it out in a second.


    "What about your Favor, Trader Lancefire. Surely there are things we could offer?" he inquired cautiously.


    I nodded and pointed at the cogitator screen. "As many light vehicles as I can take. Chimeras and Hydras, Manticores and Basilisks, Rapiers, Centaurs and Sentinels. And as many power armors as can be made for my void marines."


    He nodded and waved the screen away. Thousands of light vehicles were not a problem. "Power armors...way too difficult to make in large numbers. Perhaps 20 or so. You have all those Astartes anyway."


    "Also, two Lima-class destroyers to replace my loses, and full repair and supplies for my fleet." I added without pushing too hard. His Forge World wasn''t in a good shape right now.


    The Fabricator sighed and urged me on. Still too little then, so I could fill my plate more.


    "This will only cover your liberation efforts. What about the sacred STC templates?" he asked more serious.


    This would take some thought. "Force field templates, gravity weapons, better personal weapons for my regiments. Hunter Killer missiles and a forge-factory to make more. Also servitors, enginseers and tech-priests that will fly with me into the Fringe."


    "... You mean STC patterns. Not quite legal, such a trade." he whispered fearfully.


    I shrugged and smiled. "Donations to an approved religion like the Cult of the Omnissiah are tax free. Aptus_Non</a>. The same with sponsoring an Expedition outside the Imperium. If you have to name me an Explorer, I have the right credentials. Magus Explorer Gyron from Antax has raised me til adulthood."


    "What about a transport ship or two, like the other Forge Worlds received?" he demanded with a tiny bit of greed.


    Well, I did give everyone some, so why not to his Forge? The man was correct and logical, in his cyborg brain.


    "Forge Triplex Phall has priority on those adamantium transport ships. But, perhaps one such transport can be lost during transfer. It happens." I mused to myself wistfully.


    "I see. Then perhaps, a few STC copies might be ''lost'' and then found by a lucky Rogue Trader. It happens." he answered on the same tone.


    You gotta love these Mechanicus guys. They have business in their blood. Not much blood though, unlike the Blood Angels...


    This story is posted elsewhere by the author. Help them out by reading the authentic version.


    "Something else. The Bellus battlebarge is full of ancient machines, just lying there to rust. A smart Fabricator could entice the naive giants to trade the relics for new and stronger machines, like fighters and tanks. Perhaps even offer to repair the teleportarium on the barge, and copy the holy schematics during the service litanies?" I wondered without any ulterior motive.


    He waved a few metal tentacles in excitement. "Indeed, Lord Pef. This would be quite valuable to the Mechanicus. We can offer to ''service'' and then copy the best technology in the Imperium. But they will not let us, I think."


    I grinned with secret knowledge. "Oh they will. Also, I need these rings scanned and copied, and then another thing. Phase-iron mesh, micron scale, both for anti-psyker defense and psyker containment, like walls and tank armor." I explained opening my chest box to retrieve the precious loot. Of course, my Rosette blared at once with coded engrams, before the null box closed.


    "That cog-shape Rosette...is it yours, Lord Pef?" he asked cautiously.


    "Made for me, by a friendly lady, just in case I got in trouble inside the Imperium. Ah, and I''ll need you to send a traitor Inquisitor''s body and his Rosette back to Terra. In stasis, if possible. The Astartes shot him with phase-iron bolts, but a great demon might be stronger." I explained in a relaxed voice.


    The Fabricator was quite panicked though, understandably. "That would be Ramius Stele, he voxed us when he arrived with the Battle Barge in the system. Correct?"


    "I''m not an expert, he could have been a clone or body double or something else. The Inquisitor killed an Astartes with some type of genetic curse, first he grew wings and got stronger, then his body failed and got full of pustules and things. They had to burn the poor boy." I declared in a sadder tone. It hadn''t been pretty.


    The Fabricator stared at me for a minute, likely going over my exact words and meaning.


    "Well, at least I know why the space marines listen to you. This almost seems like corruption..." he mused softly. Just rumours of corruption would be sufficient for an Inquisitor to declare them Excommunicates Diabolus...and then wipe out their Chapter.


    I nodded in agreement. "Well, I am trying to find Blank recruits for these cursed Astartes. They are pretty rare, but I have already sent 100 of them to Baal for implantation, and they seem to resist the curse without problem. Estaban and Ryza are working on Blank Machine Spirits with the same type of genes. In a century or two, we might not fear the Enemy so much." I proclaimed in a grander voice, to raise his morale.


    I also held my palm out for a Blank blood sample, which the Fabricator collected in a mere second.


    "Now this...this is big indeed. I wonder if that''s why Lorgar was here, waiting." he mused in worry.


    "Probably not. There were too many troops and Titans on those conveyors, just for your small Forge World. I expect he was heading someplace else, and just stopped to check on his Apostole. My lances blew him apart in seconds." I replied with a smug smile.


    "... If the Bellus could stay here for a decade, we would have at least 100 of these torpedo corvettes. Maybe enough to defeat a fleet just like this one." The Fabricator said after running some calculations.


    "Don''t count on it, Magos. Imagine a billion Tyranids bioships. Then a Black Crusade. Then a galactic scale Ork Waaagh. Then a Craftworld or two. After that, a small Necron Dynasty. Followed by a Hrud</a> migration. Soon after, a new Tau Expansion. And so on." I rebutted him while pouring myself more wine.


    The Fabricator blinked and glanced at his cogitator screen again. "Right. You forgot other enemies, but I get the point. Ships and more ships."


    "Once you have enough, they could be lined up like torpedoes in a Universe-class, with launch rails. And then, you''ll be the one Crusading with a million ships. But first, you have to survive, Fabricator. Don''t count on me to save you again." I announced and sipped my wine a bit slower.


    "You''re leaving the Imperium. Probably for the best, considering how the Inquisition might react." he reasoned at light speed.


    "Yes. And if you want, there will be a place for a splinter Forge among my worlds. I don''t intend to stop at a million ships, with a trillion stars and planets in this galaxy." I said and set my glass down gently.


    "Yes...I can see it might work...if you don''t get discovered too soon, Lord Pef. A small success is commendable. But grow too big..." he warned me, as if I didn''t know.


    I knew the risks, of course.


    "Come visit the Canticle soon, Fabricator. I have some items that might even the odds a little." I spoke more modestly, and prepared to leave.


    "Omnissiah be with you, Pef Lancefire. I''ll begin preparing the priesthood for the large tasks ahead." he declared solemnly as I crossed his threshold.


    I just nodded with sorrow. Perhaps he would survive now.


    At least I gave him a chance. A small chance.

 Horde - Chapter 55

    Gradually, as time passed and orders became easier to obey, I began implementing my personal projects with the Blood Angels.


    First replacing the broken machines and fighters with new and functional ones, even a few updated templates made by myself. Then upgrading the auspex sensors and the void shield teleport deflection trick.


    And a year later, the more debatable things.


    Captain Ideon had little choice but to submit to a minor repair of his barge, with the tech-priests being escorted like criminals from one ship system to another. Not that they would know what and why the tech-priests chanted and bowed and sprinkled oil or incense on some gun battery or targeting cogitator.


    "It won''t be so bad, Astartes. The cogheads know their machines, and Bellus is in a rather poor shape. Plus, I know very well that teleporting strike teams will be useful, once the device is repaired." I explained and patted his shoulder.


    "Not only this, but you''re kidnapping 90 Brothers from the Company! And implanting their heads with the Emperor-knows-what contraptions!" he complained in a seething rage.


    "Every one of you will be implanted, Astartes! Even yourself, since your minds are so weak that any cultist can manipulate you like puppets. Plus, the implants do help control the Rage and the Thirst, just as the phase-iron dermal hoods will help defend against Warp sorcery." I yelled at him and took out my Rosette.


    The blazing light of the sacred cog made him draw back and mutter a prayer. "Stop that! My head will explode!" he growled as his eyes turned red and started weeping bloody tears.


    "This artifact is the Mark of the Throne, Astartes. Who sits on that Throne?" I asked in a gentler voice and returned the damn memetic device to its null box.


    "The Emperor!" he declared in firm conviction.


    "And he is the most powerful psyker to have ever lived. More so now, empowered by the faith of a quintillion humans in the Imperium, praying to him every single day. Even so, the Aquila has two heads. Faith and Reason. Blood and machine."


    I continued and drew my glove off.


    My left hand was slightly glowing, like it always did when the Emperor was mentioned.


    "Every human is touched by the Emperor. Blank, or Psyker or a lowly serf. Even the Ogryns know him, and he knows them. But you are still his son, blood of his blood, diluted as it is with silly blood rituals and geneseeds corrupted. When you pray, he listens because you are the closest thing to his family. He sends his Angels in the hour of need." I whispered and covered my hand before someone else saw it glow. That wouldn''t be healthy.


    Slowly, his rage drew back, and he glanced at my savant implants with more respect.


    "Twin Aquila...just like your Ogryns and their maces. I had been blind." he mused in a regretful voice.


    "If I could, I would demand for all Astartes to train as techmarines first. Then medics and generals, ship captains and governors. There will be plenty brutal fighting, but only when you enter your dreadnought." I concluded and started to leave his quarters.


    "We are not allowed to rule...outside our recruiting planets." he answered in a meek voice.


    "Of course not. Big naive idiots without any common sense. You wouldn''t let an Orgyn lead a sector, would you?" I threw over my shoulder as the door opened.


    Ludvaius passed a throne coin to Rafen. "I told you they were not fighting, Brother." Rafen declared in a confident voice, then still checked me for scuffle marks.


    I ignored their childish games and headed towards the hangar.


    Soon it will be time to leave, with a large Astartes group as my bodyguards. Now I was slowly training their minds and teaching them to think, which was frustrating to say the least.


    A thousand younger Catachans were selected as Aspirant replacements, at my urging. Already big and strong and skilled in combat, the Catachans should survive the implantation in larger numbers than regular farm boys.


    And possibly adapt and thrive as space marines better than other people, especially after receiving the savant implants and some schooling.


    Not on my dime, but the Fabricator would have tech priests train their minds as well.


    Stolen from its rightful place, this narrative is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.


    Thrasius and my armored void marines waited in the hangar, with my close Blood Angels right behind me.


    " I take it the meeting went well, Captain?" the Scythe asked to make sure.


    "No punches, just harsh words." I said with a fake shrug. Not easy to do in power armor.


    "I still don''t trust them, no matter what penance vows they took." he declared in a cold voice, and glared at the gathered Blood Angels.


    I didn''t either. I mean...sure they could laugh and joke and appear friendly. But even with hard-wired restraints and phase-iron inhibitors, they could still fall to their blood curse. And then I''d have a horde of blood-thirsty maniacs loose on my ship.


    Thus, the melta charges in their jetpacks, keyed to my implant control, just like the Ogryns. They really should learn what machines are for, silly brainwashed zealots.


    Very dangerous zealots, with combi-bolters and Power Weapons and even heavier weapons in some squads.


    The Thunderfire_Cannon</a> would clear a hallway of intruders in a single second of rapid fire.


    The Grav-cannon</a> would squash Chaos marines in their cursed armor, leaving only a blood smear.


    Heavy flamers and the Meltagun</a> would deal with heat susceptible enemies, pretty much all of them.


    Then the Terminator squads had the classic Assault_Cannon</a> but of high quality for longer combat service and the Frag_Cannon</a>, shooting hollow shells which would fracture on impact with a myriad of adamantium shards.


    The new Lima-class destroyers were speeding around the system for their trials, and Forge Shenlong had begun producing the missile corvettes at full tilt, with 10 of them already operational and a second wave on the way.


    I was almost done here.


    My ship''s Gellar generator was undergoing final checks, and a dozen tech priests were clustered inside for some special ritual of awakening, which probably means what you think it does.


    Two of my daughters got to become destroyer Captains, including the wonderful Larrisa, who wouldn''t let getting pregnant stand in the way of her rank. Catachan husband, as expected.


    Why not? These guys had solid genes, and my girls were prettier than the moon.


    I only had to hint at an available position and a dozen duels provided the faster and stronger candidates. Not much brains these warrior husbands, but my girls had more brains than me, and that should suffice for their children.


    And imagine I still had 20 more girls coming of age soon.


    The nursery was crawling with babies as well, because a year in dock was boring and I had a permanent teenager body.


    I was running out of available bed mates, so Decima recruited another batch to last me til Illevar. Best wife ever, right? I was so lucky. She wore my old armor now, as to not waste it. And it should keep her a bit safer, for a minute of combat.


    Henna didn''t want an armor, nor would she fit in a regular female carapace, due to enhanced glands. She got a Flak robe and force field belt, and she wears my old Hellpistol, so it evens out. Plus it''s easier to disrobe Henna for a quick husbandry duty in my bedroom. Win-win.


    Canis got a savant implant too, and a combat collar with its own Power Shield, and now the Catachans train him to hunt like they do. Only he has grown a lot during this year and is larger than a pony. Kids love him anyway, as he gives the best rides.


    A shadow flashed and jumped on me like I expected. Luckily I had my armor, so he couldn''t throw me down. Not yet. "Hey Canis! Good boy?"


    "Woof!" he answered and ran back to the horde of kids. I think he thinks my kids are his puppies. Spends more time with them than I do anyway.


    The Blood Angel transfusion is still working, and now grips my heart and neck.


    Soon enough, it will reach my brain and I admit I''m a bit wary. Those Black Rage fits would ruin my life very fast.

 Naya - Chapter 56

    As my fleet was preparing to depart for the Fringe, I held council with those present from my clan.


    "Larrisa, you will be given a long task. Take all the destroyers and travel to Forge World Incaladion</a>. If the rumours I heard are correct, you will be needed to rescue them from another invasion. Veteran Astartes Koris will be stationed on your bridge, and a Catachan regiment will be dispersed among the destroyers for boarding operations. Do you understand?" I asked gently.


    With 11 missile destroyers able to fire 330 torpedoes, including a vortex warhead, my daughter would have sufficient firepower to enact a miracle rescue.


    She seemed a bit overwhelmed, but quickly recovered. "Of course dad. I expect I will carry some gifts with me, for the Fabricator of Incaladion?" Larrisa asked with a sneaky smile. She was a Rogue Trader by birth and nurture, after all.


    I just nodded. Of course she will. A dozen young Blank girls, who will become ship Captains for my Dynasty after they reached maturity. But meanwhile, they could provide Forge Incaladion with eggs and gene samples for Blank Machine Spirits.


    Plus a small cache of STC templates, that Larrisa wouldn''t know the contents of.


    Uncle Jorvis was tasked with being her X.O. as the man had plenty of void travel and combat experience, and with a Veteran Astartes for a bodyguard, plus her blood-bound regiment of Catachans, via her husband, Larrisa should be as safe as possible, in hell.


    Uncle Wentian will stay at Forge Shenlong on the Bellus, and wait for the next 2 Lima destroyers to be completed, and then travel to Triplex Phall with the new ship templates. He would return to Illevar later, with whatever prize ships the large shipyards will be able to gift to our clan. Perhaps with more tanks and gunships in the cargo hold, if the Fabricator was generous. He also had a dozen babies left in his care, also Blanks. Forge Triplex Phall would definitely appreciate their genes.


    Veteran Blood Angel Turcio was assigned as his bodyguard, and my insurance, until they returned to Illevar.


    And that was it. I needed the corvettes for my Canticle''s escort, and they weren''t really capable of independent deployment, as almost any other vessel would outgun and outmass the small escorts.


    I did have some 30 boys with Blank genes in the nursery, but they were slated for the Space Marines, after they lived a nice childhood, and learned all I could teach them, and conceived the next generation with their own harems.


    My own cargo holds were chuck full of light armor vehicles, and even a few dozen Volcano Sentinels, as an incipient anti-titan corps. The long lance weapons were held and used as sniper rifles, and I split them evenly among my void marines and the better Sentinel pilots from the Catachans. All the pilots had to accept savant implants, because these walkers were awesome, but also expensive and rather hard to replace.


    The Fabricator of Shenlong owed me greatly for the precious archeotech relics salvaged from the Bellus, and thus an equitable solution had been reached.


    I even had a short range teleporter installed on the Canticle, of Mechanicus production. The Canticle already had a Warp-teleporter, but usable only for potent psykers. Not all that useful, as I lacked psyker powers.


    With a mechanical teleporter though, and one accessible via my implant, new options have opened. These people in the future were slightly retarded when considering military stratagems, but I wasn''t brainwashed into believing glorious melee fights were the ultimate achievement in someone''s life.


    There was one thing to insert Astartes into key areas to capture a pirate ship, and thus obtain precious reusable loot at a million-th of the cost. Or more, if there would be another Grand Cruiser as prize.


    But boarding Tyranid or Chaos ships with marines? Why? Wouldn''t it be more effective to teleport an atomic warhead?


    My tech-priests were already assembling a conveyor-belt style mechanism, to quickly reload the teleporter with atomic disinfectants and anti-bodies.


    An incline ramp on the upper deck would simply roll and guide the cylindrical warheads into position, then fwooop! The bomb would be displaced inside the target vessel or fort, bypassing any armor and most types of shields.


    Even void shields could be breached, if the enemy didn''t carefully police their own transmissions, such as auspex-return lasers and graviton based auguries, using those exact signals as locators for a teleport.


    Passive sensors would obviously not be affected, but nearly nobody in the universe bothered to safeguard themselves from active sensors pings.


    Unlawfully taken from Royal Road, this story should be reported if seen on Amazon.The lessons of submarine and bomber warfare had been lost to the future, but I was ready to capitalize on the old addendum: Those who forget history are fated to repeat the same mistakes.


    "Engines to full, make for the translation limit!" I ordered from my Captain chair, after the conclave was over and the farewells had been said, and the hugs to the departing kids faded.


    Canis wailed as well, somehow knowing his puppies were leaving for a long time.


    But after the fleet entered Warp, I returned to my rooms to procreate more babies to replace the missing ones.


    One last time with Decima, who wanted a break to recover and manage the clan affairs without a marsupial pouch attached to her stomach.


    Henna was still good for a few more, and rather happy with her role.


    Then another squad of Catachans amazons, and Naya, a new void marine woman, who reached adulthood right here among the crew, and wanted to take part in the clan''s growth. Of course, a Rogue Trader was the best catch she could hope for, and there were many perks attached to her concubine role.


    No more work shifts and boring guard hours, a bit less training, better food and living quarters, and as expected: lots and lots of deep husbandry.


    Naya lounged in my lap as I rested in the cogitator armchair, and watched with interest as I struggled to complete another STC template, for a ship assault Rapier.


    "Why does it have a single Onslaught_Gatling_Cannon</a>? Wouldn''t it be better with two?" she wondered with a naive voice, while reading the description on the side.


    I let my left hand cup her breast as it drew my hand back from the holofield. "That weapon fires 8700 rounds per minute, each round as big as a heavy bolt. The recoil is immense, my dear." I explained in a gentle voice.


    It was hard to keep the small Rapier from flipping over anyway. Two guns would surely make it take off, backwards. I had to use triple-sized tracks, just for enough friction to counter the recoil, plus hydraulic absorbers.


    "Alright then, my lord. But I still say more guns are better. Perhaps smaller ones?" she asked again.


    I saved the new template and opened the next, with 6 lascannons stacked three guns over the next layer.


    "Like this one? Well...the problem is energy. Lascannons can''t fire for too long, before the capacitor is discharged completely." I mused to myself. Whoever was in front of those guns wouldn''t enjoy a single salvo, not to mention 3 or 4 shots.


    "It looks great though, by the Emperor! These Mechanicus guys sure come up with the nicest weapons, don''t they?" Naya inquired naively, and Ludvaius coughed for no reason somewhere beside the door.


    Well, the Blood Angel did have a point. "Of course they do, my dear. But this weapon is a Blood Angel design. Sadly, they never considered us normal people, and the Rapier controls don''t have servo-motors. Without power armor, it will be hard to use them, and harder to hit anything not standing still."


    Naya sighed in defeat. "So we need power armor for our void marines, or servo-motors, whatever those are."


    I kissed her head, and started working on that. Power armor wasn''t an option, but servo-motors were basic technology. Even I knew how to design a car steering wheel. Well, a car with tracks.


    A few hours later, the new Beam Rapier template was complete and Naya slept blissfully in my arms.


    Thus, I left her to sleep in my bed, and checked my timer. I had 3 hours of creation remaining, so I loaded the Doomhammer</a> schematics obtained from Shenlong, Baneblades armed with a (weaker) Magma Cannon, a type of heavy lance that could melt rocks into lava or magma.


    It was a pity to have a super heavy tank use only one such weapon, and Naya was right. Two guns were better than one. I began by removing the troop compartment, and installed an atomantic reactor in its place, then enlarged and upgraded the turret to hold a twin Magma_Cannon</a>. Plenty of energy left so shields and defensive multilasers would be feasible.


    Ludvaius had sneaked behind me to appraise the new template. "This Baneblade variant...it''s for your own troops, right?"


    "Yes, my friend. It will do for a start. Imagine a hundred of them, besieging any feral world in the Fringe." I replied thoughtfully while sipping from the recaf mug.


    "No ammunition and no fuel, except radioactive rods for the reactor. Completely self-sustaining for a decade." he said in approval.


    Exactly my point.


    I saved the new tank template and went to sleep, hoping for a better future.

 Judgement - Chapter 57

    During the trip back to my distant empire, I focused on creating a host of rugged but simple and cheap machinery for my own people.


    Here, I wasn''t limited by the crazy regulations of the Imperium, which forbade innovation and invention. Not that I would even be able to create something like a Rift_Cannon</a> to bend reality with every shot, or even a Graviton_Singularity_Cannon</a> which fires tiny black holes for fun and profit.


    No, my weapons and machines would be very familiar to someone from M2 or M3, because these machines were just that.


    Reconnaissance drones, made of flimsy steel sheets with a twin pict/infrared passive auspex sensor, using a propeller and solar panels recharging a lasgun-type power pack for propulsion, to survey a hostile area from high altitude in near perfect silence. The auspex''s Machine Spirit should suffice to glide the drone over a designated zone. Servitor brain if really needed.


    Cheap attack drones, with a slightly more durable structure of steel with plasteel ribs and two propeller engines, to support 6 krak missiles or even one incendiary bomb. An active LIDAR/ultraviolet sensor to detect concealed targets under foliage or fog. Servitor brains to be used as pilots, for better accuracy.


    Ground attack aircraft, made of plasteel with a few titanium ribs for load bearing, with an Assault Cannon in a mobile turret underneath, and 8 hunter-killer missiles in free fall slots, but guided by a single logis-engine installed in the cockpit. Unguided rockets and incendiary bombs could be used as well, against massed infantry or wooden cities. Again, servitor brains would make their loss less expensive, as pilots were valuable. Much smaller and a thousand times cheaper than a Marauder_Bomber</a>.


    High-altitude interceptors, of plasteel and titanium, plated with a centimeter of ceramite over the jet engine and wing edges. This fighter had a lascannon fixed solidly underneath for direct fire, and 8 long range missiles to engage enemy air units like zeppelins, bombers, droships and drop pods. Wouldn''t stand much chance against a true starfighter, but that Fury_Interceptor</a> is 5 times larger and maybe a thousand times more expensive. Pilots might be needed, as skills and reflexes would make a big difference.


    I already had the light Weasels for infantry support and suppression, but I made a Chimera variant with a twin autocannon and krak grenade launchers for backup and elongated the troop hold by 6 meters, to allow the carrier to carry 50 guardsmen in relative safety. The upper tracks were lowered in height by half, to allow firing ports on the upper hull, for the infantry inside.


    Heavy stubbers, or classic machine guns would be easier to make, but also quite irrelevant against almost any enemy. Tyranids, Orks, Eldar or Necrons would just shrug off normal bullets, so I didn''t see the point of trying to build them.


    Perhaps for police units, against fragile humans.


    You may think those flying machines are easy to design, being many eras older than the current times, but the original makers had thousands of engineers and years to work with. I finished everything in 2 months, saved them on different dataslates, and marked them as ancient STCs from Old Terra. It was almost true, anyway.


    Just in time, as we arrived at Illevar the next day, so I got some sleep.


    The Vox channels instantly filled with a thousand urgent requests from everyone with access to a phone. Radiophone.


    I waited for an hour and filtered through the transcripts. Years have passed since I last ruled from my capital, and many people seemed to have forgotten me.


    Others had grown rich and powerful, especially the merchant and nobles houses allied directly to me via bloodlines.


    It seemed Larrisa made it to Forge Incaladion just in time to cash in a Favor, blowing up two Ork Battleships and supporting the Mechanicus to contain a large Ork Waaagh.


    The adamantium of those enormous warships would be melted and reforged into new destroyers and a fleet of missile corvettes, plus a hundred Doomhamer heavy tanks, just like I needed. The tanks would have to be converted into the better variant at Antax, but such is life. Can''t win them all.


    Wentian was still guarding Forge Shenlong, and their fleet was growing. The next two Lima-class hulls should be finished in a year or two.


    And Veryon was still crusading to the north, his fleet increased with 4 more destroyers and an older cruiser captured from the locals, who used it as an orbital fort and trade station for lack of repair.


    He did manage to lose 4 corvettes somehow, so the total numbers were much the same.


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    But I couldn''t expect everyone in the clan to have my cheater luck, although Larrisa seemed to have inherited that trait, instead of the Blank gene. Fate is a fickle mistress, right?


    I immediately dispatched three thousand tech-priests on the Litany light cruiser to Natale, the location of Veryon''s outpost, to repair the cruiser hulk enough for a single Warp trip to Antax. Old ships wouldn''t help us directly, but a Forge World could indeed create another amazing vessel like the refurbished Lament cruiser. It''s hard to imagine, but consider finding another Great Pyramid somewhere, with a treasure of gold and bronze relic weapons inside, or another Sistine Chapel. That''s how the Mechanicus view old ships being found, cleansed and lovingly restored as the Omnissiah''s armored fists.


    Old ships might also contain forgotten cogitator codes and rites, logis-engines with sacred data-engrams never seen before and so on. Lost star charts, hidden vaults buried in walls, some rusted unpowered weapons that in fact can one shot demons or planets...the archeotech from the Dark Age of Technology might be lost, but could also be found.


    With my Canticle here in orbit over Illevar as defense, the Litany could be spared for other duties, such as supporting the Hymnal in the northward expansion. There were still some 20 human feral worlds out there, free for the taking, til we would meet the Orks.


    A Catachan regiment and two armored battalions departed on the Litany, with 2 corvettes as escort and an Astartes bodyguard for my daughter Finona, the new Captain of the Litany. His name is Alactus, and I''m glad he didn''t have to die this time.


    Then I landed at the Blank Valley, which had grown again, and got welcomed with a dozen more Blank girls prepared to become my concubines. It wasn''t just duty, as they were pretty and eager to contribute to the salvation of mankind. I tried to make it quite clear to every Blank what we meant for humanity, as our genes would protect our descendants from Chaos and demons. To be part of such a grandiose plan was enough for most of them, and having a life of safety and luxury in this quiet valley was a better life than most of the humanity could hope, in the grim 40th Millennium.


    My wife Serena summoned a huge welcoming ball for the next week, where all the big shots would send daughters and sisters to entice me into becoming closer linked to the high classes.


    She even marked one of the noble women as a potential wife, should Decima agree. I glanced at her pict capture and kinda agreed.


    But pictures were not everything.


    As I got close and took her hand for a dance, Grindelle screamed in agony and fell to the floor. Blue smoke started flowing from her eyes, and my Astartes quickly formed a defense perimeter.


    "Lord Pef! The woman is a witch!" Rafen shouted and drew his special bolter out. The one with phase-iron munitions.


    I held my hand out for calm. A psyker no doubt, and perhaps a telepath, making her way up the noble ranks, with more ease than simple womanly deceptions and wiles. Reading people''s thoughts and perhaps influencing them to her will.


    But a witch? That meant something else. I have seen Chaos servants, and they had a certain smell.


    Couldn''t marry the woman anymore, not if she fainted from a single touch, but I had other jobs of similar importance.


    Astropaths of my own perhaps. Another mother for Navigators. Battle psykers...if only I knew a good psyker that could help me. Wait, I did.


    "Lord Hulburn. Meet me at the medical labs on the south spire. Astartes Rafen will wait for you." I asked on the vox channel to the Canticle.


    "So you have met the blue soul woman...her light is blinding me." his reply came as if he was dreaming. He probably was, I just realized. Navigators didn''t see time like all of us.


    "Bring an astropath and a Biologis Magos with you. You know which one...the scary one with twelve scalpel arms that hangs around the nursery." I continued without letting his tarot cards scare me.


    I made my own fate. Better send the woman to Terra, and avoid the worrisome prophecy.


    I should give that tech-priest a name. The Juggler, maybe. He made the kids laugh, by juggling his scalpels with unfailing accuracy and grace.


    Better not think how fast those blades could exterminate all the nursery and guards. Possibly all the crew with some virus...


    "... As you say, Captain Lancefire. Beware the 13th hidden blade." he muttered prophetically and closed the vox channel.


    I was now quite certain he didn''t mean a hidden scalpel, but the Black Crusade to come. I wonder if he knew what his visions meant. Probably not. The words would come true, but they wouldn''t mean what you thought when you heard them.


    And likely make you turn on an ally, and make him become your enemy. Damn seers.


    That''s why I hated the crazy Eldar. They would always point you in the wrong direction, at the wrong the target.


    If they were so wise, how come they created Slaanesh then?


    No, I would trust my own judgement. It hasn''t failed me yet.

 Easy - Chapter 58

    An hour later, I returned to the Governor Ball after making sure my Navigator would look after the new psyker and teach Lady Grindelle the rudimentary necessities, to avoid becoming a danger, to herself and everyone else.


    Psykers could be a potent force multiplier if used correctly, in a dozen fields from medicine to warfare or diplomacy. They could also create huge trouble, if left undetected and untrained.


    Even my gifted daughters with Rose would suffer from same risks and benefits, but I expected they were already on Terra by now, and receiving training from a Psyker</a> group like Adeptus_Astra_Telepathica</a>''s Scholastia Psykana, all except Janice who went with Rose, possibly providing the same service as Justine had, only better.


    Her mother did train the girls a little, establishing a core of mental fortitude and the use of a telekine dome which should protect them from bullying and other harassment.


    But more advanced abilities, like the precious Gate of Infinity: teleporting great distances via a Warp corridor would take many years to master.


    They were also strongly advised to request testing for the Inquisition, because the training would be much better and their powers in the Imperium would be nearly absolute, if they passed the trials.


    Meanwhile, my own Navigator house was slowly taking shape, with a dozen adepts opening their third eye and undergoing basic training from the available Navigators in my fleet.


    We don''t talk about those who failed, but the Mechanicus priests have taken the mindwiped or exploded corpses to use them in various ways, from psycho-active purity seals and organic components for Gellar field generatoriums, to psy-cannons and psy-grenades and other esoteric and blessed munitions for my Astartes.


    My Hive Capital is scheduled to receive a city-wide Gellar Field sometime in this decade or the next, depending on the affluence of more organic parts. I don''t doubt there will be sufficient failures among the new Navigators, as even the venerable Houses have many of them. A new House like my own is certain to have over 90 percent failures, until we come up with a workable system, or we luck out with more dual Blank/Navigator genes.


    Also, the Knight House is getting started, with over 100 young pilots training in holo-simulators and practicing live piloting on Armed Sentinels. And those are all my brothers, from my mother Justine and Lord Whitelance gene stock, but grown artificially by the tech-priests in a mechanical uterus. There were failures among them as well, and the nice Mechanicus tech-priests are using the salvaged parts for a more reliable targeting cogitator on the Canticle and more Machine Spirits, intended for the Volcano Sentinels and the Baneblades variants.


    Best not to think about it too hard. It works and the Emperor protects.


    By the next year, I had a new generation of kids born in the Blank Valley, and Victor provided a dozen more Blank descendants of his own.


    Many more kids with my numerous noble and Catachans concubines, but the number of Blank kids stayed the same, still about 30 per year. It must be a hardwired limit somewhere.


    And the golden veins of the Sanguinor''s blessing have completely transformed my heart and lungs, giving me a lot more stamina and inner strength, and now the tendrils tingle towards my head and groin.


    I really hope nothing bad happens, as I need both my mind and my spear to attempt my grander plans.


    Not that relic Sanguinius''s spear, although it will come in handy someday, but my other spear.


    My daughter Larrise has sent word that she''ll depart for Forge Antax soon, once the Fabricator at Forge Incaladion finishes preparing a light cruiser for her, another Endurance-class but upgraded with the Lima-class torpedo cells and twin Volcano batteries.


    It isn''t that much of a Favor, but the cruiser will be loaded with attack gunships and heavy tanks, which we cannot yet produce in the Fringe.


    Forge World Incaladion is also building two types of corvettes, one a remodeled torpedo barrage Stalwart_Escort_Ship</a>, without Warp engines and Navigators, and another escort-type similar to the Retribution-pattern I made for the Imperial Navy.


    They also preferred converting the destroyer hulls already in production to the Los Angeles-class, as those were simpler and faster to build, and used more common or cheaper weaponry.


    Logistics was always a big factor, and every Forge World had different capability and expertise.


    Wentian had also departed towards Forge Triplex Phall, in command of a Lima destroyer while his son commanded the other. Nepotism was the name of the game in a Rogue Trader dynasty, and with every new and bigger ship that family branch grew in power, wealth and reputation.


    Expansion to the north was due to restart soon with a fleet anchor point at Natale, just after the Chant for the Vanquished, the repaired cruiser, left for Antax and the new orbital forts were emplaced and armed.


    The forts were still mere metallic asteroids with guns and shields, but why fix it if it works.


    Illevar had about 50 such forts in orbit, and 50 more planned. This galaxy was dangerous, the distances vast and in space nobody could hear you scream for help.


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    I mean, they could...if you had astropaths, and they also had astropaths that listened, and there wasn''t a Tyranid Silence or a Warp Storm blocking the transmissions. Better be safe, than hope some Astartes Chapter had a fleet nearby and ready to assist.


    Planet Natale itself had a few billion people, but only a single Hive, the rest spread out in smaller towns all over the planet, split in warring factions of nobles and warlords. Much fewer nobles now, after Veryon pacified the planet in the usual style. The planet did have large river plains for agriculture, and even steam power trains and factories.


    They would be of great help for my colonization plans, after a generation or two of interbreeding with the Catachan regiment.


    But the peace wouldn''t last. I wasn''t even surprised when my incipient Forge Retribution screamed for help, as the Warp disgorged a big Ork fleet and a Space Hulk crawling with a billion green mushrooms.


    In an hour, I gathered what ships were available and departed for war. I did recruit tech-priest Minoris on my ship again, because his amazing brain power will be needed.


    My wife Serena was bulging from my husbandry achievement and so was Henna, so they stayed on lllevar. Only dear Decima joined me on the rescue mission, and only the combat-able concubines. An Ork Waagh invasion was not a pleasure cruise for noble concubines, despite their pleas.


    I had enough Astartes with me to consider capturing some Ork ships, as the metal hulls alone would be worth trillions of thrones. Other weapons and ship systems could be valuable as well, and that Space Hulk was an immense prize by itself, going by the astropath missive.


    By next week we arrived at Retribution with my battlecruiser, 2 frigates and 6 destroyers and 400 corvettes of various types. Yet again, another corvette vanished during travel, proof of their weak resistance in the Warp.


    The tech-priests and my ground forces were already under siege, a hundred million Orks having descended on the Forge World looking for a good fight and more plunder.


    A single orbital fort was still standing, and a dozen corvettes had been lost by the defenders, somehow. It always amazed me how and why other people could lose ships against moron savages and flying bugs.


    "Destroyers, change orbital plane below us and await orders to engage. Frigates, speed ahead towards the planet and glass whatever is infested and not protected. Corvettes, form in pattern Beta on the Canticle." I ordered after a single minute of deliberation.


    The Orks were idiots, and it didn''t take much to defeat them. Just avoid their armored prows.


    We wisely avoided the large Space Hulk for now as it was too slow to chase us, and the Canticle soon confirmed a damaged Apocalypse-class_Battleship</a> was embedded deep inside, only the gigantic engines and their known size and disposition allowing a positive identification.


    Otherwise, the Ork fleet had a squadron of Kroozers and a dozen Roks, escorted by a ramshackle of hulls of smaller size, more than 500 in corvette size and two dozen in destroyer size. Nobody could identify the make and class of the original ships, because they were extensively modded and up-armored.


    Minoris glanced at the holofield screen and cogitated for a minute. "Lord Pef, I predict the Orks will retreat before we can capture all of their ships. We should damage their engines."


    Sadly, he was probably right. But only if their Ork Boss was alive to give that order. Also, a ship missing the brige would have a few small problems attempting to retreat.


    "Retribution, this is Pef Lancefire. Please confirm the location of the Warboss, and any other large Orks that might continue fighting." I demanded as I delved into the Machine Spirit to have it listen at whatever vox and auspex return it could detect.


    The system map soon filled with a handful of pulsing icons indicating the command centers of the Ork Armada.


    Being tribal, the Orks would follow a command chain centered on the largest specimens, which in turn would obey the loudest and scariest Boss among the tribe leaders. And they did that without encrypting their vox channels...


    Ludvaius leaned over my shoulder to allow his eyes to memorize the Boss placement. "Captain, we have sufficient Astartes on board, to teleport on their ships and terminate all these bosses."


    I just sighed and turned towards Rafen. "Do you agree, Rafen?"


    The Veteran was more cautious. "I expect you have a completely different plan, which will seem obvious and easy after you win the battle, Lord Lancefire."


    I nodded wisely. "Indeed, my friend. Today you are Sanguinius reborn! Such wisdom from an Astartes is surely a sign the Primarch has returned from death inside your body." I proclaimed in fake praise, and Canis added a loud wail in concert.


    I lowered my hand to scratch his furry head. "You think so too, my furry friend? Of course, you do. You just need a pair of wings, Canis. These silly Astartes will worship you and feed you expensive steaks, and maybe offer a thousand fertile bitches to create your own Canis Dynasty!"


    "Wooooo!" my space wolf agreed in joy. Perhaps I should get him a few mates.


    Then I urged the Canticle forward at best speed, and began lobbing atomic warheads on top of every Ork Boss, while adjusting the ship''s course to stay parallel, but outside their Big Gunz weapons range.


    My heavy lances didn''t have that range problem and after two passes, the void was littered with listing Kroozers and burning escort vessels.


    Easiest fight ever.

 Listen - Chapter 59

    By the third pass, I ran out of atomic warheads and the Orks ran out of intact Kroozers and Roks.


    They still had numerical superiority, if only by a single ship.


    But then, the local Ork Captains panicked as their Waagh field disintegrated with the deaths of all their larger leaders.


    By clans and tribes, they began turning the ships around, to escape.


    "All escorts, pick a target and follow it." I commanded as the Canticle turned about and sped towards the Space Hulk, using our amazing speed to arrive behind it...or the place with more engines anyway.


    "And now we teleport, onto the space hulk?" Rafen deduced genially. Well, he was Sanguinius today, so he would receive divine inspiration.


    "In an hour or so. First we make sure the hulk doesn''t leave with my brave guards on board. Lord Dante will be upset if I lose you in the Warp." I explained politely while my lances began melting one hulk engine after another.


    Meanwhile, the Canticle was scanning and analyzing the hulk for fissures and other weak points like flaws and unstable melds.


    The schematic of the hulk began to assemble on the holoscreen, and each of those flaws soon received a torpedo to enlarge the gap.


    By the next hour, I had managed to extinguish about 100 engines and split off about 30 mangled ships and other hulls from the hulk.


    The corvettes already successful in their antifungal task joined the Canticle and began burning the separated fragments with their lances and plasma guns, since I didn''t need Genestealers or feral Orks to remain hidden in the wrecks.


    The metal was valuable, everything else much less.


    A couple of black-painted Ork destroyers did reach the Warp limit and escaped, but as their hulls would be exposed to the Warp due to numerous holes and punctures, that was likely a worse fate for them. Who knows, perhaps the Orks inside would enjoy a ''gud fight'' with unending hordes of demons or enslavers.


    All I cared about was dislodging the nice battleship before the hulk transitioned into the Warp.


    A dozen torpedoes later, the large fragment containing the Apocalypse-class derelict finally dislodged from the space hulk. There was still a lot of metal on the hulk, but I was out of torpedoes too.


    "Blood Angels! By squads, report to the teleportarium and cleanse that battleship of invaders. Secure the reactor first, and then a hangar for reinforcements." I ordered, pointing at Ludvaius.


    "By your order, Captain! A battleship would be a glorious prize." Ludvaius exclaimed bravely and started stomping towards the door.


    "Take ten times more ammo. Make that twenty!" I yelled after him.


    Rafen pouted as he had to stay and guard my life. "Next time is my turn to conquer a battleship. Damn my luck..." he complained like a huge child.


    Orders for boarding parties made of servitors, tech-priests, Voidsmen</a> and Catachans were also sent, and I also launched fighters to provide escort for the assault boats.


    The Ogryns were not sent, as I wanted the battleship somewhat intact, if possible. Hulk Smash! Ogryns were terrible around machinery, and always damaged doors and elevators on the Canticle, by accident. In fury and pain from combat, a company of Ogryns with adamantium weapons would ruin a lot of irreplaceable relics.


    Squad by squad, the Blood Angels inserted via teleport inside the battleship and began shooting. And shooting more. And then even more.


    Shrieking enemies flowed continuously into halls and walkways, but a Company of space marines wasn''t easily defeated.


    Terminators and dreadnoughts did carry huge amounts of munitions, but a battleship has immense volume, and all of it was infested with enemies.


    I had to teleport more crates with bolter ammo and drumboxes for autogunns, and the Astartes continued shooting. Orks of a dozen kinds, Genestealers, then other creatures like RakGol</a> cyborgs and Tyranid Tyrants.


    And then, the hangar door opened and my landers could transport inside thousands upon thousands of servitors and Rapiers and Weasels and Sentinels, and the tides slowly turned.


    I think I managed to chip away a quarter of the space hulk, before sirens blared and the behemoth started moving by itself towards the Warp limit, an arbitrary boundary where the sun gravity was weak enough to permit Warp jumps.


    My destroyers blessed the departing hulk with the rest of the torpedoes, chipping away some more scraps of metal. And them the Space Hulk departed, after gifting me the prize I always wanted.


    A real battleship!


    Sure, it was damaged and will take a lot of effort to clean up and repair. But after that, the sky was the limit.


    The advance stalled when encountering a band of feral humans armed with melta guns, but I just sacrificed all the servitors to consume their gas canisters and sent more landers with new combat servitors, this time with adamantium shields for the front lines.


    Then I went to sleep, because winning still tires me, and my flesh is still weak.


    For a month, fighting continued deck by deck and corridor by corridor, until I ran out of cheap servitors and Orks to kill.


    The tech-priests on Retribution were still besieged by millions of Orks on the ground, but we had orbital superiority and large orkish advances could be stalled or erased with lance batteries and even macrocannons.


    Stolen story; please report.


    The corvettes began dragging crisped hulls towards the shipyards, where the tech-priests will begin reforging the metal into new and blessed machines of Mechanicus design.


    By the second month, most of the battleship had been cleansed, except the lower decks still crawling with human mutants, genestealers and other life forms of unknown types, perhaps Tarellians</a>.


    The Biologis Magi were ecstatic at the chance to capture and examine these strange lifeforms, although I didn''t jeopardize my troops for their experiments. A large Genestealer</a> managed to kill a couple Astartes, simply by proving more durable and vicious than the best of humanity''s soldiers. Going by the tentacles growing on its front, it was likely one of the Ymgarl_Genestealers</a>. It took three Sentinels and a Blood Angel dreadnought to bring it down.


    Still, by the third month the battleship was declared clean, and I began sending most of the tech-priests and enginseers available to begin repairs.


    Under armed escort, of course.


    The genestealers were rather smart, and many could still hide in a vault or pipe or other hidden place.


    With some effort the Apocalypse was pushed and dragged in orbit above Retribution, and the Cult Mechanicus began build scaffolds and docks around it.


    My Blood Angels rested for a few days, then continued liberating the crippled Ork Kroozers, although the job was much easier without the terrible speed and fierceness of the Tyranids bioforms.


    The Catachans aided as much as they could, taking the second line and providing cover and rest for the power armored marines.


    I used the Canticle to sear away all life on the damaged Ork Roks, and also deployed my armored units on the surface of Retribution.


    Slowly, the invasion was pushed back and forced away from the main spires of the Mechanicus, where we could use orbital support more liberally.


    Superheavy tanks like Baneblades, Fellblades and Doomhammers proved too well armed and armored for these Orks, and my ships would immediately target any sign of a Warboss emerging in the wasteland.


    The other vehicles aided with patrols and lighter fighting forces, and by next year we declared Retribution saved.


    The Orks would sadly always return, either from the ground sprouting like mushrooms, or invading again with space ships or hulks. Just like in the Imperium of Man, Forge Worlds made extremely tempting targets for invasion, due to the amazing technology and weapons that could be plundered.


    And thus, I met with my Fabricator and unloaded all my templates on him, for cheap but numerous war machines that would safeguard our security.


    "These are real antiques, Lord Pef! Sure, they are easy to make, but would have little combat value." the Fabricator complained, rather logically.


    "I understand, Magos. We need a few millions of each, and then you may build nicer and stronger machines. But first, basic needs have to be met. Then, system-only corvettes for orbital superiority. Also a million of them." I explained in a careless voice.


    A wave of furious metal tentacles filled the room. "Outrageous! So many work-hours and holy litanies wasted on worthless drones and fighters? And those Corvettes are shamefully weak!" he explained and sputtered a dozen curses in binharic, and High Gothic.


    I shrugged and poured myself some wine. The tech-priest was right, obviously. They would be weak and fragile, compared to the nicer fighters of the Imperium. But I wanted air power, and I will have it.


    "Also, we need to find compatible females for my dog. I want every recon squad to have their own wolves." I explained sternly, and petted Canis who mewled in pity.


    The Fabricator sighed in defeat and began collecting gene samples from my quadruped companion, who was clever enough not to raise trouble in front a deadly tech-priest. He had possibly seen the Juggler as a puppy and was correctly terrified of what a tentacled cyborg with metal limbs could do.


    "Your space wolf is an admirable specimen, Lord Pef. I don''t understand how you managed to receive one." the Magos said in praise and petted the meek Canis with admiration.


    I thought how to answer, then told the truth. "I told a Space Wolf not to bite me. He was very impressed."


    The Magos waved a tentacle in frustration. "Go away, for now. I''ll need to call Antax for help, and request more tech-priests. And I''ll have to share these relic templates for it!" he said in a metallic growl.


    I smiled and patted his shoulder. "Don''t worry, my friend. I have a score more, hidden somewhere. And you get this nice battleship to work on. Who else has a relic battleship to investigate and repair, eh? Imagine what could be found inside the gnostic vaults and the sealed cogitators!"


    He starred at the ceiling for a second then nodded thoughtfully. "Perhaps you are right, Rogue Trader. There is no higher honor than discovering the work of the ancients. Including old machines from the Blue Terra."


    I waved a hand and left his armored quarters, and hit my face into Rafen''s ceramite chest plate.


    "Ouch! What was this for?" I muttered and rubbed my bulging nose.


    "Oh, I was listening through the door. Metal conducts sound very well" he explained patiently.

 Bone Kingdom - Chapter 60

    By the time I return triumphant to Illevar, my uncle Wentian has arrived at Forge Triplex Phall, the largest ship-building Forge in the Ultima Segmentum.


    I dare say he was well-received, as a representative of the Lancefire Rogue Trader House. The Fabricator knew he had merely repaid one Favor, with the light cruiser given to Veryon, but by now he had a received a few adamantium transports, and even more STC templates found by me in the Fringe.


    I won''t get a battleship, which are all reserved for the Navy for the foreseeable future, nor Titans.


    But Wentian wants his own capital ship, and thus he barters for a nearly finished Dominator_Cruiser</a> to receive the Macross-pattern upgrade. A kilometer-long section of the dorsal side will be reserved for vertical torpedo launchers, but losing the macrocannons batteries on that section, since the loading and shock-absorbing mechanisms take enormous space inside the hull.


    Instead, the Mechanicus will install 100 lascannons on both sides, and 100 quad light flak batteries for close defense.


    It''s not perfect, but the Dominators do come with a prow mounted Nova Cannon, which is very, very, very good.


    I''m pretty sure I won''t be able to reverse-engineer such an advanced weapon, but maybe I can scan and copy just the Nova shells. Then I could make Nova mines, and have a small chance with the Tyranids.


    Powered by a rather simple fusion engine, those mines could be moved, slowly, and sent into the path of a Tyranid fleet.


    Meanwhile, the lucky Larrisa continued her tour and visited Forge World Accatran</a>, and managed to score another Favor by crippling an invading Necron carrier called a Cairn_Class_Tomb_Ship</a>, with all her torpedo destroyers shooting at once, including the single vortex torpedo in her tubes. The rear engines and one wing broke off, and the Tomb Ship lost power to weapons, making it an inviting target for boarding.


    The Mechanicus tech-priests soon capitalized on that, and invaded the Necron ship with thousands of battle-automata and a million of skitarii, and then sent even more, once all their initial forces were killed.


    Then a dozen Elysian regiments were sent to hold the inner frontlines with their multi-melta armed Drop Sentinels</a>, losing half their guardsmen in a desperate battle, even with Mechanicus support. The defending Necrons were completely superior in firepower and would always resurrect if not melted to slag.


    An entire Space Marine Chapter called the Black_Templars</a> arrived from Fergax</a> and finally managed to pacify the wreck, and only lost 30 percent of their brothers.


    During the siege, three Necron Scythe_Class_Harvest_Ships</a> arrived to attempt a rescue, and Larrisa miraculously managed to blow up one of them, again with a full torpedo salvo, before running away like a true Rogue Trader.


    Of course, such a victory didn''t come cheap, and my daughter lost a precious torpedo destroyer, which kinda sucks.


    Hopefully, that loss will be restored by Forge Accatran without having to pay the full cost.


    The Astartes and the Mechanicus lost a lot more, but the Forge World was saved, and they even got a huge prize in the shape of an advanced Necron ship.


    And with that small dataslate provided as a gift, I''m almost sure I have another ally among the Ultima Segmentum Forges.


    Sure, they might be dicks and refuse to trade in good faith, but then there will be no more aid. No more templates, no more free adamantium, no more rescue fleets.


    Their Fabricator should know this even better.


    That Forge World was next door to a huge Ork empire called Charadon, which launched new Waaghs decade after decade, if left unchecked.


    And Rose also messaged me, a short few lines how Jane was safely placed, and she found some voiceless women that could help me.


    Then again, astropath messages were sometimes weird or required special knowledge to understand. I kinda suspect what she meant, and the Inquisitor possibly didn''t want to disclose everything over the Warp-net.


    Last good news was the fall of Mandragora. Only that system, not the entire Necron Dynasty, but the Tyranids, in the billions, did manage to break through and eliminate the Necron capital.


    So I had an idea and walked cheerfully to my vault, and powered up the mental Skype with Trazyn the Infinite.


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    "It''s me, the puppy guy!" I commenced as if we were old friends.


    "Of course you are. So, did you find something to trade?" the old Necron demanded forcefully.


    "... Well. Let''s put it this way, Lord Trazyn. Now that Mandragora has fallen, I need a new target to send those pesky Tyranids after. Got any enemy close by?" I wondered in a more cheerful tone.


    A long silence followed, which was possibly a good thing. "I see. Perhaps we can work together then. How about Bone Kingdom Drazak</a> ?" the Necron collector mused in a wary voice.


    Not exactly close by, but it should work.


    "Doable, with some effort. By the way, I located that Tau sword I heard about. Some person named Commander Farsight has it. A Fire caste leader in the Tau Enclaves." I added for a better future barter.


    Again a long silence followed. "This can be confirmed...with some effort. And what do you need in exchange, mysterious voice in my head?"


    Now it was my turn to think it over. "A very simply and rudimentary spaceship drive. Speed of travel and size of the engine are not really important. Only the ease of manufacture." I asked after considering other outrageous proposals. Advanced weapons or systems of Necron design might be potent, but not reproducible.


    Trazyn cursed a few times, as he knew this wasn''t such a simple deal. "How...exactly easy to build, do you need it?"


    I smiled inward and thought how to articulate it. "Imagine for example, a Mechanicus Forge World, that can only produce a design using a simple but detailed schematic for every part. Then make it even easier, if possible. Also accessible materials, like iridium or adamantium, nothing exotic."


    The Necron Lord cursed again. "I begin to see the problem. Something akin to those Tau engines, but even simpler. This will take a few years to construct and test. At least you didn''t ask for a teleporter made from steel."


    "I have a teleporter, just like you do, Lord Trazyn. But these allies of mine are less advanced. They did manage to cripple that Tomb Ship at Atraccan, so I should consider that another gift. One less enemy, right?" I asked in faint amusement.


    "...Atraccan. A Forge World. Those are your allies?" he asked with suspicion.


    "They make lasguns and Sentinels...so you may imagine how simple the ship engine must be. Although of course, there is no way to build those engines in the Imperium of Man. Xenos technology and all that discrimination." I complained a bit.


    A minute later, the Necron Lord replied with more confidence. "Upon the destruction of the Bone Kingdom, you will have your cheap engine, stranger with a puppy. Be warned, it will need to be large, to make it easy to construct by those primitive tech-priests. You''d need at least a 10 kilometer long ship to fit it into. And you will need three times as much reactor power than a regular Warp drive. Easy build reactor is not included in this trade."


    I sighed and closed the mental link.


    Then, reverted the stasis field and took the elevator to the bridge, finding only the emergency crew at their stations. Couldn''t actually leave a battlecruiser like the Canticle unmanned, because reasons.


    Someone might steal it, for example.


    So I sat in my command chair and opened the Lancefire Empire map, tracing routes and output yields from my planets and mining systems.


    Liberation, the first system I grabbed from the pirates 3 decades ago was now a productive and highly profitable enterprise, with 23 million servitors working as miners and smelters, and over 1 million other people, like five guard regiments on the outposts and orbital forts, plus engineers, tech-priests, scribes and various merchants, servants and a dozen clansmen to oversee our wealth.


    The local Forge was principally making iron, steel, plasteel and titanium bars and ingots for my own industries. Other valuable minerals like iridium, tungsten and osmium were sent directly to Antax.


    Iron and copper were being mined planetside on Illevar and Retribution, while Natale was proving to become important for producing coal and promethium as well as food and textiles.


    The locals already used some early type of steam engines for locomotives and mining equipment, and also for sea-going vessels and toxic electric powerplants based on fossil fuels.


    This will have to change, and already did with the tech-priests brought by Finona. Fusion powerplants were a thousand times more efficient, and the precious coal and promethium could be better used to make carbon steel and heavy flamers, or combustion engines and jet fuel.


    Those millions of ground attack and interceptor airplanes will need a lot of cheap fuel, as will the Weasels and most light tanks.


    We still needed a good source of radioactive minerals for the fusion generators, and growing our population a dozen times, via emigration to the feral planets.


    But for all that, I would have to take a fast trip to Sotha, and change the beacon to illuminate the next target, the Necron Bone Kingdom from the Ghoul Stars.

 Teleport - Chapter 61

    Sotha had been declared a Dead World by my Rose following the Exterminatus we had conducted on the poor planet.


    In theory, this meant nobody would be around to check on it, plus there might be some escaped Tyranid organisms around...in the asteroid belt or such.


    I wasn''t worried about the Pharos installation, because its living rock bunker was made to contain a god, or at least the fragment of one.


    But three weeks later, I was proven wrong.


    A dozen Scythes warships were prowling the Sotha system, including a Battle Barge, and the idiots were even trying to land and excavate the entrance to the Pharos, using heavy tanks and exoskeletons on top of their power armor, called a Centurion</a>.


    There was still molten rock and flowing lava covering the burned planet, as expected, but the Space Marines had a duty, and didn''t seem to care about the harsh conditions.


    "Stop your digging, Scythes!" I send at once via the Vox.


    Their friendly Chaplain, Lord Hornidal appeared on my screen via a pict transmission, in less than a minute.


    "You! Haven''t you done enough, Rogue Trader?" he asked me in a disgusted voice.


    I smiled prettily with my new teeth. "Don''t make me come there and punch you again, Astartes." I growled menacingly, just like Canis did beside me.


    Only his growl was a thousand times more scary, because the wolf had grown to full size in the past year and his vocal cords thrummed with subsonic cords striking at your deepest fears.


    That seemed to work better than my pathetic threat, probably because a space wolf wasn''t something anyone could have.


    "We have our duty, Lord Lancefire. Unless there''s an Inquisitor backing you again, we will continue establishing the fortress-monastery." The damn Librarian announced proudly and shut off the transmission.


    Okay then. Time to visit the vault and retrieve my special motivational implement.


    I held my left hand out and Ludvaius dragged me out of the command chair. Funny, I know. But until my whole body was infused with the Sanguinor blessing, using a power armor was still awkward.


    "You still don''t stand a chance against a space marine, Lord Pef. Not to mention a Chief_Librarian</a>..." my Astartes friend muttered as a warning.


    I sighed in acceptance and patted his oversized pauldron. "I don''t exactly mind the Scythes protecting the place, Ludvaius. I just don''t want them digging. That would be very bad, should the thing down there escape."


    Rafen rose an eyebrow, perhaps in surprise. "Ha! And you said guarding you would be boring, Captain Pef. You were ready to beat up a defenseless Librarian, for his own good." he commented with a chuckle. Not really defenseless, as long as the guy had psyker powers on his side. However, I did have a counter for that.


    "Might still need to, if he doesn''t behave. Thrasius, phased munition clip ready, if you will." I demanded while marching pass the last surviving Scythe in my retinue.


    The Astartes Captain hesitated for a second, before following me and the Blood Angels into the elevator. "I''d rather not shoot at my own Chaplain, Lord Pef. Bad form...and a betrayal of my oaths." he muttered in displeasure.


    I nodded grimly. "If the C''tan below escapes...then it would be bad form. I''m not confident I can defeat such a being, not yet." I explained in a sterner voice, and patted my loyal Canis as he pushed his bison-sized head into my shoulder for support.


    Thrasius blinked and looked away. We would be all rather impotent against a god, no matter our duties and oaths.


    "So you know that secret as well...even though only Captains have access to the old logbooks and the foundling codex." the Scythe grumbled to himself.


    In a few minute, I reached the vault and took out the Sanguinius spear and an Enslaver bone. I passed the spear to Rafen as if it was only a scene prop. "Hold on to this, Rafen. Try not to give in to those urges to shout benedictions and battle hymns."


    The Veteran Astartes was rather impressed, but held on to his senses. "So much power, no wonder Brother Arkio went mad with glory and pride. And yet, you don''t even consider it a worthy artifact, instead choosing that xeno bone for yourself." He mused out loud.


    "The spear is strong, that''s true. But only in the hand of a Primarch. I don''t see wings growing on you, Astartes." I said in a sober tone, and opened the next vault with the Sounding Board.


    Soon enough, I mounted the ancient artifact on a Cyclops</a> remote tracked vehicle and had it advance in front of us towards the teleportarium.


    This Cyclops didn''t have a plasma warhead inside, but it did have a few pairs of mechanical arms to secure its load.


    The hexagonal teleport platform already held an atomic warhead ready for deployment, just in case. Made it easy for me to simply lock onto a location and deliver a small sliver of sunfire, in just the right spot to illuminate some idiot''s thoughts.


    Captain Thrasius wasn''t stupid and saw this as well, because the warhead was deliberately marked with radiation warnings and Mechanicus litanies for soul purification.


    "I do hope our Chaplain will be reasonable..." he commented in apprehension.


    "Go on, Captain Thrasius. Speak to your spiritual leader, and have him listen to my advice. Fortifications yes, but no digging. I''ll be down in the Pharos for other work." I invited him, while opening my chest plate to extract the Rosette shaped a cog.


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    With a flash, the Scythe Captain teleported beside the recalcitrant Librarian. I could have beamed the atomic warhead instead, and he knew it very well.


    A minute later, the Cyclops and my group beamed straight into the Pharos main chamber, using the Rosette to ping a locator beacon, left behind by a helpful Inquisitor.


    Almost instantly, my mind was assaulted with empathic links from the Pharos. " ... A road guiding to safety or to ruin." I whispered with a forgotten memory.


    The xeno bone floated in front of me, ignoring the material reality. So I locked on the location of Trazyn and pushed it gently with a finger. The air distorted and the bone vanished, emerging thousands of light-years away, still afloat.


    "Enslaver bones are quite amazing, right?" I commented towards the surprised Necron Lord.


    "... Is this another gift, stranger?" he wondered after a minute of silence, probably after updating his esoteric defenses and scanning the alien bone for danger.


    "Of a different nature. A gift for someone. An Inquisitor of Ordo Xenos will be the one to find the ship engine, when it''s ready. And she will need a potent mind-shield and mind-lance crafted from that bone. I expect you have already retrieved the chronofield blade, and perhaps the immortal bearer as well." I explained and turned off the mental link.


    Knowing the Necron Lord''s abilities, he had surely confiscated the xeno blade and its user, possibly already a decade ago. Temporal manipulation was easy for Trazyn the Infinite, and a path to achieve plenty of objectives or artifact collections, just like that entire Tyranid fleet he kept in his tesseract field.


    I wasn''t going to lose my parents in this universe. With some ''deus ex machina'' magic, they could be extracted through time, just like missing Primarchs or Dark Age of technology artifacts.


    However, trading with Trazyn wouldn''t be easy at all. He was still a monster, and not quite sane.


    Luckily, the galaxy was literally crawling with relics and heroes, that Trazyn could be enticed to collect and save. And now that I have proven my own ability to transport valuable artifacts in an instant, the ancient robot zombie would have to be wary and cautious, since he stood to lose much more. Instead of a simple exotic bone, there could have been a Scrap Code warhead or something just as annoying.


    I turned to find Rafen posing in a victory stance with the holy spear held valiantly over his head. Damn idiot.


    "Rafen! What did I tell you? No pride and glory, until you grow wings!" I shouted at him and pointed my finger down.


    The Veteran caught himself and rapidly lowered the spear, hiding it behind his back, like a child caught playing with matches. "...Hehe. Sorry, Captain!" he declared in a not-too-sorry voice.


    Ludvaius chuckled and grinned as this was a good joke. "Astartes Rafen needs to pray and meditate on his actions, Lord Pef. Such behavior is unseemly for a mere Sergeant."


    I sighed and returned to scanning the Segmentum for more useful real-time events and incoming attacks.


    Couldn''t do much about thousands of human worlds under attack from hundreds of various xeno or traitor bands, but I could keep an eye for the precious Forge Worlds and send a relief fleet to arrive at an opportune time.


    I turned my attention on the Badab Sector</a> that lies within the Maelstrom Zone</a> of the Segmentum Ultima. This area of the galaxy has become a haven to pirates, Heretics and Renegades. The Maelstrom Zone is a region of lawless wilderness containing about 24 Ork</a> empires, 15 Hrud</a> infestations, and a hundred human pirate strongholds.


    I engaged the remembrancer implant to mark down targets for rapid conquests and ship acquisition. A wealth made of a thousand destroyers, a hundred cruisers and even a few battlecruisers could be obtained in my next crusade, although for effective ship boarding I would need more Astartes. Like these Scythes, wasting their time defending a magma world.


    Plus, if I do manage to confiscate those pirate ships, the future Tyrant fleet will be much smaller, and thus reduce the amplitude of their rebellion.


    But first, I would need to eliminate the enormous danger posed by the Dark Forge of Ghalmek</a>. And even if I might succeed with a deep strike modelled after the Deathwatch, there was no real need. I had the means to exact retribution right here.


    "Please be quiet, both of you." I murmured while delving deep into the Pharos powers. The teleport function worked backwards too, and you could bring something to you, if you knew your target well enough. And I did.


    In a flash, the Cyclonic torpedo aboard my Canticle materialized inside the Pharos chamber and I started working, using my Rosetta to activate the catastrophic warhead, releasing the safeties one by one.


    After a long hour of tense ordnance activation protocols, the twin-stage warhead activated and began humming ominously. A short prayer towards the Emperor, for success, and the torpedo vanished in a spacial distortion.


    I felt tired suddenly and fell into a groaning armchair left behind from the previous visit.


    "There we go. Ghalmek should be purified in three...two..." I muttered tiredly as the Pharos link with the device vanished abruptly.


    Struggling to keep my eyes open, I tried to locate that corupted Forge World but there was only fire and screaming souls in that spot.


    It probably worked.

 Aegida - Chapter 62

    Ludvaius shook me awake some time later, holding the spear in his other hand, while Rafen was kneeling and praying a bit farther. Served him well, playing with a sacred relic.


    I also made a note about the mental strain caused by long range teleports, and then shrugged. I would do it again, against such a potent threat.


    Sadly, I was out of Exterminatus grade munitions, for now.


    "My dear Rose. What do your tarot cards say about the Maelstrom?" I asked in my mind.


    After a few seconds, she answered a bit surprised. "I should have known that was you. Back on Sotha?" she asked, just to be sure.


    "Permission to target the Necron Bone Kingdom with our secret weapon?" I asked instead.


    The Inquisitor remained silent for a long minute, which wasn''t that good. "Proceed with caution, Trader. And no more executing Inquisitors, if possible. That guy you wasted on Shenlong had powerful backers, in the higher ranks of the Inquisition. They are not happy, even if the traitor''s body and the Rosette were recovered. Other important items were missing...somehow."


    "Anyway. We will need a hundred air purifiers at Sotha, and perhaps a couple more bicycles. And then...a lucky Inquisitor might find something of true value for humanity. Only she would need to visit a place called Stygies_VIII</a> and recruit a million radical tech-priests for a permanent Expedition to the Fringe." I advised her in a soft tone. I did miss my Rose.


    From the vault on Canticle, a secret Inquisitorial logbook appeared in my hand, then emerged into her own lap, even as far away as she was. A psyker staff followed a few seconds later.


    "Oh...you kept them for me? That was really sweet. Jane could use this stick as she learns how to walk." Rose replied dismissively. No mention of the logbook, so it probably was important.


    Well, I suppose my Blank Navigator daughter could use the gifted psyker staff just as well. Rose surely had her own devices, possibly just as potent.


    "Kiss our Janice for me, and have her look into the future of Forge Mordax. I rather not evaporate the place like I had to do with Dark Forge Ghalmek, just now. The name Moredakka</a> doesn''t bode well for their chances." I asked in a slightly sterner voice.


    She was an Inquisitor, so she could well deduce what a name change would imply.


    "It will be done, my dear rogue. And why would this busy Inquisitor care, about those xeno-loving tech-priests from Stygies?" she wondered, this time in a cold warning tone.


    "How about, a spaceship drive that doesn''t use the Warp? Something rather simple to build too, almost like the ancients predicted the decay of technology and science of their descendants." I whispered in a secretive tone.


    I didn''t say it was of human origin, or xeno. I didn''t even know what the Necron invention will look like, except in size and materials. But, I assumed it will be somewhat similar to the mechanical Gellar fields, only even more simpler in design.


    My Rose smiled mentally, perhaps too used to my own fake STC templates. It made sense for her, and I wouldn''t shatter her illusions.


    "If such a thing exists...but then you already told me it will. That huge goal of yours, it would require Warp-less engines. So I should lead these hereteks to your domain, and let them work on this ancient drive, outside the Imperium and its regulations." Rose mused while considering my proposal.


    "Exactly. But they will need to provide a few Universe-class conveyors, all filled with forges and servitors and tech-priests. I''m not that rich and powerful, you know?" I explained a bit more meekly.


    "Right...you didn''t kill the traitor Primarch Lorgar at Forge Shenlong either. Just a tiny mouse, with no power..." she replied in dismissal.


    I grinned widely. It had been an unlikely accident.


    "So you heard about that. I only shot him a few times...with the Canticle." I said in mirth.


    "I shot Fulgrim with everything I had and didn''t even phase him. Don''t tell me you splattered a Primarch by accident." Rose complained and laughed in my mind.


    I shook my head in amusement. "Oh no. I deliberately urged the Canticle to shoot all our lance batteries at the winged thing. I just didn''t know who he was, until Ludvaius told me. Take care, my Rose." I concluded the mental link, then softly brushed Janice''s mind. "See, my love. Daddy has the best gifts, right?"


    "Dad! This staff is amazing. And I can talk to my Big Sisters now, with my mind. Are you going to make more sisters with them, like with mommy?" Janice asked in an enthusiastic tone.


    I blinked and drew back, using my mind''s eye to look around the warded room on their ship, filled with gorgeous if stunned Silent Sisters. Well, Rose had excellent taste in picking concubines for me. I wouldn''t refuse a dozen Blank amazons, if they were willing.


    "Only if they like me, Janice. But we Blanks have to stick together, so they should like me a little. Also, I have a puppy, so there''s that. Girls love puppies." I answered a bit amused, and sent her an image of Canis when he was much smaller.


    "Puppy!" the girl yelled in my mind, quite painfully.


    I had to cut the connection, before her prodigious mental powers overwhelmed me. Perhaps a psyker daughter wasn''t all joy, even when she was happy.


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    Then I turned my attention towards the Ghoul Stars, and located the Tomb World filled with insane Necron Flayers.


    The Tyranids will not be so easily flayed, I suspect.


    The Pharos complained a bit, but managed to shift the illumination beacon on that world. The entire planet shook, since this seemed to be to maximum range of the Warp lighthouse.


    "What''s happening, Captain!" Ludvaius asked a bit worried, looking at the shaking walls around us.


    "The Inquisitor said to divert the beacon onto the next target, now that Mandragora has been devoured by the Hive fleet Kraken. The Necron world of Drazak, home to the demented Flayed_One</a> will receive a fresh influx of meat and bones soon. I try to help them, you see?" I explained patiently.


    My bodyguard just nodded and smiled grimly. Rafen was more circumspect and stared at me for along minute. "That device...it is too potent for a mere Rogue Trader to use. First, you sent a cyclonic torpedo right into the Maelstrom, enacting Exterminatus on a Dark Mechanicus Forge, with barely a headache. And now...diverting a whole Hive Fleet onto the Necrons."


    I nodded wisely and held a hand to be brought back to my feet. "All true. And this is just the beginning, my friend. The Inquisitor will bring a few hundred more gifts for our enemies. Here in the Ultima Sector, I will tolerate no more Xeno empires and Traitor holdings. Or at least, nothing that would be truly dangerous to humanity."


    The Veteran Blood Angel looked in my eyes and nodded. "Not so boring after all. I was right." he concluded and patted my pauldron in encouragement.


    "I also know a way to resist the Black Rage, Rafen. Painful...but doable. Do you wish to attempt it?" I asked in a curious tone.


    His face told everything. "It would be my honour, Lord Pef. Another magic of this device?"


    Ludvaius stepped beside him, asking for the same honour wordlessly. The Black Rage was always a terminal threat in their minds, and they knew it very well.


    "How? Just tell us!" Rafen demanded a bit forcefully.


    "You need to return to Baal, and ask your Apothecary to entomb you in the same sarcophagus you were implanted. Then find an ancestor Brother to help you, while asking the Angel for his aid. It will work...but it will hurt a lot. Your choice." I explained with a small shrug.


    Ludvaius held the spear for me, but I declined. I couldn''t actually use its powers anyway.


    "That spear needs a potent psyker, and I''m not. But tell Lord Dante I can always reach out and take it, if he lets it rust in some vault. Farewell, my friends." I added as the space distorted and my bodyguards vanished, to emerge on their Chapter''s homeworld.


    I still had about 80 Blood Angels on the Canticle, and I planned to recruit the Scythes as well. Plus my Blank sons undergoing implantation as Blood Angels on Baal would need my bodyguards to teach and keep them safe.


    And that Enslaver bone will serve me much better than a relic spear, especially after Trazyn worked it into a real artifact.


    Not that I planned to get into close fights with anything, but sometimes war came to you. It happened before.


    The temptation to act like Trazyn and begin gathering artifacts and people to my side was powerful, but I didn''t want that.


    Guiding my sons and daughters into easier paths was something else. Soon enough, I had a dozen ships sailing across the stars to liberate important worlds, or support a Forge World at key moment.


    Finona and her squadron was sent to acquire a mining system full of radioactive minerals, now named Radium, while Larrisa sailed towards a nearly finished Mercury_Class_Battlecruiser</a> at Forge World Konor</a>.


    The Red Planet didn''t classify Konor as Forge, which was kinda silly in my opinion.


    They made warships by the dozen every year, including that long-awaited Mercury. But now, they could change focus and begin mass-producing corvettes and destroyers, and give me a slightly upgraded cruiser for a small price.


    A dozen dataslates arrived in Larissa''s hands, filled with nearly all my fake STC templates.


    Things that other Forge worlds had, and might even claim as their patented machines, but it wouldn''t matter. Konor was not a Forge World after all. They could make whatever they wanted, and had to be ignored.


    Sure, they didn''t have many templates right now, using only common templates to all Forge Worlds, nothing special or critical.


    But 200 more sacred STC patterns, some of them unseen anywhere til now, would force Mars to change their stance and upgrade the so-called Konor Research Station to a full Forge World.


    Quite worthy in exchange for a single ship, or so I hoped.


    The nearby Forge Gantz will also receive a few patterns, but as they built exclusively for the Ultramarines, I didn''t have much that would interest them, except Land Raider and Rhino patterns with slightly more enhanced capabilities.


    After all this, I teleported back to the Canticle, and began the slow maneuvre to dock with Aegida</a>, the burned fortress-monastery in orbit above Sotha.


    I had a few harsh words to speak with the Scythes of the Emperor.

 Fair Chance - Chapter 63

    The Requiem, my escort frigate took station under the Canticle, to protect the weakest side from ambush, while myself and 40 Astartes of the Blood Angel Chapter embarked in my Stormbird shuttle and docked with the Scythe Battle-Barge called The Heart of Sotha, which was also parked at Aegida to hasten the repair of the ancient battlestation.


    I did leave the rest of my Astartes Company on the Canticle, because this was a war zone. Peaceful at the moment, but I knew better. Chaos, Necron and Tyranid ships have visited here before, and the burned husk of the planet was the tragic result.


    Hornidal, the mouthy Chaplain awaited me among his own Astartes Company.


    "You seem to have grown in importance, Rogue Trader. From a mere light cruiser to a full Overlord-class. And a Company of Blood Angels in support, for some strange reason." he began, dressed in a full regalia of purity seals and scintillating golden scythes decorating his power armor.


    But now I had my own power armor, and a Rosarius on top. Plus a toothy engine of destruction at my side, called Canis.


    "You wonder how his flesh tastes like, puppy? Perhaps we will find out, one sunny day." I whispered fakely and petted my huge wolf. Canis snorted at me softly.


    "Enough posturing, Lord Lancefire. Captain Thrasius did explain the dangers of digging towards the buried Pharos, and thus the excavation has stopped. Especially since the interior appears to be accessible via the teleportarium." the psyker Astartes proclaimed while posturing with a glow of his own.


    I nodded and removed my helmet, since this would be rather important. "The defense of Sotha is still important to humanity, Lord Hornidal. We will aid by assembling a new ring of fortified asteroids for this purpose, and even loan you a few thousand tech-priests and the use of my on-board forge to produce lascannons and flak batteries."


    The Chaplain seemed surprised and then sighed in acknowledgment. "Should we expect yet another wave of enemies here?"


    The Blood Angels snorted as if amused, so I smiled as well. "We should always expect enemies, Astartes. Reinforcements as well, because we are not alone. Until then, begin gathering sickly serfs from your lower decks for their final task, in this life. The Cult Mechanicus priests will convert them into useful servitors and Machine Spirits for the forts, to protect Sotha."


    Lord Hornidal nodded and wave his hand forward. "These two Sergeants, Astartes Certes and Edios will be provided as your bodyguard, since Captain Thrasius has been tasked with a new mission at the behest of Ultramar."


    "Good enough for the moment, Chaplain. But I will need 2 Companies for boarding operations by next year. Make it happen." I demanded while walking past him towards the bridge.


    I was curious if the Heart of Sotha will allow me to command it. The two Scythe Veterans followed me while surrounded by my other, slightly more loyal Blood Angels.


    None of them could be truly trusted though. For history did show too many cases of elite soldiers defecting or going mad, and all Astartes had a rather deterministic chance to fall to Chaos.


    The Inquisition didn''t help, as they tended to simply exterminate those who knew or even fought Chaos forces, preempting any chance for humanity to become vaccinated by exposure.


    I wasn''t an expert, and perhaps natural resistance did not evolve.


    Either way, I had a solution with my Blank gene plan, among my clan first, then the Blood Angels, my private empire and lastly the entire humanity. Someday.


    However, in the Imperium there would be enormous direct and indirect opposition for my plans, due to the organizations like the Ordo_Hydra</a> or the Cabal</a> or many other secret societies invested in keeping their power base or destroying humanity.


    The narrative has been illicitly obtained; should you discover it on Amazon, report the violation.


    I had decided to stake my bets with the Cult Mechanicus, although even they had a whole share of problems. But the tech-priests could actually manufacture ships and weapons and robots and forts, and all those would buy me time.


    "Move!" I demanded from a Scythe occupying my chair.


    The man turned in surprise, only to find himself yanked by a few Blood Angel and set aside. "Your chair has been liberated, Lord Lancefire." Captain Raxiatel proclaimed in a sneer.


    I just sat down and flipped the null box lid, opening it for a centimeter. Not enough to blind the room with Clavis engrams, but the Heart of Sotha would recognize the codes even so.


    ''Throne Agent authentication detected: Ordo Xenos, Pef Lancefire. Purge the xeno!'' the sentient construct boomed in my mind, and I closed the null box before it started proclaiming all the allegiance protocols, which would take hours.


    ''That is enough, for now. Show me inventory and munitions.'' I asked while closing my eyes and relaxing.


    As expected, the Battle Barge was provisioned quite well, especially as it just arrived from Ultramar. Full load of torpedoes, plasma batteries, a dozen lances, two Gellar fields, and three powerful void shields, much like all the barges.


    Some battleships had 4 void shields, but then barges were not exactly built for fleet engagements, but for planetary assault.


    I marked the location of the Exterminatus and Vortex warheads, because I was prepared to suffer more headaches in exchange for obliterating a few more Chaos worlds.


    Attack was the best defense, and long range Exterminatus would warm the hearts of even the coldest traitors.


    Then I began exploring the vaults, marking valuable relics and weapons kept in stasis for some obscure reason. Surely my voidsmen could use forcefields and plasma pistols just as well as an Astartes.


    An hour later, I realized I had become just like Trazyn, visiting people and stealing their stuff. His attempt at stealing the Staff_of_the_Destroyer</a> came to mind, just as I locked onto a glowing scythe held in stasis in a hidden vault.


    I mean, these poor guys probably didn''t even know they had a real relic on board, quite certainly a Force Weapon able to behead Greater Demons or something.


    I must have lost track of time, delving deep into the hidden mysteries of the Battle Barge, because a gauntlet shook my shoulder making Canis growl menacingly.


    "What now?" I asked a bit annoyed.


    "Lord Pef. Must you always take the command seat everywhere you go?" a rather annoyed Captain Thrasius asked me.


    "If the alternative is to allow some cannibal Ogryn to sit in that chair...then yes. I thought you left for Ultramar already." I answered while slowly clearing my head.


    This barge was also in need of repairs, especially the teleportarium and the Gellar generatoriums, for which the Scythes lacked the expertise to repair. They were Warp-based technology, not just guns and plasma reactors, after all.


    "I took my time to instruct these Brother Sergeants what to expect from you, Lord Pef. Your methods are slightly unorthodox...." he explained with a faint smile.


    Okay, that made sense. I glanced at the two new bodyguards. "Astartes Certes and Edios. You lack brain implants and anti-psyker defenses. Report to the Canticle and ask for Biologis tech-priest Juggler to fix you. I have no need for those weaknesses, in people expected to defend me against plots and psykers."


    While saying this, I turned off the barge''s active sensors, and created a warning siren if they were enabled again.


    Then I dragged myself up, using the durable armrests of the command chair, meant to be used by space marines.


    "Where to now, Lord Pef?" Captain Raxiatel asked while I looked around the bridge.


    "Torpedo room." I said and immediately pointed at Scythe neophyte blinking surprised at his dead auspex station. "You! Contact the torpedo master and let him know I will inspect his stores. And don''t enable those teleport beacons for enemy boarders, if you can."


    The newly implanted Astartes blinked in confusion and glanced at the former chair occupant.


    I didn''t care right now, but I was almost certain they wouldn''t listen. Not yet.


    We didn''t manage to reach the torpedo room before loud sirens started blaring from all the speakers and vox boxes inside the barge. "Battlestations! The bridge has manually enabled boarding actions against the ship. All personal defend vital stations."


    The alert didn''t stop, and kept going at same deafening volume while I inspected the torpedo stores, taking care to touch and memorize the Exterminatus and Vortex torpedoes, while the Scythes ran around in confusion.


    While I didn''t have the Scythes codes for activation, I knew my Rosette would be accepted, since even the Barge''s Machine Spirit did.


    By the time someone with more experience found the problem and turned off the sirens, my shuttle was already exiting the hangar, with me grinning like a school boy. "You think they learned the lesson?" I asked my new bedroom guard.


    The Blood Angel Captain tapped his forehead to power up his own savant implant. Logic didn''t come easy for men like him.


    "Oh, you meant the auspex sensor returns? Nope. I''m certain they think it was just a prank, like you''re famous for, my Lord." he concluded in a certain voice.


    Oh well. They shouldn''t be surprised if a few torpedoes vanish mysteriously then. I tried to give them a fair chance.

 Bad news - Chapter 64

    I slept like a baby afterwards, since the mental energy I consumed was quite exhausting. For a mere mortal anyway.


    But when I woke up, I saw Captain Raxiatel sip a little from my caf, possibly checking for poisons or other assassination methods.


    Tough job, but he wouldn''t die of old age anyway. No Space Marine had ever died a peaceful death. Plus, poisons might not even give him a tummy ache. These guys could digest concrete.


    Canis mewled something long that should mean ''Good morning, lazy bones'' so I petted him for his loyalty.


    "Caaaf" I uttered in my best morning zombie voice, afraid the miraculous cure will be drained by my guardian angel.


    But the hateful Blood Angel just waved the steaming cup a bit, forcing me to leave the comfort of my fluffy Captain bed and crawl towards the lure.


    "You should not become dependent on this cheap neurotoxin, Lord Lancefire. If there are battles to be fought soon, we will need your brains at full capacity." he announced me in a serene voice and gulped the precious liquid in a single slurp.


    I crashed on the carpet in defeat, while Canis wailed in despair beside me.


    The Blood Angel was right of course. I already felt the sanguinary transformation affecting my brain, and the Juggler scanned me every night to provide medical updates. At least I didn''t have to waste time in a medical pod, so it was convenient.


    But he didn''t have to torment me with the enticing smell...


    Sighing deeply I stumbled in my shower for a quick refresh, letting the water cool gently until it became icy. As effective as caf, if somewhat less pleasant.


    Another flip and warm air bathed my body and left me dry and clean and most importantly awake.


    "What is the largest enemy around here?" I asked the Astartes as I began dressing up for work. That meant a thermal sleeve suit, and then my looted power armor.


    "What do you mean, my Lord? Hive fleet Kraken or something like that?" he asked to be sure.


    I shook my head and powered up the cogitator, loading the Ultima Segmentum map. Then I traced an arc, centered on our location and reaching half-way to Terra, into the depths of the segmentum.


    "A worthy target for a deep Exterminatus strike. I tend to lean towards a Hell Forge, like Samech</a> or perhaps Sarum</a>. What do you say, Captain?" I asked him turning towards him.


    I could see his eyes measure the arc with concentration, no doubt going through a list of hated enemies and valuable targets.


    "Well...The Dark Forge of Sarum would be an excellent target if possible. Last time the Imperium tried, we lost all our ships and troops. And then, there is the corrupted Forge of Junkatta</a>, already providing the Enemy with a squadron of battleships and a myriad of Daemon Engines. I''m not sure why the strike range is so limited though. The Canticle can surely travel anywhere in the galaxy." he mused thoughtfully.


    I nodded and added Junkatta to my target list. Three Cyclonic torpedoes set aside for this task, and one remaining for another day. Three Vortex torpedoes as well, but I would only take two, in case the Barge really needed extra firepower.


    For Octarius</a>, the capital of a huge Ork Empire, I reserved an Atmospheric Incendiary torpedo, which should cleanse all biomass of the xenos race before it became too strong to defeat.


    Another one for Mandragora, to eliminate that huge Tyranid tendril before it departed for a more tasty world, possibly one of mine.


    Wentian would have a short window afterwards, to mine precious blackstone for ourselves. Blackstone</a> or as my buddies in the Mechanicus called it, Noctilith was abundant on Necron worlds, but sadly those worlds were also usually abundant in Necrons, which made mining slightly more difficult. Mining on Mandragora would be hard, but only due to melted rocks, not enemy fire or claws.


    I would have to consider where to deploy the Vortex torpedoes for best effect. Eldar Craftworlds would suffer greatly, or perhaps the Tau. Give them a bit of Chaos to upgrade their technology a bit faster.


    One for each then. I could be generous to both of them.


    I decided on Craftword Alaitoc</a>, because these xenos were the most annoying, often becoming corsairs and outcasts and raiding human worlds. Let them be raided by a few pink demons, for a change.


    And, so I did, teleporting down into the depths of the Pharos, and accidentally abducting a handful of torpedoes from the Heart of Sotha. Let''s say my mind slipped.


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    First I brought all the torpedoes down, before taking a break to clear my mind. "Dear Rose. So I heard that Dark Forge Sarum has been bad and needs to be punished. Permission to exterminate?" I sent to my beloved Inquisitor.


    "Pef? Did you steal some Exterminatus grade munitions from someone?" my Inquisitor demanded sternly.


    I declined to answer, because that would be admission of a capital crime. "Let''s say I found them. But my Rosetta works well enough to activate the ignition protocols. So, was that a yes?" I asked to make sure, although the humming warhead already vanished from the Pharos. It was dangerous to keep such a weapon inside close doors.


    "Fine! But you better have an ironclad alibi, you hear me?" she yelled in my mind.


    "I swear, nobody saw me leave the ship. Except Canis, so I guess it doesn''t count." I explained patiently and hugged my faithful wolf, more for support since my knees were kinda weak.


    A minute passed in silence, before my Rose finished casting her tarot.


    "You want the good news or the bad?" she asked me in a tired voice.


    "The bad...I guess" I murmured as I triggered the teleport to return to the ship with my last reserves of energy. Long range teleports of big objects were hard, who knew? Thus, I never heard the bad news.


    Someone found me and called the Juggler, and soon I was deposited in the medical bay with a dozen cables and conduits inserted in painful places.


    I woke up the next day perhaps, to find Decima holding my hand in worry. "What are you doing, husband of mine? Even the Magos is confused how drained you were."


    "Can''t answer that, beloved. Sealed by my Rose, I''m afraid." I whispered in a dry voice. My wife inserted a straw between my teeth and fed me some refreshing juice, still without caffeine.


    "Whatever you did, has our Lord Navigator in fits of panic, and the Chaplain of the Scythes shouting about punching you again." Decima continued after I felt a bit more hydrated.


    Canis lifted his huge furry head and nosed me with a pitiful look. Don''t worry puppy, I wasn''t dying. Most likely.


    But I really needed to know the bad news now.


    "Lord Holburn, come visit me when you have time." I spoke gently on the vox bead.


    In a violet flash, the Navigator appeared in the corner of the room, causing a few medical devices to sputter and spark blue flames.


    "Pef Lancefire, you are a crazy madman. Well-intentioned I assume, but utterly insane." he complained while his Aquila relic began glowing strongly, both eyes of the eagle turning a piercing blue shade.


    I patted Decima''s hand gently. "Perhaps you should wait outside love. Canis can keep me safe, as can those two Veterans beside the door." I advised her politely.


    My wife snorted and huffed, then walked away like a storm.


    "So what happened, Navigator?" I asked while sitting myself higher on the pillows.


    "The Immaterium has shifted brutally, Captain. We are stranded here, for however long it takes for the currents to settle. Also, a large Empyrean was released back into the Warp, a powerful being called Saraam</a>, or perhaps Sarum. The tides of the future are turned upside down, for those of us that can sense it." the Navigator told me in a glacial voice.


    I turned on the implants to meditate of his words. The first thing was likely the beacon shift, which had been turned on the opposite side, from south of Sotha to the north. Bad news, but I expected this. The other part though.


    Perhaps a Great Demon was bound into the depths of the Dark Forge? If the corrupted planet detonated from my torpedo, the demon would most likely die and return into the Warp.


    If it didn''t die...well, I had nothing that could stop a Great Demon. One of those could massacre a Tyranid Hive fleet by himself, like I recall one of them doing during the Devastation_of_Baal</a>.


    Anyway, nothing I could do about it.


    "I completely deny any allegations of such actions, Navigator. First of all, I''m a Blank. Nothing to do with Warp or demons or Immaterium currents, even if I wanted to. Not sure why you blame me for all this?" I asked in fake innocence.


    The Navigator glanced at Canis and huffed in annoyance. "Why are you in bed then?" he demanded in a lower voice, as his relic began to tone down the glow.


    "Ask my doctor, which I''m not. Something to do with my body changing and exhausting myself with command. Or perhaps my concubines. Or my brain implant acting up. Possibly all three and more. I personally blame that Angel on Estaban." I answered in outrage. It was all true as well. Just not the whole truth.


    Lord Holburn wasn''t stupid, but he had no way to prove I was responsible. He snorted and vanished in a purple flash, because psykers.


    The bodyguards shrugged and checked their bolters on reflex. Psykers had that effect on people, I suspect.

 Rage - Chapter 65

    By next day I was back on my feet, but I decided to let myself recharge for a week or so.


    Those Hell Forges weren''t going anywhere, and only I had access into the interior of the Pharos where the missing torpedoes rested.


    So I spent my day in bed, enjoying the command privilege of having two Sisters of Battle doing their best to relieve my stressed mind. Helena and Catherine didn''t mind at all, and it all worked great.


    Until a certain Chaplain heard what I was doing and decided to visit me anyway. Damn bodyguards!


    It will take some time to turn their loyalties towards me.


    They even allowed the Chaplain to enter my rooms while carrying weapons...damn idiots.


    "Chaplain, I do not intend a religious marriage with these amazing women, so your services are not needed." I explained politely.


    The psyker Astartes sneered in disgust. "I''m not that kind of chaplain, Lord Lancefire. I guard the purity of my Brothers'' souls."


    I sighed and urged my concubines away. "Fun time is over, ladies. Go...you have patients to care for, in the nursery."


    In a minute, my room was occupied by only by a psyker, a dog and a Blank, as my so called bodyguards nodded politely and walked out.


    "What is happening, Lord Pef? The astropaths are baffled, the Navigators are scared, the alarm keeps blaring on the Battle barge and it seems some torpedoes have vanished mysteriously." he asked in a softer voice, and seeming worried. Then again, as a psyker these events hit him much harder.


    "Well...the situation is very complex and yet simple enough. Sotha is important, more than you knew. But you have to remember it was declared a Dead World and interdicted by the Inquisition following the Exterminatus. Without my approval, nobody is allowed in this system. Not even your Primarch, if he returns sooner than I predict." I said in a level voice, but deadly serious.


    Entire Space Marines Chapters have been hunted down and exterminated for going against an Inquisitor.


    The Astartes realized this just as well. "I think I begin to understand. You would have burned us alive, if we did stay to defend Sotha. And now what? We are your personal army, to maneuver however you need?" he asked just to be sure.


    "I don''t need your entire Chapter, Lord Hornidal. Nor are you subject to permanent duty, like these Blood Angels. The Battle Barge and 2 Astartes Companies will aid me in my task, involving many hostile boardings of pirate vessels. In exchange, I will establish an Inquisition Fortress on the Aegida, and provide orbital defenses for the Pharos. A Company of your Scythes will take the black and be stationed on Aegida, with a pair of Strike Cruisers for rapid deployment in this volume." I declared in a gentle voice.


    He knew how things worked in the Imperium, this Chaplain. "So she is coming here. Well, when travel will become possible again."


    "Do you know how human eyes work, Chaplain? We simply absorb light with our eyes, and create an image of what is outside, in our minds. But imagine you had to see by projecting light outwards, then see the shadows. That''s how the auguries work. We project lasers and other types of radiation outwards, and decode the returning echoes. But the enemies see those lights as well. And if these enemies have machines, or psykers, they can trace the beam to the source, right inside your ship." I added in a simplistic lecture.


    Hornidal stopped to think, since this might have been too much science for his fanatical brain. "Turn off the lights, the enemy cannot teleport inside our ships?" he asked after a long time.


    Yes! He completed a miracle by himself.


    "It''s not a perfect solution, but we have Void shields and other means to block their scans. Without obtaining a fixed destination, teleporting through Warp is near suicide. I''m certain a clever ancestor did create an STC pattern to solve this problem, but it might have been lost." I mused in low tone, as I just figured out how to solve it.


    "So we just use our eyes, and perhaps other passive auguries. Send nothing out, they can''t get in. Clever." the Chaplain said, nodding in approval.


    "Pretty sure Astartes already use this wisdom when fighting on the ground. Keep an eye closed to preserve night vision and other tricks like that. Learning to think is painful, but ultimately very rewarding. Especially if you aim to preserve the lives of your Brothers." I concluded while pointing at the door.


    "Wait! What about the missing torpedoes?" he asked in near panic.


    I shrugged innocently. "I''d assume only someone with the right authorization can use them, so they''re very safe wherever they are. I did try to safeguard them, but someone turned the auguries back online, leaving the door open for a mysterious force to abscond with your devices. The Inquisitor will be very upset with whoever authorized that reckless action."


    The Chaplain gritted his teeth in near anger. "So I hope, Lord Pef. This mysterious force better be benevolent and target only xenos or other enemies of humanity."


    "If I was a psyker, I would try to locate where those devices might have landed. Cyclonic torpedoes do make a big splash when they hit something. But alas, I''m quite the opposite of a psyker, a mere Blank that can''t even make a fire without a lasgun." I complained in a pitiful voice.


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    The psyker snorted audibly and walked out, stomping a little too hard.


    "What do you say Canis? What do you want to play with today? Fire, big fire or warp fire?" I asked my trusted friend.


    The space wolf tilted his head and eyed me with concern. "Woof woof!" he declared after a long minute of deliberation.


    I smiled and grabbed his head for a tight hug. "Big Fire you say? Don''t tell me, you are that mysterious force the punching bag asked about?"


    "Woof!" Canis proclaimed proudly.


    "I knew it! Well done puppy. So, you wanna take the flashy elevator or the dizzy one?" I asked to make sure.


    "Wooooooo" the puppy complained. I guess he didn''t like either, since even dogs would feel their stomach turn inside out after a teleport.


    I took note and sent him to watch over the nursery instead.


    As soon as I was dressed and armored I opened the door to find my Blood Angel Captain berating the Scythe bodyguards for leaving me alone with the known violent offender that had already beaten me gravely one time.


    I kinda agreed with the sentiment, to be truthful. Luckily, Blanks were not easy to be read by psykers, so I wasn''t completely exposed.


    "Walk with me, Captain." I asked the Blood angel before turning towards the Scythes of the Emperor. "You two, stay. No, guard the Gellar generator instead, for next two weeks. Hopefully without letting demons in, because they are psykers." I told them in a warning voice.


    That should teach them a small lesson. Plus the Gellar field was quite vital anyway.


    Soon enough, I arrived in the teleportarium, and took my glove off to caress an atomic warhead. I needed to test a smaller mass teleport, and why not use a sunny message?


    In a flash, we arrived in the interior of the Pharos and the Blood Angel cursed loudly at the deadly ordnance around. "You did steal the torpedoes after all, my lord." he concluded after a minute.


    "I have no recollection of such actions, Blood Angel. And be careful with that kind of accusation. Stealing Exterminatus-grade munitions is a capital crime, and my head is very important. Now, if you recall our caf deprived discussion a few days ago, you proposed Junkatta for Exterminatus. Let me ask an Inquisitor if their crime deserves such a waste of precious munitions." I spoke sternly and closed my eyes to contact my dear Rose.


    "I''m back, my love. Got hit by the backlash quite bad, but now I''m all better!" I explained in a short empathic transmission.


    "Strange...but then you were always very strange, even for a Rogue Trader raised by a Tech-priest with a Blank assassin mother." the Inquisitor replied in a not too friendly tone.


    "My Navigator said some kind of Empyrean escaped from Sarum. Was that the bad news?" I asked to make sure. It could have been something else.


    "... Well. In hindsight, it wasn''t all bad. That thing is rumored to massacre millions of cultists and many traitor marines in the Eye of Terror, just for sport. So, you have another target in mind, my dear Pef?" she asked a bit more amenable.


    "The Blood Angel Captain wants Junkatta. It seems they make battleships and demon engines. I want Samech, because they make cogitators. And ships can be destroyed somehow, but..." I explained in a short burst. Dark cogitators were much scarier than simple battleships. Those things would have Scrap Codes and whatever other insidious viruses and memetic infections.


    The Inquisitor hummed in my mind while she considered options. "You are correct, of course. Take a long break between deep strikes, Pef. Those Forges aren''t going anywhere. But I don''t have another Rogue to launch Exterminatus from half the galaxy away. Stay safe."


    With that, I began activating another cyclonic torpedo, to send it deep inside the Hadex Anomaly and obliterate the damn cognition danger.


    In an hour, I was ready and the torpedo vanished into the heart of the anomaly. A few seconds later, a strange wave flashed over the inner cave, like something had tried to scan the source of the torpedo.


    I fell onto my knees, probably because I was a bit exhausted.


    Well, there were gods in this universe, and their plans would begin to derail as more Dark Forges blew up unexpectedly.


    Another type of wave burst from under our feet and banished the interloper, passing over me and the torpedoes without noticing me at all.


    However, Captain Raxiatel wasn''t so lucky. His eyes began bleeding and he fell to his knees in constant prayer, just like I did.


    I was only mentally tired, but the Blood Angel was going mad, and very rapidly.


    Thinking fast, I locked onto Ludvaius. "Brother, I have one of yours going bad. Sarcophagus, now!" I muttered in his mind and pushed the Captain into the teleport beam, with my mind.


    "I got him, Lord Pef. What happened?" my loyal friend asked from thousands of years away.


    "Some kind of psychic wave. Doesn''t work on me, but his eyes went red..." I concluded with a weaker voice and triggered my teleport beacon.


    Hopefully I didn''t ruin my brain too much.

 Faith - Chapter 66

    After yet another mandatory week of bed rest, I continued with the teleport trick, first on Mandragora, to contain the Tyranid invasion a bit, and produce a wonderful mining world for blackstone.


    Wentian got his deployment orders directly from me, and his cruiser and two destroyers will be accompanied by a dozen transport and mining barges filled with Triplex Phall tech-priests and servitors to Mandragora, for a quick scavenging operation.


    Two of those transport ships will be my finder''s fee, one for Antax and one for Retribution.


    Hopefully we get to mine sufficient blackstone to armor up the most critical installations and ship systems. Also armor plates for my heavy tanks and Knights. Because that blackstone is amazingly resistant to both physical damage and Warp corruption, it beats even adamantium in value. Those tech-priests better repay my huge effort handsomely.


    Next week I test the Vortex torpedo on the Eldar Craftworld, and even add that tiny atomic warhead to my gift. Sadly a Craftworld is gigantic and will not be destroyed with ease, but now it also lacks engines, lost in the Warp, and the bridge engulfed in sunfire, and a million demonettes and other friendly Immaterium denizens infest the hallways and the biodomes of Alaitoc</a>.


    However, the Eldar are very advanced and will likely contain the invaders with great effort. They won''t be raiding humanity anytime soon, I hope.


    The third week has me incinerating a dozen orbital docks around Tau with atomic warheads, and a Vortex torpedo hits their capital, unleashing a horde of demons and other impossible creatures on the Tau, while at the same time decapitating their leadership and crippling ship production facilities. In time the Tau will recover, and they do have enough ships and battlesuits to contain a minor Chaos invasion. But this should put a monkey wrench in their next Expansion plans.


    When I recover, I continue the long range atomic bombardment on the Tau allies, mostly the Nicassar</a>. Those guys are psykers and form the recon force for the Tau Empire. Again, I demolish their shipyards and a few large cities, before lobbing a couple of warheads at a Kroot Warsphere</a>. I think I''ve made my point, but we''ll have to see.


    I take it easy for two more weeks, mostly splashing a few Orc Warbosses that are located to the north of my holdings in the Fringe.


    And then I grit my teeth and finish off Hell Forge Junkatta with another cyclonic torpedo, and quickly beam back to the Canticle, before whoever keeps scanning Sotha manages to locate me.


    With this last deep strike, I''m almost done.


    I locate Forge Anvillus</a> which is different from Anvillus Nine, and I''m almost tempted to steal a few Titans they make there. But no, there is no point. I also need a logistic chain to support a Titan squad, plus pilots. Instead, I send another clan rescue fleet to their aid, because Orks.


    Those green mushrooms are everywhere, I swear. If the Imperium has about 200 thousand worlds here in the Ultima Segmentum, the Orks have infested at least ten times as many places.


    As more and more of my destroyers are hastily converted to the Los Angeles-pattern, each with a volley of torpedoes able to sink a battlecruiser if they all hit...my ships are an amazing force-multiplier when attacking a fleet already occupied, or catching them by surprise. Destroyers were already dangerous even with two torpedo tubes. With 30 tubes, they more than match even a battleship''s broadside, for a single shot.


    Physical objects can pass through shields, even void shields most of the time. And torpedoes, missiles, bombs and assault boats all qualify, just as Railgun projectiles and Macrocannon shells do. That''s why heavy armor is still needed, even with shields.


    I need to fix this for my own ships, since the Tau shields can indeed deflect solid rounds, and the same with some personal shields used in the Imperium. They just need to be scaled up, and made more resilient.


    Luckily I have Magos Minoris to aid me with this, as the science of these personal shields is really complex and complicated, nothing like magnetic shields or other quick fix.


    For this exact reason only valued officers and Administratum officials receive the expensive shields. A large scale Rosarius might work, if all the guys inside the ship were fervent believers, and I will attempt this first.


    Nothing else to do, while I wait for the currents around Sotha to calm down. Well, babies too, but that''s less of a pain and more relaxation time with long term benefits.


    A month later, I have a hundred-meter wide Aquila-pattern Rosarius that could be manufactured for spaceships and one a hundred times smaller for tanks. Not sure how well they might work, but a Rosarius ultimately works the same way as the Ork Waaagh does. It works if you believe it works.


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    Minoris shot me with everything we could find portable, even heavy bolters and melta guns, and my Rosarius held just fine. I''m not going to test Rapier type weapons, because I''m not that stupid. But as it happens, there are plenty suicidal people on board more than willing to have their faith tested, and so we do.


    Helena and Catherine don''t even flinch when the void marines unleash their Rapiers and Sentinel weapons at them in the firing range, and for good reason. Lascannons and Volcano Lances have little effect, although Gatling cannons and heavy flamers do pose some problems, pushing them back and making them sweat.


    Pretty sure they can indeed tank a Titan if they also sing and shout: Emperor protects!


    The Astartes continue my testing with more mixed results, and one of them, called Vosok Dall was even smeared onto the backplate wall of the firing range by a krak missile.


    Not sure if I should be sorry or happy that we proved his lack of faith this way. Probably for the best though.


    Lord Hornidal is certainly not happy.


    "I find your lack of trust disturbing, Chaplain." I quipped as he arrived to scoop and scrape the remains of his Battle-Brother.


    "Please, Lord Lancefire, stop this madness. Brother Dall was next in line to become a Captain! This Rosarius is not the Emperor''s Will!" the black armor guy complained, while holding out the guilty item in his hand.


    So I shot him with my bolter pistol, straight in the face. Of course, the faith shield bounced the bolt round away harmlessly. "I say it is. Your faith is commendable, Chaplain. But, do you know how I know?" I asked more gently while holstering my weapons and picking up my Rosarius.


    "... You shot me! Didn''t even blink, or give off an assault trigger." the psyker Astartes muttered in dismay.


    "I got this relic from a traitor Inquisitor, Astartes Hornidal. His faith did nothing to power the Rosarius, and thus he died like a dog. We will continue testing all the Astartes, with your blessing." I demanded forcefully and passed the relic to the next space marine.


    "My faith in the Emperor is flawless, Lord Lancefire! Please shoot me all you can." the Scythe proclaimed proudly.


    Indeed, my new plasma pistol failed to make him blink and the Astartes just grinned at me with confidence. "You''d need something bigger to test my faith, Captain!"


    The Catachans and void marines standing at the firing line cheered and hooted. "Step inside, Space Marine! We have a hundred faith testers right here."


    This Scythe''s name was Cassios, and he stood in the hail of fire while laughing wildly. "Haha. Is this all you got? The Emperor protects!" he shouted as lasguns and missiles hit the shield and failed to move him a centimeter.


    "Brother''s Cassios faith is indeed strong." The Chaplain admitted in a sliver of awe.


    I smiled and patted his shoulder. "Now, all we need is 300 hundred such artifacts, for all my Astartes. Do you happen to know any decent artificer?" I asked without any ulterior motive.


    The Chaplain nodded hesitantly. "I think we can manage the Aquila shape even on the barge. Not sure what mechanisms are hidden inside though."


    I sighed inward and walked away. It was only a weak Power Shield, barely enough for stubber bullets, and some organic remains, probably some saint''s hair or other religious conduit for the Emperor.


    In the worst case, I would shave my hair and the two saintly sisters and use that. Surely being blessed by an Angel counted as a minor saint.


    I did ask the Juggler, and he agreed, with some reserve."I admit having witnessed the miracle of your transformation, Lord Pef. If that''s your Emperor or the Omnissiah lending a hand, I cannot know. The tiny power shield of that device cannot possibly block heavy bolters and yet it does. But about using your own genetic material for the organic parts, I advise caution. You are still a Blank, and that device is the opposite."


    The Magos Biologis was correct, of course. It would be risky to try a Blank Rosarius on people depending on the Warp Emperor for protection.


    "How about...a cog shaped Rosarius for the Ordo_Reductor</a> tech-priests?" I wondered to myself.


    A few mechadendrites instantly reacted and sliced away some of my hair. "We will begin testing immediately, Lord Pef. We have personal shields, of course. But such a new paradigm needs to be explored anyway." he announced and departed briskly.


    Okay then. I should check on my family one more time from the Pharos, and then return to my rooms, to work on making it larger.


    I still had years of waiting in this place, might as well use them productively.

 Farseer - Chapter 67

    Time passes so quickly when you have fun, and I did try to have as much fun as possible.


    Simply holding my eyes closed, beside the Sounding Board in the Pharos and observing the galaxy and the people living in it was fascinating enough.


    I even teleported a few grenades to help some desperate guardsmen in some place, the shrapnel of those krak grenades exterminating an Ork band and their battlewagon.


    But I couldn''t effect true change like this, the galaxy was too big and crawling with all kinds of enemies, inside and out. I could only have fun.


    For example, I stole a Conversion_Beamer</a> from a fallen Space Marine, and left instead a melta charge. Those cultists will not loot my prize, and defile the corpse of an Astartes. Instead, they melted in howls of pain and torment.


    Then I located a shitty Inquisitor from the Phaenonite</a> faction, and stole his weapons and ring, and the ancient Flare_Shield</a> in his possession. His body in a tall spire in some Hive world, filled by his perverted cult, vanished in an atomic blast that should erase all evidence of an invisible hand acting from the shadows.


    But I mostly kept an eye out for my family, using the bird eye view to guide them towards victory, even when outnumbered and outgunned.


    "Pirate Cobra, hidden behind that iron asteroid!" in a daughter''s ear worked just fine. Another krak grenade on that pirate bridge made things even funnier. No more ambush, and instead we captured another destroyer for the clan.


    And if a Blood Angel trainer happened to explode by accident, it was possibly the Emperor''s Will. Next time don''t load the trainer servitors scheduled for my Blank sons, with live ammo. It might backfire.


    As for my Black Rage buddies in the coffins, I could only offer solace and comfort. Also ask the Angel to help them a bit.


    They weren''t exactly conscious, so I''m not sure if they heard me.


    The tech-priests on the Canticle kept making warheads and storing krak grenades in the teleportarium, just for those kinds of special moments where fate met Pef and had to switch tracks.


    Then one day I just found a Mark III Shrike Pattern Bolt Sniper Rifle on a deserted world rooftop, so I grabbed it because it was free. Sure it will need care and some tech-priest repair and consecration litanies, but it was an amazing weapon, firing bolter rounds as far as a tank.


    Meanwhile, the Forge Master on the Battle Barge worked day and night to produce those Rosarius shields for the Space Marines, while my own tech-priests started a dedicated forge line for the Mechanicus variant. It worked rather in reverse, being based on logic and reason instead of faith, but it still worked. High ranked tech-priests on the Canticle and the Requiem achieved the same results as myself, and my friend Minoris seemed immune to any damage.


    He did have unwavering faith in me and my ''Revelator'' powers, for some unknown reason.


    As a result, I was hastily shaved clean of all hair and most of my epidermis, as well as nails clipped and other body liquids extracted, for science. All that so more tech-priests could receive the Logic Shield with my blessed genes conducting the will of the Machine God.


    It wasn''t really logical, but then no religion is. All that matters is that it works.


    The orbital forts began to take shape, a hundred asteroids dragged into Sotha''s orbit, but not all in the same plane or elevation.


    We could only make Ion Shields and patchwork Rosarius shields for them, as well as for the Aegida. But any defense was better than nothing.


    And it didn''t take long for that defense to be needed.


    By the seventh month at Sotha, a fleet of Ork vessels appeared, led by a large Terror_Ship</a> filled with assault craft and fight-bomba.


    I was in fact in need for extra guns and armor plates for my forts, so these morons arrived just in time.


    I took a quick ''toilet break'', to empty my plasma warheads directly inside their ships, and when the Astartes and the tech-priests boarded the listing hulks, they found mostly carnage and shredded Orks, burning ammo bunkers and incinerated spacefighters.


    Putting out the flames was proven more difficult than pacifying the leaderless Orks.


    Both my Blood Angels and the three Companies of Scythes present were quite awesome at demolishing the Waaagh-less Orks, because without a big boss, they always fractured into small tribes fighting each other without any strategy.


    With the influx of salvaged human-origin weapons and void shields, the Aegida battlestation took only three months to become somewhat operational, and was even decorated with a few immense eagles carved out from the more destroyed Ork ships, while the 11-kilometer-long Terror Ship was being anchored to the side for emergency repair.


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    The giant ship might have been a mass-conveyor at origin, although a very old one. Either way, I could use the hull to test the Necron engine once I had it.


    The first Tyranid tendrils were already diverting towards the Bone Kingdom, because the space travelling bugs weren''t all that smart, only hungry.


    And then the Eldar arrived, and it wasn''t all that fun anymore.


    They had to have a Farseer with their fleet, and perhaps they had a Webway portal somewhere in the outskirts of the star system. Almost certainly, in fact. I will need to use the Pharos and locate it.


    So, I engaged the savant implants for a minute, while watching their slim ships prowl around the defensive ring.


    "Captain, Vox transmission from the Eldar." the auspex cousin said in a derisive voice. I wasn''t known to chat with aliens, quite the contrary.


    But I did have these Eldar where I wanted them.


    "Tell them to hold. I need to take a piss." I pronounced with a wry voice, followed by the general laughter of everyone on the bridge. "Really, Vox Master. I''ll be back in a short time." I added as I walked out the bridge, flanked by two guardian Blood Angels.


    "... You have that biopouch inside the armor, Lord Pef." my escort Astartes explained patiently.


    I nodded wisely. "Of course, Astartes. But a Captain can''t wet himself when meeting with some high-nosed xenos. They might smell it." I said in amusement as the elevator reached the Teleportarium deck.


    So useful, this magic device. No more risking myself into a shuttle, or waiting for landing clearance.


    In a minute I arrived back in a Pharos, for a quick check on the state of the Segmentum and my family.


    I sent Janice the traitor Inquisitor''s ring as a gift, paired with a "Keep trying sweetie!" encouragement.


    Navigator training was really hard, but she will need it.


    Then I turned my mind-eye on the Eldar, exploring their vessels and armaments. It would be an even fight, even with the Battle Barge and my Canticle. We also had the forts and some escorts, and perhaps the Farseer didn''t find an easy victory, even with his squadron of Shadow-class cruisers.


    So they tried talking.


    And so could I, without Vox transmission or other witnesses.


    "You wanted to talk, Farseer. " I sent empathically, while I kept searching for that elusive Webway.


    "... How? Nevermind that. You need to leave this cursed place at once. A great evil will arise from here, unless we destroy that melted rock you''re trying to defend, Mon Key!" the Eldar Farseer pleaded with pathos.


    Nah, not buying it.


    "Craftworld or Corsair?" I asked while closing in on the location of the portal...there. Far in the cometary cloud, and covered in perpetual ice. Nobody could find it among trillions of similar objects, unless they cheated.


    "We are of Craftworld Telennar</a>." the Eldar confirmed with a proud voice.


    "Yes, those craven Eldar are known predators upon the humanity. And now you come claiming salvation, when deep under the magma lies an imprisoned C''tan. Thus, your craftworld is condemned, by word, action and by intention. Rot in Hell!" I exclaimed while activating a warhead and depositing right on top of the confused Farseer. I bet he didn''t see that coming.


    In quick succession, I delivered 30 more plasma warheads inside all the Eldar ships, causing immense damage to their delicate conduits and circuits, and eliminating the officers and their entire bridges.


    Then I began flinging Krak grenades in the engine rooms, massacring their engine specialists and preventing them from fleeing.


    And then I returned to the Canticle, slightly wobbly on my feet.


    "Must have been a long piss, Lord Pef." some Battle Brother joked in a knowing snicker.


    I punched his pauldron in return. "Have you grown a pair of balls, Astartes? Very well, there is a squadron of Eldar ships in need of cleansing. Stand by here for deployment."


    The big space marine just nodded and checked his combi-bolter. "Fast buggers, the Eldar. " he commented with grim determination.


    Soon enough, I returned to the bridge and sat in my command chair. "All ships, battlestations! Tactical teams prepare for boarding."


    Then I turned towards the surprised clansman at the Vox console. "Send them my reply, cousin: We''re coming to talk, lower your shields and prepare to be boarded."


    Astartes Certes traded something with his buddy. "I get to board the long-ears, you stay and defend the Captain." he proclaimed proudly and ran for the door.


    I just sighed inward. Damn kids with big guns. But they''ll do for now.

 Dark Eldar - Chapter 68

    Although the last Vortex torpedo on the Battle Barge is precious, I decide to steal it and punish the duplicitous Eldar from Craftworld Telennar.


    The Hearth of Sotha also has a Melta_torpedo</a> that will come in handy, because it spreads burning plasma like wildfire.


    While the Astartes begin initial boardings via the teleporters, both from the Battle Barge and the Canticle, I get some sleep to recover my tired neurons.


    It''s not like I can do a better job than Veteran Astartes. The Space Marine moniker means exactly this, they were meant to board other ships, and they''re bloody good at it.


    Catherine and the Juggler keep watch over me, while Canis just snores without a care. That''s a wise dog alright.


    The next wave of shuttles filled with combat servitors follow the Astartes, to consolidate every deck captured and more warlike tech-priests teleport inside the engine rooms, to prevent the sneaky Eldars from sabotaging our prizes.


    The third wave is made up of my void marines and Catachans in carapace armor, though there are few of them, and mostly women. Armed Sentinel walkers and tracked Rapiers with heavy guns form their stronger offensive tools anyway.


    And then, we keep supplying more servitors to soak up the incredible accurate and lethal fire from the Eldar, although it''s not as bad without thousands of demons infesting the ships, like it happened at Forge Tigrus.


    They just have numbers on their side, plus knowledge of the terrain. The Blood Angel''s grav-guns level the field a little, as those walls can be made to crush an enemy as well as protect him.


    The Scythes don''t even have combi-weapons, with underslung melta or a Grav-Gun</a>, so they are at a slight disadvantage. The Rosarius shields help as well, saving lives and allowing for rapid advance under fire.


    They aren''t perfect of course, and the Eldar do have weapons that bypass shields, but overall it''s a good result, with only a few dead and a dozen heavy wounded.


    We capture about 3000 Eldar in various degrees of integrity, and a wealth of xeno weapons, armor and artifacts, that would sell for immense sums on the Cold Market or to collectors.


    I will gift them to various Forges, of course. The Mechanicus can do the dubious and difficult job of reverse-engineering advanced weaponry that we don''t even know how they function at all.


    Hell, the Mechanicus itself has plenty of machines they construct by rote, without knowing what each part is for. I am trying to change that, but it''s a slow process.


    So, the next day I descend on Sotha, and use those two torpedoes on the guilty Eldar craftworld, again slicing off the engines with the Vortex warhead and then demolishing the bridge and the central spires with the melta torpedo.


    Hordes of demons and demonettes flood the Eldar craft from the Warp portal at their rear, while the locals gather whatever they can to repel the attack.


    I doubt they will recover from this, since their craftworld is 10 times smaller than Atlaitoc, so barely the size of a Glorianna-class battleship.


    The Scythes Strike Cruiser Atreides</a> and my Requiem Sword-class frigate depart towards the distant Webway portal, to lay mines and deploy plasma torpedo on improvised launcher tubes.


    If more invaders come that way, they''ll have a pleasant surprise and give us warning.


    Luckily, the year ends without more invasions, possibly because of the strange Warp currents engulfing Sotha and preventing accurate Warp travel.


    So, I have this great idea, and start looking for the vicious Dark Eldar that also raid and torture people just for fun.


    However, although I know what to look for, the Pharos cannot find any trace of planets or large bases in the galaxy, although minor ports and slave camps do exist. Then it hits me, of course I can''t find them like this.


    They are in a different dimension after all. The Webway is immense, and contains entire worlds and hidden realms.


    With my savants implant at full power, I struggle to figure out a way.


    A minute later, I begin creating a solution.


    Follow a known object, or person into the Webway. And the only one I can trust with this is my buddy Minoris, who would gladly chop off his tentacles for me.


    With a simple twist, I bend space and bring the tech-priest beside me, inside the Pharos. "Lord Pef! By the Omnissiah...you really have ascended into the realm of Saints, like Holly Curia</a>!"


    "Minoris, my friend. You see that Cyclonic Torpedo resting here? I need you to locate a worthy target for it. The Drukhari</a> hidden city of Commorragh</a>, inside the Webway. The place where their Kabal torture people and enjoy in dark rituals." I demand while petting his shoulder, or maybe a hip. I never asked what''s underneath those red robes, and I never intend to find out for sure.


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    He is not stupid, my dear tech-priest. "It will be very dangerous, Captain. Is there a small chance to survive?"


    I smile kindly and teleport another barrel-sized plasma warhead beside me, then sit on it. Don''t worry it''s not activated, yet.


    "I am almost certain this device can teleport a person half-way around the galaxy, in a second. This gave me the inspiration for the Warp-less drive I keep working on. And those Hell Forges I destroyed, like Sarum and Junkatta could obviously be reached with an Exterminatus-grade torpedo. But the Dark Eldar city is hidden deep inside the Webway, and to pinpoint a target I need someone I know very well, to be near." I explain in a command voice.


    He pats his cog-shape Logic shield and tilts his head. "And then, you pull me back, right? Like you did just now."


    "I will definitely try, Minoris. But I cannot be certain, you saw how tired and drained I was after each Exterminatus. Let''s say: 80 percent chance for a successful deep strike, and 20 percent for intact recovery. Perhaps better odds, but you might get splashed by the explosion a little. We can demand the higher ranks a few more shields, but the Exterminatus...it is very strong." I added on a somber tone.


    The Tech-priest came closer and embraced me with a dozen tentacles. "Even if I die or get damaged, it would be worth it, Revelator. But please try to bring me back. I want see that Warp-less ship!"


    I hugged him back, and sighed. Small chance at that.


    "My beloved flower, what do you say about Commorragh?" I wondered in my mind.


    "Ah! Let me....there. Almost got splashed with blood. The Dark Eldar you say, brave Trader? Sure...it would be amazing if it works. Will it work?" she asked me in warning.


    I didn''t want to know who was leaking blood in her presence, or why, or in what manner. So I didn''t ask. I''m so clever, right?


    "Well...Magos Minoris is departing right now towards that place, and I''ll monitor his progress. Sadly, that city is not in the outer universe, so I need a locator beacon for the torpedo." I explain seriously.


    A minute later, the brutal Inquisitor was back. "You plan to bring him back, correct?"


    "If possible, yes. He has a brilliant mind and a loyal soul." I decided, vowing to try.


    "You are exposing the Pharos secret, my love. Those Scythes of the Emperor...how do you think they will react? They don''t even allow tech-priest on their ships, not to mention a sacred place like the Pharos." she advised me in a cold voice.


    Even without spoken words, I could hear the chopping axe coming near.


    "As you say, my Rose. Minoris will not return to the Canticle." I answered after a few seconds.


    "That''s not..." she started to say as the connection failed by some transmission error.


    Then I sat down on my knees to pray, while beginning the ignition protocols for the Exterminatus torpedo. I stopped at the last step, and waved Minoris closer.


    "Magos Minoris cannot survive this mission, my friend. He will die heroically for the Imperium, and be covered in eternal glory. A different tech-priest, with a different body chassis will keep the secret, else his Forge World gets erased into oblivion." I announced with my cog Rosette held in front of him.


    Lines of code and cognitive cants flashed into his bionic eyes, and he nodded hesitantly. "I understand, Lord Pef. This section of my memory will be purged with anathema-class overrides, the second this torpedo detonates. New designation, FaithfulSigma991."


    "Good enough, Faithful. You will step from here into the Requiem''s hangar, and climb into the waiting Fury Interceptor. Then enter the webway in vox silence and enable passive sensor only. I will be beside you." I ordered him and gently pushed him a step away, and at the edge of the solar system.


    "Daughter, don''t shoot my scout." I asked of the frigate''s Captain, just in case.


    "Sure thing daddy ..oh. Unauthorized fighter launch...and now it''s all clear. Inside the Webway, huh?" she asked rhetorically.


    In a minute, my long time friend sped away into the Eldar Webway.


    "Have the ships retreat a thousand kilometers from the expected flare." I commanded her, and returned to follow the scout as his starfighter maneuvered at speed among debris and various lurkers in the crystal like tunnels.


    The next part was boring and long, as these Webways went forever, then crisscrossed into fractal patterns. Searching blindly wouldn''t work, so I told Minoris to hide and wait for a passing Dark Eldar ship.


    That took more hours, but we got lucky. A spiked vessel crossed in front of the starfighter and Minoris began shadowing it from afar.


    And then the route became easy and fast, and in an hour the ship in front emerged into a gigantic cave, thousands of kilometers wide, filled with spires and arenas and of course, Dark Eldar vessels, thousands upon thousands.


    My Rosette decanted the last awakening rite, and the torpedo vanished from my own cave into theirs, straight above the largest spire I could see with my mind.


    And then a screech sound emerged, while the Exterminatus started its detonation sequence, in slow motion.


    Time itself twisted and bent, just as the secondary explosion began.


    It was fascinating to watch, but I remembered to grab Minoris and yank him beside me.


    I''m not certain what happened after, because the Pharos shook strongly and I lost consciouness.

 Mind over matter - Chapter 69

    I woke up sometime later, feeling my throat dry and my mind having been trampled by a dozen elephants.


    Not that pleasant, in hindsight.


    Also, I was almost certain that C''tan buried somewhere in this crypt was fucking with me.


    "Faithful, come here." I spoke in my mind.


    My old friend was gone, and so were his robes and various tools he usually carried. And most limbs.


    A scarecrow with three limbs crawled hesitantly in front of me. "Yes, Lord Pef." he answered in my mind too. He lacked a vox box anyway.


    "What do you remember, in the past hours?" I asked curious.


    "... Error. Blocked and quarantined files. Resuming new persona, as per Clavis directive Sigma991. I recall temporal fields...graviton particles in over kill quantities. Ships exploding. Xenos ships...Eldar. Warp phenomena possible. Unit compromised." he decanted in a string of flat declarations.


    I tapped his cog-shaped Rosarius and it simply turned to dust and scattered in a falling mist. Not so invulnerable, after all.


    "What about the craft you were in?" I asked a bit worried.


    "Fury Interceptor, critical structural damage. Machine Spirit corrupted, purging algorithm initiated. Plasma reactor overloaded. Ion Shield overloaded. Failure imminent." he explained in a story telling mode, although the state of his body told enough.


    Well then. Hopefully they won''t be able to recover much from the starfighter.


    Going by what I remembered, there were some kind of dimensional fields around that nice spire, so it was most likely not destroyed. No matter, I will just have to try again and again.


    A thousand bombs and torpedoes if I had to, cleansing the mad Eldar and even better fueling Ynnead''s birth with their deaths.


    As a God of Death, that Eldar godling drew power from death itself, and I possibly contributed quite a bit with my own small efforts.


    I did have a kill count in the billions, as a low estimate.


    But I needed to get it much higher. Plenty of enemies for humanity, and each of their deaths, yet another gift to a big power.


    Hopefully, some of that will also reflect back on me, and increase my standing among the galactic powers. The Mechanicus was great, and they surely liked me a little by now, but it wasn''t enough.


    I did have someone who might help. Just a mind call away.


    "It''s me, the nice stranger everyone talks about." I sent towards Trazyn.


    "Oh? I am quite certain the Bone Kingdom still stands, favor trader. What is it now, yet another foolish quest? That Dawn sword is no use to me. And the Enslaver bone needs too much work!" the Necron Lord complained like a big child.


    "Let me tell you a story, my friend. Not long ago, a Mechanicus priest stumbled upon Commorragh, the famous dark city. And he called in for help, detonating an Exterminatus-grade weapon just inside the central cavern of the city. But, somehow the explosion was contained and deflected away, damaging a thousand Eldar ships and burning a few unprotected sectors. Interested?" I asked in a wry tone.


    Trazyn seemed confused for a few seconds. "Dark Eldar...they do have interesting artifacts indeed. Almost like..."


    "Exactly like Gheden</a>, the crownworld of a certain Necron Dynasty. So upon this news, what do you propose, mighty Trazyn?" I wondered quite curious.


    Why not turn my defeat into a memorable drama, and sell tickets?


    Well, a single ticket, but for a very good price.


    "I don''t enjoy travelling, even to witness such a spectacle. That Webway makes my skin crawl. It is infected with all kinds of dregs and low-level creatures. And I suppose you want something in exchange?" he asked in a worried voice.


    I smiled in victory. "Well, I don''t have anything I need right now. But for those allies of mine, a rugged high yield reactor, that you certainly have already. In Mechanicus STC format, on a dataslate. Don''t want my agents burned alive for something this minor, like a heretical xeno invention. " I demanded shamelessly, while also locking on his position in my mind, for the obvious next part.


    "I don''t have such an STC slate...oh. One just appeared on my work coffin. Very convenient!" he exclaimed, perhaps a little surprised.


    "Now, onto serious business. There is a place and time were someone with skill and patience might acquire a potent relic called the Soulspear</a>. The special vortex weapon used by Primarch Dorn. In the same place, there will be a huge space hulk and a handful of abandoned battle barges. Now, if those barges were to be saved, for a friend of mine, you can keep the spear. I hear it can kill Daemon Princes in one blow." I explained patiently.


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    Trazyn would have to bite, because this was true history. He wouldn''t care about ships.


    "Is this a trick? You don''t want a real relic?" he asked me cautiously.


    Well, I did give away Sanguinius spear, what use would I have for another?


    "Sadly, I don''t have psyker powers, so it is just a big stick for me. But you have your own Fulgrim, so it should work." I whispered in his mind, a bit cautiously.


    I could hear the wheels turning in his mind. Was it a trap? Another scheme?


    "I don''t like it. Too cheap, if what you say it''s true. How do I even know if it works like you say, stranger?" he demanded a bit more aggressively.


    I hummed deep in thought. What else could I ask from the mad genius? Wait, I did have a ton of Eldar weapons...and a better scientist than anyone in the Mechanicus ready to help.


    "Okay. I will send a few artifacts that you can keep. But I want STC schematics for a simple design with same abilities, or close enough." I replied curtly, and began choosing exotic Eldar weapons and armor, and a few human ones, like the Flare Shield and the Conversion Beam Gun.


    Then, I even added that Jokaero ring with the laser beam. Mass-produced digital weapons would be great, if possible. I couldn''t recharge my ring anyway, and the Inquisition might track it somehow.


    An STC container filled with artifacts arrived at Trazyn''s doorstep, more than a few items, but I could be generous. I did have tons of loot, that my Astartes buddies have just grabbed from those sneaky Eldar pirates.


    "Someone has been having fun, it seems. There is fresh blood on these weapons, even Astartes blood." the Necron Lord commented a bit amused.


    I took a small break to check on Drazak</a>, which was already mobilizing fleets and battling the first Hive fleets. Winning easily for now, but it won''t last.


    Thousands, then millions then billions of Tyranids will converge on Drazak, and the finale will be the same. Another blackstone mine for an enterprising Rogue Trader.


    "Necron Lord Vagul is fighting the Tyranids as we speak. When the bugs win, I expect my own gift, Lord Trazyn." I demanded in a colder voice, just as a warning.


    "Yes, yes. I do keep my word, stranger. So where exactly could I find that Soulspear?" he replied, possibly after scanning everything I sent for traps and explosives.


    I nodded inward and grinned. And sinker.


    "Well, the story is about the Soul Drinkers Space Marines. They went traitor about a thousand years ago. Cornered by the Imperium at a place called Cerberian_Field</a>, they abandoned their Battle Barges, and boarded the largest Space Hulk in history.


    If you follow the tragedy in time, there is a Soul Drinker Astartes who kills that demon with the spear." I said in a story mode, but not divulging much.


    "Hmmm. I don''t see the tragedy. Astartes fall to Chaos all the time." Trazyn argued, and rather logically. I made the same point a few times.


    "If you do not watch the play, I might spoil it. But anyway, these Astartes didn''t fall to Chaos. Hmmm, quite similar to the Badab War. Wait...that didn''t happen yet, right? Now I really spoiled it. This C''tan shard might start objecting, again..." I complained in a deprecating tone and ended the call.


    I was getting tired, too much mental effort, too soon.


    "Faithful, you''re going to Antax now. There is a nice Fabricator there who will take care of you. But try to keep everything between us." I sent to my crippled friend and hugged him goodbye.


    "Yes, Lord Pef. Even in death, I serve the Omnissiah." the Magos answered in my mind and tried to wave goodbye, rather slowly and uncoordinated.


    And so, I sent him away. My Rose would have simply put a bolter to his cogitator, but there is enough tragedy in the galaxy.


    Tired, I triggered the teleport beacon and returned to my Canticle, only to find myself surrounded by a dozen worried Astartes, right in the teleport room.


    Perhaps I have been gone for too long.


    "Bed and fluids." I mumbled, while stumbling towards my rooms.


    The flesh was slightly stronger now, but my mind was weak. I should work on that...

 Cosmic Trade - Chapter 70

    During the next two months, I continued my exploration of the galaxy with the Pharos, trying to find interesting lore or valuable things. Also, gathering Eldar artifacts into my STC containers and simply teleporting the container just outside the Fabricator''s quarters.


    Those Forge Worlds that received me before, they now got a free gift from their Santa Clause.


    There was a Necron vault at Pavonis</a>, which of course drew in xenos of all kinds in the hope of getting released. Eldar, Tau, and Chaos were all gathering there for a fight.


    "Trazyn, my friend. I see you have already managed to retrieve that Soulspear. It would be a shame if people heard how slow you are, about keeping your word." I quipped in the mind of the Necron Lord.


    "Ahhh. Yes...the dataslate is ready. Also, those Space Marine Barges have been recovered from the sea of time, for that friend of yours. Where should they appear?" my scientist/entomologist asked curious.


    I pretended to think. "Best place, would be in the asteroid field at Forge Antax. Or Forge Triplex Phall perhaps? Yes. Those guys have larger shipyards, and they even managed to defeat the latest Tyranid invasion. However, my new friend...if those scuttle charges go off, I will consider it a gift in bad faith. And we don''t want that, poisoned gifts imploding a star somewhere, do we?"


    Trazyn didn''t reply for a minute, perhaps defusing the bombs just then. He might have forgotten about them.


    "There! Just a slip in my memories, no need to be so upset, puppy stranger. You were saying about a C''tan shard somewhere? They are very useful, as you certainly know." he asked in a pleading voice.


    "Alright! Let me check for an easy one. On planet Pavonis, the vault under that Tembra mountain, right at your doorstep. Better be quick about it, as Dark Eldar are trying to steal it just now. The gall on those knife-ears! My precious gift, stolen by those deviants! Can you imagine that?" I asked in fake outrage.


    "That is really convenient, this ability of yours. Do you need more ships, for your allies? That space hulk had quite a varied collection. Plus a whole Astartes Chapter for myself. I never said thanks, did I?" he replied, after a long minute of heavy silence.


    He definitely liked my vortex spear gift though. Plus, unbound space marines were valuable, especially a whole Chapter.


    "Spread them around, I think. Antax, Graia, Accatran, Gantz, Anvilus, Diamat</a>, Ryza, Shenlong, Tigrus, Metalica, Megyre</a>, Estaban, Incaladion, Dantris</a> and Retribution. That battleship at the new Forge Retribution in the Fringe, yes. We can test the new engine on it, safely outside the Imperium." I declared while going through a mental list. Sure, a few of those Forges were not yet in the contact list, but muddling the waters would help too.


    "Oh, quite a collection of allies there. And I assume you want all these STC templates found inside the derelict ships?" he wondered in a teasing tone.


    "Of course, Lord Trazyn. In the engine rooms, for a lesser chance of accidental destruction. If the same technology appears on many Forge Worlds, it won''t be suppressed and kept hidden. Traveling through the Warp is rather foolish, right?" I explained in my own teasing tone.


    I could almost hear the mental snicker in Trazyn''s mind. "I see. And with all these other slightly better ships, weapons and shields, your allies will withstand Chaos and Tyranids and even Orks...a little bit better."


    "Indeed. Oh, there''s an Inquisitor Barzano on Pavonis, dying of some Eldar poison. You can keep him, but I need his stuff. Not the Rosette though, I already have a few." I asked after scanning the planet again, with the Pharos.


    It was really convenient. And how else to better watch how Trazyn constrained the C''tan Nightbringer. I might learn something.


    Sadly, while Trazyn did move very fast indeed, the Dark Eldar Archon escaped in a Webway, and my krak grenades didn''t do anything to him, a whole crate of them. Damn it!


    I should have used a plasma warhead...oh well. Next time I will know. Archons are as durable as a Baneblade. At least I shredded his retinue.


    Using a multifacet crystal held in his black necrodermis hand, possibly a tesseract, the Necron Lord twisted space and time around that C''tan shard and dragged him inside his special maze, with no real problem.


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    "I''ll let you return to your collection, Lord Trazyn. I believe we''re almost done with our trade." I said after Trazyn teleported back to his Monolith on Solemnace</a>.


    "Wait! A C''tan shard has a large value. Is there anything in my collection you might fancy?" he offered in a second.


    "There really isn''t, Lord Trazyn. Unless you''re willing to part with your Blood Angel and the Catachan regiments. They would fit right in with my own." I mused to myself, while glancing around his immense vaults.


    "All right! I will deposit them on that Retribution planet, outside the Imperium. Still too cheap, but you can''t go back on your word, stranger!" he exclaimed victoriously.


    "Right...it is too cheap. Oh well. Perhaps I can take that Dawn_Blade</a> and give you another Enslaver bone. You could carve a thousand slivers from it, and bind them to your new Astartes. Jetpacks are too cumbersome, and mind-shields would be useful too."


    I proposed and immediately teleported the bone in question, from my vault to the Pharos and then into his room. Defying gravity, the bone remained floating in mid-air.


    "Hah! Enslaver bones for jetpacks! If your idea works, I will give away that useless chronoblade. Are you planning to chop some demons, for extra years?" The Necron Lord asked, possibly testing my origin and lifespan.


    "I should be good for a few thousand years, Necron Lord. By then, I will either become someone great, or the galaxy will be torn asunder and devoured. We shall see." I concluded the pact, and closed the mind-link.


    Then I just stared at the living-rock walls of the Pharos, still decorated with Astartes prayers and litanies.


    Then I recalled that bit about the Canticle of Unceasing Service, a special blessing that could be bestowed upon weapons, to restrain the Red Thirst.


    Hearth of Sotha, the Battle Barge of the Scythes had plenty of weapons in their sealed vaults, but they probably never opened those vaults. Because why use something, and not keep it hidden, till everyone who knew about them died?


    I began emptying the sealed vaults, from Terminator armors to heavy guns and even exotic weapons. Better be prepared, right?


    In an hour, I had my own vault filled with the Scythe relics, then I turned my eyes on Retribution, to check on their progress. A damaged Retribution_Class_Battleship</a> called Macharia_Victrix</a> had just appeared in orbit, and the Fabricator was hastily boarding it with all available tech-priests and servitors.


    It was a rather nice fit, my Forge World''s name and planet and the battleship class.


    And by the name alone, this ship had took part in the Macharian Crusade, and might have Macharius tanks on board. Let me see...


    Yes it did!


    And plenty other war vehicles and fighters, most of them damaged.


    Just as I was observing the events in the Retribution''s system, three Universe-class conveyors arrived at the edge of the Sotha system, escorted by a small Navy fleet and another Scythes'' Battle Barge called Honour'' Might</a>.


    My Rose had returned, with reinforcements.


    "What''s going on here, my dear Pef? I explicitly recall purging the xenos here with Exterminatus. And now, I find a whole chain of forts, and a hundred more xeno vessels." she demanded forcefully.


    "Isn''t it better to capture their ships? I only lost a few Astartes, for all of this." I said in a teasing tone.


    "... Then, is not so bad. So why are these idiots trying to get themselves killed?" the Inquisitor asked me, as if these Scthyes listened to me. Well, they did now, but not then.


    "I convinced them to form a Deathwatch Company on our new Inquisitorial Fortress. Even got two Strike Cruisers donated to the cause." I replied a bit more meekly.


    I didn''t want her to start executing people...my people.


    "Overstepping your bounds, way too much, Lord Lancefire. I will inspect the field and consider it." My Inquisitor girlfriend announced in a stern voice.


    And so, I held out my hand and brought her directly inside the Pharos.


    "Love you." I said with a grin.


    "Idiot! I almost fried you. Only your Blank aura saved you." my Rose complained as she hugged me tight.


    All was well in the world, with her in my arms.

 Red Thirst - Chapter 71

    With the graceful aid of my remembrancer implant, I begin to retell the events here at Sotha...from the beginning to the end.


    Of course, slightly fudging over my deals with a Necron Lord, or the unauthorized rescue of my Faithful tech-priest. Heretical actions might have consequences.


    Or admitting to stealing anything, because the Inquisitor is the law. Literally, an Inquisitor''s words are the law. Very scary.


    She listened to me patiently, sometimes kissing my cheek in praise.


    I mean, I did wipe 4 Hell Forges and burned a few Craftworlds and that Tyranid infested Necron world. Plus demolishing two largish xeno invasions the Orks and the Eldar.


    I should be praised, like the hero... Slap!


    "You don''t have the right to create an Inquisitor Fortress and a Deathwatch Company, damn moron!" my Rose yells with a psyker infused voice, and rubs her hand with annoyance. I did become more durable, with the Astartes blood.


    I let the wave pass over me, and struggle to resist. Strong woman, my beloved. But only against mortals.


    "You can also dismantle it, my dear, if it''s not approved. In my opinion, we should defend Sotha for the years to come, especially against Eldar and Necrons. Chaos and Orks too, as they seem to enjoying ruining stuff." I mused to myself.


    "Yes, we will. But it was not your right to do this! My authority will suffer, and from that, all the Inquisition too!" the Inquisitor answered in a deathly cold tone.


    I sighed and walked away, to stare at the codicils and precepts of the Astartes inscribed on the cave''s walls. Mounted on metal plaques glued to the wall, since the living-rock would repair any damage, if you somehow managed to effect tiny scars with some exotic weapon. Excellent material for armour, if I could harvest it.


    "Which Inquisition, my Rose? The Ordo Hydra? Those that hunt down the Sensei, Emperor''s own flesh children, so they can retain secular power, instead of passing the rule of the Imperium to a legitimate heir?The Xanthite</a> ? The Phaeonites? Ordo Cronus? Those in the Cabal, that try to actively exterminate humanity? However many corrupted Inquisitors, hunting for relics or Dark artifacts, so they can live forever? There''s a dozen factions in the Inquisition, and none of them do anything useful. Instead, Forge Worlds and Hives World get Exterminated, loyal Astartes Chapters get declared traitors, millions of guardsmen get casually murdered for simply seeing their Grey Knights, or fighting a few demons. Let''s ask the Emperor what he says about your precious Inquisition!" I proclaimed with an accusing hand towards the Sounding Board.


    Her eyes shifted, perhaps in fear. She knew what the Emperor would say, if he could. Kill them all!


    And with this device someone probably could. Someone who knew him, might be able to reach him or at least a fragment of his mind. Someone like an Adeptus Custodes, or perhaps a Saint. His Primarchs without a doubt.


    Her fists clenched, with anger and terror.


    "You will never be allowed to bring the device in His presence, Rogue Trader. And the range from inside the Pharos is still too small. Not even a Librarian or a Mind-seer could force a connection from this far away." she declared after regaining some confidence.


    I smiled and nodded. "There are roaming Primarchs still alive, and some in stasis. I even found an ancient Adeptus Custodes, imprisoned somewhere. Contemporaries of the Emperor, when he still walked on Terra. Vulkan, Jaghatai Khan</a>, Rogal Dorn</a>, Leman Russ</a>, Lion El''Jonson</a>. Even the other Fulgrim and the loyal Omegon. That Corvus Corax</a> is still hunting the traitor Primarchs in the Eye of Terror. When I am ready to visit Terra, my dear...nobody will stop me. I can bet a throne on that." I answered in fake confidence.


    Sure, I lacked actual secular power in the Imperium, but I wasn''t really inside, was I?


    In time, I could grow my power base.


    The Inquisitor smiled thinly and nodded. "For someone with that much knowledge, it might be possible one day. If your plans actually come into fruition, you will be important in the Imperium."


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    "Very true, if I actually cared about that corrupted Imperium. The Emperor and the Forges, my Rose. Everything else can burn, and nothing important would be lost. So, you''ve brought more Exterminatus ordnance?" I concluded on a more cheerful tone.


    She blinked, perhaps in surprise. "Of course. I even brought other presents. So, what targets do you have in mind?" she asked after a few seconds of deliberation.


    Good. We weren''t enemies yet.


    "Still the Dark Eldar. The faster Ynnead gains his powers, the faster we get Guilliam back on his feet. Perhaps other Eldar, if they are active enemies. Then Orks and Hruds and Chaos, and infested Tyranid worlds. The Necrons last, because we''re still way below them in science. The Suhbekhar_Dynasty</a> for example, have their world hidden inside a Hollow_Sun</a>. And a star is a million times more powerful than a torpedo, and they simply use that energy to keep themselves warm." I explained in a tired voice, and willed myself to step directly in my rooms on the Canticle, using the Pharos and not the teleportarium.


    Better avoid the Warp as much as possible, lest some Dark God yank me during transfer, and throw me into a gladiator pit. I was almost sure they kept watch over Sotha by now.


    They shouldn''t be even able to see me, but why risk it?


    In a minute, I disarmored myself and entered the shower, then hopped in my bed, while Canis rested his huge head beside me.


    A warm body sneaked in the bed sometime later, but I was too tired just then. Make up sex could wait.


    "Daddy! See, I manage to teleport, right in your room!" my daughter exclaimed in joy and jumped on the poor Canis to pet and hug the space wolf with no regard for life or limb.


    "Woooooo?" Canis asked me while enduring the assault bravely.


    "My daughter Janice, puppy. And this lady here is her mother." I explained while holding my hand out for the trice-blessed caf.


    This time, my beloved Naya was on guard duty, and she did complete the ritual, offering a large mug of scented divine essence.


    But I didn''t manage to take a sip, as Janice screamed and shattered the cup and evaporated the contents. "Hold still, dad. Let me cleanse your hands." Janice added a bit gentler, while Naya was floating in mid-air.


    Warp-fire engulfed my palms that had touched the cup, and green particles sparkled in the raising fog. My hands were not burned, but I think the poison had indeed reached my skin.


    "Why do this, Voidman Naya?" I heard my lovely Inquisitor ask in a calm voice, like this was a normal day at work. It probably was...quite literally in the word inquisitor.


    "...Why? You pathetic creature! This genetic abomination dares to strike at the most unholy worlds!" the creature inside Naya''s flesh screamed as Janice got closer and gently waved a hand towards the traitor.


    Blue and violet sigils bound the floating shape, distorting it horribly.


    Then my eyes closed, and I fell asleep, which was really strange. I had just woke up feeling fresh.


    My mind wandered, and I met Rafen and Ludvaius and a few more Blood Angels talking a walk through the nightmarish scenery, and shooting their bolters at dashing shadows.


    A pulsating wound covered my side, flowing with red blood for no reason. And then I began feeling really thirsty.


    "Resist the thirst, Brother. It wasn''t easy for us, but you were always better, and much smarter. You will find a way. You always do." I heard Ludvaius encourage me, while his maul crushed in unseen blob of teeth and tentacles.


    My implants were too far, and wouldn''t help at all. This was my blood itself, acting up. Damn Angel!


    Couldn''t you have used nanites or something civilized, to heal my wrist?


    I let my mind drift down towards the Pharos, and I began reciting the Canticle of Unceasing Service, over and over. It had to work. It had to worked before, after all.


    Something liquid flowed down my throat, but it wasn''t red and tasty. Still, it helped sate my thirst a little.


    Then my mind reached Jonas, one of my Blank sons, walking through his burning desert alone and afraid.


    "Son! Stay strong!" I urged him, and he looked at me with blurry eyes.


    His thirst was so strong he could drink a sea. He could use a few words, and help him get through this.


    "Have courage, Jonas. For I am here, beside you. Recite the Canticle after me, and you will conquer the Red Thirst. It''s only a tiny flaw in the gene-seed, but we are Lancefires. We are Blank and immune to Warp, and we fear nothing, because we are what they fear!"

 Bastard - Chapter 72

    My pain and thirst forgotten, I struggled with desperation to aid my son.


    We could not fail, and fall into the damned blood curse. Even knowing why it happened, it didn''t help much.


    At least I was certain the Black Rage wasn''t an issue, as neither Jonas nor me had any tendency to rage madly at anything. One cursed solved, possibly Warp induced or something of that nature.


    But the modifications of our genes...that wasn''t exactly easy to subdue. Way easier than normal people, for certain. But of those, you could count on a single hand the Blood Angels who conquered the Red Thirst.


    Years passed in the scorching dessert, until Jonas turned to stare at me, and then to my left. I glanced to the side, catching a disappearing wing before it vanished. You better run, creepy Angel!


    "Are you alright now, Jonas?" I asked in worry.


    "It hurt a lot, but I think it''s over. And to think I made fun of those red drops on the Blood Angel insignia...both blood and angels showed up." my son muttered and began fading away.


    "Write the Canticle on your weapons!" I yelled in my mind.


    Then I woke up, to find Janice and my dear Canis hugging each other while watching over me. Much better than a Warp entity with angelic wings.


    "Wooo! Wooof!" my space wolf announced and licked my face with a towel-sized tongue. Wet as towel too.


    "Hey sweetie. Mommy is busy?" I asked with a thin smile.


    "Yeah, she''s training her new Acolytes on that creature. The galls of it, to attempt something in my presence!" she exclaimed in a more confident voice.


    "That''s right, daughter. We are Lancefires, and we fear nothing. Because we are what they fear." I declared in a level tone, to see her eyes widen in surprise.


    "Oh! Is that our Lancefire House motto? It''s great. So, wanna meet the mute big sisters now?" Janice asked while twirling her force staff in mid-air.


    Psyker powers were very cool for tricks like that.


    "You know the Sisters of Silence are not medically mute, right? They just took a vow of silence. Which vows, we will smartly avoid by talking with our minds. It''s how the entire Imperium works, only the written letter of the law counts. Sign language, mind signals, dancing and writing things on the implants, they are not speaking...so they must be correct. Just like the Church may not have men under arms, and they use women instead. The Adepta Sororitas." I explained gently while examining Janice for signs of mutation.


    Didn''t find any, and probably never will. Our Blank genes kept us safe.


    Janice nodded wisely and petted Canis again. "Did you know, your puppy has a Rosarius around his neck? I was very confused at first." she asked with childish naivety.


    "Yes, I asked a nice Astartes Chaplain to bless his Power Shield collar, and used my own fingernails to craft an organic conduit to the Emperor. As long Canis stays loyal, weapons will not harm him." I said pointing at the space wolf, who sat down meekly.


    "Ah! Was it that simple? I''ll have to ask mommy to build a dozen of them, for the big sisters. They have armor, of course....but shields are much better." Janice announced proudly and conjured a barrier shield around her.


    I shook my head in amazement. Kids did get away with nearly anything, even from an Inquisitor.


    "Go explore, sweetie. Daddy has to shower and get dressed." I told her, waving my hand in dismissal.


    "Hehe. You do stink a little." she quipped then climbed on top of my space wolf and took off, passing through the metal door like it was made of air. It seems I will need blackstone, to keep my privacy with psykers on board.


    I showered myself thrice, because I had been sweating blood, and normal sweat and got licked by a wolf. Damn dream visions!


    Then I examined myself in the mirror, looking for wings or other deformity. Luckily, nothing of that sort.


    My balls were still there, which was of vital importance for humanity.


    Hopefully they still worked, unlike the implanted Astartes.


    My Blood Angel bodyguard entered to check on me, and stood guard vigilantly. A bit too late...and my face probably showed it.


    "We''re very sorry about the slip up, Lord Lancefire. We failed you again." the Space Marine Chaplain added in a mourning tone.


    I just sighed and began armoring up. "If we could detect chaospawn easily, we wouldn''t be in this situation in the first place, and Brother Arkio would still be alive. I heard the Inquisitor and her retinue took the creature someplace to interrogate it." I said in a level voice.


    "Perhaps so, but one of us should have been in the room. The Inquisitor ordered us out." he explained in a slightly colder voice.


    "And you have savant implants, Astartes. Those orders became null, once someone else entered my rooms. From now on, don''t obey any orders unless from my voice, spoken or sent via implant or mind transfer. There are thousands of Inquisitors out there, and most of them are corrupt to their cores. If Inquisitors want marines, they have Deathwatch or Grey Ones or the Red_Hunters</a>. Here on this Rogue Trader vessel, my Warrant is the law, and I speak with the Emperor''s Voice." I demanded din a forceful voice.


    The Blood Angel hesitated a little. "You have a child with this Inquisitor, my lord. Aren''t you on the same side?"


    I smiled gently and checked my armor again. It was getting tighter, as my body kept growing. Soon I will need the Astartes armor I confiscated from Brother Arkio.


    "Normally, yes. But she doesn''t receive orders directly from the Emperor, but some other Lord Inquisitor on Terra. And none of the corrupt shitstains ever dare enter the Golden Throne room, lest be smote into oblivion." I concluded and patted his pauldron.


    He nodded a bit grimly. "I suspect you may be right Lord Pef, as you were with that corrupt Stele."


    "On another note, Brother Cassiel</a> has been found on my planet named Retribution, in the Eastern Fringe. I think he might be one of the first Blood Angels, sired by Sanguinius himself. Wanna meet him, Brother Delos?" I asked in a teasing voice.


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    He nodded in awe. "That would be wonderful, my lord. His gene-seed should be the purest."


    "Yes, Delos. You will meet your lost brother today. Afterwards you will report to Lord Dante, and tell him I conquered the Red Thirst, at the same time as my son Jonas, on Baal. The Canticle of Unceasing Service was the catalyst that guided me through. Just like the name of my ship, isn''t it funny?" I mused mostly to myself.


    I still wasn''t certain what a canticle was. But if it works, then it works. Simple logic.


    "Really? I heard you were poisoned..." he asked a bit doubtful.


    "What can I say? I got lucky, and the blood I received from the Angel on Estaban helped me fight off the poison. The Canticle helped as well." I answered with a shrug, and opened the door to find Canis, standing guard beside another Astartes.


    "Janice vanished someplace?" I asked my brave wolf.


    "Wooof. Woooo!" he answered quite logically.


    "Come Delos. Let''s take a walk." I asked softly and entered the elevator.


    "Teleportarium deck?" he asked a bit wary. Perhaps my constant fits of tiredness rung an alarm bell.


    "Big secret, Chaplain." I said as we arrived at the hexagonal teleport platform. He nodded cautiously.


    "Ah, when that Chaos Sorcerer arrives on Baal disguised as a Tech-priest Magos, use these phased-iron bolts." I advised him and passed him a bolter clip.


    "What?" he muttered in confusion.


    But I had vanished already, and stepped out inside the Pharos.


    "Pef Lancefire. We have common enemies, it seems." a glacial voice spoke in my head.


    See? I was right!


    Damn C''tan shard did wake up, from all the commotion.


    "You must be the Mighty Zarhulash</a>. Hold on, we have a few teleports to conduct right now." I hummed inward, while locking on the good Chaplain and bringing him down, then directly on Retribution.


    He would be needed to check up on the frozen Cassiel, and explain the new realities.


    And as Chaplains did have spiritual powers and authority, Delos would be quite perfect for the job.


    Then I checked on Janice, to find her exploring the other Scythe Battle Barge, pretty much ignored by everyone. No doubt another psyker power to make herself invisible or forgotten.


    Oh well, I did tell her to explore.


    And with her familiar presence darting in and out of sealed vaults and locked armories, I could ''confiscate'' more forgotten weapons and armors. Even an Incendiary Torpedo.


    "So, you must recall the route to the Commorragh, mighty C''tan God. Wanna help, give them a warm surprise?" I asked in my mind, while using my Rosetta codes to activate the atmospheric igniter.


    It worked wonders on the Tyranids, and the Eldar, even Dark Eldar were still flesh, and thus weak to fire.


    "The Drukhari? Well, I won''t say no to a small Eldar genocide. Nothing like the old days, but better than nothing." the C''tan answered a bit more warmly.


    I had a feeling we will be very good friends in the future. Mostly the same enemies and methods. Sure, I saved the Necrons for last, and will need to convince this god shard to save humanity for last, just as well.


    "It will take some time to activate this atmospheric burner, Mighty Zarhulash. So, what did you learn of my plans yet?" I wondered while cautiously enabling safety after safety.


    "I have observed your deals with the Necron Trazyn. You offered him a lot, even another C''tan. And gained pitifully little. And now, the warp creatures hunt for your soul." the C''tan observed in a dismissive voice.


    I nodded in agreement. Of course I did. But value is in the eye of the beholder.


    "Travelling among stars without entering the Warp isn''t so little, not for humanity. Trillions of humans get infected with warp parasites and another demons. Just like this woman on my ship. Can you imagine what it would be like, if a Great Daemon got his claws on you? My Canticle doesn''t even have blackstone armor." I complained, and added a small threat in there.


    The being laughed, as if there was a good joke somewhere. "Yes, humans are easily corrupted, except the few of you that are Blanks."


    "And so it is, Mighty C''tan. That''s why I try to spread Blank genes among all humans, and Warp-less ships. We could become like the Necrons, immune to the Warp and the Great Enemy." I explained in a pleading voice.


    Please don''t kill us first! Leave us for last...and then we''ll see.


    "Very amusing plan...and it might work. But you, Pef Lancefire will very likely die, much sooner. There is an armada heading right here, and those won''t be cretin Orks." he declared in a deathly voice, in my mind.


    Shit! That wasn''t good.


    "Well then. I better launch all warheads available, and run away. If they blow up Sotha, I''m sure we''ll meet again." I muttered as the Exterminatus-grade incendiary started beeping in alert.


    "I''ll guide the torpedo, human. Send it inside the Webway first." the C''tan said in slight amusement.


    And so I did, with much more ease than guiding it all the way to Commorragh, not that I could anymore. The old routes seeemed to have shifted, since the last time I bombed the Dark Eldar.


    "There! Not quite as strong as I could do it with my Cosmic Fire ...but that Port_of_Lost_Souls</a> is pretty toast, I''d say. A billion Aeldari dead, not bad for an hour of hard work, right?" he asked rhetorically


    I nodded and grinned. Both the dead Drukhari and the destroyed port will put a crimp in the Dark Eldar raids all over the galaxy. And without ships, they wouldn''t be able to bring fresh slaves for torture or experiments.


    A minute later, my Rose arrived in the Pharos, holding her tarot deck tightly. "This time it worked, magnificent bastard!" she shouted and embraced me tightly.


    "Shhh. Keep my secret." I said out loud, and in my mind. A cold laughter acompanied me, as I stepped directly into my room with the loving prize in my arms, and hastily began undressing the lovely Inquisitor.


    Perhaps another Blank child will arrive.

 Reality - Chapter 73

    Much later, my Rose stretched like a lazy cat and patted my upgraded chest with satisfaction.


    "This is much better, love. Great body, decent mind, mostly acceptable decisions. I might keep you just for the body though." she commented in a light tone.


    I sighed and drew her into a hug. "There is a Forge World called Venatoria, and they produced a device called a Reality_Cage</a>. I need to obtain one, and make it work. Should keep any planet safe from demons. Or at least from Warp Storms and the Tyranid Silence."


    She stood still for a second then climbed to stare me in the eyes. "Is it even possible? The implications...how come I don''t know about this?" Rose asked in a cold tone.


    I just shrugged. "The modern Mechanicus tech-priests are either idiots or unhinged geniuses. Most of them simply toil in the forge, producing same cogs and metal parts for centuries. They don''t even know how the devices work, just follow the STC template like it''s magic. The other kind...these guys from Venatoria tried to close the Maelstrom. Of course, they failed miserably and most records were expunged. I''m not sure even the best Necron crpyteks can do that. And humanity is 60 million years less advanced."


    The Inquisitor pierced me with a death stare and poked my chest. "You know too much. Can you even make it work, at least on planetary scale?"


    "Yes my dear, it''s only a big Gellar field, at the origin. I am building a Hive-city-sized Gellar field over my capital on Illevar, right now. But those permanent Warp vortexes are something completely different. The fall of the Eldar created the Eye of Terror. You can guess the rest." I continued with a sadder voice.


    "... I can guess, indeed. And where do you get all these stories from, Lord Lancefire? The Pharos?" she asked quite logically.


    "The C''tan shard is awake, dear Inquisitor of the Ordo Xenos. You may interrogate the prisoner as much as you want." I spoke in a teasing tone.


    Her eyes went wide, in fear and hope. "Truly? A real C''tan? Is it coherent? At least a little?" she asked with a fast breath.


    "For a simple shard of a C''tan, this being is quite sane. I call him Mighty Zurhulash, and he promised to help here and there...until he escapes and kills everyone." I explained patiently, and played with her death and duty.


    But Rose didn''t seem to mind, deep in a mental trance of some kind. Possibly sealed mnemonics, locked for just such a contingency.


    "My orders say to contact Inquisitor Ario Barzano, in the event of making contact with a contained C''tan or a shard of one." my dear Rose declared, with a painful scowl on her face.


    Probably a C''tan was way above her paygrade, among the more renowned Ordo Xenos Inquisitors, and Barzano had been close to reaching the Nightbringer C''tan, before the Dark Eldar arrived. I''d bet a throne he knew the lore very well.


    I shook my head and sighed. "Well, I''m certain I can find this Inquisitor. But I don''t have anything of real value to trade for him. Except...some Eldar prisoners...maybe. It would be a long shot, as these guys might not even have a craftworld anymore. I did save them for you...in case you were one of those seeking to obtain the secret of the spirit stones. Same with all these Eldar vessels I captured at not small cost."


    "Where is he? Tell me!" she yelled at me in almost panic. Possibly mania-induced compulsion. Those shit-eating bosses of theirs...


    "You better not know, my love. I do have control over the Pharos...so technically I could kidnap him from wherever he is kept. But those guys are...how should put it? Strong and vindictive. One of them captured an entire Tyranid Hive fleet, and keeps it in a stasis box, on his desk." I answered rather truthfully.


    Perhaps not yet, but Trazyn the Infinite did have a Hive fleet as a pet, in my other memories.


    My Rose blinked in confusion, then started to think rationally again.


    "That kind of power...what kind of people do you know, my strange Rogue Trader?" she wondered a bit amazed.


    I waved her words away. "There are half a trillion stars in the galaxy, my dear. Among them...countless godlings and other entities. These C''tan...who do you think broke them into shards and bound them in impregnable prisons? The Imperium of Man is so small, like one person alone on death world ... or like oil poured over a deep ocean. You look at a galactic map and think: We are so big, look at us, spread everywhere! And then waves and currents and whirlpools shatter the illusion, and the oil is scattered in the storm."


    She sighed and nodded in sadness. "You think I don''t know the immensity of what we face? I am a psyker, my dear Pef. I see those currents, every single minute."


    "We need to sail above this ocean. Build strong islands where the waves can''t reach. And when we learn enough, we can build underground tunnels and airplanes, to avoid the ocean completely. And my Blank genes, they are the impermeable suits that keep the water away." I mused to myself, in a reverie.


    The Emperor had tried something like this, but ignorance was not armor. People would see the Warp and play with it. And then the Warp will play back.


    "All you say makes sense, yet seems like an impossible dream. Can you get Barzano, or do I need to make an astropath call to someone else?" the Inquisitor demanded again.


    I sighed and rolled away for my shower. I could try, at least. Maybe the guy wasn''t dead.


    Rose didn''t have to shower, using her powers to burn away sweat and smells. Convenient use, if one had enough skill with pyrokinesis.


    I checked myself in the mirror, and my face seemed a bit different. Prettier. Must be the new genes.


    "Sanguinius, you were too pretty for your own good. And didn''t even get a wife or two." I muttered in distaste, and walked out to find Rose already dressed in her combat gear, leather and chest plate, and the nice Rosarius relic on her necklace.


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    "Talking with the mirror?" she asked me while checking my naked body shamelessly. Well, there wasn''t much body shame in this universe. People lived short, brutal lives.


    "One day, I will find Sanguinius and punch his smug face. Look what his genes are doing to my face!" I complained as I began gearing for a new day in Hell.


    Rose snorted amused. "That would be great to see. Especially when he hits you back."


    I sighed as she was probably right. Astartes were all violent brutes.


    A few minutes later, I arrived back in the Pharos, with my xeno hating girlfriend. "Mighty Zurhulash, this is an Inquisitor of Ordo Xenos. Please cooperate, a tiny bit." I spoke out loud while flipping off the stasis field around the Sounding Board.


    "Puppy guy here, Lord Trazyn. Busy day?" I asked in a cheerful tone.


    "Yes, but I will make time for my best favor trader. This C''tan shard has a whole new array of abilities!" he exclaimed a bit excited.


    Well, he probably didn''t have many friends. I''ll try to be nice to him.


    "Mine has Cosmic Fire. Hits harder than an Exterminatus-grade torpedo." I answered praising my own prisoner.


    "Oh! I don''t know that ability yet. Sounds potent though. Cosmic energies are among top five. You could train yours a bit more. Other abilities might manifest, under duress and pain." the Necron Lord advised me politely.


    "Right! About that. I find myself in need of a C''tan expert. Is that poisoned Inquisitor guy still alive?" I wondered idly.


    "Yes, but he''s raving mad. I even cured him for free!" Trazyn complained petulantly.


    "Did those Enslaver bone shards work like I proposed?" I asked instead. I did have a favor to collect, after all.


    The Necron Lord stopped chatting for a minute. "I knew it. Well, they work differently but still work. You want the useless sword?"


    "I would have, but you tested it on your C''tan, and didn''t work. No point wasting my favor on it. You still have those Astartes gene-seeds?" I asked to make sure. Probably not.


    "How do you even know about them? And no, someone interesting traded for them already." Trazyn the Infinite answered, a bit surprised. Or faking it very well.


    "Fabius, right? Give me more work, will you? It''s like you want the Eye of Terror to spread out and corrupt the entire galaxy. Keep doing stuff like this and you might find yourself alone." I muttered in fake dismay.


    "Again that crazy trick of yours. I wasn''t even there!" he complained in real worry this time.


    "For that, I will take the Custodes and the Inquisitor. And some Astartes too...a Company of..." I began saying.


    "No! Not my precious Custodes. I only have one! And no Company of Astartes either. A squad at most." he rebutted be a bit fiercely.


    "You have an entire Chapter! Give me the others. Ultramarines, Salamanders and whatever else." I demanded with a harsher tone.


    "Calm down, stranger...not all of them... I need to keep at least one, of every color. Where should I send the rest?" he asked after a few seconds.


    "Forge Antax, the Salamanders and the Inquisitor. The Ultramarines on Forge Gantz. Anyone else, at Forge Hypnoth</a>. And a derelict ship with STC schematics too. I forgot about them and they keep complaining." I asked with a bit of trepidation.


    It had been pretty close. Plus that Forge will be attacked by other Necrons soon. Better prepare the ground.


    "Alright! Trade finished and no taking back!" the Necron exclaimed in a happier voice.


    "Good. Now, I have another story if you''re interested." I whispered as another dataslate vanished from my hands and into his own.


    "Oh? Gellar fields? From weak, to creepy, to medium. What are these for?" Trazyn asked confused.


    "A thousand year ago, a group of Mechanicus tech-priests from Forge Venatoria tried to close the Eye of Terror, with a Reality Cage device. After they failed tragically, they tried again, on the Maelstrom, using reality bombs. They never found the bodies, or the devices. However, someone with patience and skill..." I continued in an enticing tone.


    "Those idiots in the Mechanicus! Without Living Rock and Compressed Blackstone...no wonder they failed so abjectly. What did they use to power it, a plasma reactor?" the scientist Necron erupted in disgust.


    "Well...I don''t have such grand dreams. Not yet, and not without your help, Lord Trazyn. Even you failed last time...I mean in the other future where we all die horribly, and the larger Tyranid swarms not yet devoured run away in fear. Damn stupid Orks!"


    I muttered in fake anger.


    I bet nobody expected the Orks to devour everything, except perhaps the Old Ones that created them.


    "Orks? You mean to tell me... the Orks win?" Trazyn asked in outrage. I know buddy.


    "Not these Orks, of course. But their Waagh field contains all the knowledge and inventions of the Old Ones. They just need sufficient numbers. A trillion planets infested with greenskins, and they are the new reality. And for that, they just need a powerful enemy to offer a ''gud fight''. Chaos or Tyranids, even Necrons...all swept away by unstoppable tides of Titan-sized Orks that sprout a thousand more if you kill one. Cute revenge, right?" I asked in fake humor.


    "And these Mechanicus Reality Cages will contain the Waagh field, just like Warp incursions. They would be useful. Damn it! I hate travelling!" the Necron grumbled in annoyance.


    "I know the Necrons have something similar, but it would be too hard to make, by my allies. Alas, I''m off to find more nice stuff, in the Halo Stars. Don''t call me, I''ll call you." I said with faint amusement and closed the call.


    Rose stared at me and then pointed wordlessly towards a moving wall, right in front of us. The wall folded open, revealing the prisoner kept inside the Pharos.


    Strangely, the alien C''tan looked almost human, if much larger.

 Eldar strike back - Chapter 74

    "Mighty C''tan, you were saying something about a fleet coming here?" I asked out loud.


    The ancient god nodded gravely. "You stirred a hornet nest by attacking those Eldar craftworlds, Pef Lancefire. And although you have tried to prepare, minefields and forts and a whole fleet of human warships, a thousand Aeldari cruisers and even some battleships will arrive soon. Perhaps only the Necrons would be able to match this array of forces, a whole Dynasty or two."


    I grimaced in a pained smile. Of course the Eldar wouldn''t simply take it.


    "Janice dear, visit the torpedo room and examine each warhead, starting with Vortex, then Exterminatus and the melta torpedoes." I sent mentally towards my naive daughter.


    "Oh? Can I daddy? Mom said it was dangerous!" she replied a bit doubtful.


    "She is here with me, sweetie. We need to receive a big Eldar fleet coming here." I explained a bit more sternly. "Tell Janice is okay. We better start priming the welcome gifts for our visitors." I added in a level voice towards the Inquisitor.


    "Alright. I suppose we can do that. What about Ario_Barzano</a>?" my Rose asked sternly and eyed the C''tan warily.


    Well, this godling wasn''t the issue right now. Keeping a mental eye on Janice, I followed her steps into the armored torpedo room, and the most secure and potent weapons in the humanity''s arsenal. I will need them all.


    "I don''t know this Inquisitor well enough, my dear. He was sent to Forge Antax by his ''rescuer''. It seems he had been poisoned by a Dark Eldar Archon, and barely survived." I commented as the first Vortex torpedo arrived in the inner cave of the Pharos.


    Now, you want to attack my fleet and private lighthouse/teleporter/observatory? Not on my watch, silly Farseers! I can see you coming...well... I mean, the C''tan can see you coming from half the galaxy away.


    " Antax</a> is not that far...if the Mechanicus provide him a fast escort, he could arrive in a few days, or weeks." the Inquisitor mused in deep thought.


    Warp travel was never an exact science. Unless your destination was just the star system nearby, travel time was always of dubious reliance.


    Now, what could the Eldar target be? The captured Eldar for certain. They were kept on board the new Aegida fortress, guarded by a Company of Astartes, and thousands of Scythe serfs and some tech-priests.


    Better send the Silent Sisters there, just in case. Eldar were psykers, so the Sisters would nullify most of their abilities.


    What else? The derelict Eldar warships? Most likely. They would try to keep their technology secure, especially from humanity whom they saw as primitive monkeys. They might try to destroy the ships, before we reverse-engineered their advanced tech.


    The C''tan himself? Quite possibly. Nothing I could do about that. We did have kilometers of magma above us, and walls of nearly indestructible living rock as a bunker. The safest place around, anyway.


    The tech-priests and the fragile Universe-class conveyors would make a juicy target, just to hurt the Imperium, or in this case my new empire in the fringe.


    Will need to send them orders, to depart for Forge Retribution at once.


    The defensive fleet and the forts would help somewhat, although the C''tan was certain they will not be sufficient. Possibly correct, if the Eldar brought Void battleships. Those vessels were nearly as tough as the Necrons'' Tomb ships.


    So I will need to scry-and-fry the bigger ships, and won''t be available for conducting fleet maneuvers. Except via advice to my more loyal Blood Angels. Will need to disperse them as bridge security on every ship of our own, if the Scythes would allow it.


    Which they probably won''t, or would not listen to combat orders anyway.


    "Signus, take command over the teleportarium console. A few Blood Angels will provide enforcement." I sent into the mind of my more trust-worthy bridge officer. He did have plenty expertise with Warp-based machinery.


    "Lord Pef? Is this some kind of psyker transmission?" he wondered in worry.


    "Nope. I''m a Blank remember? Just a device for mind-to-mind messaging, which I suspect the Inquisitor might use to command her Sisters of Silence." I explained with a mental shrug.


    "... If you say so, Captain. The Sisters are voiceless but Blank as well...huh. I never considered how they coordinate in battle." Signus reasoned his way through the logic problems, like any Mechanicus member.


    "Right. Anyway, there seems to be an Eldar fleet on approach. Make use of those nice warheads, if you can." I added, then started commanding the Blood Angels to their new posts.


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    "You seem determined to fight these Eldar, even against impossible odds." the C''tan commented out loud, while Rose was activating warhead after warhead, with her Inquisitorial Rosette, much faster than I could.


    I nodded in silence. "Requiem, escort the conveyors to Forge Retribution. Launch our fighters first, and have them on patrol at the Webway. The Atreides will keep station and finish off damaged invaders." I continued with another flurry of mental commands.


    There! Everything was as ready as it could be.


    "My Rose, have your Sisters deploy on the Aegida, if you will. I doubt they''ll listen to me." I asked in a soft voice and just relaxed to rest.


    Teleporting torpedoes was a little tiring, and this was still only orbit to ground displacement. Don''t fail me now, Astartes genes!


    A true Astartes could maintain combat effectiveness for weeks, or maybe years, by sheer strength of will, while true Primarchs could hold on for millennia. Those giant morons hunting demons inside the Eye of Terror as self-imposed penance, they had never rested in 11 thousand years. I would only need a few hours.


    I began reciting the canticle over and over, trying to fortify myself, still keeping an eye out for incoming enemies via the Pharos.


    And as expected waves of Eldar fighters emerged from the Webway, right into the minefield and point defense fire from the Atreides, the Scythe cruiser who guarded the portal.


    Then our own fighters chased and launched hunter-killer missiles and fired their lascannons.


    For half-an hour the skirmish continued, with starfighter losses quite equal for both sides, despite our ambush. Eldar craft were fragile, but very fast and maneuverable.


    "Battleship arriving in 10 solar seconds." the C''tan warned me, with a mocking voice.


    Instantly, I primed then teleported the vortex torpedo right next to the Webway portal. The prow of the Eldar battleship vanished in a gigantic Warp rift, which soon devoured the portal itself, and began bending and warping the wraithbone construct, scattering the Eldar fleet for light years around.


    The Eldar battleship flared some kind of shield and pushed through, although a third of its bow was missing and a third more of the hull was on fire and crawling with demons.


    The Atreides cruiser fired his own torpedoes from behind the gate, ripping off a few solar sails and setting more fires.


    Well, that ship won''t bother anyone too soon.


    More Eldar ships began to emerge, more or less damaged and began firing at the Warp rift with their own lances and beams, while the secondary batteries targeted the winged demons.


    I really wish they had popcorn in 40k, although I suppose I could invent it. Microwaves were not all that complicated after all, even if the Mechanicus made only Volkite guns with them.


    Meanwhile, the Canticle and the Requiem had formed up with the conveyors and were slowly accelerating in the opposite direction from the Webway, trying to reach the Warp limit for a safe jump.


    "Strike Cruiser Atreides, disengage and support the Aegida perimeter." I demanded as another battleship began emerging from the burning portal.


    They didn''t listen right away, launching another torpedo salvo and firing their batteries, without much effect. Instead, they got hit pretty bad in return, and they had to enter emergency Warp to escape.


    Damn idiots.


    Anyway. I did have another vortex warhead, but I was wary of launching it in the same place. A Warp Storm could form, and then everyone would lose.


    Instead, I teleported a melta torpedo right beneath the battleship''s engines, which worked pretty good anyway.


    The Eldar lost most power and speed, although their big weapons could still fire on the Warp rift.


    At least a hundred more cruisers followed, and I began running out of plasma warheads and mental energy, just mechanically priming and teleporting the deadly payload inside their engine rooms.


    And then, my will began to waver and my knees buckled.


    Falling to your knees was nothing bad in this universe though. It made reciting prayers all the more effective.


    Not recommended during melee fight, but I wasn''t doing that, was I?


    "Pef? What''s going on? Are we winning?" Rose asked me in slight panic.


    I shook my head to clear my muddled thoughts. "I don''t intend to lose any battle, my dear. Just waiting for the Warp rift to close." I answered with a tired voice.


    "So cautious, even in the face of certain defeat. Another Aeldari battleship will emerge in 20 solar seconds." the C''tan provided in an amused voice.


    I struggled to lift my head and glare back at him. "Good. They will need a big ship, where to sign their surrender."


    The alien god laughed, and the living rock closed around him again.


    Laugh all you want, mighty C''tan. You won''t be laughing much when I keep you in a box.

 Surrender - Chapter 75

    While the Eldar fleet bombarded the rift and battled the howling demons, I fell into deep meditation, using the Pharos to skim the fabric of space for something of use against the remaining Eldar forces.


    They still had 10 to 1 superiority in numbers, and millions of years of advanced technology.


    And I was nearly out of options.


    Then I remembered the threat I threw towards the C''tan, and smiled.


    A Greater Demon would be more than sufficient, and much more.


    Of course, not summoning one, because I wasn''t insane. But if I could find a trapped one somewhere?


    It would make an excellent trading gift, right?


    And if my memories weren''t wrong, that Hell Forge I blasted to bits, it did have a Greater Daemon, trapped in a Tesseract_labyrinth</a>. I turned my mind-eyes towards the scattered fragments of Ghalmek</a>, and began searching.


    It did last hours and hours, and meanwhile the Warp rift had been closed and the Eldar had began approaching Sotha, if very cautiously.


    I was running out of time fast, as the C''tan kept reminding me, once per hour.


    But luck was on my side once again, and I located the faceted crystal just in time. So I called my best friend from another race. "Overlord Trazyn, may I ask if you''re too busy for a trade?"


    "Oh? Back so soon? Don''t tell me you already found something of value?" he asked in a friendly voice.


    "Yes and no. No value for me, none whatsoever. But then, I do not collect rare beings like yourself. Ah, those mind scarabs...perhaps it is time to remove their shackles, now that those delivered to me are my prizes. And the Enslaver Bone Shield too, if it''s ready. I kept thinking I misplaced it somewhere, in this dimension or the other." I demanded as a first step.


    Not going to touch that crystal unless I had a mind shield. Greater Daemons were bullshit enough.


    "Hehe. I forgot about the mind control too...there! All of them have been released. I even found an Ark Mechanicus cruiser for that Hypnoth Forge of yours. But no reality cage, not yet. I need to trace the timelines of that Venatoria Forge, and they seemed quite tangled, even for those who get close to the Eye. And the bone...well. It is ready. Let me hear what you have first." Trazyn announced with a more cautious voice.


    "What I have to trade, is a Tesseract containing a Greater Daemon. I don''t think anyone has ever captured one before." I explained in a teasing tone.


    I didn''t exactly claim I did the capture, but then this wasn''t the point. I had possession of the goods, which meant I could sell it.


    The Necron almost yelled in joy, because it was true...nobody else had a caged Greater Daemon. "I want it!"


    "Of course you do, my friend. So, I need the bone shield, as I can''t manipulate such a thing without protection. And then, I want 10 empty tesseracts, with operation instructions usable by a medium-grade Tech-priest, and...something that can move a planet, without damaging it too much. Also...that Custodian and a Company of..." I started adding on my wish list, just as Trazyn ground his necrodermic teeth in anger.


    "Enough! No more Astartes, stranger. There are millions of Space Marines out there, find your own. And nothing like 10 tesseracts! Even empty, they have a certain value. Two, at most. The Bone Shield I understand, depending on your race it would be terminally dangerous to handle a Greater Daemon. Same with operating instructions...although if you are a tech-priest, I feel sorry for you." the Necron Lord exclaimed while he sliced off the negotiation deck, and ignored the Custodian deal.


    So it would be possible after all, just not yet. Same for the planet drive, which wasn''t that difficult for any advanced race or psyker. I just wasn''t any of those.


    "Not a tech-priest, but I am good friends with many of them. Just hold it in front of you...and don''t forget to remove any traps." I said while locking onto the space in front of Trazyn.


    "Just the bone, right now. And this dataslate with the tesseract instructions." he argued, perhaps fearful I won''t conclude the deal.


    In a twirl of space, I waved the artifacts into my hands.


    A mind shield sprang around me, eliminating all my fatigue, and there was a mental trigger for some kind of empathic blast wave embedded in the dark metal cover.


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    The C''tan tried to say something in my mind, but it was blocked, giving only a slight tingle of warning. Perfect job, Trazyn!


    "What is the Mighty C''tan saying?" I asked my Rose.


    "He warns that the other Eldar vessels are gathering into a second fleet and will arrive in the system in a few hours." The Inquisitor explained while measuring the new weapon in my hand with Ordo Xenos wariness. Quite rightfully, if I might say.


    I now had a weapon similar to Trazyn''s own Empathic_Obliterator</a>, which was also a mind shield, and probably still a gravity hammer like before. And just like Trazyn himself wasn''t a psyker and could use it, so could I.


    Then I connected to the dataslate with my implant and began to rapidly download and read the operating instructions, which seemed much too simple. Perhaps Trazyn had a too low opinion about the Mechanicus. Some of them could be really smart.


    A dozen minutes later, I opened my eyes and checked the fleet situation, to find the Eldar already bombarding the outer forts.


    Time had ran out. Damn it.


    Twisting space again, I cautiously willed the Tesseract crystal inside the Pharos, and immediately away, into Trazyn''s room.


    Something did tingle my mental defenses, while Rose crashed to her knees in pain and agony, with eyes glowing blue. "What was that? It felt like a Daemon, a big one. I haven''t felt anything like that since we killed Fulgrim."


    "Well my dear, I am a Rogue Trader, aren''t I? Someone had a Greater Daemon of Khorne trapped in a box, and someone else wanted it, for his collection. I get a finder''s fee, and access to another deal in the future." I explained patiently as two empty tesseracts appeared in my hand.


    I had one crystal flipped into my chest null box, and started connecting with the second crystal, via my implants.


    Strangely, it worked quite similar to the Pharos, only it had a pocket dimension as the teleport destination, and a much smaller radius, barely a star system, not a galactic sector.


    But it was enough. With my empathic staff in one hand for mental fortitude, and the dimensional crystal in another, I began abducting the Eldar ships, until only the battleship remained.


    In a few seconds, the Farseer lady on board the last battleship realized the shift in their fate, and stopped firing their beams.


    I ordered my Blood Angels to stop firing back. No need to damage my new Void_Stalker</a> after all.


    "Lower your shields and prepare to be boarded. Resistance is futile!" I send into her mind, and she crashed to her knees in defeat.


    "Signus, begin teleporting Blood Angels onto the bridge of the Eldar Battleship. It''s time to accept their surrender." I sent to my loyal enginseer, who wasn''t all that amazed at my victory.


    I have never lost a single battle, after all.


    "Of course, Captain. Took longer than usual." he complained, for no reason at all.


    Come on! Asking for a miracle was enough, now you want it fast as well?


    "Go on, Rose. The Eldar Farseer awaits." I said with a tiny smile, and beamed her on board the Void Stalker, right after the first wave of Blood Angels teleported, from the Hearth of Sotha.


    My Canticle and the conveyors had already departed for Forge Retribution, so I began collecting my own Lancefire House starfighters inside the tesseract, from all over the system.


    This device had a lot of potential, not just to kidnap enemies, but to recover damaged ships or conduct carrier operations without much risk to the pilots.


    I was now ready to take part in the Badab War, and collect more ships and allies for my forces, and even rescue the bunch of idiot Astartes, before they became traitors.


    But first, I did have a dozen Silent Sisters to charm, and convince them to produce babies for humanity.


    That might be more difficult than winning against an Eldar armada.


    "What do you say, Mighty Zarhulash? Should I accept their surrender?" I asked in a teasing voice.


    "Again, you traded at a huge loss, Pef Lancefire. Two empty tesseracts, for another one containing a Greater Daemon? Or do you intend to trap me inside the other one?" the C''tan asked in a wary tone.


    I just smiled sweetly, in response.

 Victory - Chapter 76

    "Let''s hope we never have to get to that point, Mighty Zarhulash. Plus, doing what Lord Trazyn says, torturing a C''tan to obtain more abilities? Is that really necessary?" I asked in a meeker tone, and then located my daughter on the Aegida, talking to a Sister.


    Hmmm, so they weren''t all muted? Perhaps that woman hadn''t taken the vow of tranquility yet. Most likely so.


    Made sense to keep a few voice able sisters around, if communicating with other people was needed.


    A few other Sisters had Vox comms attached to their Vratine Armour</a>, so they possibly could use tech-lingua or other forms of mechanical transmission. Their armor looked amazing, even had boob plates! But, it wasn''t air sealed, and that wasn''t so great. Gonna have to fix that.


    With a twist of the Pharos, I arrived in the same room, to the surprise of the Pariah women, who should have nullified any psyker spell or ability.


    "Hello Janice! So these are your big Sisters? They don''t look so big..." I wondered in a doubtful voice.


    "Daddy! This Sister is Alana. She can still talk, because she is only a Novice. I could be a Novice too, right?" my daughter asked in a dimple smile.


    No, resist with all your strength, Pef! Don''t let your daughter get stolen in some creepy cult.


    "We shall see, sweetie. First you need to learn the Navigator skills, and then we can work on these other forms of magic." I said instead, not willing to break her heart just yet. Plus, some of these women seemed battle-hardened and quite capable.


    More than me, anyway.


    "You are Lord Lancefire? I thought you were a Blank, not another miracle like Janice." Sister Alana asked me with a concerned voice.


    I just shrugged carelessly. "I certainly am a Blank. I fought Chaos Sorcerers before, even killed a traitor Primarch once. But most importantly, I am a Rogue Trader. " I answered and opened my null box to remove my Warrant scroll.


    Better make sure they knew what I was, before knowing me better. So I offered the Warrant to the Sister in charge. "Please read it, my dear. Especially the part about my duty, beyond the borders of the Imperium."


    The Witchseeker</a> took the scroll a bit confused and started reading.


    While reading, her free hand flashed in battlespeak, which was quite similar to what Ludvaius had taught me.


    I sighed and slammed my bone staff on the metal floor. "We can also talk mind-to-mind. It will become easier when we know each other better." I spoke to all of them empathically.


    It was very difficult though, even with the aid of my Enslaver staff. Pariah were a different breed, that was certain.


    The armored women blinked in confusion, then stared from me to Janice and back.


    More miracles today, no doubt. A minute later, the leader of this squad handed me the Warrant, looking thoughtful.


    "The Inquisitor told me your group is interested in joining me and my clan, setting up a Blank community in the Fringe. Was she wrong?" I asked in a gentler voice.


    The leader stared into my eyes and nodded, a bit hesitant. "You look more like an Astartes than a Rogue Trader, Pef Lancefire. I have seen both, during my duties." the Sister replied in my mind.


    Good enough, for now. "You and Alana, join me as we deal with the Eldar. Name?" I asked as I turned for the door and began walking away.


    "I am Sister Hestia." the null maiden answered in my mind, as she began walking after me.


    "Can I come too, dad? I wanna explore the Eldar ship too!" Janice asked in a pleading voice.


    "You can''t, sweetie. It is a warzone, and Eldar are treacherous. You don''t even have a Rosarius." I explained gently and patted my belt.


    "Damn it! What if I ride Canis?" she yelled after me.


    "No means no!" I spoke harshly in her mind, leaning on my staff for extra power.


    The girl pouted and went to hug the nearest Sister, who seemed rather confused.


    "Sister Aleya, teach me that sword move again!" Janice demanded in a childish voice.


    The sound of an Execution Blade</a> scraping the metal floor announced how my daughter could get away with outrageous things even from other people, not just her parents, or their wolf pet.


    The Aegida was a rather big fortress, and it still bore the marks of combat and fire. Tech-priests and techmarines worked side by side with serfs and servitors to repair the damage, while a couple of Inquisition Acolytes watched over them trying to look scary.


    I ignored the obvious killers and torturers, and stared at a blonde woman with a dozen Mechanicus implants and lots of gear that would better suit an infiltrator, or perhaps an Assassin.


    So I stopped next to her, to observe the repairs. "Hello there. You fought in the siege?" I asked with a tiny tendril of humor.


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    The blonde woman patted her needle rifle, and smiled back. "A single Eldar assault boat made it into the hangar, Lord Lancefire, and it was over very fast. I thought you''d be taller, from all the stories I heard."


    "I''m still growing, my dear. I expect I''ll get much taller, in a century or two." I answered in a fake whisper, and walked on.


    "Modest too..." she muttered while staring at my armored ass. Holding my helmet sensor towards the back always made for best comebacks.


    "You think she is marking my ass for a needle shot?" I asked the non-mute Alana, who blushed and glanced at the sniper Acolyte in surprise.


    "... Perhaps not for a needle, my Lord." Alana mumbled in a stammer.


    How cute. She might become my favorite in bed soon.


    "We will take the Talion</a>" Sister Hestia announced me with another mind message, while pointing at an armored lander with a few special weapons on its wings.


    Looked a lot like the Deathwatch deep strike gunships, the Corvus_Blackstar</a>.


    "Looks very advanced. I like it." I complimented the ship and Alana smiled widely at me.


    "We have nice gear, from Mars and Luna. I am learning to pilot as well." she explained while the Null Maiden climbed in the cockpit and took off like a veteran pilot. Hestia most certainly knew her job, or she wouldn''t be leading this team, far behind enemy lines.


    "So, what do you do with the Blank boys, when they get born? Drown them?" I asked to make conversation. There were only women in this sisterhood, and I already knew Blank boys would get born. I had quite a few myself.


    Alana blinked at me in confusion, then towards the cockpit. "I heard rumours...they get taken to Holy Terra. But I don''t think they just drown them."


    "They probably grind their bones to make Psyk-Out Grenades</a> or something." I answered with grim smile.


    The Novice Sister glared at me like I said something untrue. "You think they make nega-psi bolts from dead Blanks or Pariah?" she asked a bit terrified.


    I nodded with certitude. "Completely certain, Sister Alana. Of course, they might die during battles or something. It''s not like anyone would hate Untouchables so much, that they would simply murder them to collect the organic parts, right?" I asked rhetorically, as the Talion lander entered the launch bay of the Eldar Void Stalker.


    "... I''ve never heard of Blank men fighting in battles." Alana confessed with a horrified face.


    All the more reason not to enter the Imperium again. I liked my bones and organs where they were.


    A few minutes later, I was escorted on the battleship''s bridge, where a tall and lithe Eldar female was kept under guard by my Blood Angels.


    On the way, I wondered at the very advanced and clean battleship, which looked more like white and grey plastic. Compared to the smoky, oily and rather grim human ships, this Eldar vessel was a real wonder.


    "Farseer?" I inquired politely.


    "You have joined forces with that abomination from beyond the stars, human!" the Eldar yelled at me, while shrinking from the Pariah aura of my pretty escorts.


    "Not sure what your point is, Farseer. You will offer and I will accept your surrender, or else execute you and all your followers. One solar minute to think it over." I explained while deliberately checking the corrupted bolter rounds magazine, and loading it inside the Unceasing Service bolter pistol.


    Her eyes grew wide with terror, as the psychic emanation from those bolts announced an eternity of torture at Slaanesh loving tentacles.


    "You cannot do this! Our souls would be damned forever." She yelled and tried some psyker gestures, which were rather futile with those Pariahs beside me.


    I hummed, pretending to consider her words. "Humanity has the Emperor and the Omnissiah. Right here on my chest, the twin-headed Aquila." I indicated tapping the sigil.


    " Orks have their Gork and Mork, both ready to accept their Orkish spirits after they die. What gods do the Aeldari have? Right...nearly all of you suicided to create one, not so long ago. Surely your new god will await you with open arms, right?" I continued with fake naivety.


    The Farseer seemed rather reluctant to meet her god.


    My Rose snorted like I said a good joke. "How strange. She didn''t fear death, until you arrived, Lord Lancefire. Your rhetoric might be lacking, but it surely seems to work anyway."


    I smiled widely, and cocked the bolter as a warning. "I didn''t hear a yes, Farseer. Two solar seconds, one..."


    "Yes! We surrender, damn monkey!" the Eldar proclaimed, and her honor guard slumped in defeat.


    "Hestia, gather their potent psykers and transport them to the Fortress. Alana, sing something nice." I commanded with a grin. Better get my Alana used to having a voice. I won''t let her lose it.


    A clear voice began singing praise to some long forgotten saint.


    But I didn''t mind, and just enjoyed my victory moment.

 Duty - 77

    Once the battleship was brought under control, with not too many shots fired, to everyone''s surprise, I returned to the Aegida Inquisitorial Fortress.


    Another flick of tesseract powers concluded my victory, as I confiscated all the damaged hulls remaining, including Ork and Eldar derelicts from the previous invasions. I will need those hulls for my Forge friends.


    For now, Sotha will have to fend for itself, with the aid of the Scythe Battle Barges and Strike Cruisers, plus the ring of orbital forts.


    Of course, my Rose will continue interrogating the prisoners, and await her designated C''tan expert to handle the imprisoned shard. I was highly doubtful on the guy''s chances of success, but it wasn''t exactly my problem.


    Over the next three weeks, I continued using the Pharos to collect intelligence for my next objectives, especially around Badab and the Maelstrom_Zone</a>.


    Without the important Hell-Forge, Chaos forces in that area were substantially weakened, and that allowed the Imperial Navy and local Astartes Chapters to conduct more and more deep strike missions in and around the Warp vortex.


    Also, as soon as my mental faculties recovered, I would launch new Exterminatus-grade torpedoes at strategically important targets, places like Gorkamorka</a>, which needed eliminating, as a potential outbreak source for a huge Waagh or a Necron awakening danger. The Orks burned alive, their crashed space hulk melted into torrents of adamantium and plasteel, and the melted magma sealed the Necron Tombs even tighter.


    They should not get bothered again for a long time.


    Well, unless someone begins mining the place, which would be great too. Forge Megyre was the closest, so perhaps my clan could get a Favor or two by revealing a few gigatonnes of adamantium, ready to be grabbed.


    Since the Necron World of Somonor</a> got invaded and got rather well-chewed up by Hive Fleet Kraken, I followed up with another Atmospheric Incendiary warhead, melting and eliminating the bugs and preparing that place to become a mining world for more blackstone. I would take a year or two, but Forge Metalica was nearby. They could handle hot lava.


    However, the next incendiary attack on the Necron crownworld of Sarlok</a> was somehow deflected by a dampening field, producing minimal effects, so I decided to wait for the Tyranids to reach it and demolish those defenses first.


    The daemon world of Venkrous</a> was next, just next door in the Hadex Anomaly, and then daemon world Torvendis</a> in the Maelstrom.


    Still using only Incendiary torpedoes, because they were 100 times cheaper and more readily available.


    Cyclonic torpedoes would be reserved for Class 1 dangers, like Hell Forges or Black Crusades.


    And then the other Inquisitor arrived, high and mighty and full of airs. Broadcasting threats and warnings from the edge of the Sotha''s system , like he owned the place. Well, he kinda did now that I made an Inquistion Fortress out of Sotha.


    There were still 5 Cyclonic and 34 Incendiary torpedoes waiting inside the Pharos, so I warped them in my other Tesseract, where I kept the good things. Two more Vortex torpedoes were returned to their own Battle Barges, as were their Melta torpedoes. No need to weaken the ability of the Barges to defeat another big invasion.


    And so, I ordered my Astartes and Silent Sisters into their assault landers, then they vanished in the void, and inside the good labyrinth. Continuing the emergency evacuation, I loaded the Pharos''s Sounding Board on its transport tractor and then folded it inside the dimensional tesseract with care.


    Then I tried using the Pharos, and the empathic console seemed unaffected by the dimensional differential, which made sense a little, and no sense at all. Damn Necron tech was more advanced than magic.


    My new C''tan friend was given a few life-saving instructions, which he will probably ignore out of boredom and pride.


    A minute later, I stepped out of the Pharos and right into my Fabricator''s office on Forge World Retribution, hundreds of light years away.


    The guy had been my bridge officer for a few decades, so I could trust him for some things.


    A second later, my followers and their shuttles emerged in Retribution''s orbit, released from the tesseract, and I ordered them to secure the battleships and await orders.


    Sometimes, access to very advanced tech meant I could cheat the odds and gain time. That''s how Trazyn must feel all the time, with the ability to bend time and dimensions at his will.


    The conveyors and the Canticle had not arrived yet, although they departed from Sotha weeks ago.


    "Fabricator, I believe you found the STC presents?" I asked as a dozen tentacles turned towards me holding deadly weapons.


    "By the Omnissiah! Don''t scare me like that, Captain Pef. I almost fried you..." Magos Dominus muttered and splattered me with holy machine oil.


    I felt like home again. This time however, the oil evaporated with a sizzle on my shield.


    I glanced at his metal tentacle with arcing current, still tapping my Rosarius</a> conversion shield. "I am real, my friend. No need to banish me like a demon." I quipped and blinked a bit surprised. Wasn''t expecting such electrifying welcome.


    "... Errr. Sorry about that, Captain. There have been some strange occurrences on that Apocalypse-class battleship. Voices haunting people, servitors strangling themselves..." Dominus mumbled, as he drew his crackling mechadendrite back sheepishly.


    "And thus, you immediately installed a dozen Gellar fields, to impose reality on the haunted ship?" I asked wryly.


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    The tech-priest blinked in confusion, then waved his tentacles while spouting orders, in binharic and techno-lingua. The cogitator screen came alive with thousands of lines of code and construction routines, some reasonable, others quite irrational.


    Then again, such was all the Mechanicus, and the Imperium was much worse. Reason was almost forgotten. Only faith and fury.


    Another red-robed Magos entered like he owned the place, with an Antax symbol on his cog. "Dominus! Why so many Gellar...oh. Captain Lancefire. I am Fabricator Locum Yridann 0119." he introduced himself politely, and without trying to burn me alive.


    Progress!


    "Go on with your duties, Fabricators. I''ll be around inspecting my new Forge World." I said politely and walked out, nearly breaking my face into Brother''s Delos chest plate.


    "Delos, well met Brother! Where is Brother Cassiel?" I asked while patting the man''s shoulder in greeting. For a psyker, this guy was quite decent. Didn''t even flinch at my Blank aura.


    "Reciting the Canticle, like you have ordered, my Lord. It seems to work great, and the Rage is almost conquered." Delos explained, and then grinned warmly. He even seemed happy to see me again.


    "And, you have not departed for Baal. For what reason?" I asked in slight worry. Astartes wouldn''t disregard orders easily, so whatever it was, it was bad.


    "... I considered prudent to not expose Brother Cassiel to more stress. Being lost in time for 10 millennia was a great shock, plus whatever he endured in his captivity. I also detected some kind of alien implants, inserted in his brain." the Chaplain told me softly, with a few fingers signalling "Xeno origin confirmed." in Astartes battlespeak.


    "Alright, someone did things to him during these millennia, and thus you immediately contacted the Fabricator to have these strange implants removed, right?" I asked rhetorically.


    The Chaplain changed faces a few times, settling on shame and defeat. "I haven''t considered that, my lord. The Mechanicus...they are heathens and worship the Machine God."


    I tapped my chest again. "See these two eagle heads, my friend? The Emperor and the Forge, united in a single body on Mount Olympus. Your armor is made by Forge Incaladion, right?"


    The Chaplain starred at his black painted pauldron, and nodded in understanding. "So, are you saying we should trust the tech-priests?"


    I shook my head. "You should not trust anyone, by default. Only by word, deed and intent. One day, when humanity will be made only of Blanks, and travels the stars without entering Warp, then it will be different. But until then, always be cautious and ready to shoot. Especially Inquisitors and Adeptus Ministorum priests. Power drives people mad, and absolute power corrupts absolutely. It was the same on Old Terra, and now is a million times worse."


    Delos muttered a prayer and seemed to mediate on my words. "Absolute power...like all Inquisitors have as Agents of the Throne." he concluded with a scowl.


    Soon enough, we reached an Emperor''s chapel where the ancient Blood Angel was praying, while staring at some grotesque icons of beasts and spears and lots of blood.


    They surely helped calm his fears, I hoped.


    "What is death?" I shouted, using my empowered Vox box.


    "It is our duty!" the Astartes answered in a chorus.


    "What is your duty?" I continued the chant.


    "To serve the Emperor''s Will !" came the accepted answer.


    "What is the Emperor''s Will?" I asked curious.


    "That we fight and die!" they proclaimed with perfect conviction.


    "And who tells you who to fight?" I wondered, breaking their protocol.


    Both Blood Angels turned towards me in confusion. "We go where we are called, Lord Lancefire." Chaplain Delos answered after a few tense seconds.


    "And who calls?" I inquired in a softer voice, pointing at the bloody icons.


    "The Emperor!" Brother Cassiel exclaimed like it was obvious.


    "Of course, all Astartes will obey the Emperor. But Emperor Adam of the Imperium of Man, is not quite healthy these days. Other people give orders in his name. Sometimes, they order Astartes to do evil things, and yet they obey." I mused to myself, while opening the null box to extract my Rosette and the Warrant.


    The engrams immediately subdued the brainwashed Astartes, who just stared at me like I was a divine messenger.


    "Brother Cassiel, do you recognize the authority of these artifacts?" I asked gently.


    "Of course, my lord. A Rosette means the bearer is an Agent of the Throne. The Warrant of Trade marks you as a Rogue Trader, speaking with the Emperor''s Voice, outside the Imperium." the displaced Space Marine declared without any hesitation.


    "What about you, Chaplain Delos?" I asked with a wry voice.


    To his credit, the psyker Astartes fought through the mind-addling engrams to retrieve his bolter and shoot me in the chest.


    The bolt vanished in a flare of white light. "You are not corrupted, Lord Lancefire. I had to check." Delas said in apology.


    "Good! Always check. You are Astartes, the best of humanity. The next time I see any of you obey orders without checking, I will shoot you. Is that clear, Astartes Cassiel?" I asked the new addition to my team.


    "...Things have really gotten so bad in the future?" the stunned Blood Angel murmured in surprise.


    "A million times worse, lost Astartes. Now, report to the Biologis ward and have those xeno implants removed. Two curses are sufficient for any Chapter, we don''t need a third to act up at some inopportune moment." I demanded in an angry voice, while storing the precious items back in the null box.


    Another bolter round splashed the Rosarius shield, right in the direction of my armored pauldron. "Nothing personal, my lord. Only following orders." Cassiel said in a more relaxed tone.


    "Keep that smile, Astartes. I hear the tech-priests enjoy testing pain resistance of their medical subjects. Always trying to prove the flesh is weak." I muttered as I sat down to clear my thoughts.


    I had a campaign to plan, and a whole load of logistics to complete. Ruling an inter-stellar empire wasn''t so easy.


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 Miracle - 78

    My eyes fall on a litany written with golden words on a flag, most certainly Chaplain''s work.


    "Where there is uncertainty, I shall bring light. Where there is doubt, I shall sow faith.


    Where there is shame, I shall point atonement. Where there is rage, I shall show its course


    My word in the soul shall be as my bolter in the field."


    Nothing about reason or facts. Nothing about discovery or joy.


    We might as well be Orks, they too have only faith and fury, after all. It even works, their Waaghs bending reality as they rage and plunder and destroy.


    Fighting each other, the Orks become stronger, and then they attack others. It is what a branch of Inquisition fosters, the so-called Istvaanian</a>. They encourage cults and rebellions, they poison leaders and create disasters, causing untold suffering and pain.


    Only men are not Orks. There are more than enough enemies, xenos and demons plaguing humanity. And these cretins create strife and misery instead of helping the Imperium.


    And like them, there are so many other cliques and covenants of Inquisitors and tech-priests and Nobles and Administrators, all fighting for more power, at the expense of the people they were supposed to protect.


    I swear, if any Inquisitors show up in my own Kingdom, they will not live to attempt these kinds of machinations.


    And then, there is the problem of the imported tech-priests from Stygies_VIII</a>, a Forge World widely known for heretek inventions and breaking many taboos imposed by the strict laws of the Imperium.


    Sure, a host of free-thinking tech-priests will be amazingly useful and productive, until they unleash some gene-tailoring virus or data infocyte or other ''clever'' invention that ruins an entire sector.


    I will have to speak with them about this. And likely execute a thousand of them, just to make a point.


    Luckily, I do have a starting base already, and active support from Forge Antax. The rescued Catachan regiments, from Trazyn''s own collection, and the women I ''saved'' from Sotha will become the basis of my gene-stock, with more and more Blank genes injected from my descendants and their descendants.


    The Hive cities are rather useless in this respect, even after vaccination campaigns and the culling of the underhives, but they will provide cannon fodder for servitors and organic parts for new Machine Spirits.


    An hour later, Fabricator Yridann sent me a vox call, to make myself available in the medicae ward. I am by now quite familiar with these type of Mechanicus medical wards, for some reason.


    Soon, I enter the biologic ward to find Astartes Cassiel mostly dissected and disassembled, skull open while the Necron scarabs were being extracted with surgical precision, then conserved in glass jars. Not even lids on those jars. Damn common sense, Biologis Clade!


    Five Magi Biologis and the Fabricator Locum all nod at me in silence.


    "This is very advanced xeno technology, Lord Lancefire. Someone has kept the subject under mechanically induced mind-control, with no discernible ill-effects. Copying and reversing the nano-filaments will take centuries at least." The Magos explains in a slightly excited voice.


    "I see. And if these filaments were composed of nanites, and escape from those open jars?" I ask curious, pointing at their abysmal work security protocols. No wonder the Mechanicus keeps bombing labs from orbit to stop failed experiments.


    The Magi waved their metal tentacles in panic, and soon find some glass lids for the jars. They look at me like kids caught playing with scorpions, and not yet understanding the risks.


    "Next time, use a sterile warded glass operating box, with remote instruments. And have an incinerator prepared to shove that box in, if demons or metallic limbs sprout from your subject. You can follow a simple contagion protocol, being the smart and logical people that you certainly are, correct?" I mused out loud, reconsidering my projections and adding a few centuries to my plans, for the inevitable catastrophic lack of common sense of the Mechanicus.


    "You are a beacon of reason, Lord Pef. What else could we do for better security?" the Fabricator asks, and keeps picking scarabs with his tools, and dropping them in another jar.


    "A Gellar field over each Forge section and spire, forcefield containment barriers and melta warheads buried underneath each lab. Also, datasphere firewalls and regular promethium firewalls. Blackstone armor inside and out for each lab, and a million warships in orbit, just in case we need a rapid Exterminatus for the whole planet." I continue with a gentle smile.


    "Isn''t this a little exaggerated?" one Magos wonders while picking a Necron scarab and keeping it way to close to his bionic eye.


    "That is the minimum necessary, my dear Magos. If that Necron scarab activates suddenly, then turns and enters your eye, you could unleash a lethal virus and kill everyone on this planet in a minute. Meanwhile, your body will slowly transform into Necrodermis and you''ll become a Xeno. And then I will have to kill you, and burn the planet with Exterminatus. Wouldn''t that be just great?" I asked in dismay and turn around to leave.


    "... We will begin implementing the minimal security protocols, Lord Lancefire. Do you want us to harvest and clone some Black Carapace, for your next power armor?" the Fabricator asks, slicing off some of Cassiel''s dermal organ and holding in mid-air.


    I think for a moment and approve it. Arkio''s armor would become much easier to control that way.


    "And best power armor for my Sisters of Silence as well. Air sealed, auspex visor and spinal Black Carapace, with trauma packs in the pauldrons and three logic shields, each based on refractor, conversion and flare templates. Plus savant and transceiver brain implants." I demanded before I exited the medical lab.


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    Having my own Forge was providing some boons too, not just headaches.


    Brother Delos awaited outside the lab, looking worried.


    "Will Brother Cassiel be fine? They wouldn''t let me inside, damn tech-priests!" the Chaplain complained in an offended voice.


    Ah, that''s because they let me inside the ward, but not him. Envy. Such a human emotion.


    "He''s perfectly fine. My Biologis Magi are the best in the entire Eastern Fringe." I said in relaxed voice. It was sadly even true, because they were the only such Magi in the Eastern Fringe.


    "I will pray he makes a fast recovery. I also sent a warning astropath communique to Lord Commander Dante about that sorcerer, my Lord. Just in time it seems." he explained in a worried voice.


    "Oh? That happened? Tell me." I asked a bit amused, while heading for the aircraft factory.


    Sadly, it was much too close to the certainly-doomed biology lab. Orbital cleansing would burn my planes as well.


    "We were lucky some of your Blank sons were inside the gene-seed reliquary. They managed to subdue the infiltrator, with only minor injuries." Delos announced and patted my shoulder in praise.


    In a few minutes we entered the assembly lines, where servitors and low level tech-priests and enginseers worked on mass-producing my new army.


    Pretty much every force in the galaxy had too few airplanes, which would prove my advantage. The advanced starfighters even the scary Hell_Blade</a> made in the Eye of Terror, were produced in too small numbers. The same was true for the Imperium or the Eldar and only the Orks had cheap airplanes.


    The enemy would have a hundred or a thousand starfighters, I would have a million cheap fighters. Quite possibly at the same total cost. Damn spacefighters were really expensive.


    Sadly, losses would be high, due to laser weapons that took milliseconds to hit a target. Perhaps the new cheaper shields, gifted by my friendly Necron wizard, could be produced in the needed numbers.


    We shall see.


    The inspection took a whole week, from planes to tanks and small arms factories, to visiting the Catachans and convincing them of their new role as guardians of the Fringe, and of the defenseless women who fled the destruction of their homeworld.


    I even promised them 10000 thrones prize for every 10 kids, and 40000 thrones for reaching 40 kids, which wasn''t a usual gratification for a simple guardsman, even a renowned Catachan.


    Somehow, the trip gained me plenty of good will, and a hundred old-era Catachan concubines willing to bind themselves to me and my clan.


    Will have to thank Trazyn for his good taste, and the pleasant warm nights he gifted me.


    From the Sisters, only Alana was eager to taste my body yet, but I was certain the rest will follow one day. It wasn''t like they have many choices in men. Kinda hard to get close to anyone else when you were a Pariah.


    A few months later, Sisters Hestia and Aleya did in fact give in to my charms and friendly demeanor and argued they might get a new Janice from our holy union. I was hoping the same thing, of course.


    More medical tests and sample collection followed, fresh eggs and seed sent to Antax for more and better Blank Machine Spirits.


    And then, the Conveyors and the Canticle arrived, with their own new problems.


    I gathered all the Stygies high-priests in the great hall of the Mechanicus Forge, flanked by my Astartes and Silent Sisters bodyguards.


    "Welcome to Forge Retribution, all of you. Now, before you get working on all those STC templates and damaged battleships, I will make things clear. You are not to conduct personal research. That''s a capital crime in the Lancefire domains.


    Secondly, while the rules will be a bit laxer, you will not attempt experiments on my people. No viruses or infomorphs or other mass-effect devices. You will not work on Warp technologies of any kind. Xeno research will be conducted in sealed labs on the outer moons, with melta bombs planted under those labs. You will follow quarantine protocols, and stay under Gellar fields at all times. I want to hear: Yes, Lord Lancefire!"


    Grumbling Magi of all clades looked around for support. Perhaps they did want to experiment freely, outside the Imperium.


    "This is not what we were promised, Lord Lancefire. We have brought many forges and servitors and rare artifacts with us, just to escape the oppression of the Imperium." a tall robed cyborg argued and many tech-priests around him supported him with voices or gestures.


    "The focus of my Forge will be Warp-less technologies. Realspace ship engines, better reactors, mind-to-mind stellar range transmission, better personal weapons, better shields, cheap aircraft, cheap power armor and Blank Machine Spirits. That''s for starters. Later we will begin assembling Reality Cages around my worlds, to prevent any Warp emissions from interfering with civilization, from Warp Storms to Ork Waagh fields or Tyranid Silence. I don''t really care about other types of projects, nor will I fund them. Everyone who agrees, bow down and take a pledge." I shouted as hard I could.


    From about 3000 tech-priests, less than half agreed. "Good enough!" I muttered, while flicking my left glove with a shiny crystal on the backhand.


    The recalcitrant Magi vanished in my tesseract, leaving only the more pliable ones.


    I was certain I could trade them, for something of value.


    "I am certain we will have a great future together. Welcome to Retribution." I announced while passing among my new tech-priests while they looked around a bit stunned.


    "Another miracle, my lord." Chaplain Delos said while watching me with glowing eyes.


    I could only sigh, and hope it would be enough.

 Badab War - 79

    With the increased number of tech-priests, and their extra forges and servitors, completing the first orbital dock took only a few months, and we began manufacturing the new Necron-based reactor and ship drive, using the new and fake STC patterns we have discovered aboard the derelict battleship.


    We called them Macharius-pattern, because that guy was now a Saint and thus less likely to arouse too much suspicion.


    Brother Cassiel was reassembled successfully by the strangely effective Biologis Magi, without the Necron mind-control scarabs, and expedited to his homeworld of Baal to donate his knowledge and gene-seed to his weakened Chapter.


    Meanwhile, Forge Antax worked hard to upgrade our Baneblades to the Doomhammer-pattern with twin Magma lances and atomantic reactors, and converting the Leman Russ tanks to Volcano Lance variants.


    It took much less time and resources than building a new superheavy war machine, and with Flare shields the Doomhammers would be twice as durable now.


    Our destroyers have all finished converting to the Los Angeles-class, with 30 torpedoes in a vertical cell, and the corvettes followed the upgrading queue right now with a 20 torpedoes cell, because they were smaller.


    The Litany and the Hymnal, as well as the Dominator-class cruiser and the new Mercury-class battlecruiser will take much too long to upgrade, and so they remained in factory specifications, only adding the improved auguries and a lot more point-defense weapons.


    As for myself, between coordinating construction and making babies, I worked with the two Fabricators on the Nova shells we had, trying to modify the schematic for a Nova mine.


    For all our efforts, the best we could achieve was something akin to a slow torpedo, sheathed in layers of ceramite and asteroid rock.


    Wasn''t ideal, but I did have my tesseract to deploy them in advantageous locations. For other people and our local defense, they would be much less effective.


    And then, the first transport of blackstone from Mandragora arrived right on time, and we could really start upgrading most of our installations and ships with Warp-resistant armor. Only 10 centimeter thick plates of blackstone, because we had a lot to cover.


    Necron ships were made entirely out of this stuff, and were amazingly durable, but we were thieves and scavengers and had to ration our resources.


    We did have enough adamantium to cover the battleships in 10-meter-thick armor layers, and we will probably do that, once we had strong enough reactors to allow those ships to still move.


    One mass-conveyor was sent to Forge Ryza, containing a few new STC templates, a melted adamantium hull recovered from that Space Hulk, plus enough blackstone for thousands of power armor plates and a dozen Eldar derelicts from the siege of Sotha, and even an intact Eldar cruiser, without prisoners.


    I was sure the Fabricator will appreciate the gift and start upgrading the conveyor into the fleet carrier I had envisioned. I even ''found'' an ancient STC template of an Odysseus_Class_War_Galley</a> retrofitted for carrier operations, both parasite-type system-ships and starfighters, plus torpedo cells and landing bays for troop transports. The new carrier had 10 Gellar fields, and 4 void shields, because it would carry a valuable fleet inside.


    Another Universe-class conveyor departed for Triplex Phall, though without blackstone, because they were mining from Mandragora right now. Mostly adamantium-made hulls and Eldar derelicts.


    In exchange, I requested one more Nova-Cannon armed cruiser and another armored regiment, because I did have many kids in need of a good ship. And if the same fleet carrier could be converted from the conveyor hull, even better.


    My Blank daughter Andrea was still a cadet pilot, but she boarded that conveyor to return as a cruiser Captain. It would take years til she returned, so she had enough time to finish her command courses. She also had an Astartes bodyguard and 2 companies of Catachans, if she eventually wanted big strong kids with razor-sharp reflexes.


    The frigates were recalled to Retribution to receive our first locally made conversion into missile frigates, with 40 torpedoes ready to launch and 40 missile launchers each. They did have a heavy lance and 40 lascannon and 40 point-defense multilaser batteries as well, but that was mostly for moral support.


    I wasn''t planning to fight anyone at that close range, but better to have them than not.


    Next year, we were ready for the Warp-less engine''s first test run, using the big Ork Terror-ship as a test bed.


    Our last conveyor was still being prepared, its hull split open to allow the next engine to be installed. But only if it worked.


    Nobody expected the Ork derelict to survive, not even myself. That poor hull had suffered so much under the Ork disrepair, and then after getting bombed and boarded by my troops, that everyone expected it to fall apart in mid-trip or something.


    Instead, the tech-priest in command and his servitors, made it to Illevar and back in 3 weeks, without entering the Warp.


    Twice as slow as a good Warp current could take you, and a hundred times better than the worse currents.


    And most of all, it was reliable! The Gellar fields only kept minor ghosts and echoes away, without the constant assault by demons or Enslavers.


    Possibly 1000 times slower than the Eldar or Necron could travel, but this was only the first flight. Starfighters could fly 1000 times faster than the first aircrafts, and in time we will have faster spaceships.


    This called for a big celebration, and the Silent Sisters agreed unanimously. The ship kitchens provided foodstuff and drinks for a dozen people, my cogitator provided non-stop victory hymns, and we got to taste all. In fact, we locked ourselves in my Canticle apartment and came out a week later, very drained but very satisfied.


    I was pretty sure both Atarine_Hestia</a> and Tanau_Aleya</a> got pregnant during the celebration party, while Alana was months pregnant already. She did get to taste me first, after all.


    The troops on the ground were being ordered to muster for war, those of them in rotation for deployment. We wouldn''t leave the Forge defenseless, because that''s how bad things happened.


    The conveyor soon received the new engine, and a fleet of 1000 system-only corvettes was loaded from Antax, in exchange for the first Warp-less ship.


    And so, we departed for Badab, just in time to intervene in the worst massacres.


    The Canticle and the Mercury stayed behind, because they formed the backbone of our domain defenses now.


    Instead, we had 20 Los Angeles destroyers and 3 cruisers as escorts for the Icarus fleet carrier, which carried inside enough ships and troops to win a small war.


    For example, it carried five Catachan regiments, all mechanized and armored. My own troops were not bound by the regulations of Astra Militarum, which allowed only a handful of Sentinels per regiment. I could have 1000 walkers, and I did. And mine had arms too.


    I could have 1000 Laser Weasels and 500 Multilaser Hydras and 100 Missile Manticores and 50 Lance Leman Russ tanks and 20 Doomhammers per regiment. And I did.


    Unlawfully taken from Royal Road, this story should be reported if seen on Amazon.


    A normal Cadian armored regiment has 30 Leman Russ tanks, one Baneblade and only 5 Hydras. And no air support. Makes you wonder how they still stand.


    I had 40 thousand drones and ground attack fighters, and 4000 interceptors. Not all that much yet, but they were homemade.


    Training 4000 of my Catachans to become fighter pilots continued during the trip, which required lots of savant implants and math lessons, beside simulations and cadet lessons. Luckily I did have a cadre of cadets and officers to do all the training for me.


    Of the Silent Sisters, one of each was deployed in the cruisers'' Gellar generatoriums, to keep Warp accidents at a minimum, just like they did on the Inquisition''s Black ships.


    We emerged at Badab in the middle of an Astartes-vs-Mechanicus fight, Navy and Mechanicus ships under attack by the Astral_Claws</a>, having gone traitor due to their Chapter Master having fallen to Chaos, and the idiots following orders without thinking.


    "Destroyers, support loyal Navy and the Mechanicus vessels. Cruisers, free to hunt the Astral Claws'' Strike Cruisers. Icarus, launch the fleet!"


    "Navy and Mechanicus ships, this Rogue Trader Pef Lancefire with private fleet support. We will move to intercept the traitors." I announced on the Vox channel, just as a few Karthargan trade vessels began taking heavy fire from Fury starfighters and Strike Cruisers of the Astral Claws.


    The Mechanicus ships had Forge Ryza symbols on them, while the Navy cruisers were part of Battlefleet</a> Karthargo, which had possibly come to assist collecting taxes.


    "Lord Lancefire, you have come at the right time! And that Icarus conveyor can surely carry many corvettes..." A Ryza tech-priest with Biologis insignia appeared on the pict-screen.


    "Your Fabricator on Forge Ryza does have the same STC template, esteemed Magos. Surely you must have seen your shipyards working on the Odysseus-class fleet carrier?" I asked wryly,


    The Magos blinked and checked something on his console. "Oh. That''s what it was. I admit I don''t pay much attention to what the other clades are doing. These renegade Astartes refused to pay their gene-tithe and even fired...and now destroyed an Administratum ship." he commented astounded, as a merchant vessel of the Karthargan blew up under sustained fire from three Strike Cruisers.


    Well, now it was war. The traitors fired again on the other Administratum trade vessels, and perhaps got lucky to hit something vital, as more and more exploded, curiously at the same rate as my plasma warheads teleported towards the enemy.


    I directed 30 corvettes to attack the Lufgt_Huron</a>''s Battle Barge, while mentally priming a plasma warhead for teleport.


    Just needed to get closer...which took some time with the lumbering fleet carrier.


    The traitors also had another Overlord-class Battlecruiser like the Canticle, 4 Grand Cruisers and a Ramilies Class Starfort</a> known as Canaan''s Eye, which would be rather useful too.


    I just needed to make the ships run, and then capture them, without witnesses.


    I could also use my troops to quell the rebellion and conquer the Starfort, and claim it as war loot. This confiscation of assets was a rather common occurrence in the Imperium, but I didn''t have enough Space Marines to win over the Astral Claws fair and square.


    They had used the stolen gene-seeds to mass-produce more Astartes, 20 times more over the Codex limit.


    Well, the extra Astartes should sell quite well to a certain collector of historical artifacts plus nobody knew yet how many Astral Claws there really were.


    More warheads will be needed to obscure the forensic investigation that will follow.


    Playing with my gloved fingers on the command chair''s armrest, I began doing just that, kidnapping Company after Company of illicit Astartes, while my ships created a wonderful smoke screen of torpedoes and missiles.


    "Blood Angels! Ready five assault squads. Prepare to teleport on that Starfort. I need one fort, for my capital." I ordered with a light voice, like it would be a really easy fight.


    With only half a Company of Astral Claws, instead of five, and with a dozen warheads exploding in critical areas just as the torpedoes struck the thick fort armor, the starfort fell quite easily indeed.


    Having complete superiority with the new Rosarius shields and blackstone armor plates, my Blood Angels plowed through the traitors, just as a battalion of Catachans and a hundred tech-priests began teleporting to secure the fort.


    Just Huron''s Battle Barge had 1000 Astartes on it, which began vanishing into the tesseract labyrinth as torpedoes began striking the barge in huge volleys.


    The vessel remained drifting and listing, and more Blood Angels and tech-priests teleported on board to secure our prize.


    Seeing this, and deprived of their leader''s commands, the other Astral Claws vessels began speeding away, fleeing the battle. However, the Astartes on board vanished mysteriously, as did the vessels once the Warp rifts opened.


    Was I cheating like a Necron Overlord? Sure I was. Even using the exact same technology, though without temporal manipulation or galactic range teleport, because I didn''t enslave a C''tan to my will. Not yet.


    The Navy cruisers caught courage seeing the battle won, and soon advanced to bombard the Astral Claws positions on the surface, supported by my destroyers and interceptors.


    Of course, there were 10 thousand Astral Claws on Badab, which didn''t manage to die to orbital bombardments, getting rescued by a mysterious force with dimensional tesseracts at his disposal.


    The Serfs and the Aspirants kept fighting of course, and so I began deploying my Catachan armored regiments and my air power, with the system corvettes providing pin-point lance orbital support, or torpedo volleys on Void shielded fortresses.


    A thousand corvettes had 20 thousand torpedoes, which was more than enough to crush any fortified position.


    The Mechanicus vessels also began dropping skitarii and battle-automata on the surface of Badab, forcing an even faster victory.


    I didn''t wait to see the result, taking my cruisers and the destroyers and departing at speed towards Iblis. There was a Mars battlecruiser there I needed to capture.


    The conveyor will be needed to supply the ground troops, and had a thousand torpedo corvettes for defense. It should be fine.


    "Blood Angels, do not let anyone else board my Starfort, except the Forge Ryza Magi. Same for the captured Battle Barge."


    "Understood, Lord Pef. Good hunting for the traitors!" Chaplain Delos replied from my Starfort.


    Installing warp-less engines on the fort should be possible, as it was big enough. Perhaps too big.


    Same for the Grand Cruisers, which were just a bit too small, for the current Necron drive. Maybe after tinkering with the drive design a little.


    It wasn''t my urgent concern though.


    Only confiscating as many ships I could, from this Badab_War</a>.

 Magog - Chapter 80

    En route to Iblis, I make use of the tech-priests I imported from Stygies, basically a think-tank of various clades and specialities to recover the lost STC patterns of the Macharius tank.


    A twin Volcano Lance template, with two small plasma reactors to supply both the engine and the weapons, and 2 heavy bolters for defense, seems to be the best we can make at a reasonable cost. It also has the new Flare shield, which doubles the prodigious durability once more.


    Much cheaper would be a classic Vanquisher cannon variant, like those Leman Russ tanks, with 3 autocannons for close defense. Could also use a heavy flamer, due to its promethium-based engine. We mark it down for the Astra Militarum and other PDF style forces. The guardsmen will surely love having these as their primary tanks.


    The next variant, one with a Gatling heavy bolter and 2 twin-autocannons, would be hugely useful against light infantry. Not that much against anything else, and thus it''s only there as a gift.


    The quad lascannon variant, with 3 twin-multilasers gets my approval quite fast. Laser technology is cheap and readily available for any Forge. I would pre-order a million of them, but they are still heavy tanks. Perhaps the entire Imperium of Man might produce a million, in a hundred years. They would probably need to, considering what''s coming. A Power Shield could be also installed, for extra resilience and cost.


    The next variant takes more work, because it uses the Ryza plasma cannon and the Tigrus atomantic reactor. There is enough energy for a Flare shield and 3 triple-multilasers, and this beast will keep working for a decade.


    Only the more advanced Forges could build them, for Astartes and other elite units. This variant though, can face the worst in the galaxy, Titans or Necrons, even Chaos Engines. Every Forge World should have a few hundreds, just in case.


    The last variant has the Volkite cannon from the Glaive, with a frontal twin-lascannon and 2 quad-multilasers on the sides. It is obscenely powerful against most units, and as expensive as the plasma variant. But it doesn''t stand a chance against Titans or same class enemies. It is the future though. Forges working to build this complex beauty will need to struggle and grow, and Tyranids swarms would just melt in front of it. Only Mars can built it, or maybe Graia, if their new planet has been developed enough.


    And then we arrive at Iblis, to find the place peaceful and rather confused at our arrival. This is the base of Battlefleet Maelstrom, but the war hasn''t reached it yet. Seems I won''t confiscate anything here, without the spark of a war.


    We refuel and re-arm the torpedoes, for money. It''s not that I''m poor, I''m not. My clan is damn rich and I rarely spend money for anything. I must be the strangest Rogue Trader ever.


    Anyway, with the loot of this campaign, I will have the largest fleet of any Rogue Trader dynasty, even those 10 thousand years old.


    We already have battleships and battlecruisers, plus all the other ships.


    I tell Finona to instruct her astropath, and have Victor sell a dozen crippled Eldar cruisers on the market, via Antax. It will make us twice as rich, and more importantly famous and well--seen by the xenophobic Imperium.


    Plus, we will need lots of thrones to sponsor the emigration policy and subsidize child births. Those thrones will return as taxes once the population grows.


    Many times over, if my savant implant isn''t wrong by a few zeros.


    Using money to promote Ork style reproduction is funny, I know. They use teeth, but it pales in comparison with a real economy.


    This gives me an idea, and I instruct Veryon to attempt a barter with our northern Ork neighbors, those that I bombed into bronze age. He still has a decent fleet at Natale, and a growing coal and promethium industry.


    The Orks will move away from those northern planets, in exchange for a few derelict Ork ships and a new target. We could gain 50 livable planets without a long fight to cleanse the worlds and ruin the ecosystems, and without spreading Ork spores by the billions.


    And if those Orks try to loot the Novokh_Dynasty</a>, it will be fun to watch. Who knows, maybe the Necrons will deploy their C''tan Crimson God</a> and I might get a chance to steal him.


    I''m not sure what abilities the Crimson C''tan shard might have, but better send the Orks first and observe. The greenskins are not completely stupid, but promise of loot and a strong enemy always makes them jump head first.


    It is a very risky mission for my brother, but such is life for all Rogue Traders. You want an empire and riches, you have to take risks.


    He basically needs 50 Orkish ships to lift off their entire population and escort them towards Dhol, the Necron capital. Then run away and just observe from a great distance.


    My own fleet begins hunting the Magog sector, closer to the Maelstrom, and I do capture an Ork Kroozer and a pirate Dictator_Cruiser</a>, a carrier type with 5 squadrons of Fury fighters on board, as well as bombers and landers.


    Did you know this story is from Royal Road? Read the official version for free and support the author.This pirate had 3 allied destroyers and a parasite Stalwart_Escort_Ship</a> with melta charges on the prow ramp, for boarding. Like a 800-meter-long boarding torpedo, filled with ravenous and rapacious looters and criminals.


    This loot is already worth 70 billion thrones, and I have just begun. As long as we avoid the Hrud temporal event-horizons, we should be fine. I''m certain Trazyn can deal with the Hrud just like he can with anyone else, but I lack his 60 millions years of immortal studies. Gellar fields are no protection against the Hrud abilities, but perhaps they could be used on the Tyranids or Chaos.


    And speaking of Chaos, two systems over we find an Ork Empire battling a Chaos fleet and winning. I hold my ships while we observe, and when the Ork Boss teleports with his meks and nobs on the Chaos battlecruiser, I steal his Ironclad battleship and all the escorts. 10 ships already captured, and they even have leader-less green crew.


    Perhaps gathering enough forces to drown the Necrons in a green sea won''t be that hard.


    Once the Chaos marines are butchered, I contact the Ork boss to tell him where he can find the next ''gud fight''. Somehow his meks take over the infected Chaos ship and depart to fight a Necron god. They didn''t bother to close the hangar doors, so I expect a lot of demons will provide entertainment till their final destination.


    "What just happened, my lord?" Chaplain Delos asks me a bit confused and amazed.


    "What do you mean, Astartes?" I ask in fake innocence.


    "You allowed the Orks to capture that traitor vessel, and sent them to fight Necrons..." he mutters in dismay.


    "Not sure what is your point, Chaplain." I wondered in real confusion.


    He loses his train of thoughts for a moment before sighing in defeat. "I keep forgetting you''re a Rogue Trader."


    My bridge crew laughs heartily, glad we didn''t have to risk our skins in a rather perilous boarding for no gain, as Chaos ships should always be pushed into a sun.


    Before we depart, we fire our lances at the surface, burning off most of the Ork infestation, looted cities and factories crawling with gretchins and boyz. The mushrooms will return, but without industry, ships or a Warboss they won''t be a danger for a millennium.


    Next five systems are empty, and then we stumble into a nest of pirates and some kind of criminal cartel, mining some rare minerals.


    Twenty pirate destroyers, 5 Tempest_Frigate</a>s and 2 light cruisers with macrocannons get vanished into my crystal labyrinth before we launch our invasion. Of course, my Blood Angels are kinda overkill for this type of enemies, but I''m here for loot and plunder.


    We also have thousands of combat servitors with adamantium shields and a battalion of void marines with Volcano sentinels.


    A dozen various transport and courier vessels get boarded and captured, and we find almost a 50 billion thrones in valuable jewelry, rare art items and lots and lots of ancient weapon patterns and portable shields. On top of that, we liberate a million slaves, including captured Nobles, Administrators and Navigators, even some Navy officers and another Knight pilot.


    I keep the Navigators and the Knight, as I can provide them with ships and a new Knight suit, and the rest of the more important former slaves are loaded on my new Fast_Clipper</a> to be deposited at Iblis for a small rescue fee.


    I don''t even get a thanks from the entitled bastards, but then I didn''t expect one.


    Can''t carry a million people, but there is no need. This mining base and port is theirs, with few transport ships to keep trading. I don''t need to take everything, and I don''t.


    Pirates and criminals get executed or transformed into servitors, depending on what the locals claim. I won''t sit in judgement too much. If there''s a charge, death. If not, lobotomy and eternal servitude on my ships.


    For the next year we continue hunting the edge of the Maelstrom, while the Badab War slowly changes focus to other rebellious Chapters like the Mantis and the Executioners.


    We find 300 more destroyers, some 30 frigates and cruisers and an old Grand Cruiser transformed into a casino/space station. The local mob had 100 billion of illegal thrones in the vaults, which is of course shared by a percent with the crew.


    I also gain more control over the labyrinths, and line my captives in nice organized rows by race and height. The Astartes look great, like I have a thousand decks of miniatures.


    Somehow, I begin to understand Trazyn''s fascination with collecting various decks. It is rather fulfilling.

 Angstrom - Chapter 81

    With fuel and supplies running low, I decided it was time to return from our hunt, just as the second year of the war came about.


    In my fleet''s wake there were 20 burned out Ork planets, plus 2 Chaos fleets pulverized by Macross-style torpedo volleys, and their wrecks pushed into suns.


    Almost 1000 vessels captured, half of them transports of smaller size and mining barges, a few factory ships and nearly 400 warships including the Overlord battlecruiser and 5 Grand Cruisers, then 83 Ork ships including one ironclad battleship and a dozen Kroozers.


    Only half of what I had hoped to achieve with my campaign, but the local pirates wouldn''t simply stay put where I first located them from Sotha, and allow me to capture them, instead hiding into deeper parts of the Maelstrom.


    Even worse, various Astartes forces started shadowing my fleet, Salamanders and Scorpions and even Star Phantoms and Fire Hawks.


    I did keep a smoke screen of 200 smaller ships around, and kept buying fuel and torpedoes by the thousand, so this might have raised alarm bells, especially with so much traitor activity going around.


    Someone must have tipped-off the pirates too, because too often we arrived to find pirate ports and holdouts deserted.


    My fleet was fast, but astropath messages were faster.


    Even worse, the Astral Claws had still not been completely vanquished, their Master of the Forge and many of his techmarines along with some escorts and one cruiser managed to avoid my fleet and all pursuit from all the hunting forces, which was eerie and not a good sign.


    On board the capital vessels we had captured were 117 Atmospheric Incendiary torpedoes and 4 cyclonic ones, plus a dozen vortex torpedoes and even 3 biological Exterminatus virus warheads.


    The captured Battle Barge at Badab had 6 more virus warheads, which the Biologis Magi from Forge Ryza were allowed to retrieve. Better not make a scandal out of that, as I had my own samples now, hidden in a pocket dimension.


    Luckily, due to the presence of my Blood Angels nobody could claim my starfort and the barge, although it was certain many Navy and Astartes Captains would have wanted to.


    So we returned to Badab, and began the tedious task of dealing with tithes and splitting of loot, and then recovering my occupation troops. This time Badab wasn''t completely burned down, only half of it, perhaps due to my Catachans and their armored forces moving fast to capture key factories and a couple Hive cities.


    The loyal Astartes were out for blood though, and assaulted Hive Dominar and the Palace of Thorns fortress-monastery with overwhelming force, leaving only burning buildings and shattered bodies. In their defense, the Astral auxiliaries and their Aspirants fought to the last, using advanced weapons like conversion beamers and plasma cannons, which caused many casualties towards Astartes Chapters such as Carcharodons</a> or the Exorcists</a>.


    A hundred times fewer loses than without my involvement, which probably ruined some well-crafted plans among the Great Enemy or the conflict stirring Inquisitors, or both.


    From Badab, we simply tractored the Ramilies starfort with the Icarus to the nearby Forge Angstrom</a>, a low level Forge, but enough for my needs.


    The Astral Claws'' Battle Barge made the jump by itself, having received emergency repairs from the Ryza tech-priests and my own tentacled engineers.


    Can I say I was received with warmth and friendliness? Nope.


    The Fabricator of Angstrom was exiled here from Forge Ryza for a reason, and it wasn''t for his polite manners. I had to deploy my corvettes and parade them around, just to get an audience.


    His spire was the most advanced piece of technology I have seen, from holofields and forcefields and auspex scanner of a dozen types, and really advanced skitarii weapons and armor. And that was only what I could see as a visitor. They had no Titans and Knight forges here, but made the best power armor available. No wonder the guy was so proud and independent. Everyone else needed him.


    But then, I unloaded on him a hundred STC templates, and he switched gears, just like that.


    "Rogue Trader Lancefire, you leave me at a loss, for words and actions too. This wealth of knowledge is priceless, and my Forge doesn''t have anything that could repay you." the Fabricator said with a concerned voice and examined my space wolf again.


    I was pretty sure nobody else had a real wolf from the Space Wolves themselves.


    "Correct, but also not. You are in contact with the Lamenters, even providing them with power armor, weapons and gunships. It''s them I want to save, before they join the traitor side in the Badab War. I can also fix their curse, like am I doing right now for the Blood Angels." I explained in a level voice, and patted my loyal Canis.


    "I will not get involved in that stupid intra-Astartes conflict!" the Fabricator boomed in displeasure, his vox casters screeching with binary code.


    I just sighed and opened my null box. "You will join Fabricator, and you know it too. Perhaps not yet, but it is inevitable. But I don''t need military forces, since I am withdrawing my ships back into the Fringe. I need an Astartes Chapter, and the Lamenters need a home and relief from their gene curse. Also, relief from the bad luck which plagues them since their founding."  I said gently as my Rosette blared with security codes and over-rides.


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    The Fabricator glanced inside my chest box and waved a few tentacles in annoyance. "Another Inquisitor in disguise? No wonder you get away with everything, Lord Lancefire! Okay, I will place an astropath call to the Lamenters. Nothing else?"


    With a wide grin, I tapped the next dataslate. "Here is a warp-less drive template, just like Forge Ryza has. Same stuff that powers the Icarus fleet carrier. Also the strongest ship reactor in the Imperium. I need someone to work on this, miniaturize it for battlecruiser size. Someone with access to rare minerals from the Maelstrom Zone, and advanced knowledge of plasma technology. It will need angstrom-scale quality control, but this is the name of your Forge World, correct?"


    The old tech-priest scanned the dataslate a dozen times, mechadendrites trembling in excitement. "It is possible after all. A Macharius-pattern space drive, found by the Saint himself?"


    "A dozen Forge Worlds already have the ancient drive template, Fabricator. From my knowledge, an entire Crusade fleet was trapped in a Space Hulk, and then released somehow, with many ships having these templates hidden in the engine rooms. Also had those Macharius-pattern heavy tanks and the Armed Sentinels. Out in the Fringe, I have found a Macharius Vitrix battleship that Forge Retribution now works to restore." I explained with a patient smile.


    Everything I said was true, from a certain point of view.


    "Even so...this isn''t a minor favor or even a great Favor. Do you need exclusive rights for the smaller drive, if we manage to miniaturize it? Your Trader Dynasty will become the richest in the Galaxy. Heavy cruisers and battlecruisers are a hundred times more numerous than battleships or fleet carriers. Everyone will have to buy it from you." the Magos suggested as an alternative payment.


    "That could work. Let''s say a contract for a 50 years exclusive production rights, you produce and sell them in my House''s name. Firstly for the Inquisition Black ships, and then new Navy battlecruisers or Astartes Barges. But after that, the pressure for more warp-less drives will become too great, and we will have to release it to all Mechanicus Forges. I bet you don''t want a Mars enforcement fleet coming here." I mused out loud.


    The Fabricator was a very smart man. "Inquisition first, huh? That would block most demands right from the start. I don''t know what kind of alloys will be needed to produce the same energy in a smaller volume. What about that Starfort?"


    "It will be the base for my Fringe Astartes Chapter, like I told you. With a warp-less drive it will even be mobile...if very slow." I answered with a pleasant smile.


    The Magos sighed audibly and opened a trade screen on his cogitator.


    "See anything here that might interest you, Lord Lancefire?" he offered in a smaller voice.


    I checked the screen with knowing eyes. "A hundred anti-grav gunships and a thousand Armored Sentinels. Perhaps a hundred Omega-pattern Macharius tanks, when you have time to build them."


    "Please, Lord Pef. My Forge may be small but we''re not poor. May I suggest 200 Fury Interceptors for your carrier and a dozen Baneblade tanks?" he offered in a pained voice.


    I shook my head. "At most 100 Furies, Magos. They are too big and expensive to maintain. No fuel and ammo for regular Baneblades, not in the Eastern Fringe. Gift them to some Guard regiments on Armageddon, they sure need extra power." I proposed instead, knowing that firepower will make a huge difference and save millions of Guardsmen.


    "What are those auspex-blocking plates on your Blood Angels armor?" he asked instead, pointing at a screen with my angelic bodyguards getting spied on by many tech-priests and servo-skulls.


    "... That is what is called blackstone in the Fringe. Ten times more durable than ceramite, and even blocks most Warp phenomena like Sorcerer spells and curses. Forge Triplex Phall mines it by the megatonne from a mining planet called Mandragora. Ryza also uses it for Astartes armor now, probably after they saw how fast my Blood Angels captured that starfort and the traitor''s barge" I said while tapping my own blackstone armor plates. Made sense to protect myself too, even if I was Blank.


    "Very useful then...and any Astartes without this ''blackstone'' armor will find themselves at disadvantage. Is that how you are suppressing the curse of your bodyguards?" he asked in a more interested tone.


    "Partially. The rest is their Chapter secret and I won''t go into it." I replied curtly, before faking a surprise thought. "Hmmm. I just had an idea. A thousand specialist tech-priests to train the Lamenters new techmarines, so they can maintain their equipment in the Fringe. Pretty much only Orks and Tyranids around, and scarce supplies. They would need to be self-sufficient."


    "You''re getting close to my final line with this. What if the Lamenters do not come?'' he wondered curiously.


    I smiled sweetly. "You did mention the curse, right? They will come, Fabricator. They will come running." My voice sounded convinced, although I had mere hope. The Lamenters were prone to Warp accidents, and might come very slowly.


    "Woof!" Canis exclaimed in agreement.


    I was getting more convinced every day that my wolf understood words just fine.

 Lamenters - Chapter 82

    Of course, Warp travel takes very long sometimes.


    We waited 2 years at Angstrom for the Lamenters to arrive. Thankfully, they didn''t stop by Badab this time, and thus they should escape the century of persecution that would have followed.


    Of course, Forge Angstrom uses this time to repair and upgrade my Starfort and new Battle Barge, and fill the corvettes and destroyers as well as the fort''s torpedo bunkers with new torpedoes and the armories with tons of weapons and vehicles.


    They give me a lot, in exchange for those priceless STCs. No money exchange hands though, because my actions around the Magog sector are now spoken of as the Lancefire Crusade, by some Administratum officials. The time is not wasted, not at all.


    But when the Lamenters do come they all come, which makes some sense as they are a fleet-based chapter.


    Two Battle Barges: Mater Lachrymarum and Daughter of Tempests, 9 cruisers, 22 escorts, a dozen support and supply ships and two more Mobile Forge ships.


    Most excellent, although it is not enough. My own fleet before the Badab Crusade was larger than this.


    A Lamenter delegation lands on my Icarus, including their Chapter Master, who doesn''t seem too happy to meet me. Nor are his Brothers, the Sanguinary Priests which carry in their blood the renewal gene-seed for the next generations of Astartes.


    I don''t care about the corrupted Lamenter seed at all. Whatever happened to their modified gene-seed has backfired so badly, that even other Astartes Chapters refuse to fight beside them.


    However, their tactics In combat favor shock assault and close air-support tactics, and they are used to performing boarding actions. Pretty much perfect for my needs.


    "You are Rogue Trader Pef Lancefire? We paid our debt dearly, for another one of your kind. Our Brothers who departed for the Achilus Crusade</a> did not return." Chapter Master Malakim Phoros proclaims in a distrustful voice.


    I nod politely. "They chose to join the Deathwatch, so their return is in absolutely no way related to me, or even the Rogue Trader you aided in that crusade." I answer with a shrug, and rest my glove on my wolf''s horse-sized head.


    Canis had grown even larger than I thought possible, but he won''t let me ride him. Only my kids get that privilege. Strange, but then I do have plenty ships and dropships to carry me where I need.


    The man blinks in surprise and glances at his aides. They possibly thought those Lamenters were completely lost, like it sometimes happened in this dangerous galaxy.


    "There are ways to find out, even if the Ordo Xenos hid our Brothers from us." Master Phoros mutters with a determined voice.


    "Anyways, come! Let''s visit the engine room. I bet a throne you have never seen a warp-less drive." I demand and walk away, with Sister Hestia flanking me on the right and Canis at my left.


    The visiting Lamenters debate for a few seconds in finger gestures, probably like "You go, I cover the exit" if my helmet''s visor is correct.


    Well, they are walking into a trap, but it''s not the violent kind. Quite the contrary.


    "Have you noticed I am a Blank, just like this lovely lady here?" I ask the Astartes with a curious tone.


    He just nods, not that impressed. "I have seen others."


    "And yet, you didn''t immediately recruit those Blanks for your cursed Chapter. Then again, those afflicted with Black Rage can barely even think, let alone make good decisions. Understandable." I answer in a patient voice, and pat his pauldron in compassion.


    He deflects my hand in anger. "I don''t need your pity, Rogue Trader! Get to the point."


    "Master Huron of the Astral Claws has fallen to Chaos, and dragged his Chapter and his allies after them, into treason. Killed him myself a few years ago, just for sport. I also killed the more famous traitor, Primarch Lorgar. Might have heard of him, even in your rage-induced stupidity." I explained patiently, while waiting for the elevator to arrive, which given the size of the Icarus took a few minutes.


    His eyes glow with fury, but he struggles to restrain himself with all his willpower. I guess he must have some control over the Black Rage, or he wouldn''t last as a Chapter Master.


    "The Lamenters owe the Astral Claws a huge favor. You just made things worse by killing their Chapter Master." the old Astartes growls in a pained voice.


    Hestia gestures at me something like "Is he a traitor too?" which the Astartes can certainly see and interpret.


    "Mind your sign words, null-maiden. We also owe Forge Angstrom a considerable debt for their machines and supplies. It is why we agreed to come, but don''t insult us!" Master Phoros mutters, in a lower tone.


    I gesture a quick "Silence!" to the Silent Sister, which makes the Lamenter chuckle sadly, and Canis to make himself smaller and whimper in protest. So, even Space Marines can understand irony.


    "Not you, Canis! The loud woman with the big knife." I console my wolf and pat his head.


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    Is my wolf grinning?


    I don''t think anyone has given space wolves a savant implant before, because my Canis is way too smart, even faking emotions to break the tension. It works a little, as the Chapter Master shakes his head at our antics and leaves it be.


    Eventually, we arrive at the tech-priest infested engine room, where a thousand of them inspect, bless and measure the wondrous ancient machine like they have seen a holy relic.


    "This device is part of the solution to your curse, Astartes. Using these type of engines, ships can travel among stars without entering Warp, and the dangers implied with that. Forge Angstrom will provide me warp-less engines, that I can gift for your three barges and your new Starfort. That''s for starters." I explain while Hestia climbs on my wolf and goes exploring.


    I think she might be a bit upset with me, or she simply wanted to give me privacy. You never know, women are fickle.


    "I have heard a rumour, but it seems true after all. I never seen such a ship engine before, and I think I have seen all of them." he says with wary eyes. Well, after boarding a thousand ships you probably get to know your way around engines.


    "Well, the STC template is millennia old and probably not complete. That''s why only large ships can use this drive, for now. The Fabricator is trying to repair the flaws and make it usable for cruisers, but it will take time. The Starfort is more than big enough. It may even need two or three engines. Perfect place for a fortress-monastery, especially after it could travel the stars." I say as we walked around the many suspended bridges and walkways.


    A perfect place to fall and break your neck, but such is the way things work here.


    Probably to reduce contact and create an isolation barrier for radiation. I am not sure, as the real science of the engine is way beyond me. And beyond the Mechanicus as well, which is why I needed Trazyn to make it, probably in a time-locked field to save on time.


    Anyway, there are no serfs or indentured convicts around the engine, and probably never will be. The engine is too rare, expensive and hard to maintain. Only Tech-priests, servo-skulls and servitor cyborgs are allowed to service the drive, with a corps of enginseers learning their way around the pipes and fusion cells and what else.


    "Can the ship fly through Warp? That has tactical advantages too." the man asks me curious.


    "Dragged behind a big ship, yes. The Icarus has 10 Gellar fields and 4 void shields, but no Warp-Engine. Only has this Macharius-pattern drive, plus normal plasma engines for realspace maneuvers." I explain patiently.


    "Like they move Starforts...Makes sense." the Astartes mused to himself.


    "The former Astral Claws'' fort had a single Gellar field. Better than nothing, but I wouldn''t risk my people flying on an accident ready to happen. The Litany has 2 Gellar generatoriums and another mechanical one covering the drive. And we still got invaded by demons once." I conclude as we head back towards the reception lounge.


    "You really killed Primarch Lorgar? I''d have thought something like that would be voxed all around the Imperium and beyond." the old Space Marine asks a bit doubtful.


    "I have recordings, although it isn''t much. I lanced him for a second with my cruiser and he died. My mother killed Fulgrim as well. Wasn''t so easy as this other traitor, though. She was a Blank too, and could restrain his powers while the rest of her team chopped and shot at the serpent." I explain in a softer voice.


    Hopefully that serpent daemon won''t get revived, not after Estaban sent his melted corpse into a blackhole, with a sacrificial ship.


    "Another one? At this rate, we Astartes will be left with nothing to do." he complained in a half-joking tone.


    I smiled and didn''t comment. Some truths hurt too much.


    At the elevator, Hestia and Aleya waited beside Canis. "Wooo! Woof Wooof!" the wolf signaled in warning.


    "Bridge, talk to me." I asked on the vox bead.


    "Astartes forces inbound, my lord. Believed to be Executioners and Mantis Warriors. Fleet is redeploying to defend the Forge World, per section F/113" my X.O. aunt explained in an assured voice. I should probably give this aunt a cruiser of her own, she was capable enough.


    With a frown, I tapped my glove to check the tesseract labyrinth. A mirror of the Angstrom star system appeared in my mind, including all the ships.


    Real time too, possible with whatever necrontyr technology the labyrinths were made from. No need to wait for return augurs or analyze gravity distortions.


    Those Astral Claws sneaky bastards! Must have heard of my fleet repairing at Angstrom.


    Another sneaky fleet was moving in behind the sun, thinking themselves hidden by the solar flares.


    In a second, that invisible fleet behind the sun vanished into my labyrinth, and will never be spoken of again. If nobody knew it was there, nobody would know it has vanished, right?


    A free Mars-class battlecruiser? I really needed one for my set. Those 9 Tyrant-class cruisers were also nice, and so it was the Endless Redemption</a> Battle barge, with 3 Astartes Companies on board, including 10 Terminators.


    It was really worth to stick around here. Good things happen for those who wait with patience.

 Master - Chapter 83

    The fleet advancing on us from the direction of Badab sector is pretty big for the way most battles take place.


    Both the Executioners and the Mantis Warriors have a dozen cruisers and two barges, while the Astral Claws have one cruiser and over 80 destroyers, because they haven''t paid taxes in the past 200 years.


    The Imperium only just noticed, which fills me with great confidence about their decision processes.


    Also, I think they''re not after the Forge World, but trying to recapture their lost barge and fort.


    "Wentian, Nova Cannon in middle of traitors'' escort group." I demand out loud, just to test how the Lamenters'' Chapter Master reacts.


    "Right away, Captain. Targeting. One minute til they enter range." my uncle replies from his Dominator cruiser.


    Master Phoros winces in pain. "Do you have to fight them?" he asks in pleading voice.


    "As I was saying, the problem all Astartes have is this falling to Chaos idiocy. Doesn''t happen for Blanks, or Pariahs, because we simply don''t give a throne about the Warp. No corruption, no mutations, not even voices in our heads promising eternal life for our souls. What we need, is a million Blanks to replace all these corrupted and treasonous cretins. Isn''t it so, Astartes?" I ask in a teasing voice, and fling three more Nova mines in the path of the three enemy squadrons.


    The blinding flare of the Nova shells blocks all sensors, preventing anyone seeing what''s happening, so a hundred destroyers simply vanish, after the light subsides. Not obliterated but into my labyrinth, so nobody knows about it.


    "Captain...the enemy fleet is decimated, all the destroyers gone, almost!" my auspex officer yells in excitement.


    I sigh audibly and key my vox. "You missed three targets, Wentian! Circle around for another shot."


    My uncle is too surprised to comment. A hundred destroyers in one Nova shell was beyond believable, even if theoretically possible, on the luckiest shot ever.


    "As you say, Captain. We''ll do better next time." Wentian answers a few seconds later.


    "That was...did you just admonish your clansman for missing three destroyers?" Chaplain Delos grumbles from my left side, while my aunt snickers in amusement.


    "... I would have got them all, plus Nova shells are expensive." I answer in a timid voice.


    Nobody on my bridge comments, because they probably believe me. My luck is the stuff of legend, and they know it.


    Only Hestia shows me a single finger sign, that says "Bullshit!"


    Canis mewls and eyes my glove with a knowing look. How can he even know, what I did? Damn bullshit wolf!


    "Incoming Vox transmission for the Astral Claws cruiser!" my vox officer claims, but doesn''t let it through.


    We rarely banter with enemies, unless they are Orks. Orks are fun.


    "What do you say, Lamenter? Ready to board their barges after next salvo?" I ask curious, while directing two wings of 100 corvettes to flank the traitors from both sides. Not letting my prizes escape.


    The attacking barges already lost a layer of void shields and the cruisers are defenseless now, after getting splashed by my Nova mines.


    "Boarding their barges will be very costly. My Chapter will suffer catastrophic losses." the Chapter Master reminds me with a heavy voice.


    Yes, hopefully nearly total loses.


    "And then, I will provide Blank recruits to replace your fallen Brothers. No more curse, plus amazing reputation for ending the Badab War in a single day. I will even lend you my Blood Angels and a Catachan regiment with Sentinels and Rapiers." I argue while keeping watch on Wentian''s cruiser.


    Should be in position in a few minutes.


    "And we keep their captured ships, for my Chapter?" Master Phoros asks in a calm voice. I know that voice, because Ludvaius uses it when we''re about to die. However, the Blood Angels will risk their lives too.


    I glance at Delos and raise an eyebrow. "You want a free Battle Barge, Brother?"


    The Blood Angel Chaplain laughs, as if he has heard the best joke ever. "Why not, my lord? Let''s end this war today."


    "All troops on deployment duty, prepare for boarding actions. Fighters, prepare to launch after Nova detonation. Astartes, teleport rooms!" I order rapidly while the Icarus Machine Spirit keeps track of the thousands of vectors and changes coming from our fleet and the enemy.


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    I also have my secondary option, using the tesseract to keep an eye on the system.


    Then, another flare and more Nova mines, plus a few plasma warheads inside the main Astartes barracks on board the barges. The cruisers'' bridges get vaporized by more plasma warheads, because I intend to give these valuable hulls to Forge Angstrom.


    Cruisers are too big to get vaporized, so they have to stay. Nobody says they need to be intact.


    The traitors had a bit too many space marines, by going over legal limits, but I also can''t make it too easy for the Lamenters. Their Rage and Thirst curses have returned, but much stronger than before.


    Not one of them can fully control their curse, and in battle they fight to the last drop of blood.


    And then, there''s the bad luck and aura of melancholy, which are certainly Warp consequences of their damaged gene-seed.


    Perhaps the Emperor isn''t happy with them, or some Dark God plays a tragedy with their souls. Maybe both of those things.


    Hestia gestures for permission to go as well, and I allow it, for all the Sisters.


    Pariahs will keep things honest, as Lamenters didn''t have psykers or Librarians, nor did they have blackstone armor and Rosaries shields yet.


    Four enemy barges, thus four squads of Ogryns get to go as well. In melee, they are worth two space marines each, and boarding actions always have melee. Battle damage is inevitable, so why not use the big sticks?


    "May the Emperor have mercy on your souls!" I whisper as the ship boardings begin.


    It is not pretty at all, but we have combat servitors, and they don''t. Serfs are not as effective in tight spaces, plus they still feel pain and fear.


    The tech-priests and the Catachans follow after the whirlwind of bolter fire and secure deck after deck, snipers targeting Librarians and other psykers, while the Silent Sisters act as magic shields, preventing Warp-fire or other spells from incinerating the front lines.


    Neophytes and Aspirants are all thrown in the grinder, all three Astartes Chapters bleeding themselves dry at the bidding of a Chaos follower and a greedy Rogue Trader.


    The fight keeps going for a week, because Astartes die hard. My Blood Angels die even harder, taking 5 enemies down for one of theirs, but they are not invulnerable.


    The Lamenters fare much worse, and lose 900 Battle-Brothers for less than 800 kills. Perhaps howling in rage and foaming at the mouth isn''t the best strategy.


    But one by one, the Battle Barges are conquered, and then the cruisers and even some support ships. The Blood Angels keep calm, and capture a hundred Astartes of each traitor chapter when they offer to surrender.


    The old Chapter Master is mortally wounded and asks to see me in their apothecary. He shouldn''t even be alive, grievous wounds probably caused by a chainsaw and a dozen bolter holes have shredded him beyond recognition. And yet he still lives.


    "Lord Lancefire, you have to promise. Save my Chapter somehow, be the next Master. Do anything in your powers. I saw the Angel...and now he stands by your shoulder. Sang...." he whispers and dies, as I glance to my side, to see a vanishing wing.


    I wasn''t the only one to see the Sanguinor appear. The Sanguinary Priests, the Apothecaries, a dozen techmarines...they all saw him. The Angel of Death came to collect.


    "Chapter Master! You are now our leader, Lord Pef Lancefire. There is no doubt." their Chief Priest announces to the mourning Lamenters.


    "Alright. I have the Blood Angel gene-seed, but it shouldn''t be much problem. It''s from the same Primarch." I muse out loud.


    "Oh, that explains some things...though not why are you still a Rogue Trader and not on Baal receiving the organs." the priest asks me in a curious voice.


    I think all the Lamenters have the same question.


    "I''m not a Space Marine though. This Angel gave me his blood, when I was injured on Estaban. Even gave me the Red Thirst, which was pretty bad for a few hours. But I got better!" I answered with a wide grin.


    They''re not sure if to believe me. "Really?" A techmarine asks in surprise.


    I nod politely. "Take blood samples...if you want to check. It''s not like Sanguinius genes can''t be seen on a medical auspex."


    And they do. A whole battery of tests in fact. I''m used to tests, but I wish they knew about anesthetics.


    I endure and get over it. It seems I will need even more concubines. Oh well. Perhaps I could find more Silent Sisters.

 Eternal - Chapter 84

    I have gotten used to time itself being a currency of the galaxy.


    So, when the Fabricator of Angstrom tells me he might need 80 years just to reduce the size of an engine from 10 kilometers battleships to 7 kilometers like a battlecruiser, it appears natural and a short time.


    I nod wisely, and advise him to use 20 years just to train a conclave of tech-priests by building big engines and selling those to the Imperial Navy. More minds and brains are better than just a few, and the Imperium will need these specialists anyway.


    He agrees, after a minute of silent deliberation. "We shall do so, Lord Lancefire. So, you have an Astartes Chapter now."


    "A very reduced one, Fabricator. No combat-able Space Marines remain for my Lamenters. Most neophytes and aspirants are gone as well, and their gene-seed is still damaged. We don''t even have enough crew to man all these captured vessels." I explain in a tired voice.


    "And the same for those Traitor marines that you preserved. The Inquisition will arrive for investigation and possibly execution of the survivors." the Archmagos says in a confident tone.


    I highly doubt that. In fact, the High Lords on Terra will most likely impose penance and a century of crusade to these failed Astartes. "That will take a few months. Let''s make sure the Executioners and the Mantis Warriors get some aid in recovering their numbers, plus a thousand techmarines each. Plenty of gene-seeds can be recovered from the corpses, plus they do have intact stocks in their gene-vaults."


    "And what stock of men will they use, Lord Pef? Miners and servants from the planets in this system?" he argues, kinda dismissive.


    Well, he does have a point. But I have an answer for that too. "Those, if the miners are healthy and without mutation. Some of your own fresh acolytes for the techmarines, and some of my Catachans and voidsmen. The same for the Lamenters techmarines. For the Lamenters Battle-Brothers we will use Blank recruits in the Eastern Fringe, which have proven to resist the rage curse, in our testing with the Blood Angels. Blanks are such a wonderful and convenient genetic stock, after all. No mutations, no Warp corruption, and that even works for organic parts in Machine Spirits. Forge Estaban makes them already." I announce and detach my vambrace Power Shield, which is indeed made on Estaban and hand it over.


    The Mechanicus Fabricator scans and considers the Power Shield for a long hour, turning the orange energy field on and striking it with his portable arsenal. I only recognize a third of his weapons, and I think one of those pistols is a psylancer, something only Ordo Malleus and the Grey Knights are allowed to have. Then again, someone has to produce these weapons, and that is only the Mechanicus.


    "It does seem to work, Lord Lancefire. Sure, it is very low-level technology, as it is. Any Forge can make these power shields, and Estaban still uses nanometer-scale forges. The quality is abject!" the tech-priest complains in disgust.


    He might puke his guts out, if he learns my Forge Retribution only has millimeter-scale quality control for the cheap infantry vehicles. So I don''t tell him. See, I''m smart like that!


    "Want to check my savant implants while we''re not busy? I may need a better implant, and more functions if I have to lead an Astartes Chapter. Never been a Space Marine before, you see?" I ask in a wry tone.


    My skull gets shaven and cut open in a minute, and I hear grumbling and more quality-control expletives. A few hours later, my skull is put back together, and a whole new world opens to me. I can see the datasphere now, hear the machines constant droning and hear electric currents and taste infobytes on my tongue. And there''s something else, a feeling of control over my armor...


    "I have given you a Mind Impulse Unit, Lord Lancefire. You will certainly be able to pilot any human ship or vehicle, up to Knight suits. I have also cleaned some blood clots and silver particles deposited on your right brain lobe. A tech-priest has made a mess in there, so you were right to request a new implant. Silver and gold! Cheap materials like that will not sustain battlefleet-scale computations, nor resist stronger Machine Spirits like an Astartes Battle Barge has, via the Captain''s command throne." The Fabricator explains in a weird tone, while holding out my old implant in a mechadendrite.


    "Is the implant defective?" I wonder out loud.


    "Not exactly, no. You would be brain-dead, if it was. But it was deformed by some type of Warp phenomena, as you can see here. Where it was not covered in cerebral fluid and your blood, the golden eagle sigilium that shines, without bio-electric impulse. I think you had a relic in your head, Chapter Master Lancefire." The Fabricator says in an awed voice and sprinkles some incense on the implant. The glow fades.


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    "... I had an active Warp emitter in my head? Would that even work on a Blank?" I asked in confusion.


    "Not directly, no. But a powerful Primaris_Psyker</a> or a skilled Navigator, might be able to track the emanations of this relic. An Alpha-level psyker, at least." he mused while tinkering with the exposed and slightly corroded sigil, slicing it off and placing it in front of me for inspection.


    The nail-sized twin Aquila still shined, very faintly.


    Would Gyron even know this tracker was there? Probably not. He wasn''t a psyker.


    I powered up my better implant and began running simulations and timelines. Gyron took care of me for Justine, in exchange for some Inquisition job on Antax.


    Is that where he got this implant from? The Inquisition did use henchmen known as a Sage</a>, and they would like to keep track of them. Valuable knowledge in their brains, after all.


    Somewhere up the chain a command, there was a Lord Inquisitor with Alpha-level psyker powers, who could track my movements from a sector away.


    Then of course...whatever the Angel did to me, which activated the relic during the time when the sacred Astartes blood reached my brain.


    The Red Thirst followed, or was induced. Was this kind of Thorian</a> plot? Some faction of the Inquisition keeping tabs on potential Divine Vessels?


    The Eldar Avatars and their potential incarnations as an Eldar Deity...and my Rose was an Ordo Xenos Inquisitor.


    Avatars</a>, Enslavers</a>, Psychneuein</a> or Vampyrs</a> they could all transcend the barriers of the realspace and the Immaterium, and the Thorians searched for a similar method which could allow the Emperor to return to a flesh body.


    And who was best friends with the Eldar, among the Lord Inquisitors? Was it perhaps Bronislaw_Czevak</a> ?


    Seemed the most probable conclusion, from the facts I had. Of course, I might be paranoid and nobody was actually looking at me like the next flesh-suit of the Emperor of Mankind.


    But it made sense to be paranoid, especially if the Emperor himself was the one behind the scenes, pulling strings and arranging lucky accidents and Angels showing up. I have seen that Angel three times, which was a trillion times more than anyone else.


    ''Oh Adam, my friend. Things must be really bad out there, if you rely on me to save you. What''s next? You transform my lovely Sisters of Battle into Living Saints? Canis into a Holy Wolf? Maybe Janice?!''


    I murmured in my mind, holding the tiny golden eagle in my palm.


    Other potential plots ran in my mind, Inquisitors searching for Sensei, Emperor''s flesh children and Eternals just like the Emperor, who they sacrificed ritually to grant their Master extra strength via bloodline infusion.


    I doubted this was the case, as Eternals did not get old, while I needed life extension and that rejuvenate treatment to recover my youth.


    Anyway, there was little I could do, that I didn''t do already.


    I had Space Marines, and ships and tanks and a good relation with the Forges in the segmentum, even had a small Forge World of my own. I had my Warrant of Trade and an unauthorized Rosetta, and then I had heretical xeno tech that helped change the odds of any battle.


    It was time to return to my kingdom and expand and expand again. My captured ships will need to be ''discovered'' abandoned among distant Fringe stars.


    A dozen nearby jungle worlds will need to be colonized, by importing more Catachan infantry regiments, tech-priests and millions or billions of indentured women from any Hive World in range.


    And after this stage, gather more strength, build more units and attack again. Wave after wave of colonization, growth and expansion, til my private empire outnumbered the dispersed Imperium a thousand to one.


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 Repair - Chapter 85

    With the impending threat of a murderous Inquisitorial investigation on its way, even the Fabricator is slightly more motivated into finishing up the repairs of my ships.


    One after another, the corvettes are rearmed with torpedoes and loaded into their launching bays on the Icarus carrier, while the damaged Battle Barges are dragged into dockyards for a complete refit.


    So are the damaged cruisers and other vessels boarded and captured, while the traitors are kept disarmed and under guard, awaiting their trial.


    The last Astral Claws'' Cardinal-class Heavy Cruiser named the Thoth''s Hound contained the Forge Master Armenneus_Valthex</a>, known for his advanced artificier-grade weapons and armor. This guy was so renowned for his skill that even tech-priests would consult with him on various artifacts related to the Astartes.


    Well, Valthex was presumed dead after his cruiser''s bridge exploded from a teleported plasma warhead, but he now simply laid in stasis among many other of his Astral Brothers.


    I had almost 16 thousands Claws, 300 Mantis and 200 Executioners among my trophies, but I would need a way to mind control them, just like Trazyn had his Mind Scarabs.


    Not really an urgent matter, but something to consider. Perhaps via those Enslaver bones, as they did literally belong to a mind controlling monster.


    Once my loyal Astartes were painted black in Deathwatch color, nobody would need to know their origin, right?


    The stolen ships would be harder to disguise, although this wouldn''t matter for now. Crew and officers, servitors and tech-priests will be needed for every single ship, and extensive repair and refit to make the warships effective when they had to battle outside the range of my cheating presence.


    I did send an Astropath message to Sotha, informing my Rose of the official result of my Crusade, and requested the Lamenters still in the Deathwatch to be released into my care. That will take some time, but having a core of Veteran Marines as trainers for my Blank recruits would be invaluable. She owed me a lot for all those Eldar prisoners, including a Farseer, so might as well spend that favor for my Astartes.


    More Gellar generators had to be constructed and installed in every captured ship, but the trade with Forge World Angstrom was easily achieved by donating the damaged hulls, plus some of the spoils from my Magog plundering.


    All those ancient pattern weapons found with pirates and criminals were rather useless to me, as I lacked the expertise to repair them. I kept the scans of course, as STC templates would be valuable to other Forges too.


    Even so, the Fabricator did promise to begin constructing his own fleet of system-only torpedo corvettes, and to mount Nova Cannons on the salvageable cruiser hulls. As for my other ideas...


    "Importing indentured serfs from nearby Hive Worlds to train new tech-priests...or culling the underhives for more servitors? You do have the strangest ideas, Lord Lancefire!" the Magos exclaimed, while we were going over the captured equipment from the traitors, including gunships, fighters, power and Terminator armor plus many broken tanks and weapons and other machines.


    "Of course, honored Fabricator. Repairing all these artifacts would take millennia otherwise. And then I would have to ask another Forge for the privilege of examining and repairing these priceless relics we recovered from the Astral Claws and the Executioners. I still have to, for my own Lamenters gruesomely butchered power armors and dreadnoughts. Probably Forge Tigrus or Metalica, while Forge Incaladion will take care of the Blood Angels armor." I explained politely, and pointed at Master''s Phoros terminally damaged armor.


    "No! I mean... Don''t take everything away, Lord Lancefire. Leave us at least two of every item, and we might uncover more great mysteries of the Omnissiah from them, by careful logis comparison and arduous machine canticles." he asked in almost panic.


    The situation was funny for me, but understandable from the Mechanicus perspective. It would be like showing some museum curator the original armor of Emperor Constantine, and then giving it to another museum for restoration.


    "And that Contemptor_Pattern_Dreadnought</a>? Are you certain it can be restored enough to inter my Captain Tybahlt</a> of the Blood Angel bodyguard?" I asked with a sadder voice.


    It seemed some kind of phased claw had managed to rend even his blackstone armor plates, ignoring the shield as well.


    I had a suspicion what kind of technology stood at the base for that claw, probably one of those phased swords used by the Callidus Assassins, or a similar weapon with C''tan provenience.


    Astartes Tybahlt valiantly held onto the arm of his Astral Claws foe, allowing his Battle Brothers to kill his enemy, but his organs were all shredded beyond repair. I wasn''t ready to allow him to die so easily though.


    The dreadnought itself was found empty in a sealed vault on the Mantis barge, but wasn''t fully operational, although the Atomantic Shield still worked, and that was the most important thing.


    "And I expect you want that Ghost Razors gauntlet installed on the dreadnought as well. Alright, it can be done, but it will take a few years." The Fabricator accepted after a few seconds of thought.


    He probably needed to work on this himself, which would guarantee perfect quality, and allow him to examine and learn all those secrets. Sneaky tech-priest, but then I couldn''t really complain.


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    "Great! You''re amazingly helpful Fabricator, and do your Cult Mechanicus proud. So you were saying something about a Knight? I would need two of them, for me and my other pilot I rescued at Badab." I demanded with a slightly more pleading voice.


    Just a tiny bit, because I did have an Astartes Chapter now. No more need to be ultra meek, just politely meek.


    A wave of metal tentacles blurred around him, and it seemed I touched a sore spot. "I would gladly help, Lord Pef. It is why I gifted you with the best Mind Impulse Unit in the galaxy. But my Forge World cannot produce Knights or Titans. We have several godmachines, but we only service and repair them. The Volcano Lance and Cannons templates from your STC gifts will allow us to field a dozen more Titans in a decade, which is immensely important to our faith."


    I blinked in surprise, and then just sighed. Of course not all Forge Worlds had Titan Manufactoriums. I was used to richer Forges after all. This was not Ryza, who kept an Ork Waaagh on their doorstep just to test the Titans in combat.


    "It''s it alright, Fabricator. Let me see where your Forge could be of help...Catachan regiments! Yes, the jungle warriors, once provided with Armed Sentinel walkers, will be very useful in establishing my dynasty on a dozen jungle worlds around my capital, and help me clear the Orks. Unlimited order for as many regiments you can obtain, with as many guardswomen as they can spare, dear Magos. And provide them adamantium blades and chest plates, like my other Catachans have. I''d say a thousand Sentinels per regiment, plus 500 Chimeras and Hydras for the mechanized regiments." I mused out loud, while picking up an Astartes heavy bolter in my left hand.


    The heavy bolter gun was straining my power armor even without firing it. Much too heavy even for a Catachan, but would work great on the Sentinels and Chimeras.


    Lasguns wouldn''t really work against Orks, just like the ongoing war on Armageddon proved. The stupid mushrooms were too resilient, and so were the Tyranids.


    "And you want heavy bolters and flamers...possibly combi-weapons on those Sentinels?" the Magos deduced as I strained to hold the heavy weapon in one hand.


    Looked great, but bolter pistols were the effective limit for my current armor.


    "Chainsaw sword and flamer one arm, adamantium gunshield with heavy bolter on the other. Sealed cockpit with adamantium window blinds. Infrared auspex for night combat. Similar outfit for Chimeras, flamer and heavy bolters. Tanks will not be that useful in jungles, but a wing of bombers per regiment could provide close-air support. Promethium refinery and a bolter round manufactorium for every settled planet, with a thousand tech-priests to oversee repairs. And a hundred more bolt sniper rifles, per regiment." I added in a distant voice.


    Adamantium might be expensive, but there were megatonnes of it in the damaged hulls. A single cruiser could provide a million tons of adamantium, enough to armor a million Sentinels.


    A Sentinel is twice as small and 1000 times cheaper than a Knight, and the gunshield would be large enough to cover the shoulder socket and the bolter ammo drum.


    The chainsaw uses promethium as fuel, and same does the flamer, and the burning promethium would melt even steel, and more importantly, the flesh behind the armor.


    Very effective in jungles and vs. organic enemies like Orks and Tyranids.


    "A dozen Catachan regiments should be possible to requisition. But for more guardsmen and all that equipment...a few decades." the Fabricator proclaimed while examining the sniper rifle that I pointed him to.


    A good sniper could kill a hundred enemies every day. Times a hundred snipers per regiment, they would devastate any enemy, even if fortified and entrenched.


    Not that Orks or Tyranids hid in trenches, but they weren''t the only possible enemies, just the most numerous.


    The repairs on the damaged Astartes ships continued and the barges were being modified with a vertical torpedo cell-block for 100 torpedoes, which should allow them to fight a battleship and even win.


    Similar to that reload system I first created for the Manticore missile launcher, the empty torpedo container could be extracted and replaced with a full one, increasing re-arming speed by ten times in zero gravity.


    The teleport rooms on the barges were also undergoing complete repair, while the Astartes were grumbling about having tech-priests going all over their stuff.


    I didn''t care much about that. Who were they going to complain to? Me?


    Just like former Master Huron had discovered, independent Astartes command of their Chapters might be great for the absence of superiors, but that also meant no protection from those superiors.


    They were at my mercy, and mercy wasn''t something I was willing to spend much.


    I spent my time overseeing my new Lamenter Chapter and revising their Codex and doctrine, tinkering with the hypnotic chairs that enforced loyalty and imparted automatic reflexes and knowledge of enemies and weapons.


    It would take decades to prepare a better Codex, but my own STCs could be uploaded in the data-vault, and various memetic subordination commands for the Inquisition or other high ranking Adepta of the Imperium could be slightly loosened or outright circumvented.


    There were also some highly coded mnemonic instructions with Mars signature imprints, which were probably part of the problem with the Lamenters curse. Someone had experimented on them, right at their founding 5000 years ago.


    Sadly I didn''t have clearance to delete them, so I might need to ''borrow'' other hypno-chairs from the other barges or the Starfort.

 Scorpion - Chapter 86

    Almost 3 years have passed since I have arrived here at Forge Angstrom, and only now the Imperium has begun mobilizing to counter-attack the secessionist movement started by the Badab''s Tyrant, Master Huron.


    A task force of Red Scorpions and Fire Hawks arrives to prosecute justice and retribution on the traitors, only to find them defeated and imprisoned. They don''t seem very happy with this, damn bloodthirsty maniacs.


    The loot and prizes are all mine, or rather my Rogue Trader''s dynasty, my Lamenters'', my Blood Angels'' and the Forge Angstrom''s share for going above and beyond duty in repairing the battle damage.


    A single barge is a considerable prize, since even the Blood Angel chapter only has 3 barges, for example. And that''s because I saved the Bellus back at Forge Shenlong, or there would only be two.


    Add to that a Strike Cruiser still getting repaired and a couple of support ships and their Chapter has increased in strength by over 25 percent.


    The Lamenters were already fleet-based, so 3 more Battle Barges plus the Starfort as a fortress monastery, will propel them in the same rankings as the Dark Angels or the Iron Fists. Their luck has took a turn for the better, despite the horrendous casualties they took in conquering these assets.


    That Inquisitor dislikes the shift in the power rankings. Of course he does, the scheming bastard.


    Not really his mandate though. I do try to divert him onto new avenues of thought, because his disappearance wouldn''t solve the problem, just delay it.


    "Inquisitor, I am certain the Senatores Imperialis will reach the same conclusion. The Astral Claws will be declared excommunicated. Most likely the Tiger_Claws</a> as well, because there are signs of having been part of this secessionist plot for centuries. Corien_Sumatris</a> had the rank of Captain in the Astral Claws, but he is well known for belonging to the Tiger Claws centuries ago. His body is stored by the Mechanicus in stasis, as are all the dead from their insidious attack on Forge Angstrom."


    I say with the confidence of an Astartes Chapter Master.


    That includes the Lamenters, but I will gladly pay the gene-tithe with their bodies. I don''t plan to use that damaged seed anyway.


    I don''t look like a Space Marine yet, although I have grown in body size somewhat, and I am wearing Arkio''s power armor, painted in the Lamenter''s yellow with pauldrons decorated in my House''s colors.


    I also wear an Iron Halo not the stolen Rosarius, a relic Power Sword named Goldenfang, and a Spectral-pattern Bolter on my shoulder linked to my MIU, plus a couple of digital weapons, all captured from that Captain Sumatris. Of course, I kinda suck at using all these weapons and armor, but at least I look impressive. Even my wolf thinks so.


    Canis examines me with doubtful eyes, and sniffs the Inquisitor again. Doesn''t smell corrupted, but there are many kinds of reasons he might want to kill me.


    "I will decide what to do with the rebel Space Marines! After examining all the evidence." he proclaims in a righteous tone, and slams his warhammer on the metal floor.


    Have it your way, tinpot dictator. I have a perfect alibi, and a hero''s reputation right now.


    "Of course, Inquisitor. Well then, may the Emperor aid you in your duty. My Chapter will depart in a month, once our dead have been released back into our care." I announced in a flat tone and walk away, patting Canis for his loyal service.


    "This isn''t over, Master Lancefire!" the Jarndyce Frane</a> yells after me, but I pretend not to hear him.


    His enspelled Rosette has little effect on me, and his psyker powers have zero or null chances of reaching me. The poor Inquisitor must feel like talking to a blank wall.


    The first new Catachan regiment has already arrived and eleven more are due to arrive in two or three weeks.


    "I guess we''re not shooting this Inquisitor?" Chaplain Delos asks me with faint amusement. And not via implant or mind transmission.


    "Woof?" Canis asks in surprise.


    I sigh inward and keep walking. Those Red Scorpions have surely heard that. Most likely, it was exactly the point the Chaplain tried to make. Warn them we will not get pressured or bullied, and another Inquisitor might have bit a bullet when he tried.


    A few days later, I get invited to chat with the leader of the Red Scorpions a man named Lord High Commander </a>Verant Ortys</a>


    He looks at me with wary eyes, and offers me food and drink. At least it''s a start.


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    "Don''t worry, Astartes. I don''t bite." I mutter in between bites, and offer my Canis some of that exotic meat. There are too many species of edible animals in the galaxy, and 10 times as many plants.


    "You are only a neophyte...how come you were elected to lead the Lamenters? You might be under-strength, but even so...there are plenty of experienced Brothers remaining." he wonders in a curious voice.


    "Perhaps so, but I am a Blank and thus immune to Chaos. It is the lesson of the Badab''s Tyrant. No matter how strong a Chapter is, if the head is infected they all go to hell. The Blood Angels have already created an entire Company made only of Blanks, and they seem immune to that Black Rage curse. Even the Red Thirst seems manageable, more or less." I explain politely and offer my wolf half of the juicy steak.


    Canis eats it with disgust, so it''s not lethal, only cooked. Well, wolves don''t like cooked meat much, no surprise there.


    The Red Scorpion tilts his head in deep thought. "Even so, it is not enough to be a Blank. You took on three Astartes Chapters and won, and won so decisively that all the remaining Apothecaries and Sanguinary Priests agreed to your nomination. Proof of command ability, and perhaps hoping to turn their luck around. Is that so?" the man asks in a gentler voice.


    "The gene-seed Lamenters have, it has been deliberately damaged, Lord Ortys. Manipulated during the founding. Most likely by Mars, going by the traces I could find in the datasphere. I don''t doubt the intention was good, probably to cut away the Blood Angels curse via gene splicing and psychic baffling. Only it didn''t last long. All my Battle-Brothers that were involved in the recent boarding actions died due to rage and thirst. Less so for my Blood Angels bodyguards, but they are not Blanks either, only more used to restraining themselves." I explain patiently.


    I know all Astartes Chapters keep these things hidden like dark secrets, but I don''t really care about that, do I?


    "So what will you do then? Ask for gene-seeds from the Blood Angels? Would they agree to such a thing?" the Red Scorpion wonders in a pity tone.


    I nod and pet my wolf. "Yes, I will ask, and they will agree... Blood Angel seed will work great for the new Blank recruits. I know, I have the same gene-seed and I conquered that silly Red Thirst in a few hours. For my other Brothers, plus tech-marines and all the rest, I will need to look elsewhere. Most likely, a Chapter with pure gene-seeds like the Scythes of the Emperor. Or perhaps the Red Scorpions, I hear they have over 90 percent purity." I ask shamelessly, while taking out a dataslate with a list of conquered loot and relics. Including Terminator armor and rare weapons and even tanks or gunships. I did have a whole collection, both inside the tesseract and outside.


    Lord Ortys frowned and checked the slate with an angry look. Perhaps nobody else offered him valuable artifacts and vehicles for a few gene-seeds.


    "You can spare 10 intact Terminator armors? 10 more turreted Land Raider tanks? 1000 Armed Sentinels with heavy bolters and chainswords, for our serfs...and 50 Predator tanks armed with Volcano Lances? Even Furies and Thunderhawks...You could found a new Chapter with all these!" the veteran Astartes exclaimed in outrage.


    "I do have a Chapter, but no Astartes. It will take decades until the Lamenters are back to strength, and you would lose fewer Brothers if they have good equipment. Thus, you could spare a portion of the gene-seed for the Lamenters. You could also use tech-marines as pilots and gunners for all the vehicles, just like I plan to do. Give them a good mind-impulse implant, and they can help support an assault from afar, while protected by vehicle armor." I argued in a logical voice.


    Wasn''t sure the voice of reason would work, but I could try.


    "Fewer losses, huh? That''s definitely true. I will need to consult with my Captains and the Apothecaries. We have never given away our gene-seed." he murmured to himself.


    Canis nudged me towards the wine bottle, but I resisted. I haven''t won yet.


    "There might be a Strike Cruiser available as well, once it is repaired. I do have too many of them, and not enough neophytes and aspirants to man them. Surely, a Blank Captain like my daughter Finona will not fall to Chaos, and just like my Sisters of Silence she is portable Gellar field. Also, nulls are great mothers for new Blank recruits." I offered with a thin smile.


    Finona would keep making babies of her own, and some of them will be Blanks. It was a honey trap, and the Chapter Master of the Red Scorpions saw it instantly. Some clause for securing her status as a free citizen and not a serf will be needed though.


    Lord Ortys gulped his wine cup and rose to his feet. "As it happens, we do have an Inquisitor available, to request a squad of Silent Sisters for our fleet. I will explain this to my Captains...and we will have an answer soon, Lord Lancefire." he offered politely and held out his hand for a handshake.


    Now, I could drink a toast for this victory. So I did.

 Null - Chapter 87

    As expected, the Red Scorpions agree to my proposal, although they demand 2 cruisers for their reduced recovery ability in the next decade, until their progenoid glands create more gene-seed.


    I am almost tempted to refuse, just to spite them. Then again, pure gene-seeds are rare.


    I disperse my Silent Sisters among the largest ships to protect their Gellar fields from Warp intrusion, because the remaining Lamenters still carry the curse. That sometimes results in Warp Storms yanking them away or unlucky damage to their Warp drives or malfunctioning weapons and many similar problems.


    Most of the Lamenters have moved to the Starfort, which has its own warp-less engines now, and only an honor guard travels on the Icarus carrier.


    The new Catachan regiments are also spread among the barges and cruisers, because I don''t trust those Navy troop transports at all. They look like they would explode at the first missile or lance that might hit them.


    However, ships are ships and one can never have enough of them.


    A couple of Blood Angels depart for Baal with their new barge and cruiser, escorted by a pair of my Los Angeles destroyers. They also carry a thousand Catachans, those I got most complaints about. Pretty sure the Blood Angels will whip them into shape, and possibly even induct some of them as new Aspirants.


    I''m not sure how that death world keeps producing so many regiments, there must be hundreds of Catachan regiments in the Astra Militarum, plus just as many on their own homeworld of Catachan.


    They possibly bang as many times as possible, to keep their numbers high. Not a bad idea, in fact.


    I did convince a new batch of Catachan women to become my ''personal guard'' and by that I mean concubines. Only as a Chapter Master I have to retain dignity and stuff and be more respectful.


    "Oh yeah, big boy. Pump those hips, and give me a space marine baby!" my current personal guard yells and embraces me tight. I think my spine creaked.


    I inject my gene-seed and fall to the side, a bit exhausted. Still much better than all these Astartes that inject other men with their gene-seed.


    I''m not sure why the Emperor came up with that idea of asexual reproduction among men. The guy was strange though, and probably lived among the Greeks and the Spartans. The Companions of Alexander the Great were battle brothers just like his space marines, and lovers too.


    Thus, he now has an Imperium of Man, which kinda sucks if you''re a woman.


    On that note, Helena and Catherine arrive next, and begin massaging my tired and bruised body with healing oils and grabby hands.


    Training with Astartes is a bit...painful, and the Catachan concubines aren''t gentle either.


    Helena has finally given birth to a Blank boy and Catherine has two Blank daughters, among other kids without the immunity.


    "See, Lord Pef? We were right to follow you, after all. An entire Astartes Chapter, and so many heroic deeds! So will you recruit little Homer to become an Astartes like his father?" Helena asks softly, and rest her head on my shoulder.


    I nod in agreement and kiss her forehead, simply enjoying Cateherine''s massage of my progenitor glands.


    "In his late teens, at the earliest. Homer needs to learn all he can from a tech-priest, just like I have, and sire his own natural children. Perhaps a few more nulls will appear." I say in a relieved voice.


    "Again with the tech-priests! Why not call a Confessor or a Sister from Orders_Famulous</a>?" Helena argues in a convincing voice, and this time she might be right. Those women do have excellent skills, both as teachers and as genetic match-makers.


    Many Nobles make use of their talents to preserve or enhance their House''s genetic purity and special talents.


    "Alright, my dear. Place a call for a squad of those Sisters, because I do have many children already and many more to come. They could teach evening lessons, while the tech-priests have morning lessons with my kids." I allow as Catherine climbs on me for another pleasant duty.


    "You better have some seed left for me too, after Cathy is done. How goes the cloning project?" Helena demands in a breathy voice, and bites my ear for attention. Too much, woman! I''m not without limits...although I should be good two more times.


    "... Not well at all. Only genes from my non-Blank kids can be cloned successfully, for now. But a thousand girls like Larrisa are still great, and same for more Knight pilots like Lord Whitelance and Lord Vancestar." I mutter back, and consider her question.


    Helena wouldn''t ask unless...damn Adepta Sororitas! Still after me, and abusing my trust.


    "My Order would be very grateful if some of your daughters will be sent to the Convent Sanctorum</a> on Ophelia_VII</a>. Not the Blanks, of course." she entices me in a throaty voice.


    I meditate on that offer for the next leg of the trip. It is good and bad at the same time. Children of mine in the clutches of a religious order? Bad!


    Then again, most of my non-Blank kids will either join the trader fleet or as adepts on Forge Retribution. The Cult Mechanicus is a religious order too.


    But unlike the tech-priests, the Sisters kinda abuse the kids sent in their care, like any militant order.


    In the end, that matters more, for me. "Not going to happen, Helena. Child abuse is not on my wish list for my kids, plus Ophelia has no real fleet or orbital defenses. Sooner or later they will be invaded and exterminated." I declare as my own fleet arrives at Illevar, the orbit full of orbital forts and hundreds of corvettes, plus a few battlecruisers.


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    My dear Helena looks out the bridge window, and takes in the massive effort I have put in for defense. "The Sisters wish to be independent, so no Navy or Mechanicus base is allowed in the Ophelia system. Your clan has so many warships...no wonder you go and rescue others." she muses in a deep yearning voice.


    "And it is still not enough. That''s why I''ve brought a Starfort and an Astartes Chapter to defend my capital." I answer as the familiar myriad of vox messages begin to flood the vox box, with demands from all my subjects.


    It seems another cult has risen up in a Hive City, and Victor has ordered a dozen PDF regiments to suppress the rebellion and capture the leaders for trial and execution.


    They didn''t succeed fast enough, and now the whole city is divided in a civil war.


    Oh well, it is 40k. Business as usual for these times.


    Also, I did bring 17 Catachan regiments with my fleet, plus 60 surviving Blood Angels.


    Might as well let them stretch their legs and test the new weapons.


    In less than a month, the rebellion is quashed brutally and I obtain almost 100 million of new lobotomized servitors with crude implants and rough bionic limbs.


    Time to put them to work, as miners and farmers and woodcutters. There are plenty new worlds awaiting civilization around, and servitors will serve the Emperor, even in death.


    In a single year, the Icarus makes a round and deposits the Catachan regiments, on their new jungle planets, while other ships carry forges and tech-priests, plus immigrants and servitors to begin colonization.


    Sadly, my brother Veryon did not completely succeed in his task, and only half of the northern Orks have agreed to board cheap transport to be sent to fight the Necrons.


    He might have, if he didn''t try to battle an Ork boss in melee. Some sort of manliness ritual I guess?


    Oh well. Orks are strong and die hard. Don''t wrestle Orks in your next life, silly brother from another mother!


    My daughter Teresa has command of the northern fleet now, as she isn''t the type to wrestle, except perhaps in bed. She has a dozen kids already, which is amazing. I will need to reward her effort with 10 thousand thrones, just like I do for everyone else.


    Those Eldar cruisers have all sold for 10 billion each, even damaged as they were. I can sponsor population growth for a century easily, and make sure the new generations are get low level technician training, on the outer colonies.


    The Hive Cities are a different problem, as the local Nobles would oppose mass literacy projects out of inertia or fear.


    But I don''t need the all the Hives cities civilized, only my capital and the outlying towns.


    Starting from the top, and with the young generations...and then working my way down. There are enough tech-priests here to keep the utilities and other services working, but to create a factory world will need educated people, or at least 10 percent of them.


    The celebrations for my return last for a whole month, with military parades and pict-projections of our fleet actions in the Badab War, the crusade in the Magog Sector and the valiant defense of Forge Angstrom from traitor forces.


    Of course, I do not stay for all that, instead returning to my Blank village, which has grown into a modern town by now.


    Here, everyone is educated and civilized, and my tech-priests make sure there are training courses and various schools for every important specialty. Military arts and officer schools, manufacture and production, medicine and botany.


    Over 5000 Blanks, now joined by a new batch of Silent Sisters and my freshly born kids.


    Alana is ecstatic as we visit the place, and nobody recoils in fear from her Pariah aura. "This is wonderful, Pef! Everything is so clean and bright, and everyone is a Blank! It''s like a dream."


    Many of the Machine Spirits in this place, from the Gellar generators to the Void Shields and the defensive batteries are also Blank, using organic components harvested locally.


    However, only 200 men are of age for Astartes recruitment but it will do for now, one Company for my Lamenters and another for the Blood Angels, in exchange for more gene-seeds.


    Spread around the town''s center are the family centers, basically 200 large mansions housing the harems of the Blank men, including my own and Victor''s.


    Even Catachans cannot resist so much concentration of null psyche, so the women are housed at some distance, just to keep them sane. Pregnant women are even more sensitive, but there''s nothing else I can do.


    And yet, no other miracle like Janice has appeared, despite two more psykers being born, and sent to the Scola Progenium on Terra via Antax.


    In another village, we have the Navigator compound, which I visit sometimes to find another resilient psyker like Rose. No luck so far, but then these kids are not soul-bound to the Emperor, which reformats their mind to withstand the Warp and all its nightmares. They live under a Gellar field, and train their abilities slowly and more gently. I''m in no rush anyway.


    I did capture hundreds of new Navigators, which simply get released at the edge of the compound a few at the time. Miracles happen all the time, even more so for Navigators and astropaths.


    And of course, once in a while an empty ship simply appears in orbit, or in the asteroid field, devoid of crew but otherwise undamaged.


    Pirate destroyers, Astral Claws destroyers, even an intact Battle Barge with Mantis Warriors symbols. Finder''s keepers is the rule, so I get to keep these ships, and it''s even legal.


    Decima is suspicious and Hestia outright tells me I am the one responsbile. "I agree, my dear. Of course I brought a Battle Barge here, with my mind. Worship me!" I proclaim heroically and point at the sky.


    Sadly, the null maiden simply slices a finger across her armored gorget, which covers her neck. No luck!

 Failure - Chapter 88

    Captain Aphael from the Blood Angels arrives one day, and brings with him Ludvaius and Rafen, which is great.


    "You got your own Chapter, I see. Not bad for a whiny trader." Rafen comments wryly at my pretty Astartes armor and Sanguinary Guards.


    "It wasn''t my idea, you know? They kinda forced me into this. And the Angel showed up to enforce the claim." I defended myself while shaking hands with the three of them.


    "You''ve grown taller, Captain. Still got that baby face though." Ludvaius observes smartly. Well, he does have savant implants, so it makes sense.


    "Ladies love it, so I can''t complain. I''m not like you guys, impregnating men with your seed. I''m modest like that.''" I laud myself while Chaplain Delos slaps his helmet in despair. Probably shouldn''t have said that out loud.


    Captain Aphael simply smiles serenely and gestures me aside. And thus, we seclude ourselves in my Master quarters, which might be inspired by all those Fabricators I have visited, thus it has at least a thousand relics and armor bits for decoration.


    "Nice quarters, Lord Pef. You almost get the feeling right. But the baby face spoils everything." he comments in a joking tone.


    "Did I get some gene-seeds?" I ask more to the point.


    The Astartes Captain picks up a Grav-gun and plays with it, possibly trying to scare me. But I fear nothing, because I cheat.


    He gets frozen in my tesseract while I restore the weapon on its mantle and sit at my desk, and then unfreeze him. "Gene-seeds?" I ask as if no time as has passed at all, or he got lost in thought while I moved around.


    Being mysterious is a bit risky, but this time it works. "I have heard of your ''strange'' powers, Master Lancefire. Brother Ludvaius was adamant about that, and our new Librarian Mephiston agrees. The Angel watches over you...which is not a bad thing at all."


    "One day...I will reach the same size as a Primarch. My mind grows in strength every year, and so does my body. And for that, I can only thank Ludvaius, for calling that Angel. How is Mephiston, did he take the spear yet?" I ask as if it has already happened.


    Captain Aphael sighs, and looks around my quarters again. "Not yet, but I believe it will happen soon. They are still testing him for corruption. The last adventure of Brother Arkio has made everyone paranoid, and that Chaos Sorcerer in our dungeon doesn''t help at all."


    "Still got nothing out of him? His name is Fabius, of some traitor legion. I hope you did chop off his limbs at least. The only use of those limbs would be to escape, right?" I ask rhetorically. His face tells me they didn''t consider it.


    A bunch of childish naive idiots, all of them.


    "That''s...so dishonorable...and logical. Raised by a tech-priest, and it shows." the angelic Astartes comments in a sad voice.


    "I wouldn''t care if that guy gets to the grail and steals the blood, except my kids are there. If they get killed by your stupidity, I will retaliate. What about the accomplice, that whatever guy who invited the sorcerer inside your fortress? Still alive?" I ask curious.


    Captain Aphael blinks and stares at me for a minute. Seems they didn''t even investigate the crime...oh well. No wonder Inquisitors could play these naive giants like puppets.


    "It seems I need to return to my ship and place an astropath call to our fortress. Wouldn''t want your sons to die for our stupidity. I hear a lot of places got exterminated without warning." he says a bit wary.


    I smiled politely. "Commorragh was the most difficult. Will have to turn my attention on them again, I heard of a Drukhari raid on that Agri World... It seems they didn''t get the message, so I''ll have to insist." I muse to myself softly.


    Astartes have great hearing anyway. I''m sure he got the message, unlike the crazy Dark Eldar.


    Then again, I was an Angel of Death now. Might as well prove it, with some death and mayhem.


    Not right now, because I wanted to finish this Dhol_VI</a> campaign and exterminate both the Orks and the Necrons there. Perhaps capture the C''tan shard they had.


    My battleships already had the new warp-less engines, plus two torpedo cells of 100 torpedo each, but that was merely an emergency measure, just in case we got invaded by something. The battleships were not combat ready, and will not be for 5 decades.


    I wanted them plated in adamantium and blackstone, just like I was doing for all the Lamenters and the heavy tanks of my armor regiments.


    Same thing for my battlecruisers, starting with the Canticle, then the gifted Mercury from Forge Kronos, and then the other two we haven''t ''discovered'' yet.


    My mind made up, I began sending orders to my fleet to prepare for a limited deployment.


    One battle barge, two cruisers armed with Nova Cannons, and 20 destroyers. Blackstone had been lined around the engine room and the bridge for those ships, which would make Warp travel somewhat safer.


    A very small fleet, given what my dynasty could field, but this would be just a small incursion.


    A minute later, Ludvaius and Rafen ran inside my quarters with wide grins on their faces. "Another crusade? We have to come!"


    I smiled kindly and nodded. "Sure, why not? But I do need those gene-seeds...someone did bring them, right?"


    "Yes, Lord Pef! They are being transported on the Starfort right now...but I guess Captain Aphael didn''t tell you. So you have more Blank sons already? You sure work hard!" my bodyguard praised me with a knowing look.


    What could I say to that? I worked hard every day!


    This story is posted elsewhere by the author. Help them out by reading the authentic version.


    "Go to my forgemaster and have him fit you with new armor plates. I thought I sent some of those plates, with the barge I gifted your Chapter..." I demanded as I noticed they lacked the blackstone plates that all my other Astartes had already.


    "Not Codex approved, or something. Our Librarians don''t like them." Ludvaius explained in a sadder voice.


    "Right, because protection from the Warp must be in the Codex...I see. Just like growing wings is in the Codex. One day I will visit Baal and straighten your Chapter out. I''ll ask the to Angel explain things, while I beat a few defenseless librarians with their books."


    I mutter in annoyance.


    By next day, the fleet is on the way, while Captain Aphael has departed for Baal with 100 new Blank recruits. Technically, I could give them more, but I want these men to be educated and have their own kids before they leave.


    Critical thinking and a basis for science and technology will help them more in their lifetime of strife that will end in brutal death.


    My sons and grandsons will not be farmer boys manipulated into traps and plots by whatever enemy comes first.


    Back on Illevar, my Apothecary and Sanguinary Priests have already began implantation for new techmarines, plus a Company of Blank Lamenters.


    Couldn''t help with that part, except proving good quality gene-seeds.


    The Red Scorpions genes will work well-enough for the non-combat roles, be they herbalists or lorekeepers or tech-marines.


    My Apothecary confirmed they had 94 percent purity, which was amazing for this era.


    And because the Blood Angels did not lose the original blood of Sanguinius, they had even higher purity.


    The dead bodies of my Lamenters were simply sent to Forge Antax without extracting the gene-seed at all. If the Mechanicus wanted the gene tithe they could have it all, 900 dead Brothers, paid in advance.


    And so said my written message to the Fabricator-General. "Do not expect more of it, trying new gene stuff that''s not damaged in fabrication. Their armor better be in excellent shape when returned."


    Following our fleet was a forge ship and a dozen mineral barges with mining equipment, just in case we accidentally found more blackstone to mine.


    And 3 weeks later, we arrived at Dhol to find the planet embroiled into a large scale Waagh, and a hundred Ork ships bombarding the Necron positions.


    A golden figure, at least 50 meters tall and trailing whips made of living stone was battling a pair of giant Ork Gargants, while thousands of Necron machines and millions of Warriors supported it from afar.


    Then under my eyes, the golden figure turned right towards my fleet and smiled, with a tingle of mental communication trying to reach my mind. Must be the Crimson_God</a> then, he felt similar to Zarhulash, the C''tan from Sotha.


    I was pretty sure the C''tan could have won easily, but perhaps it wasn''t often the Necrons let it out to play.


    A salvo from a Gargant passed right through the C''tan and pulverized a few Necron divisions, as the Crimson God became phased and untouchable.


    Perhaps he was worried I might use some psyker power?


    Necrons were still vulnerable to that, and so were the C''tan.


    "Captain, do we engage the Orks?" I heard the gunnery officer ask in anticipation.


    I held my left hand up for silence, just as Alana tried to speak. "Wait...they have a C''tan. I want to see what it can do."


    The ship''s holoscreen couldn''t get the high detail I could observe via the tesseract labyrinth, and most of our long range auguries were slightly distorted by the Waagh field or by some Necron dampening field..or both.


    Then something flashed on board an Ork Kroozer, and down on the ground a large Ork boss appeared via teleport.


    "Necron God! Fight me....good fight! Waaaagh!" the idiot mushroom screamed as his orkish underlings cheered him on.


    The Gargants stopped firing and a sort of impromptu ring formed with the C''tan and the Ork Boss inside.


    A giant lighting claw stuck the C''tan in the chest, and the Ork tried to head-butt the larger enemy in mid-jump.


    And then the figure smiled, with red teeth. "I do enjoy a good fight, but most of all, I enjoy bloodshed." the C''tan replied politely, ignoring the arcing voltage and the adamantium spikes stuck inside in his stomach.


    Instead, the Crimson God grabbed the Ork by the rusty spiked shoulders, and kept him in mid-air with the trailing chains...and then ripped the Ork Boss to shreds. He was still smiling, like this was a great day.


    I sighed inward. Damn boss had been too weak.


    Fighting resumed, but without much coordination for the green mushrooms, especially as the Ork ships began vanishing from orbit. That might have been my fault, but I''m not sorry.


    In an hour, the Gargants were destroyed and the Necron armies began advancing, massacring million after milllion of greenskins, their gauss rifles and many other weapons no longer ineffective.


    I decided to risk it. A flick of my gloved finger plunged an Atmospheric Incendiary torpedo right on the other side of the planet and exploded, rapidly igniting all the air and biomass and spreading fast around the globe.


    "My Lord, that seems to be an Exterminatus!" Chaplain Delos observed in horror.


    "Please make a point with that. All I see is two xenos fighting each other. Exterminatus is the correct sollution, as per the Codex, isn''t it?" I asked in a sterner tone.


    I waited for the flames to engulf the smiling C''tan and then I tried to wisk him away in my labyrinth. An immense headache blinded me, and the golden being vanished, falling though the ground towards a tomb deep underground.


    Damn it! I have failed.

 Cheater - Chapter 89

    It hurts my pride to have failed, and the damn headache is certainly not natural.


    I suspect the Necron Lord or Pharaoh has some type of mind control shackle over the C''tan, which kinda makes sense in hindsight. However the tesseract labyrinth worked, it wasn''t able to unbind the C''tan, which sucked for me.


    "The xenos are eliminated, Lord Pef! The world burns!" Alana proclaims naively. My headache still pulses painfully in my temples.


    I shrug and reply softly. "On the surface. The C''tan allowed the world to burn...perhaps to cleanse the Orks from this world. He used us."


    "What now, Captain?" Brother Ludvaius asks in a curious tone.


    "Nothing else we can do here, Brother. The flames will burn for months, and the C''tan cannot be damaged by mortal weapons. We shall move onwards and scour the world of Draven</a> of the same xenos." I answer after considering for a minute.


    Necron Tomb World of Draven is also a part of the Novokh Dynasty, and also under attack by Orks, several Waaghs in fact.


    In less than a day, we arrive at the nearby by Necron world to find it mostly conquered by Orks, at least the surface.


    A hundred Ork Roks and a similar number of Ork ships, including a couple enormous Terror Ships, and another Ironclad battleship. Blown up fragments of Necron and Ork vessels litter the void, even some Eldar derelicts and a dozen Navy troop transports.


    There has been a failed invasion here, or a number of them.


    On the ground, Ork Meks are casually repurposing captured Necron weapons and anti-grav platforms into Orkish machinery powered by pedaling gretchins and steam engines, Painboyz are grafting Necron limbs on their greenskin brethren and their Ork Warboss wears proudly an armor  of ancient runic necrontyr origin, and holds a 5-meter-long nucleonic lance like a pistol.


    These Orks are winning, and would become hard to stop for any human force. In orbit above Draven, the same thing happens, blackstone armor is slapped on top of their ragged warships, and because blackstone is black it increases in durability even further.


    Eldar brightlances and Necron Gauss cannons are being welded beside macrocannons and plasma batteries, turning their Kroozers and Battleship into formidable death machines.


    The spectacle is very impressive and a bit scary. My fleets chances are minimal against such overwhelming firepower, and our torpedoes will probably not damage their larger warships, not enough.


    "Wentian, Nova Cannon on the Ork battleship. Destroyers, dive for torpedo strike on my mark. Maintain passive sensors only." I command and relax in the Captain chair.


    Canis nudges my left glove, and eyes the fleet arrayed on the holoscreen. I know buddy, we will steal their stuff, like we always do.


    Just need a flare and smoke screen. Using xeno tech openly would likely get me flayed alive or something of that nature. But a potent Ork Waagh to deploy when needed? That would be awesome too.


    "Target at maximum range, Captain. Firing!" Wentian announces on the clan''s vox channel, after maneuvering into an advantageous firing position.


    Much farther range than even our long range torpedoes, the Nova Cannons are the strongest classical weapon in humanity''s arsenal.


    Sure, there are Warp Vortex weapons, but those are not classical, nor available to normal Navy units.


    As expected, not even the Nova shell is powerful enough to destroy the blackstone plated Ork Ironclad, and merely disables the void shields.


    In the same instant of sensor blindness, a dozen capital Ork ships vanish in my pocket dimension, while my left gauntlet pats Canis on his wise head. He does have good ideas, my smart wolf.


    The Ork Boss and his nearby Mek and Nob guards, as well as a hundred Stompas and Gargants titan-class behemoths vanish as well, while another Exterminatus torpedo detonates on the far side of the planet.


    I need this Warboss to maintain the Waagh field, and this is both bad and good.


    Good because their silly adaptations will keep working. Bad because the damn Ork Boss is slowly moving inside the labyrinth, his Waagh field helping him overpower the dimensional differential. Oh well, it would take him years to escape, and I don''t plan to keep him for years.


    Of course, right now the Ork fleet is becoming a mess, Orks fighting each other for dominance while their greenskin fellows burn alive on the surface of Draven.


    The Ork Roks are useless to me, but they will help in my plans, at least several of them still filled with Ork boyz and other troops.


    "Good shot, Wentian. That battleship has vanished...somewhere." I praise my uncle, yet allowing for the ironclad''s miraculous reappearance over a friendly Forge World, like Retribution.


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    "Indeed Captain. Let''s hope your luck holds and that vessel will return to us empty of xenos...just like it has happened before." my uncle replies in a teasing voice.


    Well, Rogue Traders are not brainwashed zealots, and they can add two plus two. Pretty much the only free thinkers remaining in the Imperium, or outside it.


    "If that''s the Emperor''s Will, uncle¡­then we will gladly accept such a gift." I comment piously.


    My bodyguards all snort in disbelief, except Chaplain Delos who prays loudly for another miracle. Don''t worry, Brother. I''m just getting started.


    Alana kisses my cheek for good luck, and whispers a promise in my ear. If that promise will end with a dozen more Blank kids, then we''re all set.


    I urge the Serenity for the Vanquished onward, which works better now with the upgraded Trazyn-class reactor. Even if we cannot install the gigantic warp-less drive on the barge yet, the reactor is slightly more manageable.


    By chopping off some support beams and reducing the length of the inner walkways, the battleship-grade reactor can and has been installed on battle barges. Well, on this barge for now, the Serenity.


    It is still a plasma reactor after all, if somehow three times stronger and more efficient. For fuel is used hydrogen with jets of oxygen to increase temperature and burn rate, which also makes refueling easier, and at need simply scooping out cometary ice.


    One day every vehicle of humanity will have a miniaturized version of the Macharius-pattern plasma reactor, and shields and weapons of higher strength and reliability.


    It just takes enormous effort and long time to start meaningful changes in the Imperium.


    Even now, after decades of spreading new and better templates, the Astra Militarum still doesn''t have new vehicles or ground support aircraft.


    Elite regiments here and there do receive a few of my earliest templates, durable tracks and night vision sensors for example, but that''s only a drop in the ocean.


    The Imperium of Man is very resistant to change, and various organizations work hard to maintain their grip and control over the military powers, especially the Administratum. Of course, the Astartes and the Forges here in the Ultima sector have fewer qualms about adapting to better designs and more powerful weapons, like I have found out when my troops invaded Badab and fought against serfs and aspirants vehicles armed with triple-barrel multilasers and hunter-killer missiles.


    For another week we skirmish with the remaining Orks, giving my captains valuable experience in naval warfare, while I keep absconding human origin ships and a couple of Ork Roks filled with a billion green mushrooms.


    The Forge ships and the mining barges will remain here to exploit the orbital graveyard, and the first mining barge leaves with hull fragments of Necron origin towards Forge Ryza.


    I leave a couple of destroyers to defend the miners and most importantly the Forge ship as I take my fleet on a trip to Sotha.


    I have need of the Pharos again, and perhaps arrange a deal with my Rose and the Scythes of the Emperor.


    A month of ship travel brings us to the edge of the Sotha system, when our warp drives start to fail.


    "Captain...the Tyranids are here!" my Navigator announces in a distorted voice, as if he''s in enormous pain.


    Of course the Tyranids have returned. Sotha still shines in the Warp, drawing Hive splinters that intersect the lighthouse''s psychic beam.


    "Captain Lancefire! Request assistance...Hive Ship attacking the Aegida..." a crackled voice comes from the vox box.


    "Wentian, you heard the brave Astartes. Begin Nova Cannon bombardment!" I urge my uncle while I close my eyes to encompass the Hive splinter with the tesseract.


    There are over 10 thousand bioships, and a pair of Hive ships among them, one of which appears to have been struck with a vortex torpedo, and is battling demonic invaders.


    The other one is indeed attacking the Aegida Fortress, ignoring the Scythes'' Barges and the cruisers unloading all their lances and batteries on it.


    What could be so yummy inside the Fortress? Oh no...silly Inquisitors. You didn''t keep the psyker Eldar still here, did you?


    Of course, they did. Common sense is in short supply in the galaxy, and every wrong decision brings about more unfortunate accidents.


    "Evacuate the Eldar on a fast ship. Draw the Hive Ship away!" I demand on the vox channel with the Inquisitorial Fortress.


    Only silence answers, which isn''t great. They must have orders to keep the Eldar at any cost. I search for my Rose...and she''s not here. Only a group of 20 Silent Sisters, guarding the Eldar prisoners with stern faces and executioner blades.


    The other Inquisitor is here, but down inside the Pharos, doing whatever arcane examinations on the imprisoned C''tan.


    It''s a mess, and one that I have to fix.


    Canis licks my face for moral support, and glances at the Holofield screen with intelligent eyes.


    Yeah, buddy! We will need to cheat again.

 Silence - Chapter 90

    Well then, I shall act without your cooperation, brave Astartes!


    I am an Astartes Chapter Master too, among other qualifications. One could say I am a Fabricator-General in the Mechanicus as well...if not an official one. Of course, I only give out broad instructions to the Forge Retribution, what type of vehicles to build and


    what not to build or research, but I am not a polymath and multi-specialized cyborg with millennia of experience in engrammatic litanies and neural architecture.


    I expect Forge Ryza will keep their word and send out an Explorator mapping expedition into the Eastern Fringe, which will be based on Retribution. At that point I will have access to their advanced plasma technologies, and possibly obtain miniaturized designs for reactors and plasma weapons.


    Nothing was heard from Antax about that STC I hinted about...which doesn''t surprise me.


    Only the highest ranks of the Mechanicus would have knowledge of what was being done on Palomar, and the nice Fabricator was surely bartering furiously for a higher classification of his Forge. Raising from a third tier to the first would be the dream of any Forge World leader, as that would grant them access to ancient archeotech templates and more resources, just like Ryza and Graia had.


    A small fourth tier Forge like Angstrom couldn''t even build Knights, which was something of great shame I suspect.


    Well, they should raise to third tier after that influx of templates and damaged hulls and vehicles I donated to them, and the Fabricator was a genius no doubt. Few people would be able to work on Atomantic shielding and reactors, after all.


    With a blinding flash, the Nova shell exploded on top of the attacking Hive Ship, causing a deep wound and making it turn towards us. I beamed a Nova mine right inside the bleeding cavern, and that worked wonders.


    The entire Hive Fleet trembled and fell listing on the side as their synaptic links snapped.


    I added another Nova Mine inside the other Hive Ship, to be fair and even-handed.


    That also closed the Warp rift, which demon spouting rift worried me more than a dying bioship the size of two or three battleships.


    I still had three more Nova mines prepared for deployment in my tesseract, all already primed and activated to detonate on contact.


    I only used one, splashing the main body of the Tyranid fleet, and incinerating hundreds of bioships while wounding a few thousands to smaller degrees.


    Inward, I sighed at the stupidity of the Imperium''s forces. It was weapons like these that would butcher Tyranids when they attacked human worlds, and every cruiser or battleship deployed on the frontier should have them.


    But Nova Cannons were rare, and entire Battlefleets only had two or three such potent vessels instead of hundreds.


    "Excellent targeting, Lord Lancefire! We can begin boarding the Tyranid ships now!" the Scythe Captain on the Fortress proclaimed victoriously.


    I slapped my armrest in despair. "Why would you do that, Astartes? Are hand-held weapons stronger than torpedoes and lance batteries?" I asked in annoyance.


    "...But the Codex..." the man muttered in surprise. I was almost eager to punch his stupid teeth in, at this point.


    "These are not pirate ships that we can return into humanity''s service, Astartes. Capturing prisoners or vessels is the only possible reason for boarding. If you board the Tyranid bioships, expect to be slightly burned or obliterated while my fleet massacres their xenos bodies." I explained in a harsh voice and shut off the vox channel.


    At the same time, the Eldar prisoners and their Silent guards vanished from the Fortress and into my tesseract. They weren''t treated kindly, that was certain, but then those brethren of theirs were still kidnapping humans to torture them in Commorragh, and my people suffered much worse. I wasn''t sorry at all for their fate. They did come here to kill me, and then free that C''tan godling from its prison.


    "All fleet elements, advance and bombard the xenos. Maintain safe distance from claws and tentacles." I ordered and rose from my chair.


    A hundred tyranid bioships vanished in the Nova flares, providing me with my own tiny Hive Fleet that I arranged around the captured Ork Boss and the Eldar psykers. The Silence soon proved to work, balancing the Waagh field out and keeping the potent Ork still.


    In the other labyrinth, I stored the Silent Sisters, for a later use. While I was almost certain my Rose has arranged for their arrival as anti-psyker guards, I wasn''t sure if they were meant as my concubines, and their reaction might be violent.


    After entering my private rooms, I dismissed my bodyguards and took out the Enslaver Staff, then brought out the leader null maiden. "I am Pef Lancefire, I believe you were told to expect me." I told the masked Sister.


    She glanced around in worry, then noticed my space wolf grinning at her by my side. A flash of her hands inquired about her sisters. "You can use your mind to speak, my dear. This staff allows me to hear you." I explained with a mind transmission.


    Canis lowered himself on my carpet and began licking his progenitor glands, which was possibly pleasant and hygienic too. He didn''t like showers much.


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    "A mind staff? And it works on Nulls?" the null maiden wondered in her mind.


    "Not easily, but it is not a Warp emission artifact, merely an empathic amplifier. Basically it translates modulated emotions, in the same way you can modulate electric signals for your special Orsecode." I explained politely and invited her to a drink. She refused in sharp gesture.


    "My sisters?" she demanded in a worried tone.


    "They are safe, but not available right now. Still keeping those Eldar company, in a certain sense." I said in a pleasant voice, because I could speak, unlike the poor woman.


    "That artifact, smells of xeno origin." the Sister deduced rather quickly.


    I shrugged in fake innocence. "It came with these new Warp-less drives from the Macharian Crusade. There might be a Saint bone inside or something, I didn''t bother to dismantle such a relic on mere suspicion. So, what other duties did my dear Inquisitor commanded you before she left?" I asked in a genial smile, while opening my null-box to retrieve my Warrant and the Rosette. Then I also picked a digital weapon keyed to my MIU and handed over.


    The maiden stared at the artifacts in her hands with curiosity. "An Astartes Chapter Master, a space wolf, and now a Rosette and a Warrant of Trade...plus this strange ring. For a Blank, you sure did well for yourself, Pef Lancefire." the Sister commented in praise and sadness.


    "Don''t let the state of this corrupt Imperium fool you, my dear. Blanks are the most precious resource we have, even if the current administration shuns them. The Emperor valued Silent Sisters greatly, and they were allowed inside his Imperial Palace on Terra, on equal footing with the Adeptus Custodes. More importantly, his special Ordo Sinister and their powerful Psi-Titan</a>s are led by and piloted only by Blanks. Only we, this rare breed are immune to Chaos, after all." I explained patiently and poured two glasses of expensive fruit juice from a quite distant Paradise_World</a> called Iax.


    I made sure to purchase many tons of expensive food and drinks from their wares, and kept them in stasis, since my Rose had fine tastes. But a Silent Sister with her own squad was perhaps more valuable than a mere Inquisitor.


    The woman didn''t quite believe me, although she must have seen ancient records of their glory times in the service of the Emperor of Mankind. Being told she was important and valuable mattered too.


    "Aright, Lord Lancefire. I will share a glass with you. I am Null Maiden Genaris Fidelia." the woman replied in my mind, and took off her metal mask to test the drink cautiously.


    Fidelia wasn''t young and pretty like my other Sisters though, perhaps in her fifties, and it showed. Well, she wasn''t older than me, only lacked a rejuvenation treatment. And not for long, if I had my say about that.


    "I have a town made only from Blanks, like you and me. Thousands of people, living without fear and oppression. And I have 300 Blank sons and grandsons, already sent to join the Astartes, since their gift prevents the various curses plaguing Chapters like Blood Angels and Lamenters. The girls, most of them become ship pilots and then Captains. In time, we will have a whole society immune to the Warp. I would like you and your Sisters to join us." I added in a softer voice and poured her another cup of delicious juice.


    Canis begged with a soft mewl, seeing me in a generous mood. "Bad Canis! Fruits hurt your tummy. You have meat pellets in your dispenser!" I exclaimed in fake annoyance.


    My wolf sneaked next to the wall and selected rabbit meat for his lunch, pressing the rabbit icon with his paw. The bowl filled with 10 kilograms of meat pellets, while the water basin on the side began dripping a thin tendril of purified water.


    "Here, take your precious artifacts back. What does this ring do?" Fidelia asked after observing my wolf with amazement.


    "You wear it on your finger, and in dire need blast an enemy with a plasma lance. Then you leave it in a large water basin to recharge, for a whole day." I said with a grin, happy to have found out how the damn rings recharged.


    Only had to ask an experienced Astartes, although that idea avoided me for a decade. Sometimes the answer was closer than you thought.


    "Oh, you''re giving it to me?" the woman murmured in surprise.


    "I expect we''ll fight and live together for millennia to come, my dear. Unless the Tyranids eat us sooner." I explained in a hesitant voice. Would she like my gift? Would she accept it?


    Fidelia just nodded thoughtfully, weighing my offer and the ring in her glove.


    "Now I understand why the Inquisitor was so convinced. Your offer is hard to refuse, Chapter Master. But...I have other duties, most importantly to my own family. We too have a Pariah community, hidden away. Only a single Astra Telepathica Black Ship visits us once a century." she explained in a pained voice.


    I smiled and offered a hug, which Fidelia did accept after a short pause. "That''s not a problem at all, my dear Fidelia. Your family is my family, and we simply need to bring them here. Well, after this Hive fleet is destroyed, of course."


    I think I heard a sob, but I must be mistaken. Silent Sisters stay silent. Maybe Canis said somethig.

 Hollow - Chapter 91

    With a twist of my left glove, the Ordo Xenos Inquisitor is frozen in my labyrinth, because I have need of the Pharos, and no need for foaming at the mouth extremists ready to flay me alive for my heresies.


    I know I should be able to use the tesseract to teleport myself anywhere, same as the cheating Trazyn does, but I am still learning how to use it, and I suspect my dear skeletal friend didn''t give me the complete instruction manual.


    "Come, dear Fidelia. Let me introduce you to my crew, and observe the battle with the Hive fleet. " I say gently once the hug becomes too long and perhaps uncomfortable.


    We walk onto the bridge hand-in-hand, just to preempt any zealous bodyguard from overreacting.


    "Pef! You found another Sister!" Alana exclaims and rushes to embrace the stunned null maiden. She''ll get used to hugs soon, I suspect.


    "Lord Pef! I thought you took a break, not gallivanting after more wives." Ludvaius says with a smirk, but still holds a thumb up.


    I just shrug as if this was normal. "Blank kids need mothers. I do my duty, just like everyone." I explain without actually saying anything of importance. This always works, even now.


    Then I examine the fleet situation, and the state of the battle with the xenos. More Nova shells have been fired at concentrations of Tyranid ships, and melta torpedoes on the largest exemplars.


    Weapon batteries and lances keep blasting away, from our fleet and the besieged defenders of Sotha, and the Hive fleet is getting slowly reduced in numbers.


    Very slowly, as even inactive the bioships are quite difficult to kill. "Signus, come to the teleportarium. We need to beam atomic warheads inside these larger bioships before they recover and eat everyone. Otherwise, great job, crew. Stay vigilant!"


    With a plausible reason for my absence, I leave the bridge again, followed by my bodyguards.


    "Teleportarium...you wouldn''t try to run away again, Lord Pef?" Ludvaius wonders and pokes my pauldron.


    I grin mischievously. "Perhaps I will hide away with a Silent Sister somewhere. They are famous for keeping secrets, after all. Even the Emperor had a legion of them inside his palace. And not just for their voices." I reply with a teasing hint.


    Fidelia stomps her foot and glares at me for my heretical words. "You think the Emperor, used to bang a legion of Sisters?" Rafen asks, just to make sure.


    Well, I''m not going to answer that. I mean I will, but directing the revenge onto another target. "These days, there is a branch of the Inquisition, called the Illuminati</a>, that actively hunts a particular type of people. They are Eternal, not subject to age nor the dangers of Warp. Some of them are both Blanks and Psykers, just like their parents were. The Inquisition calls them Sensei, and fears them...because they would be the rightful rulers of the Imperium, as natural heirs to the Living Emperor."


    I can see both Ludvaius and Rafen begin getting red in the eyes, which is exactly the result I wanted. Fidelia is even more amazed, and pats her neck in voiceless anger.


    "Big secret though. So keep quiet." I murmur as the elevator doors open at the teleportarium deck.


    My enginseer Signus meets me here after a minute, and goes to his command console to begin preparing for teleporting warheads.


    Normally, the active Silence in the Warp would prevent most teleports, and only powerful psykers like Librarians or Inquisitors would be able to reach a Hive bioship. Not so much right now, while the Tyranids are trembling in synaptic overload.


    No wonder the Scythes wanted to teleport on board the bioships to battle the Tyrants or other xenos creatures in melee. Damn idiots!


    "Rafen, stay guard and check every coordinate twice. Don''t want to blow up a friendly ship or fort." I explain while I retrieve my Rosette and beam onto the planet, where the locator beacon pointed.


    Ludvaius and Fidelia get included and beam alongside me, and they can only stare at the imprisoned C''tan which lay on the wall, slightly dissected.


    "Pef Lancefire. Please tell me I don''t have to endure that foolish Inquisitor, much longer." the C''tan Zarhulash asks in an annoyed voice.


    "I was never here, Mighty Zarhulash. You never saw me, because this is an Inquisition base, and I don''t have clearance to be here or know about it. However, it has come to my attention that Drukhari raids still continue, probably from Port_Carmine</a> in the Webway." I explain politely, and produce an incendiary torpedo right in front of me.


    The C''tan examines me and my retinue with murderous eyes. "What do you want, Rogue Trader? You always trade for things, and this time I have something you need."


    I nod politely while I link with the Inquisitor''s apparatus and download his findings in my mind-impulse implant. Obviously, the mind probing device was of Mechanicus origin, since only they make anything technical for humanity.


    Then, I extract the Sounding Board from the good labyrinth and connect it to the Pharos once again. The galaxy opens in my mind''s eye again, with slightly better controls and fidelity.


    "Can you guide an Exterminatus torpedo onto Port Carmine?" I wonder while I locate a host of new targets in the nearby Hadex Anomaly.


    "I could, for a price." the C''tan answers in a hateful voice.


    I sigh inward while I locate the world of Stigmartus</a>, and consign billions of souls to oblivion. The flames engulf the low orbit as well, incinerating the orbital shipyards and a hundred Chaos vessels based on this cultist world.


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    Another incendiary torpedo moves in its place, inside the Pharos. "That was Stigmartus, in case you were wondering. I hear flames are a great purifiers for sins." I explain in a low voice.


    Ludvaius pats my head, while Fidelia simply hugs me with one hand. Good enough, I guess. Perhaps a warmer reward in my bedroom, one day.


    "How many of these torpedoes do you have, Lord Pef?" my Astartes friend wonders, as I begin to activate the new warhead.


    "Over a hundred. Those guys in the Astral Claws sure collected plenty of the Exterminatus munitions for their rebellion. And now, they are mine to use, on whomever I deem fit, as a Chapter Master." I muse out loud.


    No more need to ask my Rose for permission. I only listen to the Emperor, after all. So better start talking, dear Adam!


    I listen for a few seconds to make sure, but my best buddy doesn''t speak.


    The Fortress World of Magog</a> joins the screaming pyre, despite the Warp Storm surrounding it. Thousands of traitor space marines vanish in the hellish flames, as do whole Hive Cities infested with mutants and other chaotic cultists.


    A single structure remains in orbit, intact and impossibly massive. A Blackstone_Fortress</a> now devoid of life and most demons. I even have a buyer for this Necron artifact of old. A Necron of old.


    My knees start trembling from the mental effort, but I should be good for one or two more deep strikes.


    "Lord Trazyn. How goes the search for those Reality Cages?" I ask a minute later.


    "Oh, the mysterious stranger. That Badab War you predicted wasn''t all that exciting. I expected entire sectors to burn, in inter-chapter conflict among Astartes." the Necron magician complains, and doesn''t answer.


    So he didn''t find them, which isn''t so good. Probably too much Chaos interference, but I have a cure.


    With some effort, I prime another Exterminatus warhead, this time a dual stage Cyclonic torpedo. "Store this weapon, and release on the Hell-Forge of Xana_II</a>." I whisper in his mind.


    As expected, the Necron Lord simply pokes the torpedo and it vanishes inside a labyrinth. "I see. This is to aid me explore the Eye of Terror without so many impediments. And it was even released from those complicated safety protocols."


    "As for our future trade, I have found an abandoned Blackstone Fortress in orbit above Magog, among the Charon Stars. Paid in advance, so you may as well collect it now." I mutter while I bring out the final warhead, another incendiary.


    Then I just wait, until Trazyn teleports and collects the Fortress, as it is rather rare and valuable.


    "I have to admit, you do find the most wondrous things somehow. Do you even know, how valuable such an ancient station is?" Trazyn asks me, possibly to check my knowledge.


    I just shrug. Not that much value for me, since I wouldn''t be able to activate it. "If you can close the Hadex Anomaly with it, then it might be worth something."


    A minute passes while the insane Necron considers my words. "You even know its true purpose, how amazing! So what do you need from me?"


    Well, I can be shameless now. "I want a certain C''tan shard called the Crimson God, from the Necron World of Dhol. Of course, I want it trapped and enslaved and ready to work, in a tesseract with complete instruction manuals."


    The Necron Lord hesitates. "That is a crownworld, stranger. Even if it belongs to another dynasty, my race would frown if my forces attack them."


    "Dhol has already been attacked, by a huge Ork Waagh! Most of the Novokh Dynasty troops have been killed, and the surface burns. Should be easy enough for someone with skill and patience to sneak in and abscond with a C''tan shard." I advise the insane Necron while pushing on my Enslaver bone staff.


    He shakes his head as if disturbed. "That''s a compelling argument. Both an Ork attack and an Exterminatus? Perhaps the Crimson King has begun to slip up. Another C''tan shard...for that Fortress. Ah....what to do? What to do?" he mutters in indecision.


    "Esteemed Overlord, have you heard about something called a Psi-titan of the Ordo Sinistrus?" I add without letting him think too long.


    "What? Tell me more!" he demands in a rush.


    "Look at the time! I have to go, for my other job. Do we have a deal, or should I contact say...a certain Hollow Sun?" I wonder in slight pain.


    Damn mental connection over thousands of light years is tiring, who knew?


    "Yes! I''ll manage somehow. And do not dare to trade with those criminals from the Hollow_Sun</a>. " Trazyn warns me in a categorical tone.


    I turn off the link, and stare at the Mighty Zarhulash.


    "You were saying something about a trade, Mighty C''tan?" I ask in fake innocence.


    This being is still alive and can still feel fear. I know it, because I can see it in his eyes. Whatever Trazyn does to enslave his C''tan shards, it must be horrifying enough to induce such fear, into someone tortured by an Inquisitor for years without anything sign of discomfort. I suspect he was only mildly annoyed.


    "Of course not, Pef Lancefire. You are a merciful being, worthy of praise among the stars. I shall endeavour to aid your Exterminatus warhead reach Port Carmine, in the Webway. Purge the Dark Eldar!" he proclaims valiantly. Someone has spent too much time with the Ordo Xenos.


    Ludvaius coughs in surprise, and a soft breath enters my ear from Fidelia''s side.


    Oh my! I think someone is in love.

 Gauntlet - Chapter 92

    Well, there''s time enough for love. But right now, there''s vengeance to be had first.


    I flick the Atmospheric Incendiary torpedo into the Webway, and monitor it as the C''tan pilots it to its final destination. Much easier to do than last time, because I have grown a bit more and I have this Enslaver staff to lean on.


    Time in the Webway doesn''t pass normally, or perhaps at all. It is a very strange environment as kilometer wide tunnels twist and circle around for no reason. Well, perhaps they bend around gravity wells like stars and blackholes, which makes some sense.


    Or perhaps it''s simply an aesthetic choice from the Aeldari Gods who built it.


    Hordes of alien creatures battle inside, Eldar and Drukhari among them, but hundreds of different species too. The Webway seems to be a final refuge for many species thought extinct, and for many others interested in trade or warfare and plunder.


    Zarhulash coasts above an entire Maiden World, and keeps going. Dark suns illuminate the paths inside the tunnels, half-way outside reality completely.


    I think I heard of such a Dark Sun making appearances in the Calixis Sector, driving people mad for weeks then vanishing again. Humans call it the Tyrant_Star</a> and believe it brings some kind of prophecy.


    Well, I''m almost certain I know someone who collects rare items.


    If the Dark Eldar can play with this kind of forces...or perhaps is that Harlequin God, called Cegorach</a>. He would be the type to torment people for no reason, just to have a laugh.


    Then the torpedo emerges above Port Carmine, where there are thousands of Eldar ships gathered for some big raid. I even see a few spiky capital vessels like the Falling Moon Class Battleship</a> which gets hit directly.


    Their defensive shadowfield isn''t of use against a physical torpedo, and the surprise is total.


    The explosion ruptures something important inside the battleship, because while a burning atmosphere is rather lethal for any lifeform, including durable ones like Tyranids and Dark Eldar, that antimatter fuel is even worse.


    Zarhulash''s mind stays to observe the genocide, for a few seconds, before snapping back into the coffin of living-rock chains that bind his flesh to Sotha.


    "And that was Port Carmine! I counted 2 billion deaths for this strike, Pef Lancefire. Even a couple of their Archons. They appeared to prepare for a punishment raid, you were quite fortunate to intercept that large fleet at anchor." the C''tan explains proudly.


    "What do you mean, Mighty Zarhulash? The Drukhari had gathered right now to be exterminated by my punishment raid? Don''t be preposterous!" I decline in a dismissive voice.


    The C''tan blinks in confusion, then looks away in defeat.


    That''s right, you evil godling! You met my luck perk now, how do you like that!


    My legs wobble a little from the effort, so no more Exterminatus for some time. Maybe tomorrow.


    I send my escorts away back on the Serenity, and return to my Rogue Trader persona.


    "Lord Trazyn? Any luck with my item?" I ask in a pleasant voice.


    "It was much easier than it seemed, stranger in my head. Luckily, the Crimson King was suffering from an immense headache, almost like someone had tried to snap the control binder over this C''tan shard with brute force. The Crimson King even passed the control scarab to an underling, so he could rest. I only had to ask for the shard-box back, and the idiot lich gave it to me!" the Overlord proclaimed in self-praise.


    Well, a silly Rogue Trader had something to do with that too, I suspect. Who else tried the brute force approach and failed miserably?


    Trazyn the Infinite holds the third tesseract in his hand, beside a strange chip or circuit, definitely of Mechanicus origin.


    "Now, the story of that Psi-titan is sad indeed. Even worse, only someone with access to deep time investigation could recover it, and that with great care. Want to learn more? I would need to be well and not detonate under subversion." I ask teasingly.


    The Necron Lord suspects a trap, so he hesitates. I know he trapped that C''tan somehow, because it is his nature. Or perhaps a mind-virus inside the memory device. Maybe both?


    "How did you know?" Trazyn asks after a minute of silence.


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    "My abilities are different, but they lead to the same future, Lord Trazyn. We either work together...or we both die. And if we die...well. That would be rather bad. You should disable the traps, and prepare a minor gift for me. Perhaps that chronoblade and the Custodes. Afterwards, I will give you an interesting problem to solve, if you are able. It might lead to another C''tan." I offer as an equitable trade.


    "Tell me of this problem first, while I work to remake the labyrinth and the console." my murderous friend accepts in a pitiful tone.


    "Imagine someone had ten thousand Astartes in a labyrinth, but he''s not a Necron Lord so no mind scarabs. He does have Enslaver bones, which should allow mind-controlling even an Astartes, if carefully crafted empathic overrides are inserted into their brains. Or perhaps an Ork Boss, leading a big Waagh of billions. Even Tyranid bioships..." I propose in a cheerful voice.


    I do have all that, and more.


    "You have been busy, stranger. Well, finding test subjects will not be difficult at all. But different Astartes Chapters have different physiology, just like Tyranid swarms differ from Hive to Hive. I know, because even my advanced scarabs need adjustment."Trazyn explains in a thoughtful voice.


    "Also, there are some artifacts called Halo_Devices</a>. Very hard to find, and completely forbidden in the Imperium. Forge World Stragos experimented with them, and found they grant eternal life and restoration of the body. Perhaps an intact device can be found on Sinophia Magna, and then reverse engineered, for Necrons and humans too. However, exposure over a few hours is...unhealthy." I add to reduce his obvious enthusiasm.


    "Most intriguing. I''d assume the origin is the Halo Stars that you researched a few years ago?" the Necron asks in a knowing voice.


    Well, it seems he has eidetic memory, which I also have due to my implants.


    "I am a well of knowledge, aren''t I? So...my Crimson God?" I demand pleasantly.


    The Pharos doesn''t reach on the other side of the galaxy, but why expose my weakness?


    With a pained sigh, Trazyn the Infinite places the crystal and the memory node on his green coffin which serves as a work desk.


    A tiny swirl of space from the Pharos and the artifacts appear in my blackstone lined glove. Unlimited power, achieved!


    A quick glance at the Necron Tomb of Drazak finds it deeply embroiled in a desperate battle. Tyranid organisms have already landed on the surface and began devouring anything moving. Must have been hungry, the poor creatures.


    In the system, there are a dozen Necron Battleships and a hundred smaller vessels firing continuously at an unending stream of bioships and smaller flyers.


    They are still holding, but this last tendril from Hive Fleet Kraken is absorbing other smaller fleets like a river receives tributaries.


    Soon enough, it will be over. I strain myself and flick a Nova mine among the Necron escorts to hasten their demise.


    Perhaps two dozen of the Necron frigates are caught in the blast area, and the Tyranids exploit the weakness grabbing the crippled ships and eating them with gigantic mandibles.


    I am too tired to send more right now, plus I only have one Nova mine left. But there''s no rush, I have all the time in the world.


    Checking on Trazyn again, I find him holding the Dawn Blade in front of him, in a curious stance. Almost like he tried to divine a purpose for this weapon.


    Then he lets it go, and the chronophagic blade disappears in mid-air, and lands in my right hand.


    Another relic obtained! Sooner or later I will fight someone in melee, and extra years will be useful. Plus there are always traitors and cultists or even Orks. I have a billion Orks in my left glove, and a life-draining sword in my right.


    The future is dark, but I will probably see it now.


    I point at the imprisoned C''tan. "This Crimson God, was he a friend of yours?"


    "Never! We battled for eons, beyond the stars. We shouldn''t have come to this horrible place." he says in a sad voice.


    I know buddy. This is a grim dark future, and there is only war.


    "Keep silent about me. If the Inquisitor asks, say it must be some kind of automatic defense, interacting with the Tyranid Silence. Chronal turbulence or something." I add as I step on the teleporter.


    The Sounding Board folds back in the good tesseract, and so does my bone staff. I''ll need to ask the Forge Master to craft me another slot for the next crystal. Soon, I will have an Infinity Gauntlet holding my tesseracts, like in those comics.


    I can only hope it will be enough.

 Dawn Blade - Chapter 93

    The hunt for the Hive fleet continues as I return to the teleportarium, with enginseer Signus and my Blood Angel Rafen directing plasma warheads inside cruiser sized bioship.


    It seems we have run out of atomic warheads, but the Hive fleet has also ran out of battleship sized organisms. At least live ones.


    My destroyers keep shoving dead carcasses on descending orbits towards the Sotha''s sun, while my Barge and cruisers blast away at smaller Tyranids, who are still insensate from their synaptic links getting brutally broken.


    However, the Scythes and the Deathwatch ships simply stay in a defensive posture around the Aegida Fortress, their range too far to help anymore.


    This is annoying. Why should my ships do all the work?


    "I hope you''re enjoying the show, Astartes. Now that Pef Lancefire is here, the battle is won and there''s no need to fire your weapons anymore." I send on their Vox channel.


    I think Ludvaius snorts in amusement. Maybe it was Canis.


    "We have orders, Chapter Master Lancefire." a voice I know answers in a sad tone. Captain Thrasius?


    "It''s alright then. If the Emperor himself spoke to you, there''s nothing to worry about. Pef out." I answer and close the vox box. Damn idiots!


    Chaplain Delos points his finger at me in warning. "That''s very close to the line, Captain. You don''t know who gave them orders to hold station around the Fortress."


    "So you think it wasn''t the Emperor? Pretty sure that''s the exact letter of the Codex. You''re very close to the line, Astartes." I mutter in dismay and leave the bridge, with my bodyguards and a few Silent Sisters escorting me to my rooms.


    Ludvaius seems to want to argue, but I signal him not to. There is a greater play involved, and it might end with disappearing Inquisitors.


    A minute later I rest in my cogitator chair, the second one made of adamantium bars. Not going to remove my armor with Tyranids around.


    Then I extract my new toy and begin exploring the enhanced options available to tesseracts, including complex manipulations of the inner dimensions, or speeding up passage of time at different locations, gravity controls and many more.


    It is basically a sandbox universe, the size of a solar system. This gives me some ideas, for later.


    Technically, I could grow people in a hyperbolic chamber. Or plants and animals, or all of them.


    Trazyn may be smart, but he isn''t quite sane. Probably never considered doing life quality experiments, only his crazy quest for relics and rare people.


    The C''tan godling I leave as he is, impaled by a hundred living rock chains and looking rather sad and desperate. Gonna need to master all those special controls before I mess with a god, even a broken one.


    Instead, I focus on the Silent Sisters, examining each of them in detail. With my mind!


    Except a few of them, most are older and seem rather experienced, maybe even veterans. Sadly, they are not superhuman like the Astartes. Their flesh will decay and fail them, and the process has already begun.


    Damn cretins in the Astra Telepathica! Life extension treatments would enhance their knowledge and combat ability for every century they gain, just like Nobles and Admirals receive.


    But human life is worth little in the Imperium, and these Sisters have no rights, not even to speak.


    I shall make sure they are all rescued and brought to my own kingdom. Somehow.


    I don''t even know how to begin collecting their hidden communities, or those Sisters kept as guards on the Black Ships or inside Inquisitorial Fortresses.


    "Everyone out but the Sisters!" I demand out loud, including Ludvaius and my wolf. Canis eyes me with surprise, before giving out a pitiful cry and shuffling after the Blood Angel. Then Ludvaius closes the blackstone armored door, and not even psykers can listen in anymore.


    I snap my fingers, and the room fills with 19 more Silent Sisters. Feels great to copy the classics. And those movies are 40 thousand year old here. Pretty sure only Adam or some other Eternal remember them.


    Instead, the frozen Sisters who seem ready to attack someone, and I''m the only valid target.


    "Wait! We''re safe here!" Alana yells and starts explaining her adventures. Fidelia stays by her side and keeps gesturing with additional information about me, or my plans.


    Feels kinda crazy to hear Alana''s story from her perspective. My deeds and accomplishments are right there with the Saints and other famous people.


    But I don''t interrupt and let her speak, because her Sisters cannot. It would be fine if they were simply willing themselves to be silent, but those vows were enforced with memetic constraints, possibly similar to how the Rosette worked, and quite certainly with the same origin.


    When Malcador the Sigillite started his Inquisition, he wasn''t given that title for collecting emblems and postcards.


    The old monster was a master of memetic and psychological indoctrination, and the results of his work last to this day, in the Grey Knights and other groups started by him.


    The Emperor was much better that Malcador, and he had Silent Sisters even then, housed inside his Imperial Palace in the Himalayas.


    I brought my staff out and began asking for names. It was slow and a bit painful, but we managed to connect I think. The null women weren''t so scared anymore.


    "Ludvaius, prepare habitation for twenty women. Adjacent rooms if possible." I asked in my mind, curious if the staff could pierce the blackstone armor.


    The Blood Angel opened the door and did a quick count. "Five rooms, four beds each?" he asked in a wry voice.


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    "Yes Ludvaius. Wake me up in ten hours." I muttered as I fell asleep, still in my power armor.


    Wasn''t very comfortable, but I should get used to living in my armor. All Astartes did, when deployed. And some of them were deployed for centuries.


    Much later, I woke up to the smell of blessed caf. I didn''t drink much of that poison anymore, but I still loved the smell.


    "We''re almost at ten percent with the Tyranid fleet, Captain. Over 950 kills and climbing." Ludvaius explained after sipping from my coffee for some reason. Someone else was in the room too.


    I turned and saw a couple of Lamenter Apothecaries beside the door, waiting for orders. "We have called reinforcements, Master Lancefire. The Tranquility and the Icarus will arrive in 3 days." one of them explained in a patient tone.


    Made sense and my half-working battleship plus a thousand corvettes will speed up the cleaning duty, hopefully before the xenos swarm recovered. I nodded and grabbed my cup before the ugly Blood Angel drank it all.


    "Medical testing for the new Sisters. Oldest first, get them into prime time as soon as possible. Blank recruits will need lots of hard work." I ordered after gulping half of my cup. Didn''t taste so great anymore.


    One of the Apothecaries tried to say something, but the first one just pushed him out. Hopefully nothing bad.


    "What else?" I asked Ludvaius in a curious tone.


    "The Inquisitor has disappeared. Or anyway, the Deathwatch cannot contact him. It seems he was supposed to be underground, in the secret facility that nobody is allowed to know about." he says in a small grin.


    I smile widely. "I still need the Pharos for myself. Plenty more torpedoes in my pocket."


    "I knew it! The same trick as you used with the Sisters? Also, the Eldar prisoners have vanished somewhere too. My Brothers are very worried, and punches were mentioned by an irate Captain." he added with a snort.


    I just shrugged and finished my caf serenly. "The Emperor works in mysterious ways. And an Astartes listens only to the Emperor. Maybe a Primarch, if he''s not a traitor. Kinda even odds there."


    Ludvaius grunted as if in pain. "Inquisitors speak in the name of the Emperor, Captain. You must take care."


    I nodded gravely. "I am taking all precautions, and gather evidence before I execute them. Of course, sometimes they never find a body. Much cleaner that way."


    Ludvaius blinked with his single good eye, and then sighed. "Please stop talking, Captain. Just find a way, somehow."


    "You''re right, Brother. Let''s go eat, and then blow up some xenos!" I exclaimed cheerfully and pushed myself up.


    Nothing invigorated me more than the promise of burning demons in the morning.


    Soon enough, we teleported inside the Pharos for another extermination round, this time the daemon worlds of Bulwark</a>, then Durell</a> and lastly Coranin</a>.


    All three worlds were rather close, still in the Hadex Anomaly. I could have potentially burned one more, but didn''t want to tire myself to exhaustion again.


    I decided to test the Dawn_Blade</a>, the new relic I have received from Trazyn, so I did.


    A dozen Orks as a test, and then an Eldar. Didn''t work quite as I expected, but that might be because of my Blank nature, so I had to ask Ludvaius to try it too.


    He decapitated a dozen confused Orks and another Eldar, and waved the strange weapon around. "Why are we doing this, Brother?" he asked as I policed the crime scene and vanished the bodies near the sun.


    "I heard a rumour about this type of weapon. But I suppose we do have Sanguinius blood and extended lifespan. Let me bring Letitia and Fidelia here." I mused to myself while kidnapping those Sisters from their room.


    An armored hand arrived in front of my face, so possibly Fidelia wasn''t too happy. "Peace, my dear null maidens. Take this weapon, and strike at neck level." I explained and summoned an Ork Shoota, without his weapon.


    While the stupid mushroom checked his empty hands in confusion, Fidelia struck with excellent strength and control, parting the muscled neck like...a green vegetable, perhaps.


    Almost instantly, an invisible wave passed through the blade into her. Not Warp based, because she was a Pariah, completely immune to that type of emissions.


    But, something life related, or maybe fate? Chronal manipulation was also possible for Necrons or Hruds as well, and those were not psykers.


    "Oh? Another strange ability of yours?" Ludvaius asked with obvious interest.


    "It is merely a chronophagic blade, nothing special." Zarhulash spoke from his impaled shape on the cavern''s wall. Eternal life was pretty special, to me.


    I shook my head and began summoning more and more Orks, while observing Fidelia for changes. About 30 Orks later, those stolen years began coursing back through the sword and into my new girlfriend.


    Fidelia looked vibrant and healthy now, skin clean and rosy and she seemed to have lost 30 years, although her eyes were still wise and stern like all the veterans.


    "Pass the sword to Letitia. I guess we won''t need expensive rejuvenation anymore. I do have a billion Orks stored in my pocket." I explained while drawing the pretty red-headed maiden into a hug.


    She kissed my cheek in thanks, so I must be doing something worthy of praise, just like the imprisoned C''tan claimed.

 Treaty - Chapter 94

    While the decapitation program continues with all the Silent Sisters with ease, I consider Zarhulash''s words.


    Just one chronophagic blade is not enough, not even to maintain my growing clan healthy and young. I need a few for my sons as before they undergo gene implantation, I need a few for my daughters...for my officers, even for the loyal tech-priests or my concubines or...yep. I''d need at least a dozen.


    So I have to go to the source. Or send someone, trustworthy. Few of them around.


    "Ludvaius, my Brother. You and Rafen have a small mission. Undercover insertion on Arthas_Moloch</a>, and recovery of ancient artifacts of similar nature with this Dawn Blade."


    With those words, I brought down Rafen and a Land_Speeder</a> scouting vehicle, held in the air by anti-grav fields.


    My dear Hestia asked to join them...and it made sense. As a Pariah, she would be useful if they stumbled onto demons.


    "Use your vox box during this mission, Hestia. And take these weapons: a Power Sword and Inferno pistol. You''re looking for old temples or other similar structures, with statues. Statues that hold weapons." I explained and kissed her for good luck.


    They all had blackstone armor plates, power weapons and forcefields, so there wouldn''t be any immediate risk. Plus, I would be on stand by for rapid recovery.


    In a minute, I deposited their speeder on that Artifact Planet, next to the largest structure still standing. And then they sped up, since those anti-grav recon crafts could move.


    The planet was mostly desert, land broken and cracked and devoid of any life. Something has completely scoured the former inhabitants, possibly for good reasons. I did such extermination events myself, on evil places.


    An hour later, their speeder stumbled onto a recon party of the Tau, also exploring the ruins with advanced scanners and a dozen battlesuits for protection. Well, I did lack Tau figurines in my collection.


    By miracle, their weapons began disappearing from their suits arms, and so did that nice scanner. So when a pair of Astartes and a power armored Sister jumped on them, they were kinda surprised and defenseless.


    "Prisoners. My Ordo Xenos Inquisitor might want to ask questions." I whispered in their minds.


    "I''m certain your Rose will be ecstatic for some Tau, Captain." Rafen answered in my mind, while holding the Tau at gunpoint.


    One by one, when in contact with my Astartes I could yank the prisoners from light-years away and then store them in a labyrinth.


    Probably this was how Trazyn worked, sending his puppets and doppelgangers to explore and retrieve artifacts or people, instead of risking his immortal necrodermis.


    It was mentally tiring, but indeed posed little risk for myself.


    "Are those Tau? They are so blue!" Alana asked leaning on me from the side.


    "Yes my dear. And they are all nearly Blank. Very smart too." I explained in an amused voice.


    Still, it didn''t bode well. A recon party on the surface, meant a Tau ship in orbit. They would come looking for their guys soon.


    I began searching the orbit, and indeed found a Tau Galleath_Class_Battleship</a> with a hundred of spacefighters, engaging a Scythe Strike Cruiser and beating them back. Well then.


    I had a last Nova mine, and it would work wonders...with some timing. The MIU began computing the best deployment spot, and then...boom! A gigantic flare obliterated all the tiny fighters and dropped the battleship''s shields.


    The Tau didn''t stay and argue anymore, turning their Explorer battleship around to escape. A plasma warhead on their bridge cancelled the maneuver, leaving the ship drifting off into the void.


    Soon enough, the Scythe''s cruiser turned around and pounced, sending assault boats and boarding torpedoes to secure the engines and conquer the crippled ship.


    Another good deed, that nobody will know how it happened. Such was my fate, to work from the shadows and strike at humanity''s enemies.


    But it seemed that the Tau didn''t learn the lesson, if they were still contesting Imperial borders. I turned my eyes on their capital and bombed their shipyards again, flinging smaller plasma warheads and catching a dozen cruisers at anchor as well.


    Focus on defense guys. Really. Expansion wasn''t wise.


    I did a quick scan over my holdings in the Eastern Fringe, and located a nearby Ork planet battling a small Tyranid fleet. This was worrisome. In a few years they will reach my secluded kingdom, and we were not ready.


    "We have located a polearm of similar make, Captain. Also, big flashes in orbit...that was you, right?" Ludvaius asked in my mind.


    Right! The artifact quest. Shouldn''t let my mind drift. I returned my focus on my away team.


    "That was just a Tau battleship. Our Brothers from the Scythes of the Emperor are boarding the derelict right now." I explained in a wry voice.


    "...Just a battleship, huh? Well, we''re continuing the search." the Veteran space marine said in a snort.


    What can I say? I''m just that good.


    "Aeldari cruiser exiting the Webway in 30 solar seconds." Zarhulaah spoke from his perch, while observing me with curious eyes.


    "Only a cruiser?" I complained out loud. I had hundreds of Eldar cruisers.


    Still, they probably wanted their people back. Maybe even the intact ships...what to do?


    "They have an Avatar on board. Stronger than me...in my current state." the C''tan warned me after the Eldar ship emerged from the portal and casually plowed through the improvised mine field.


    "Do you want an Eldar Avatar, Lord Trazyn?" I asked in a teasing voice, changing my focus again to my best trading partner.


    "Yes! Khaine, I expect. But good enough. Where or when?" the Necron Overlord demanded in a rush.


    I placed him on hold, and changed focus on the Eldar Cruiser. It was possible I couldn''t capture this Avatar, as I was rather at my limit. But he was a psyker...and psykers were weak to Pariahs.


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    "Purpose of your visit, Avatar?" I asked in his mind.


    "Rage! Destruction. Revenge. Your actions hurt the Aeldari, human! Craftworlds and many ships lost to your folly." the being replied in my mind, nearly shaking my consciousness away.


    Damn powerful indeed, this resurrected Eldar God. "Measured response, for every attack on humanity. You will run out of craftworlds, sooner than I run out of torpedoes. You are now warned!" I answered in a categorical voice.


    The Eldar cruiser stopped and began unleashing powerful lances on the dormant Hive ships. Stronger than a battleship, and without needing to recharge or cool down. Just beam after beam of concentrated death.


    "We shall aid in cleansing the Great Devourer. You will return the captured Aeldari to us. We are not numberless like you, humans. Every one of us is precious beyond belief." the being boomed painfully in my mind, so I had to shield myself with the Enslaver staff.


    I meditated on that for a few seconds. Local alliances of convenience with the Eldar were always broken later. It was in their nature, and in ours too.


    But perhaps something valuable could be obtained.


    I clenched my fist, and began vanishing the remaining Tyranid bioships in my labyrinth. Much faster than even an Avatar could kill them.


    This will suck later, but right now I needed to project strength. Calling Trazyn here would invite a host of problems that I didn''t want to deal with.


    "Your aid...is not as valuable as you presume it is, Avatar. I was simply training my troops in a controlled scenario." I explained while setting aside 10 Eldar cruisers in bad shape but still able to fly, then filled them back with crew, and double crew at that.


    Then I released those 10 cruisers beside the Avatar''s ship.


    "Space manipulation? No wonder you are so arrogant, Astartes! And that C''tan near you clearly helps. They are abominations that need to be destroyed!" the Avatar demanded, this time at a more manageable volume, his empathic transmission buffered by my full strength mindshield.


    "I see. You propose we execute captured prisoners then?" I quipped amused, and simply confiscated the released Eldar cruisers, again.


    That put a stop on his demands. Perhaps there could be a Geneva Convention after all. Maybe not for Tyranids, as they didn''t have written language so treaties on paper were only biomass to them.


    "Oh? You really are merciful, Pef Lancefire. Protecting me from this vengeful Aeldari Avatar?" the C''tan asked in a surprised voice.


    "The Eldar are very advanced, maybe on par with the Necrons. They are slightly deranged, but nothing compared to the Necron insanity...something caused exactly by the C''tan, I believe. Humanity has numbers...but no advanced science. And then, there is the Chaos and Orks and Tyranids...all waiting to devour and plunder. Am I right?" I asked in a soft tone, patting Alena''s back for comfort.


    "This galaxy is insane, no doubt about it. We should all run away, somewhere, anywhere else." Zarhulash pleads in a desperate tone.


    He is correct of course. This is even on the table, with warp-less drives and tesseracts to store people during travel. A single tesseract could probably contain all humanity, frozen in stasis.


    Not my favorite option, but it would be better than exterminating thousands of populated worlds to create a firebreak for the Tyranids.


    I should probably work on that, and save a few trillions of souls from oblivion.


    That insane Inquisitor Kryptman</a> was going to execute his Galactic Cordon, obliterating human worlds with virus bombs to deny the Tyranids replenishment biomass and stale their advance.


    Lack of transport ships and interest prevented the evacuation of those worlds, and thus countless lives were being wasted, not to mention habitable planets.


    Possibly the desire to keep things secret, as was the way of the Inquisition. No witnesses, no evidence, just dead worlds.


    "What is your proposal, Astartes?" the Avatar asked in a more reasonable voice.


    "Just avoid attacking human ships and planets. And no more diverting enemies towards humanity. You know well enough what a dozen vortex torpedoes would unleash on a craftworld. It wouldn''t be humans killing your people, just Eldar nightmares entering the Materium." I offered in a pleasant tone. Of course, they will take my offer and soon forget about the pact.


    And then I''ll have to insist. More bloodshed and lost souls...because reason was long forgotten.


    "Disgusting threat, holding the craftworlds hostage. Will humanity respect the same for the Eldar? All over the galaxy there are raids from Astartes and other Imperium''s forces. Even on defenseless Exodite worlds." the Avatar asked greedily.


    "I do not have control over humanity, Avatar. Plus we do not distinguish Aeldari from Drukhari, or the Corsairs and the Exodites. Long ears attack us, we fight back. Are you taking responsibility for your dark brethren?" I asked in the same tone.


    "... It is not in my powers to control those insane and reckless beings. They are disconnected from the circuits." the Eldar godling claimed in a sad tone.


    "Yes, I did notice that, Avatar. Here is my offer. This nice fleet I keep in my pocket...plus my other surprises. We will all travel together into the Webway to Commorragh, and lay them to rest. I knew these Tyranid bioships will be useful for something." I said in a cheerful voice, and released the 10 cruisers again.


    The answer took a long time to arrive, enough to collect a thousand more Tyranid ships. This tendril was getting rather thin, getting burned and incinerated constantly by the potent Avatar, but I did have an Ork Waagh ready to release as well.Just in case.


    "It is a dark day, that we ally with humans to obliterate our own brethren." The Avatar announced in a somber voice.


    "Don''t be so sad, my friend! Maybe they will all repent and join you. I can be quite convincing, right?" I asked as I changed focus back on the away team.


    Uh...they did find a colonnade filled with armed statues. But there were thousands of demons as well. Oh well.


    I did have 30 more Silent Sisters and 60 more Blood Angels to send as backup. They were getting bored at my side.

 Present - Chapter 95

    "In groups of three! One Sister support two Astartes!" I command them as reinforcements begin teleporting in.


    This seems to work nicely, except for Chaplain Delos who cannot use his powers anymore. Thousands of demons there may be, but my forces are the equivalent of several normal Astartes Companies now.


    They have the best weapons, armor and shields I could find or steal, plus immunity from Warp spells or curses. In less than an hour, the temple is secured and my dear Hestia closes that Warp Portal simply by punching it.


    "Well, Captain... It appears your Rogue Trader instincts were right on the spot. We have recovered 14 more special blades, and there are stairs leading into catacombs. Permission to explore?" Rafen asks in a cheerful voice, and twirls his new polearm to find the right balance.


    I consider it for a few seconds, balancing risk vs benefit. Nah, better sell the location to a Forge World, and let them expend a million of skitarii battling whatever monstrosities were waiting below.


    Perhaps one of those Ultima sector Forges I haven''t contacted yet. Going to have to befriend them too, and soon. "Place a teleport beacon plus a demon warning asking for a portable Gellar field, and return to your posts. You had enough fun for a single day." I order them, as I begin to grab each triplet and deposit them on the Serenity.


    Only Alena is not very happy, because she wasn''t allowed to go. Still a Novice, and no need to risk her.


    In a decade or two she will gain the expertise in weapons and handling armor in combat. Just like I was, training an hour or two every day with the master-level warriors of the Blood Angels.


    "You will have your fun tonight, in bed." I promise her instead, and that seems to work as well.


    "Of course I will, Lord Pef! You better show me those other bed tricks, not just boring baby making." Alena demands in a petulant voice. Someone has been chatting with my cute nurses, Helena and Catherine, I see.


    I don''t really mind...she does make the most enticing noises after all.


    By the time my other ships arrive, 3 days later, I have stored 3000 Tyranid ships in my labyrinth and convinced Fidelia and Letitia to join me in bed. It is rather fast, but the sooner we start pumping babies together, the better. The galaxy depends on us.


    A dozen planets get to meet my fiery retribution as well, including the Ork capital of Charadon</a>, led by a self-titled Arch-Arsonist Ork Boss. He didn''t quite enjoy being burned alive, but such is fate. One day you burn some people, the next day you get burned in turn.


    A few more Necron dynasties that were awakening just now, on planets like Perdita</a> and Trakonn</a> got to be sent deep underground by the burning atmosphere, and the rest of my Exterminatus torpedoes fall on infested Tyranid worlds crawling with trillions of bugs.


    Not only denying them fresh biomass but actually preventing the Tyranids from reproducing behind the lines, was important too.


    My efforts during this visit possibly counted more than a dozen Navy battlefleets fighting for decades.


    The same efforts were getting noticed by the higher beings of this universe, as proved by an immortal Avatar of Khaine on my doorstep.


    Now, for the Dark Eldar the same method wouldn''t quite work, since Commorragh was dispersed over many dimensions and sub-dimensions for each Drukhari Kabal, and their center of power, called High_Commorragh</a>, was too well protected against deep strikes. It would take a frontal assault to pass through those wards and dimensional barriers, and I wasn''t even certain the forces I brought with me would be sufficient.


    Anyway, it was much more than humanity alone could provide as an assault force, being so dispersed and constantly under attack from a thousand enemies from outside and within.


    All I could do was send deployment orders to my daughters and provide them with more STC dataslates for barter, plus instructions where to mine blackstone and what kind of ships would be of most use. Fleet carriers and system-corvettes, and missile destroyers, as well as Nova Cannon armed cruisers.


    Battleships and battlecruisers, as well as battle barges were awesome, but took so long to build that humanity might be extinct before they finished.


    However, Forge Triplex Phall did manage to complete one Victory-class battleship much earlier, by a century, and the next was only decades away, due to enormous adamantium transports donated by my clan. They were also refitting the 4 battlebarges that simply manifested in their asteroid field, of which the first one was slated for the Scythes of the Emperor, and was due in a year or two.


    Forge Ryza was also working on returning to service that Ork Ironclad battleship I gifted them, plus restoring three Grand Cruisers.


    My best buddies, Forge Antax already produced an Ark Mechanicus cruiser and were working on the next, and Forge Hypnoth received a nearly intact one from an unknown donor.


    Forge Angstrom had enough damaged hulls to restore for a century, and most Forges in the Segmentum had received a ship or two from that Space Hulk confiscated by Trazyn.


    Compared to the other sectors, Ultima did great right now, and I planned to enforce that well-being by whatever means I had.


    The Inquisitor was returned to his underground cave in the Pharos when my fleet was ready to depart, and I didn''t accept vox transmissions from the Aegida while my own fleet entered the Webway. I save your skins, and you simply stay back and watch me burn the Tyranids without lifting a hand to help?


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    Ungrateful bastards!


    And thus, I released three hundred Eldar cruisers inside the Webway, and waited for their Avatar to coerce these Corsairs and Craftworld Eldars to join the pacifying expedition into Commorragh.


    Of course, some of them were too far gone of the Path of the Outcast, and those crews were replaced with new ones.


    "What will happen to those outcast Corsairs, Astartes?" The Avatar asked with a mental touch. Worried? Most likely.


    "Well, I will not place them into pits to fight Tyranids for my pleasure, like your sick brothers do. Maybe, when Ynnead gets born he might wish to trade me something for them." I answered in a level tone.


    That seemed to shock the Avatar to his core, leaving his speechless. I was used to silent companions though, so I didn''t mind.


    "Does your courage know no limit, Astartes?" the godling wondered in surprise.


    "Astartes have no fear, because we are what they fear." I answer in a jovial tone.


    The Avatar isn''t too pleased, I know. Then again...he can''t be certain of my powers, and can''t read me or my future. He only knows I can seemingly and effortlessly bombard his people from thousands of lightyears away, or capture entire fleets with a snap of my fingers. Not that I need to, it''s just a cultural thing we humans have.


    Our combined fleet gets under way, with the Avatar in the lead. Our trajectory is once again different, avoiding those turbulent conflicts or hidden Maiden Worlds in the Webway, and thus it takes a whole day to arrive at more distant quarter of Commorragh called the Old_City</a>. It seems there are many slaves here that the Avatar wants to be recovered by my cheater ability.


    I kinda agree as I discover tens of millions of humans and millions of Eldar kept in captivity and forced to work in gruesome factories, places filled with anguished spirits and tortured souls.


    With an audible growl, I begin collecting the poor slaves, wherever possible. Some are interred into torture coffins after their skin has been peeled off, others have been maimed or deformed beyond anyone''s ability to heal or restore their sanity.


    Of course, millions of advanced weapons and other artifacts get lost and vanish, while the Eldar cruisers and starfighters battle the meager defenses.


    I did come to loot and plunder, and beside Dark Eldar stuff there are countless Mechanicus or Eldar items, even Necron and Tau machines.


    In less than an hour we complete the easy task and push forward, while I stay behind the main fleet to gift an Exterminatus torpedo onto this fear factory dimension. Denial of assets and the Emperor''s Mercy, in a single packet.


    Pays to be efficient, as these weapons are quite rare indeed. Of course, I don''t look back at the explosion when the Serenity crosses into the next portal. That''s how people get turned to pillars of salt, after all.


    From here, we follow the Avatar into a kilometers-wide portal that leads into Low_Commorragh</a>, where the poor and destitute Dark Eldar live. They are all murderous criminals and cutthroats, scavengers and mutated beasts of Homunculi experiments.


    Nothing much to salvage except a million slaves in poor condition, and we move onward, while our lance and plasma batteries set fires to everything in sight.


    For thousands of kilometers, the ragged plastic and wood buildings and inhabitants burn, and we don''t even need Exterminatus here.


    A firestorm forms in our wake, and nothing will survive once the oxygen all burns.


    That''s a peril if you live in a cave, no matter how large.


    We enter another port city called Blackblood, which has now become the main center for raiding and slave trading, possibly due to losing a few ports to an ''accidental'' explosion.


    This takes all my concentration, capturing thousands of ships, some of which bear Dark Mechanicus and other Chaos markings. Most of them are Dark Eldar though, decorated with thorns and spikes and filled with torture chambers of insane designs.


    Their weapons are amazingly potent, as are the engines and the navigation controls. It will take a big trade with Trazyn to obtain manuals for some of this, if it''s even possible.


    The Mechanicus Forges would gleefully dissect everything, including Dukhari or Mandrakes</a> prisoners, for any usable data, and I will generously grant them this gift.


    It''s only fair we return the favor, right?


    I collect as much as can while the Icarus deploys the corvettes and fighters for our defense, and the Eldar fleet blasts everything into light.


    A couple of Haemonculi_Covens</a> arrive from some other dimension, and begin releasing Knight and even Titan-scale monstrosities like the Talos_Pain_Engine</a>, but those things are armed with few effective weapons. Scalpels, flails and venom are not the way to go against a battlefleet, as they soon discover.


    I only vanish a few of them for trades, and allow the fleet to exterminate the abominations with furious judgement. Volcano lances and plasma cannons,missiles and lascannons strike in huge volleys, and even a torpedo or two at the largest targets.


    More and more Kabals and Covens arrive so I decide to block a few webways with a dozen Tyranids bioships. Scalpels vs maws that can eat starships? Enjoy the pain then.


    A few hours later, the Dark Eldar begin to retreat, and we continue behind the Avatar''s fleet, with another Exterminatus incinerating Port Blackblood and all its horrors.


    Enjoy my present!

 Last Stand - Chapter 96

    Canis growls and pushes my left hand again, turning my attention from the holofield screen back to my tesseract vision.


    We have entered the Hidden_Blade</a>, which is a Fortress dimension guarding access to the rest of the city.


    Just in time, as a hundred Drukhari vessels arrive from a different pathways and begin launching thousands of advanced Voidraven_Bomber</a>s, and they are actually dangerous, especially the weapon called Void_Mine</a>, which is quite a match for my corvettes.


    The mind impulse unit goes into overdrive as I rapidly capture all of these bombers, but a single mine passes through and envelops the 666 number corvette into a barrier field. In an instant, a secondary warhead releases a particle of darklight which destroys everything inside the barrier, including my poor corvette. The crew is safe in my tesseract though, so at least it''s not a total loss. Perhaps I shouldn''t test fate and use that hull number again.


    I clench my fist and the entire Dark Eldar fleet gets moved inside the labyrinth, and its crew gets lined up in ordered rows for my later perusal. That''s an Archon!


    Now this is an excellent barter piece. Going by how many enemies the Dark Eldar have in the galaxy, everyone will bid on this guy, just to flay and crush him alive for decades.


    "You lost a ship, again." Ludvaius mutters in a faint tinge of admonishment.


    I just wave a hand in dismissal and focus on the battle.


    The Imperium attacked this place about 7000 years ago and lost much more. They didn''t return afterwards. I don''t intend to return either, because there will be nothing left.


    A new wave of enemies arrives, hundreds of Ravager</a> gunships, so nimble they can dodge defensive missiles and multilasers. They cannot dodge me, and thus they land in a stasis labyrinth for later analysis.


    Thousands of Razorwing_Jetfighter</a>s pass right through the Tyranid blockade of the Webway, to attack our fleet from behind, so nimble and agile they can dodge the Tyranid jaws and bioplasma weapons, and even manage to fire a few shots of dark lance at my Battle barge, before they are captured as well.


    Another Archon was leading this charge, which doesn''t surprise me. All Archons lead from the front, or they get strangled in their sleep by their own Kabal.


    We enter a region called Corespur</a>, formerly the residence of rich nobles, now mostly in ruins. Our batteries burn what''s left of it, including impoverished nobles and thousands of Homunculi labs or Wych Cults.


    Then we pass through the Sec_Maegra</a>, a city housing yet another billion Dark Eldar living in poverty and misery. Their misery ends by the time our fleet exits the city, flames and plasma ending their suffering and returning their wretched souls to hell.


    However, the next section of Commorragh is well defended, a place called Bone_Middens</a>, house of the richest Wych Cults and their arsenal of bioweapons and sorcerous biomachines.


    I immediately seal a dozen Webway exits with Tyranid bioships, reducing the chance for escape or reinforcements.


    Altars of bones and skulls decorate every intersection, most of them human bones, for whatever reason. Don''t worry, the day of retribution is here, and burns to have a heated argument for human rights.


    There are also thousands of coliseums and arenas, filled with gladiators and beastmasters, as well as millions of mutated beasts and a billion Dark Eldar spectators.


    They are all invited to the the fireworks display, and cannot refuse.


    Perhaps 40 thousand of the gladiators are human or Eldar, and they disappear in my labyrinth, where I notice with surprise a few hundred Astartes of every legion, and even a Primarch, the crazy swordsman named Khan.


    This guy must be really insane, coming willingly to the dark arenas just for a chance to butcher Dark Eldar in revenge, one at at time.


    I mean, I was here too, for much the same reason, but I did it with a big fleet and had a godling on my side. And even with every advantage I have, it is not easy.


    An entire army of Incubi and Succubi supported by more Pain Engines and hundreds of defense platforms resist our assault, until I drop a dozen Tyranid bioships just on top of them.


    Those bioships are also filled with millions of predatory organisms, hungry for any kind of biomass.


    Takes a whole day, and the Eldar lose a couple cruisers anyway, such potent are those dark lance batteries. Their crew are saved by my labyrinth, or else the Avatar might break the alliance too soon.


    "I didn''t sense their soul get devoured by the Enemy. You have my thanks, Astartes." the Avatar whispers in my mind.


    "Not problem, just keep an eye for Archon Vect. Don''t want our fleet to be stuck in some temporal-flux mine or get hit with prismic dimensional mirrors. Then I will have to release my other assets and the Webway will be gone." I warn him in return.


    I''m not sure if he believes me, but I do have an enslaved C''tan just waiting for bloodshed. Problem is, I''m not certain I can stop my Crimson God after I set him loose.


    "Care will be taken, human. Let''s move on, and you unleash another firebomb in our wake. Don''t pollute the Webway with unleashed Tyranids." The Avatar demands once most of the enemy forces are scattered and flee towards the Tyranids.


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    Some of these Drukhari are fast and strong enough to make it out, enough though millions of Hormagaunts and whatever other creatures are out here.


    We pass into the next dimension, and the Exterminatus obliterates the Wyches and their arenas.


    Here is the Middle_Darkness</a>, sort of civilian sector full of brigands and assassins. Our batteries set them right, and turn them to the light.


    After this, we finally arrive at High Commorragh, the place of power for the Dark Eldar. The entire race seems to be waiting for us, billions of troops and carnage engines, mutated beasts and 10 thousand ships of every size.


    We are completely outnumbered, and outgunned, or so it seems.


    I drop Tyranids ships in 50 places, all to the sides of the awaiting armies, and keep only 100 bioships in reserve. TheTyranid Silence engulfs the city and quells most of their foul wards and dark magic, and thus I launch two Vortex torpedoes, one into their frontlines and one behind the enemy lines, right at the edge of the nearest spire, one covered in the strongest dimensional shield I have ever seen, even able to block the tesseract.


    A few seconds after, I start kidnapping the bigger Drukhari ships as fast as I can, denying them their strongest assets. Five more Archons are now captured, plus 98 Battleships. Mines detonate in their place, as to confuse anyone where the ships are gone, but I suspect neither the Avatar of Khaine, nor my friendly wolf are fooled.


    The Tyranids howl in hunger and plow straight into the waiting biomass, ripping into the Dark Eldar armies and crunching on their bodies in ravenous hunger. Tyranids are always hungry.


    The dimensional mirror defending the spire is slowly breached by the expanding Warp rift, and demons of a thousand types now flood Commorragh''s richest quarters.


    Of course, those rich nobles and Archons had their private armies and Pain Engines and thousands of mine and traps, but the Immaterium is without end and will never run out of demons.


    The Drukhari cruisers and bombers still in the air struggle to split their fire in between the three attacking forces, and me and the Eldar are the most distant and less immediate threat.


    "Warp weapons! They should be forbidden!" the Avatar claims in a disgusted voice.


    See? The Geneva Convention is very close already.


    I flick a melta torpedo deep inside the highest spire, and the deflection field only stops half of its effect, while melting plasma falls onto the troops and demons below, sending them all to hell, screaming in joy or terror as they melt in burning fires.


    The Silence is not strong enough for a third Vortex warhead to be used safely, but I''m in no rush. I record everything on my implant, while my fleet fires thousands of plasma torpedoes at the defending Dark Eldar army.


    I don''t care how strong a psyker is, while bombarded by Tyranid Silence and a thousand tones plasma torpedo, his mind will crack and so will his psyker shields.


    Well, except one huge Mandrake who tanks 5 torpedoes before he dies. Must have been their boss or something. As durable as a Navy cruiser, so possibly on par with a Daemon Prince.


    I don''t really care though. My corvettes have 20 thousand torpedoes to spend, and we''re barely using 10 percent for now.


    I direct a wing of 100 corvettes to unleash a sequential barrage on the tallest spire. Not at once, because the most warheads will get vaporized in the previous explosion. There is no rush, anyway.


    I have all the time in the world, and a Silent Sister whispering hot promises in my ear.


    "How do you like the show, guys?" I ask to make sure.


    "Looks great from up here. Probably quite nasty at ground level though..." Rafen quips with a snort.


    "The Tyranids are eating well today." Ludvaius observes in a calm voice.


    "They are, huh? Poor creatures. Coming all the way from distant galaxies, just to serve as actors in my pict-show. I bet a throne my kids will love this recording." I comment in a wry voice.


    "Which throne would that be?" the Chaplain interferes at my heresy.


    Rafen flips a sliver coin and holds it up. "One throne coin, Lord Pef. But all your kids must love it." the Astartes demands waving the coin like it was made of spirit stones or something of value.


    "What''s not to love? Should I add some Orks in there?" I ask in a naive voice.


    "No!" everyone on the bridge yells in terror. Probably a good idea then.


    "Necrons?" I ask in fake innocence.


    "That''s even worse, Captain. Stop talking while you''re ahead." Brother Ludvaius advises me and pats my head in a familiar gesture.


    I pat Canis on his head for comfort, while we wait for the damned dimensional field to break.


    The Eldar cruisers keep lancing everything approaching our formation, creating a rather powerful barrier of light and antimatter. We fire plasma and lances as well, and I keep stealing sleek bombers and fighters, as soon as they leave their underground launch bays.


    Everyone of these babies would be worth a billion thrones, sleek and nimble death machines with millions of years of advanced technology hidden under the spikes.


    One day humanity will have such nice fighters too, but for that I need some respite to grow my kingdom in relative peace. Technology is a hard quest, and religious restrictions do not help.


    As it happens, the Tau and the Dark Eldar are the easiest enemies to defeat, due to their localized concentration.


    Sadly, most of the Tau stuff is only on par with the Astartes weaponry and armor, or even below, not to mention the Mechanicus.  Some Mechanicus tech is almost at Necron levels, altough they of course forgot how to make them or even how to power them up.


    The Tau instead create things on a logical progression, getting better every year.


    The Tau still need to grow and discover more nice stuff, to be worth a raid from myself.


    Hopefully anti-Chaos and anti-Necron weapons. That would be great.


    I will have to arrange they meet and fight more often.

 Epic - Chapter 97

    A dozen thoughts course through my mind, and Mister Primarch Khan is right there in top three.


    Sure, the guy is not a brainiac, evident by his very actions. Then again, he would be rather useful in stirring things up, especially very far from my own interests in the Fringe.


    The bad part though, this guy is a moron. The first thing that goes through his head is "I am the sword." and then "Off with your head". I kinda like my head where it is.


    Using the MIU implant, I contact my Juggler Biologis Magos and have him prepare a sedative capable of pacifying an enraged Astartes, plus another MIU brain drilling operation team, plus something to keep the guy breathing once all those combat drugs wear off.


    Then I send Fidelia to the medicae lab to provide enforcement.


    Once everything is in place, Jaghatai Khan arrives in the room to receive a paralytic spray in the face. No weapons of course, because the guy is lethal enough. He even manages to punch Juggler half-way into the next room. And Juggler is very good, I have seen him scoop out the brain of that traitor marine in a millisecond.


    Then, Khan falls on his face, and Fidelia places him on the operating table. There must be 10 thousands white scars on his body, and inside as well. Makes you wonder how he survived til now, but Primarchs are bullshit, everyone knows that.


    Doesn''t look like one now, merely a battered gladiator in leather pants. Half of those too.


    I return to watching the show, just as the last hundred plasma torpedoes detonate and collapse the defensive barrier around the high spires of Commorragh.


    Thousands of high level nobles are forced to enter combat beside their bodyguards, massacring demons with ease. But I want my full set, so a few more Archons and their retinues get captured in my labyrinth. All except two: Asdrubael_Vect</a> and Aurelia_Malys</a>.


    Where could they be? Hidden in some sub-dimension maybe.


    Well, anyway there is plenty of looting here, artifacts from hundreds of species, though most of them are Eldar and human. I even find an empty tesseract, which is quite funny. They could have stopped my assault easily with it, if they knew how to use it. Their loss, my gain.


    I could make it my Lancefire''s clan treasure, after I taught Victor how to use it intelligently. Managing the defense and safety a small kingdom would be a piece of cake with such a tool, even if assaulted by Ork Waaghs or Tyranids Hives. Also, one of those chronophagic blades, and the clan would be set for the next 40 thousands years.


    This was the great advantage of a Blank Dynasty. I wouldn''t need to fear my heir falling to Chaos or getting ensorcelled. Sure, stupidity or fanaticism could always strike, even the best of us, even me at times.


    So far, his Astartes bodyguard had kept him safe from plots or assassins, which was also good. Soon enough, his brothers will be Astartes as well, and that will count for something.


    Coven by coven and army by army, the Dark Eldar slowly get decimated by the three-pronged attack, and in some places demons and Tyranids began to meet and devour each other as well.


    We don''t have troops on the ground, because I''m not that stupid, and there is no need. I can loot whatever I want, from my Captain''s chair.


    "All batteries, focus fire on the nearest Warp rift." I demand out loud. While the Tyranids are numerous enough to devour any world, demons are infinite. Better not play it too close.


    The Eldar observe the change in focus and turn their lances on the forward rift as well, which helps close it quite fast. Then again, they have an Avatar and the Tyranid Silence is suppressing the Warp to some degree.


    The remaining Dark Eldar ships turn their attention on the Warp rift to their back, which makes some sense, but not enough. I do want a large armada of advanced ships, so their cruisers also begin to vanish now, leaving only the smaller ships, from which I only collect a dozen per class, just to analyze the technologies.


    Of course, this leaves the ground armies without cover, and hordes of Hive_Crone</a>s and millions of Gargoyle</a>s dive on their prey unimpeded.


    Even a Greater Daemon arrived at the final moment, eager to feast on the well-deserving Drukhari. This finally breaks the Dark Eldar morale, and they attempt to flee and scatter. Tyranids all around though.


    "Exterminatus inbound in 60 solar seconds. All ships retreat!" I order just as the second Warp rift is finally closed, by suicidal self-detonations of a dozen Dark Eldar destroyers.


    We turn tail and head for the portal, while Commorragh becomes a feast for Tyranids and demons.


    "Anyone knows who that is? Just asking, for no reason at all." I say in a gentle voice.


    Ludvaius chuckles and pats Rafen shoulder. "That''s Heartslayer</a>, a Keeper of Secrets."


    Unauthorized usage: this tale is on Amazon without the author''s consent. Report any sightings.


    And? I think there''s something more to it...and as that Avatar plunges straight through the hordes of Tyranids and demons, I think I have tiny clue.


    "Well, the Avatar will get a bit burned, but he should be fine I guess." I murmur to myself and Canis.


    My wolf nods wisely at me, so he agrees. Avatars are tough, something as minor as an Exterminatus shouldn''t bother him much. Only fire after all.


    I think I should delay the explosion a little and record more. I mean, who else has recordings of three factions of the Eldar race, battling each other in the middle of their ancient capital?


    And the Tyranids all around, make it even more interesting. The Serenity holds position right at the edge of this dimension, with the Icarus above us and 999 corvettes like a rainbow and honor guard.


    I''m not sure why I stopped. Logically it made sense to just bomb the place and run away, but it''s good that I did. On the other side of that transparent portal, the two remaining Archons have circled around to strike from behind, as the Eldar cruisers find out right now.


    Unseen weapons and dark beams strike those peaceful Eldar cruisers, and they all scatter in panic, losing half their numbers into temporal mine fields, and doing little damage, as a thick shadow covers those Archons and their reserve armies.


    Well, I am kinda caught in the middle now.


    What to do?


    I try to extract the Eldar cruiser from beyond that barrier, but the real distance must be light-years not a few kilometers.


    "Corvettes, 10 percent expenditure, through the portal!" I command on a hunch.


    Beams will not cross over, or else we would be taking fire already. But torpedoes were physical objects.


    I lean in my chair and target the raised platform with two Dark Eldar with the barge''s Machine Spirit, and launch my own warhead among the 2000 torpedoes volleys from my corvettes.


    He might be a potent psyker, but this Vortex warhead has a Blank logis-engine, and thus the Archon doesn''t sense the danger, not until is too late. That shield of his is no protection against a Vortex warhead that can break a battleship in two.


    The Warp rift splits the reserve army into a few smaller groups, and the rain of plasma torpedoes incendiate and immolate their decorated armors, and then ignites their souls, as their corrupted flesh gets evaporated. Demons pour through the rift, and engage those armies in melee, with little effect except holding them still as more plasma torpedoes rain from above.


    Those two titanic beings are still fighting behind us, surrounded by monstrous Aberrations and demented Medusae</a>, while a throng of massive Tyranid Pyrovore</a> bombards the dregs of the Dark Eldar with acid bombs that dissolve flesh and metal.


    Mountain shattering blows rain on each other, but the Avatar is made of burning metal, and simply reforms, while the Greater Daemon is made of nightmares and make-believe. There are plenty of nightmares around to empower the creature, and I am wary of my crew getting corrupted.


    Time to burn it all. "All ships advance at speed and bombard that warp rift." I order as I mentally load another Incendiary and detonate it near the ceiling of the cave.


    With a last look at the demolished Commorragh, I collected a hundred more Razorfiend_Cruiser</a>s and loaded them with the largest Tyranid organisms still alive, a dozen Broodlords and a Tyrant among them.


    Might need them for some ambush, or just in case. I already had several Narvhal</a>s and those were the most useful and problematic bioships too, being the gravity tunneling little bastards.


    Didn''t find any STC here, so perhaps that Panacea was already saved by my comical STC containers, littering the Ultima sectors on thousands of transport ships and cargo haulers.


    Hopefully, that caused a million psykers headaches as well.


    The last Archon was still running, already a dozen kilometers away, when the Serenity crossed over, but she wasn''t faster than a tesseract. Lady Malys joined my collection, frozen in a desperate rictus. Or perhaps it was excitement. Hard to say with the sadistic Dark Eldar.


    She did have a lot of great loot though, including some kind of super powerful pistol called a blaster. It shot darklight, so it might pierce through battleship-grade armor. Like I said, good stuff.


    Might need to disguise the shape into a more Imperial weapon, using molded resin or plasteel, but just in case anther traitor Primarch showed up, I wanted a surprise.


    I named it Chekhov''s gun, for old times sake.


    A recon drone entered the burning dimension to send a short transmission, confirming those two monsters were still fighting each other among the ruins of Commorragh.


    Oh well, I could sell tickets to that epic fight. Right?

 Khaine - Chapter 98

    My two capital ships and the corvettes kept bombarding the rift for an hour until it closed.


    Of course, we could have sent a Sister for the same effect, but the floor of the Webway was crawling in demons and Drukhari and Mandrakes and all kinds of exotic or dangerous creatures. I mean, their personal weapons were rated to shred an armored tank, so risking a precious Blank, even in power armor, wasn''t an option for me.


    Instead, I headed towards the biolab, flanked by my Angels and two Apothecaries from the Lamenters.


    Khan was waking up and screaming his lungs out.


    Probably in need of more combat drugs of Dark Eldar make. Must have made someone a lot of revenue with this simplistic look at the world.


    "Release me at once!" the Primarch shouted and struggled against his adamantium binders, just when I entered the lab.


    "Next time he screams, punch his throat. Perhaps later, we can fuse his jaws and remove his vocal cords? It''s not like he has anything wise to say." I asked from the Juggler, who clicked his scalpels in anticipation.


    "Of course, Captain. Such beasts are better used to pull plows." the Mechanicus Magos replied in a wry tone.


    "You are Astartes? What Legion?" the Primarch demanded in a command voice.


    "One of those legions who kept their duty, unlike you, Primarch Khan. You abandoned your Emperor given duty, and now it is my right to pass sentence. Do you deny the charges?" I ask in a pleasant voice and hold my hand to my right, where an Apothecary is carrying the blade of Office, a relic called Glaive Encarmine.


    It is quite heavy, the blade and my duty.


    "You would execute a Primarch?" the guy yells in surprise then chokes as Juggler taps his neck gently with a mechadendrite.


    "I''ve killed a Primarch before, one named Lorgar. What''s such a big deal? Anyway, respond to the question! For the charges of dereliction of duty, how do you reply?" I demand in a sterner voice, blade gleaming in my hands.


    A few seconds pass, as lucidity in face of certain death appears in his eyes. The man sighs and lowers his head in remorse." Guilty as charged. My Legion...the Chapter now. I abandoned them, to pursue vengeance."


    Well then, perhaps death is not the best punishment, if the accused can be redeemed. I return the weapon to the Apothecary, and step closer.


    "I wasn''t asking about one Chapter, Primarch Khan. You are an Astartes, and your duty is to defend humanity. As a Primarch, you were given authority over the Imperium, because these naive idiots needed someone to direct them wisely.


    And what wisdom will they find, in your actions? A beastly gladiator, pumped full of Dark Eldar combat stimulants? Howling at the ceiling, like a raging beast?" I ask rhetorically, as I gesture at my Juggler to release the thick adamantium shackles, binding the brute to the operating table.


    "I...wasn''t thinking straight." the giant mutters as stands up, and rubs his wrists.


    "Ludvaius, stay with the idiot and teach him the Canticle of Unceasing Service. One thousand repetitions in solitary confinement, afterwards. I''ll have to think for an appropriate penance, in the meantime. " I demand gruffly as I turn away and leave the lab. Fidelia runs after me and holds my hand for comfort.


    As I return to the bridge with the elevator, Rafen checks me over in admiration and perhaps worry. "You were ready to slice his head off, just like that. An Emperor-given Primarch!" he says in a tight voice.


    "We are in the Webway now, Astartes Rafen. Here, I speak with the Voice of the Emperor, as I do anywhere outside the Imperium. As for Primarchs, in my eyes they are all guilty. Abandoning their duty is a capital crime for any Astartes, correct?"


    I explain in a grave voice.


    Rafen nods slowly, as he reasons the Imperial law and the facts of the matter in his mind. "Primarch Khan will not forget this day, Captain." the Veteran Astartes mused to himself, and perhaps as a tangential warning.


    "He better not! Next time Khan goes astray, I will not spare his life." I say harshly and then draw Fidelia into a side hug, since she seems a bit overwhelmed by the events.


    My Apothecaries are also quite confused, as the events are a bit beyond them. "Let''s hope the lost Primarch will regain his sanity with the Canticle. It works wonders for the Lamenters, just like you have promised, Master Lancefire." one of them says in a hopeful tone.


    I couldn''t do much for the remaining Lamenters of the older generation, but try to fortify their corrupted minds with the Canticle, and avoid sending them into melee combat.


    The experienced Lamenters will be needed for a time, as teachers and instructors for the new generation getting implanted right now.


    In a few decades, perhaps use them in a last stand somewhere, to defend a bastion of humanity, and erase the Warp curse completely, with their blood.


    Pay another gene-tithe maybe, with their corpses. The Emperor would approve, like he always did. But if not, He could always say something, or send me an Angel.


    My next target shall be the Ultramarines and the Dark Angels, gifting them a few Companies of Blank sons, to prevent their manipulation by Warp-using pyskers and Chaos forces.


    Wouldn''t be as easy to convince these Chapters, unless I had a Primarch by my side.


    More Bone staffs will be needed, as mind-shields against C''tan or other empathic users. Sadly, Blank powers were not perfect, and various mind abilities were not restricted to psykers. Even the Tau Ethereals had some type of empathic powers, and they were Blank themselves.


    The Navigators themselves were proof of this, some of them being able to cover a ship in a self-made Gellar field, and protect their passengers through the Warp when the generators failed.


    I could also try to repurpose a Null_Rod</a> for this staff, and give Warp and mental protections to Chapter Masters. I only found a couple though, even in the vast treasuries of the Dark Eldar. Must be pretty rare indeed.


    But surely, some old and experienced artificiers or Mechanicus tech-priests must know how to make more. Lack of reason was still rampant in the Imperium though, and such artifacts were not common place among Generals or Admirals or even Chapter Masters. Possibly the Inquisition itself was suppressing their manufacture, for their own purpose. Most likely to maintain their secular power over the Imperium, as the only demon or psyker hunters.


    You could be reading stolen content. Head to Royal Road for the genuine story.


    "Where to now, Captain?" my X.O. aunt asks as I return to my Captain seat.


    "We continue onwards. There are dozens more dimensions and sub-sections of the Commorragh, and billions more dark creatures to exterminate. It would be a pity to return home without spending the torpedoes." I explain patiently and urge the Serenity towards the direction I''ve seen Lady Malys flee.


    We cross into the quarter named the Sprawls</a> and begin bombarding the pitiful refugees fleeing from our raid, while I rescue millions of slaves and thousands of precious artifacts. Tyranids are hounding at the heels of these Parched, poor Drukhari fallen from grace, or luckier Wyches and Incubi who were faster at running away. Not fast enough, obviously.


    From here, we scout a dozen more portals, one leading to the still burning Port Carmine. I pick the next route, which leads to River_Khaides</a>. A green river crosses this quarter, bubbling with green pollution and filled with drifting corpses.


    Another portal leads to a smaller section called the Pandaimon</a>, where another small army lies in ambush. They have more ships and Pain Engines and a million warbeasts.


    I do confiscate a couple battleships and a score of cruisers, just to fill the ranks with my Dark Eldar collection. Not sure how I will control all these xenos, but the Drukhari battleships can surely be plated in plasteel and adamantium to give them an Imperial look, then have warp-less engines installed on them. Big hulls are hard to build for any race, and this would provide me with a segmentum-large battlefleet once they are refitted for human usage.


    The treasuries of the Thornlords were all filled with gems and gold and countless weapons, even a dozen STCs in bad repair. This is the greatest find, for myself. Not fake STCs like I make, but actually real relics from the Dark Age.


    Astartes armor in old patterns, anti-grav speeders with strange laser cannons, even some curious floating tanks painted in silver-grey patterns. Those might be Silent Sister vehicles, I suspect.


    Plenty slaves to rescue as well, so I get a collection of a hundred alien species in my labyrinth, from spiders to worms and mollusks and cyborg monkeys. I even find a dozen Blanks among the millions of humans, which is curious.


    What use would the Dark Eldar have for Blanks? Well, beside researching how to secure their souls from Slaanesh.


    However, the defenders are resisting the attacks well, even after their shields collapse under a stream of torpedoes and lances.


    Well, I don''t actually need to fight them head on. I deposit a couple Tyranid bioships on top of them, then turn the fleet around as the Thornlords'' troops are forced to engage the hungry tyranids.


    Meanwhile, I prime another Exterminatus and engulf the cave in fiery screams and melting brimstone just as we leave. Another excellent plunder dimension.


    There should be more though.


    We turn back and enter a place called Nightsound Ghulen, an underdark city filled with pain and misery. I fail to find anything to loot here, but I exterminate the place anyway. Nothing shall remain to come back for.


    Then we pass through another portal and reach a shadow filled dimension, crawling with Mandrakes and other shadow creatures. Must be the Aelindrach</a>, if my lore is correct. I can''t actually grab anything, as objects seem out of phase.


    Lasers still set fires, so that''s enough for me. We bombard the place with plasma and lances, and then scour the mists with the Exterminatus grade incendiary.


    I''m not sure how the Mechanicus makes this beauties, but everything burns, from shadow spiders and their silk, to monstruous Mandrakes covered in black shadows. It is true, fire is the great equalizer.


    Then we pass through Seyahmva''ar</a>, a sort of fortress and taxation district, and collect the last of the kidnapped slaves, and their bounties, while we demolish the defenses with another barrage of torpedoes and lances.


    I rescue thousands of women from Adepta Sororitas, not all from militant orders, hundreds of Imperial priests and Nobles, some Navigators and astropaths, and a million guardsmen of a hundred regiments, not all of them salvageable.


    Sure more Catachans will be great, and even Cadians or Valhalans. They probably only lost due to poor equipment and retarded leadership.


    And then we stumble on the most fortified sector on the Commorragh, called Khaine''s_Gate</a>. I doubt the Avatar of Khaine will want me to ruin his namesake. Plus, there should be a gate into the Warp at the end of this cavern.


    However, among the defending troops, I scout another Archon Vect, looking a bit terrified, despite all the bodyguards and prepared defenses.


    I grab him from among a troupe of Harlequins, and all his court and courtiers.


    "I hear pounding, Captain. Like something is trying to break inside the Webway." Chaplain Delos announces as his eyes start bleeding.


    "Alena, pat the Chaplain''s head while he recites the Canticle." I command as I lean on my bone staff and reach towards the nicest dressed Harlequin.


    "You defend the Khaine Gate, from She-who-Thirsts?" I ask to make sure.


    "We are, human from outside the play." the creature answers in a painful voice, like a million screeching sounds mingle in my mind.


    "For this duty, you will be spared. Khaine himself is here, having fun with some big demon. So long, and see you at the End of times!" I proclaim in a fake cheer, then turn the fleet around.


    No point destroying the place and letting the Warp infest the Webway, and thus flood thousands of worlds with streams of demons.


    As we trace our course back, we massacre millions of fleeing Dark Eldar that have escaped our pogrom, and millions of Tyranids chasing after them.


    Uh, I might have messed things up a little...

 Khan - Chapter 99

    I better clean up the mess I left, before the other Tyranids get drawn into the Webway.


    These alien creatures emanate some type of psychic call, drawing others of their kind to a nice food source.


    Intersection by intersection, we trace our steps by another routes, while I collect Tyranid bioships and exterminate fleeing Dark Eldar and chasing Tyranids.


    This takes weeks of hard work, work that I made for myself. Well, it made sense at the time, blocking passage ways with hungry Tyranids. Shouldn''t have expected them to stay put though. Poor guys were awfully hungry after all.


    However, chasing after stream of Tyranid bioforms leads my fleet into dozens of new sub-dimensions, because these cute fellows can smell prey and blood from a thousand kilometers and keep track of wounded Drukhari without fail. They do make great hunting dogs.


    Of course, I rotate my officers in the captain seat, to give them all more experience in fleet maneuvers and Webway navigation. A dozen Blank daughters already have a pilot badge, and a barge is much slower than a starfighter.


    I can''t wait till I have a few thousand of such daughters or maybe granddaughters, to captain all my ships. Especially those ships not yet ''discovered''.


    By the third week, the found Primarch has recovered enough to walk around, dressed in a white robe as a sign of penitence.


    I mostly ignore him, except as meals and debriefings, where Khan is invited due to his status but only allowed to listen. His advice is not required, not wanted.


    I trust my own judgement, and I do have advisers, maybe too many. Even my nurses think they could run a battlefleet inside the alien Webway.


    The Tech-priests all want to get their tentacles all over the xenos machines and biowarfare organisms, and disregard my questions about quarantine and safety protocols. So, their lack of common sense ensures they don''t get to touch anything.


    The Juggler is the most displeased among the tech-priests, even after collecting enough gene samples from Mister Khan to create an entire new Chapter.


    "We can solve your quest for knowledge easily, Magos. You jump outside from my armored warship, and have all the fun you want with the creatures below. No need for safety protocols. You have five seconds to agree, four, three..." I tell him after he retracts his tentacle from a certain orifice. He is my personal doctor too, and isn''t that worrisome?


    The Biologis Magos grumbles something in binharic and sanitizes his mechadendrite in disgust. "I like the shields and armor around me..." he explains in a pleading voice.


    "And I like my crew healthy and not infected with a billion pathogens and bio viruses from a million insane Homunculi. One day, I will build you a biolab on an airless moon, in an unpopulated star system, armored in blackstone 10 meters thick, with a cyclonic torpedo under it, that needs a red button to be pressed every hour, to stop the already primed detonation. And that button keyed only to your still breathing person. Then, you will get to experiment with these captured creatures, one at the time. Until you forget to press the button or something eats you, and finally the Exterminatus erases your stupidity from the gene pool." I explain patiently.


    "... That seems absurd. I can deal with any pathogen!" the idiot-savant claims in denial.


    "You''re right. It is too little, right? Make that a virus-bomb first, then a Vortex warhead, and lastly the Cyclonic torpedo. That should take care of every security risk. Perhaps I can find a way to make the star go supernova too..." I muse to myself in real concern.


    Juggler blinks at me and tries to find the joke, but I''m not joking at all. "You''re too paranoid, Lord Pef. Not so many planets have been destroyed by investigating too deeply into the mystery of the Omnissiah. Thousands at most!"


    "And then, we should add a blackhole weapon to sink everything into a gravity well. Not many things can climb out from that. It worked on Fulgrim too." I continue in a casual voice and go to play with my wolf a little. He needs love too!


    "...You threw Primarch Fulgrim into a blackhole? That sounds intriguing." the idiot mutters as he exits my rooms, and dodges around Primarch Khan.


    The other idiot has good hearing though. "Fulgrim as well?" Khan mutters in dismay as he sneaks elegantly into my room.


    "I only helped from the sides in that event. Lady Justine, my Blank mother, was the main protagonist. And Sanguinius helped as well. Not in the flesh, as his corpse is now held by the Blood Angels, in stasis. Just a psychic construct in his image. Healed my wrist too, so it almost paid off my mother''s sacrifice. So, you made up your mind?" I ask curious.


    This story has been unlawfully obtained without the author''s consent. Report any appearances on Amazon."Yes, Lord Lancefire. I''m thinking to lead a Crusade into the Maelstrom. I''ve read about your own exploits, in the Badab War. The folly of the Mantis Warriors is on me, for my absence." the Primarch says in a gentle tone.


    A Crusade, huh? It would fail horribly, and waste even more ships and troops for no gain.


    "Why a Crusade?" I ask instead.


    "The Lamenters sacrificed most of the chapter to end the Badab rebellion, and you haven''t even been granted a Noble title on Terra, even though you risked your clan''s personal ships and armsmen to aid the Imperium. I will use my sons'' blood to wash off the shame." the idiot explains in a retarded logic.


    "How about this? What use are arid worlds filled with xenos or cultists? Who will live there or defend them, while our enemies burn Hive Worlds and plunder our Forges? You and those Chapters willing to listen to your amazing genius as a Primarch, start reinforcing Hive Worlds and Forge Worlds with orbital defenses and thousands of ships each, while the local Army units receive those weapons and tech-priests they need to secure the surface. You saw those torpedo corvettes, right? Easy and cheap to build, and a thousand of them can launch 20 thousand torpedoes at any invading fleet, be they Tyranids or Orks or Traitor Legions. Build Gellar generators in every city, to keep Warp intrusions at the minimum. " I comment in a dismissive voice.


    Crusades? What for? The Imperium is crumbling under his feet, and he wants to conquer even more.


    "But what about you? Didn''t you Crusade as well?" he asks in confusion.


    "A Rogue Trader has different priorities. Plunder and loot like gems and thrones, captured ships and weapons, liberated slaves or serfs and convicts turned into servitors. Everything I plundered and liberated from those pirates and criminals keeps my clan rich and safe, because we can now defend a dozen worlds in the Fringe much easier. And then, there is the STC for Macharius-pattern drives, which allow the largest human ships to travel without entering the Warp. I heard Forge Angstrom tries to repair the ancient template and allow even large cruisers the same benefit." I explain while diverting his attention from my actions.


    "I never heard of those drives. Even just on battleships and converted conveyors...are they really that common now?" he wonders in amazement.


    "I wouldn''t know. I did hear of a dozen Forges building those drives, but then both my Lancefire clan and my new Chapter are mostly isolated in the Eastern Fringe, surrounded by Orks and Tyranids, Tau to our south and Necrons farther north." I explain in vague terms.


    It isn''t actually that bad, or at least not until more Tyranids arrive and Necron awaken.


    "And these Eldar? You made an alliance?" he asks in a worried tone.


    "Just followed them to Commorragh. I sort of convinced their Avatar to lead the way and bear the brunt of the assault, in return for not blowing up more Craftworlds. Worked quite well, and we didn''t even get betrayed. Anyway...I do have a Warrant of Trade, so it''s my right to deal with xenos as I please. Not by chopping Eldar heads one by one, instead burning their whole corrupted city to the ground. Not that anyone is going to repay my costs, the spent torpedoes and fuel and the lost corvette." I mutter in fake Rogue Trader greed.


    "I shall arrange you receive a battlecruiser instead, Lord Lancefire. And double your expenditure in ordnance. 40 thousand torpedoes, for your service to the Emperor." the Primarch proclaims in a glorious voice.


    I smile sweetly, as my good mood suddenly returns. 40 thousand reasons to smile, so why not?


    "With a Nova Cannon. And a hundred Nova shells. I did spend all my precious munitions blasting away at the traitor Astral Claws and that Tyranid Hive Fleet attacking Sotha." I barter with my familiar demeanor of a slimy Trader.


    "Yes, yes. A hundred Nova shells it will be. Are we returning to Sotha now?" Khan inquires in a lower voice.


    "Probably next week. Still need to burn down everything related to the Dark Eldar, and cleanse the tunnels of the Tyranid infestation, before they reach humans worlds. Damned tunnels go everywhere into the galaxy, even Terra and Cadia. Someone should work on closing those gates before something nasty crawls out." I say in a warning voice and point at the door.


    Khan has a mind implant now, so he can understand a command that most dogs can.


    "I shall return next week. Lord Lancefire. And I shall consider your advice. Or was it an order?" he asks to make sure.


    "Only the Emperor can order an Astartes, Primarch Khan. Let me know if He speaks to you." I answer in a cheerful voice and power up my cogitator.


    Time to work on those STCs, and derive a hundred more slightly better templates.


    Ludvaius escorts the Primarch as he leaves, and Rafen stays to watch me work. Well, he kinda has to stay as my personal bodyguard.

 Edge - Chapter 100

    After this week passes, we meet up with one of the Eldar cruisers roaming around, and simply ask politely for an escort back to Sotha, lest we roam at random and perhaps reach some sacred Eldar Exodite world, by mere accident.


    A minute later, their Captain agrees to our wonderful offer and leads to way to our destination.


    Not sure if he got my meaning, or the Avatar told them to. I could trust my luck and try to navigate blindly, but fate works in mysterious ways and would possibly throw me in front of a Hive Fleet or a Chaos fleet or a Hrud migration.


    The Tranquility awaits us beside the portal, the mangled prow barely repaired after the battleship had been extracted from the remains of the Ork Space Hulk.


    Sure, the prow is hermetically sealed now, and there''s a mechanical Gellar generator right behind the armor, so Warp travel is quite safe. The noises and other Warp emanations have mostly been controlled as well, with several Gellar field generators working non-stop. The hull and machinery are functional, but sadly infested or possessed by whatever figments of imagination or living nightmares manifested during the long voyages through the Warp.


    It would be safer to scrap it, and reforge the metal again, but a new battleship would take millennia to build by my small Forge, if indeed possible at all.


    Retribution is building simple tanks and slightly more advanced fighters, and that won''t change for at least a century. We''re on the bottom tier, and will need to grow a technological society from ground up.


    Most likely by stealing basic science, and advanced science too, from our Tau neighbors to the south. What humanity has forgotten already, they are discovering right now. And not being too cautious about who gets to learn and use their technology, even allowing conquered humans in their military. I already have plans to use that to my advantage, by donating them bits of Eldar and Dark Eldar equipment, even Necron or Ork machinery that appears somewhat easier to engineer and reproduce.


    While a few millions of tech-priests chant and pray and anoint machines in complicated rituals, just to get a simple tank to start, the Tau are already building advanced battlesuits with energy shields, and battleships with formidable railgun batteries.


    Sure, they still have lots to work on ship engines and void shields or Gellar generators, that can be arranged to happen much sooner.


    My corvettes are deployed and arranged defensively as we approach the Aegida. For some reason, the Inquisition makes me nervous. And I have a Rosetta myself!


    "Pef Lancefire, you have a lot to explain." my Rose speaks on the vox channel reserved for highest priority. There is no invading force around, not even a sneaky Eldar scout.


    My beloved has also returned, probably not long ago. "We better talk in private." I answer curtly and raise from my Captain''s seat.


    "Are we blowing them up too?" my aunt asks to make sure, and her question makes the giant Khan cough in surprise, or perhaps warning.


    "Nah. They are not traitors, only brainwashed zealots. I''ll sort them out." I declare in a confident voice as I walk out the door.


    I will sort them out, somehow. I left that word out, because confidence is essential in a commander. Even if you feel like hiding in your room.


    Thus, I wave out my bodyguards and bring the pretty Inquisitor in, with a simple twist of the labyrinth. So easy.


    "You have indeed changed, just like the reports said. Acting without reservation, ignoring procedure or the law. Stealing prisoners. Dealing with xenos too." my Rose declares in an accusing voice.


    "Hello, my love. You look a bit tired." I answer instead, and offer a hug. She glares at me for a minute before relenting and accepting my embrace.


    "You better have a solid adamantium alibi. Blackstone even." Rose mutters in my neck. So she did notice the protective armoring around my rooms. Obviously she did, her psyker powers would be restricted even more.


    "What could I say? I took the fleet to Commorragh, burned the place down. An entire race exterminated. That glowing lightbulb on my bridge is Primarch Khan. He rode back with me, so to say. I don''t have horses on the ship." I explain in a small but level voice.


    She blinks as her hand points towards the bridge and tries to find some words to say. " A Primarch...and burning down all of Commorragh. Yes, that would be a solid alibi. Is this new ability of yours from that C''tan in the Pharos?" she asks in a wary voice.


    Unauthorized duplication: this tale has been taken without consent. Report sightings.


    I shake my head gently. "Something completely different. Just keep in mind, what I am learning to do, others have done for millions of years. The Eldar came with an Avatar of Khaine on board. Do you even know how potent such a being is?"


    Rose nods hesitantly. "I know of them. Is that your hidden trade partner?" she asks me in worry.


    "Oh no. Last I saw it, the Avatar was fighting a gigantic Keeper of Secrets in the burning ruins on High Commorragh. Both of them took my Exterminatus head on, and ignored it. That Avatar, he is my next trade. Maybe the Greater Demon too, if I can find a buyer. I supply a time and a place, and I name a price. Perhaps another ancient STC, like the warp-less drive was. Perhaps an STC device that can close the Hadex Anomaly." I whisper in her ear, and she goes deathly still.


    "All those ships...appearing near Forge Worlds...it was you? Or rather, someone that can find them and just move them in an instant." Rose murmured in slight amazement.


    "You know, not everyone is mortal, in this universe. The Eternals, like Primarch Vulkan for example...they simply cannot die. Others, like those traitors Primarchs might get resurrected in the Eye of Terror. Eldar Avatars return from death riding those Infinity Circuits, til the Universe loops around. Dark Eldar Archons can resurrect via blood sacrifice. Some Necrons Overlords simply enter a new timeline, and climb inside an undamaged body. I even heard of an Ork Boss getting resurrected." I continue in a more somber voice, and sit on my adamantium chair while Rose sits in my lap.


    Not yet time for love, but some explanation is needed. It is even true, from a certain point of view.


    "What does it have to do with our situation? Primarch Khan is alive and well, right?" she wonders in a deep frown.


    "Our Emperor is an Eternal too. I suspect the Primarchs are simply slivers of his own abilities, separated into clone bodies with different attributes. They cannot really die, just like those Living Saints that the Ecclesiarchy makes. Well, their method is flawed and probably heretical, but all things involving the Warp are." I say in a softer voice. Deflect the ire towards others, always works.


    "The Imperial Cult is summoning demons?" the Inquisitor growls in anger.


    "Now, now. Not everything is the Warp is demons. The Astronomican beacon is in the Warp. So is that Pharos beam and there''s nothing demon related with it. There is a whole sea of creatures in there, from Void Whales the size of planets, to Enslavers and whatever else. From what I know, the Emperor himself is carving out a place for humanity in the Warp, or rather said for their souls. The Mechanicus are doing the same with the Machine Spirits, using cloned human parts to bind the machine souls to the Emperor, for safety against Warp intrusions. But unlike the Emperor or the Forge, the Ecclesiarchy are not a head of the Aquila. See the problem?" I ask rhetorically.


    The Emperor kinda stepped inside that Machine God poo by trying to be too smart, and fool the cargo cult on Mars with his psyker abilities, even using temporal spells to undo the damage taken by some battered Knights and Titans.


    The joke was on him, as his body rots on the mechanical Golden Throne and his mind is immersed into the datasphere, hearing every single machine canticle and maintenance sermon uttered by the trillions of tech-priests in the Solar System. He now is the Machine God, but I don''t think he likes it.


    Technically the Inquisition has existed before the Imperial Cult, and Rose has to know this. Whatever schooling they receive...probably that information was deleted and expunged, if I think on this again.


    "And to think I tried to find a Living Saint for your bed. Plan cancelled, forever." Rose declares in a disgusted voice.


    "I do need more Silent Sisters. Thousands more." I demand in a needier voice, and kiss her ear gently.


    "Get out of that armor, right now! I will claim a long interrogation." my beloved demands in a needy voice as well.


    Excellent! All according to plan.


    Too bad about that Living Saint though. A lover who could fly, like Living Saints can, would have been totally awesome. Maybe in the next life.

 Paranoid - Chapter 101

    In the grim darkness of the far future, there is only War.


    But war, war is my profession.


    Unlike these naive Astartes, who view war as a challenge for honor and glory, I am different.


    Always looking for efficient solutions and conservation of health. Humanity may have numbers, but those numbers are horrifically mismanaged. Most of the times, the numbers work against the Imperium, which is so spread out over immense, mind-boggling distances that it cannot even protect its citizens.


    And so, I need to use Primarch Khan to protect humanity, while myself figure out a way to save it. Blank genes against the Chaos, the genes of the Catachans spread as much as possible for physical endurance, then weapons, armor and strategy to convert this future strength into striking power.


    Primarch Khan now wears a Catachan-style flak suit, with blackstone armor plates inserted to protect vital body parts. Also, a Refractor field on his belt, and a Catachan-style adamantium knife at his hip. He did get to live among my troops for a time, and it shows. The white penitence robe has been converted into a cape, with the cowl lowered right now.


    I open my palms, and a dataslate filled with real and fake STC patterns appears in my right hand, and a Null Rod in the other. "Wear this Null baton at all times, Astartes. Half of your brothers have already fallen to Warp insinuations and lies. Don''t make me have to find you again."


    The artifact has been sheathed in a centimeter of blackstone as well, by my Lamenter Master of the Forge, giving it increased resistance against brute force. Primarch are very similar to Ogryns after all, prone to rip off doors or heads in fits of rage, or just by being careless. Plus he might need to smack some demon with it.


    Khan picks the rod with suspicion, as he knows it would restrict some of his psyker based powers. "I won''t be able to fight or duel with this." the Primarch complains like a big child.


    "Yes, but you do have your White Scars sons to slice things up for you. Now go and talk with the crazy Inquisitor on the Space Fortress. And then, do what you can for the Imperium. Armed Sentinels and missile boats I''d say, but then I don''t have a say in the ruling of the Imperium. The High Lords might kill you anyway, for usurping their powers with your simple existence." I explain in a gentle voice, and deposit him right next to Captain Thrasius, of the Scythes of the Emperor Space Marine Chapter.


    My Inquisitor raises an eyebrow at my unceremonious conduct. "You would actually punch Sanguinius, like you said. Nothing seems to scare you, not even a Primarch."


    "I actually would, but not in public. Right Canis? You hamstring the vainglorious father, while I punch his teeth out. With my left hand of course." I mutter in a cheerful tone, and scratch my wolf on his smart head.


    "Wooof?" the wolf wonders and shows his deadly teeth, somehow doubting he could bite anyone without grievous damage.


    "Nah, not for real, clever wolf! I just don''t enjoy the burden he left on my shoulders. Sanguinius should have sent the invincible sword master to fight, or even better, teleported a Nova shell inside that traitor''s battleship and stopped the whole tragedy in a single blow. But no, why not die in a pointless duel..." I commented in a disgusted voice.


    Rose sighs and waves Ludvaius outside, before his blood tears flood the room and make a mess on the carpet. The Astartes stomps loudly as he leaves, and crashes the armored door with an angry and violent gesture. Maybe I was too open and honest, for this universe.


    "Perhaps it is better if you do not return to the Imperium, at all. Your own bodyguard was ready to bite your head off." my girlfriend demands in a cold voice. Exactly my thought, dear Rose. Except for small incursions that would save trillions of lives.


    "Maybe. I still need to visit Sotha, once in a while. There are like 900 trillion trillions of Tyranids heading this way and hoping to eat everyone." I grumble in a meeker voice.


    Also, that fact is very true, and kinda worrying, if not that urgent, not yet.


    Plus that World Engine of the Necrons...when it did come out, I''ll really have to come back to Sotha and mess it up.


    "Not for a decade you will not, Pef Lancefire! You''re on thin ice, and these exploits do not expunge your unruly conduct, only forgive it, due to extenuating circumstances." the Inquisitor proclaims with an accusing voice.


    I shrug and hold a finger up. "Right! Do order these Scythes to seal up and tow that Tau battleship they have miraculously captured, to Forge Metalica. And then, start preparing a large infiltration force of fake defectors from your Stormtrooper regiment. We''ll need as many humans inserted into the Tau ranks and pinpoint valuable technology to steal. All of these infiltrators should receive the strongest mental hardening procedure that your Inquisition has. Those Ethereals use a type of mind control similar to the Enslavers, but I do have a potential material for a mental shield."


    With those words, I produce a couple Enslaver bones and leave them floating in mid-air.


    "Is this a mineral? No, it''s organic but somehow resisting my soul readings. A type of Eldar wraithbone?" Rose wonders as she attempts to scan the floating bones and her psyker probing fails.


    Thus, I take out my Bone Staff and leave it floating as well. "I believe is indeed a type of rare creature''s bone. I had my own staff made by a powerful artificier, but those services are paid in precious commodities like Greater Demons or Eldar Avatars. Maybe a C''tan shard, if you''re willing to sell the one in the Pharos." I ask in a teasing voice.


    She scowls at my words, and shakes her head. "Again with that kind of outrageous trades. Also, did you have anything to do with those out of time Astartes showing up on some Forge Worlds, millennia after they were thought dead or lost in the Warp?"


    I nod slowly. "Just like your Inquisitor buddy on the Aegida Fortress, the ungrateful bastard. I traded some captured Eldar and their artifacts, and this person happened to have a collection of Astartes. I also saw an Adeptus Custodes among the shelves, but didn''t have anything of equal value to trade. But, that was then, I do have some Dark Eldar now...all their Archons in fact, so I might get a new deal."


    Her Ordo Xenos teachings come forward abruptly, as she grabs my chin. "What else did you steal from Commorragh?"


    I sob in Rogue Trader pain, and start disclosing some of it. Okay, most of it. I''m just too weak in the hands of an Inquisitor, I''m sure everyone can understand that.


    Much later, she rests on my chest, all her energy spent in deep but vigorous interrogation.


    "Damn lucky, Rogue Trader. Too bad most of your collection cannot be put to use. You''d burn on the first pyre the Imperium could throw. And we''re very good at setting up pyres." Rose complains as her hand measures my increased musculature.


    Not yet at Astartes level, but getting there. Maybe a decade or five.


    "Mind shields, Tau enslavers, and Null Rods. I don''t even have access to such a rare relic!" my beloved murmurs in a completely fake pity. She just wants one too.


    "I shall trade for this guy''s best work then. A staff that''s both a mind shield and a Warp shield, and can also fly or crush tanks with one blow. Maybe a mind shielding Rosarius too. And the same for Janice and Victor. Who knew that having a big family will be so expensive..." I complain in fake pity as well.


    Just at that second, the other Inquisitor encounters the lost Primarch and tries to have him arrested. Damn cretin!


    He vanishes in my labyrinth, as a sign of Emperor''s displeasure.


    What? Don''t believe me? It says right here on my Warrant! My words are the Emperor''s words and I speak with his Voice.


    "Come my dear. You return to Aegida and support the Primarch, while I try to close the Hadex Anomaly with my trader skills. And they say Rogue Traders are good for nothing!" I mutter in fake annoyance as I open the door to call Ludvaius back.


    Dressing in Astartes power armor isn''t that easy.


    Might need to have the tech-priests design some kind of automated dressing room. And then use a thousand convicts to test the kinks out. Maiming and mutilations from faulty wiring is not a pleasant prospect.


    Stolen from its rightful author, this tale is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.Especially not for my own limbs...so make that 2000 convicts. Much safer that way.


    Rose dresses by herself, because leather isn''t that hard to dress into. Not all that protective either, so I should consider giving her the Silent Sisters kind of armor, just painted in gold and black.


    "You were working hard, I see. New baby on the way?" my Brother asks in a curious voice.


    I just smile sheepishly and give him a thumb up. Very likely, considering how much gene-seed I spent today.


    "Send me to my room, deck 11. Just next to Janice." Rose commands in a stern voice once she is ready.


    I obey, and she vanishes from my blackstone vault of a room, without the familiar purple flash of a teleporter. My tesseract is quite the cheat, I know.


    Sadly, I have to walk towards the Teleportarium, escorted by my Blood Angels and silent companions. Well, they have seen the Pharos anyway, during the expedition for chronoblades.


    We will need to repeat that exploit, and try to find more lifedraining blades or hexagramic necklaces that can block out Warp intrusions.


    In near Company strength, they depart to the desert Artifact World on another looting expedition, after I scan the orbit for more Tau vessels. This time, there is only the Scythes'' Strike Cruiser and their captured prize, getting patched up for Warp towing.


    "Mighty Zarhulash, someone has been cruel to you." I observe as the C''tan is three times more dissected now than before.


    "The young Inquisitor tries his best, and I can fake pain and screaming very well. Doesn''t really bother me, as you can imagine, Pef Lancefire." the C''tan replies in a proud voice.


    I nod absently, as I doubt even an Exterminatus would bother him. In the other timeline, they did blow up the planet with a cyclonic torpedo, and that only released the C''tan from his shackles.


    Maybe a Vortex warhead would work. Multidimensional weapons did tend to ignore any type of defense or durability, just like that Soulspear I sold to Trazyn.


    And speaking of the devil. "Necron Lord, you have been really busy." I comment while scanning his new collection. More Army regiments, some Navy ships, even a few Titans and an Ordinatus_Ulator</a> on huge tracks.


    "Ah, my favorite stranger. Yes...some scoundrels tried to attack Solemnace. Friends of yours perhaps?" Trazyn the Infinite asks in a suspicious voice.


    I snort in amusement. "I take it you peeked into Forge Venatoria and stole something of value. And perhaps also blasted Hell Forge Xana into small bits of screaming rocks and burning souls."


    "This better be worth it, puppy stranger. I lost three subordinates on this quest, all valiantly fighting to the last scrap of necrodermis while posing as myself." the Necron mutters in a proud voice.


    I sigh and push a Drukhari Archon, without weapons or armor which all sold separately, right into his robotic hands. "I cought the thief who tried to steal your Nightbringer. Now that Commorragh is gone, Dark Eldar items will become a rarity, as with all extinct species."


    "Really? Well, it is easy to check...oh. Someone burned it all to the ground. And there''s Tyranids feasting on dead corpses everywhere. Such a mess." Trazyn replies after a minute.


    The Necron probably has a saved point there, after I sold him that expensive ticket to my first attempt.


    "I do have a pict-video of an Eldar Avatar and a Keeper of Secrets dueling in the middle of High Commorragh, right as an Astartes Battle Barge detonates an Exterminatus torpedo on top of them both. After some 30 seconds of the last time-stamp, the area will be clear of witnesses, except those two protagonists which just wouldn''t die. If only someone had the skill and patience to send an observer, and collect those engines of destruction for a complete set. What use is a Craftword council, without an Avatar, right?" I whisper in his mind, while Trazyn plays dress-up doll with the insane Dark Eldar Archon I have just gifted him.


    "I see, you have been there already, collecting all the Archons and who knows how many relics and rare people. Now the timeline is looped by your tesseract and I can only arrive later." Trazyn complains in a Time Doctor manner.


    It wasn''t my intention to protect the timeline...but it does work out perfectly.


    "So, the Reality Cage and the reality bombs?" I demand in a wry voice.


    "You will need ten battleship-strength reactors to power up a planetary size Reality Cage, even after I repaired a thousand flaws in this device, and made it a thousand times simpler to construct, just like that warp-less drive. Or, you can bury the device deep under the planetary crust, and use a single reactor for magnetic conversion. This deep core cage is a distinct invention of my own creation, and is sold separately." the genius Necron offers as a starting point, and holds the dataslate with my device.


    Reality Cage, and a working one!


    I was pretty sure he also copied the magnetic power mechanism from a Forge World, maybe even Venatoria but whatever. It would actually make the STC template more belivable, and reduce the risk of sabotage too. It would be more difficult to infiltrate a saboteur under a hundred kilometer of boiling magma.


    With another flick of the Pharos, I handed him a Drukhari Void Mine and an Eldar Pulse_Laser</a>. Both weapons would make amazing weapons for humanity, if only we had the science to build them. We don''t, but a certain Necron surely does.


    "I''m quite certain even a Necron Overlord would be annihilated inside the barrier, once that fragment of darklight detonates. You may use it on a hated enemy, once I get a simplified STC schematic. The pulse laser is actually too advanced for my friends, and it needs to be dumbed down, such that even a human can use it, or a tech-priest repair it from an STC pattern." I explain in a cheerful voice.


    "... An enemy of mine. Killed by a Dark Eldar weapon. Now this would be a master stroke. " he ponders for a long time.


    Already figuring out how the Void Mine works. That''s great for him, but Trazyn might have too many enemies, and not all domestic.


    I just wait, as my people exploring the desert world for more artifacts will take time. "Not attacking Human, Eldar or Tau targets. I kinda need them for my plans, just like I do for your own dynasty. As for payment, I will offer a Null Rod. Everyone should have one of these, with the galaxy infested by psykers and Warp entities." I demand as he begins writing on a STC dataslate.


    And thus, I get the geomagnetic reactor as well. One worry will soon be reduced, with planet-sized Gellar fields enforcing reality and preventing Warp incursions.


    "Oh, that would be a decent trade. However, I reserve the right to defend my world even from those three races. Perhaps without lethal force, if I''m in a good mood." the Overlord allows in a perky voice.


    Well, Null Rods are very rare indeed. I only have four of them, and already two are given away, to Khan and Trazyn.


    "I accept your claim, Lord Trazyn. But, I need an STC template for a simpler to build Null Rod. And then, a few quality items for some special people. A couple of Enslaver Bone staffs, and a dual use Null and Bone staff, that will still allow minimal psyker powers for the user. From Beta-level to Delta." I ask as my trading goods appear in his room.


    He stops to consider my words, and fails at first. "Blocking everything is doable, with some effort. But blocking the Warp and still attacking with it, even at lower strength? Is that even possible?" Trazyn mutters in real confusion.


    "Generally no, these qualities are antithetical. Unless, there''s a bloodline flaw to exploit. I will provide gene samples for the user, because the staff needs to be gene-coded, and from a relative of hers, with both the Pariah gene and the Psyker gene. Also, that Null staff...should have Inquisitorial decorations. I''m sure you know perfectly well how Inquisitors like to present themselves." I explain in a patient voice.


    I send a few locks of hair, from Rose and Janice, and hope for the best. With a gene-coded staff, Trazyn would be capable of tracing my Rose anywhere in the galaxy.


    Oh well. I was probably too paranoid.

 Necklace - Chapter 102

    Under Rose''s commands, the Aegida becomes all of a sudden friendly and welcoming, and thus I fill their prison dungeon with those 300 Mantis Warriors I have ''rescued'' from the siege at Forge Angstrom.


    Their own Primarch is here to chastise them after all, since the Mantis were a successor Chapter of the White Scars. The crew of a Mantis cruiser also appears in the adjacent cells, while their Mantis Strike Cruiser simply appears on a tangent course with the Inquisitorial Fortress, with a single tech-priest on the bridge. Should be enough to allow an honor guard and an independent vessel for the Primarch, at least til Ultramar.


    "When you reach the Segmentum Solar, do investigate Hive World Necromunda</a> and that rich House with an STC in their basement. That should buy you some standing with the Cult Mechanicus on Mars. You also have a gift in the Aegida''s dungeon." I mentally tell Primarch Khan, while I observe the local Deathwatch Astartes move around him, with proud but wary faces. Primarchs were all considered lost, but here he was, walking among them, looking rather beat up and sad.


    "Is that you, Pef Lancefire? I thought this Null Rod stops all psyker powers." the giant replies in my mind, seeming surprised.


    "I''m a Blank, Astartes. So obviously, I''m not transmitting via a psyker method. Something to study in the future, no doubt. Military orders sent mind-to-mind, without chance of interference or distortion by the Warp...might prove valuable for humanity. Then again, what do I know?" I answer in a self-deprecating tone.


    Khan doesn''t quite believe my meek demeanor anymore, although I wonder why. I was kinda harsh with him, at first, I admit. But he was also unruly and not in control of himself.


    "What House, on that Hive World?" the Primarch asks in an annoyed voice.


    "Someone very rich with advanced weapons they make themselves. Nothing like a poor Rogue Trader like myself can even approach. And look, there''s even a cruiser heading your way! Almost like someone wants to leave at great speed, before this system is attacked again." I explain in a cheerful voice and turn off the connection.


    Then I resume my family overwatch, directing my fleet of missile destroyers and frigates to rescue that Forge in the Siege_of_Hypnoth</a>, and try to obtain an STC pattern for the advanced augury scanner called the Eye_of_Hypnoth</a>.


    With 25 escorts and 2 Nova Cannon cruisers we should provide sufficient surprise to gain a major Favor from that Forge World, plus another for the STC dataslate carried by Wentian.


    Meanwhile, my bodyguard Company and the Silent Sisters keep exploring the artifact planet, and close a couple more demon portals, for a single hexagrammic necklace and two more chronoblades.


    Oh well, perhaps this was it.


    They keep searching though, while I pinpoint the rest of the planets around Illevar for the next expansion phase, noting down a thousand star-systems possibly rich in minerals and a hundred habitable planets.


    The Vitrix''s Captain, my dear daughter Teresa, receives those mental imprints with rough astronomic distances for each trip, so she can already plan the route and create a circle of outposts and small mining sites, depositing tech-priests and servitors at each stop.


    Of course, only a Blank Captain gets a battleship, and even most of her bridge crew are Blanks from my officer academy, plus thousands of Retribution tech-priests and a hundred thousand servitors with piratical origins.


    Victor receives his inheritance, the fourth tesseract with a hundred ships inside, including the other Overlord-class battlecruiser I captured at Badab. Plus a Chronoblade and my old power armor. He was already ruling the Hive World but now he would have the means to rule it absolutely.


    "Dad...it is really okay to give me all this power? I can see everything on the planet, and everything in the system, til the most distant comets. Don''t you need it?" Victor asks after downloading the manual on with his savant implant.


    "Bring comets and asteroids closer in a high orbit, and begin building more forts and corvette shipyards, plus a repair dock for those destroyers. There are a trillion trillions Tyranids heading your way." I answer in a softer voice.


    "Oh! I better get started then. And I think you have another labyrinth like this, right?" my son wonders after powering up the savant functions.


    Smart boy.


    Anyway, teleporting a tesseract filled with goodies from Sotha to Illevar is a great way to transport an entire fleet from one end to the other of an entire segmentum.


    I can''t send a fleet to Baal and help my sons that way, but I can gift them Terminator-pattern Astartes armors covered in blackstone plates and personal forcefields and archeotech weapons like melee Power Weapons and grav-guns or conversion beamers. And I do.


    They may all be Blank and immune to Warp, but they are flesh and bones. And knowing what Blood Angels get into all the time, I want my sons to emerge victorious and alive, all 200 of them.


    Am I cheating? Sure I am. But the galaxy is merciless, and those detractors to the Blank program, even among the Blood Angels, will have to swallow their words.


    "They shall be my finest warriors...in great armor shall I clad them and with the mightiest guns they shall be armed...such that no foes can best them in battle." The Emperor said about his Astartes.


    The Emperor had the right idea, just didn''t see it through.


    You said no foes, dear Adam, but what about Chaos and the Warp? Did you make them Blank, or at least give them Null Rods? What about Silent Sisters as escorts and informants for the Primarchs?


    No you did not, and thus half of them fell or rebelled and nailed you to your throne.


    Not to mention tactics and strategies. Sure, Big E possibly envisioned a billion of Astartes, cleansing the galaxy of xenos or rogue psykers, while erasing all religions they found.


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    Didn''t work quite like that.


    Even himself went to duel his wayward son in a sword fight, instead of tele-fragging that Horus moron with a plasma warhead.


    I turn back to searching the Ultima segmentum for targets of opportunity, just as Rose beams inside the Pharos.


    "Inquisitor Barzano better appear again, perhaps after the Primarch leaves. And what''s with those prisoners in my dungeons?" My Rose asks while eyeing the crucified C''tan on the cave''s wall with distrust.


    "The Mantis guys? Well, they are Khan''s sons, aren''t they? I hear the High Lords imposed a penance of their Chapter, for being fooled into that rebellion. The Primarch is on penance too, so they fit rather well, right?" I ask in a careless voice.


    "So you''re imposing penance even on Primarchs now?" the Inquisitor growls in a colder voice.


    "Those guilty of dereliction of duty, sure. Vulkan, Russ and Dorn among them. Lion and Roboute lie wounded and in stasis, so I reserve judgement for now. As for my own Primarch, dear Sanguinius does as much as he can from beyond the grave. I might need a God of the Dead to bring him back, and for that I have worked hard." I explain as an Atmospheric Incendiary appears beside me.


    "Killing people...to revive an Eldar God?" the Ordo Xenos asks in a deathly voice.


    "No sacrifice is too great. No treachery too small." I quote while I begin priming the Exterminatus torpedo.


    "Where is this munition going?" my Rose asks curious.


    "Hadex Anomaly, again. There''s a Chaos fleet gathering in the Blood_Trinity</a>, more specifically at Mataras III. They are also conscripting a billion of the local cultists, so I shall consign their souls to..." I mutter as the weapon vanishes from the Pharos and detonates right under the infamous Carnage-class Cruiser</a> Black Grail and its attendant fleet.


    In a minute, the planet burns and none of the traitors escape the flames, incinerated along with all the weapon factories and demon engines they were preparing.


    Two more torpedoes appear beside me, but I''m no hurry to exhaust myself. The other two planets in the Mataras system don''t have fleets, and their heretical inhabitants can only wail in despair, knowing what fiery inferno awaits.


    "...Oblivion. You would make a great Inquisitor, my dear Pef." Rose whispers while her tarot cards spin in the air, and yet refuse to fall.


    "I think I have sufficient power for now. So, you heard of Inquisitor Kryptman''s plan to burn all the worlds in the path of the Tyranids? Without evacuation, of course." I muse to myself, while keeping watch for my Astartes battling another demon incursion.


    "...That''s...how many worlds are we talking about?" the Inquisitor asks in a calculating voice.


    Well, burning worlds is a sad but realistic choice in this grim future. But sometimes common sense should prevail. At least burn them after the Tyranids land.


    "Thousands of human planets at least, probably ten times as many, if nobody reports him, and nobody will dare, because the Inquisition acts with godly impunity. And I''m not talking of our Sotha solution, burning the Hive fleet in orbit. No, that would require he exposes himself to danger, instead of killing trillions of people preemptively. Plus all the valuable industry or a million Guard regiments getting sacrificed. So what do you think I should do, dear Inquisitor? Slap his hand or pat his back?" I ask rhetorically.


    My Rose frowns in deep thought. "He will be excommunicated once those actions become public. And he has to know this. Keep burning those cultist worlds, while I make a call back to Terra."


    I nod and deposit my Rose in the Aegida teleportarium, while a thin chronoblade appears on Janice''s desk, now decorated with a dozen golden Aquilas on the hilt, and a sheath of Blackstone with a simple logo painted on it: Ave Deus Imperator.


    "Take care of this weapon, and don''t cut yourself. It was made to kill Great Demons, sweetie." I whisper to my daughter.


    "Thanks dad! It feels old and powerful and kinda scary. It has seen so much death." my daughter murmurs in my mind.


    I know it did, I have killed a hundred Orks with it myself. I should arm my bodyguards with these weapons, as they can slice any material without effort.


    The hexagrammic pendant in my hand, once again covered with a brass cover painted with golden Aquilas, I teleport it on Roboute Guilliman''s chest, ignoring the stasis field he is kept inside on Maccrage. The Pharos is much too advanced for a mere stasis field to hold, just like I found out with the Sounding Board.


    As expected, the Warp poison inside his veins doesn''t like it and draws away, slowly pouring out of his wound, almost like it tries to run. I wonder if this would also work on the Emperor...


    An STC dataslate falls from nowhere right on the stasis console, and interrupts the field while alarms start blaring inside the Ultramarine''s fortress-monastery. It does even contain the warp-less drive STC and many of my inventions including more effective ships, fighters and vehicles.


    In a minute after the stasis field vanished, the poisoned neck wound heals and the Primarch opens his eyes in confusion. Damn bullshit regeneration, but then I have seen Khan heal from many wounds worse than that. Just without the Warp poison.


    "Why am I still alive?" he murmurs to himself.


    "Your duty has not ended, Astartes. You have rested enough." I comment in a wry voice, straight in his mind.


    "Father?" he asks in suspicion and worry.


    "Hah! I''m not as old your Father. Wait, I had something else..." I says cheerfully and drop another Null Rod in his lap. "I mean really, the Emperor says no foes can best you, and then doesn''t even give you a Null Rod? Pretty sure the Warp was among those foes." I explain curtly and then shut off the connection.


    This guy is smart enough, and might even remember about the Pharos soon enough.


    Time to finish my business here and get going.

 Knowledge - Chapter 103

    Because I have to leave Sotha with some haste, I decide the Kroot and the Nicassar homeworlds need to go.


    One is home to a species of ever-evolving cannibals, eating their victims to absorb their traits, much like the Tyranids. Not a danger yet, due to being rather savage, but that could change rapidly once they eat an Eldar Exodite world, for example.


    The Nicassar are species of psykers, which will not end well for them. Either producing another Warp godling or something worse. Plus the Tau will be forced to adapt for their absence with melee suits and better navigation equipment.


    The Tau homeworld loses their next capital city to a Vortex torpedo and the subsequent Chaos invasion, which should either delay their expansion for a century, or force them into a furious arms race to create anti-demon weaponry and sensors.


    Welcome to the 40k, blue aliens! Yes, there are bad things in the galaxy, and you''re not prepared. Also, kinda hard to hide that truth when your entire planetary force has to muster to defeat the invasion.


    "Your brother Guilliman has just awakened on Macragge, Primarch Khan. Your brother the Lion, he still sleeps in stasis aboard the Dark Angels'' Rock fortress-monastery, forgotten even by his own sons. Couldn''t find your other absent brothers, so I suspect they vacation inside the Maelstrom or the Eye of Terror, killing demons one at the time." I advise the one-man-sword-army as I send him another STC dataslate with the Planetary Gellar Field STC, and another gift in the form of the White_Tiger_Dao</a> saber, one I have recovered from High Commorragh.


    I didn''t give him back the Wildfire_Panoply</a> power armor, because I wanted it and everything inside it copied and made available for my own sons. Khan had only to ask Mars for another power armor, and they would cry in joy to give him one.


    But his sword was almost part of his identity, and he was known to have killed Greater Demons with it, which might be needed again.


    "The Dao...you have found it for me, Lord Lancefire? I have thought it long-lost. You have my thanks." Khan sent back in a dignified tone, his hands caressing the weapon like a baby.


    "It is your symbol of office, Primarch. So you can defend humanity, not duel like a boy in the schola yard with other snotty boys." I answered in a dismissive tone and shut off the link.


    The next day, the astropaths were all on fervor about the miraculous recovery of Primarch Guilliman, who was better known and rather famous in the Imperium, his frozen face on many paintings and pict-captures.


    I considered using that hexagram necklace a worthy price for waking the Ultramarines''s Primarch, because I wanted to use Ynnead''s help to resurrect Sanguinius, who was actually dead.


    My gambit worked, and I was kinda glad it did. Two Primarchs for us, and two less Primarchs for Chaos. Unless Lorgar had already been revived, which I doubted. The Dark Gods did not reward failure, nor shameful defeats.


    Sure, they might bring him back for a Black Crusade, but that wouldn''t be so soon, with as many loses Chaos forces have suffered at my Exterminatus campaign, and whatever consequences the elimination of the Dark Eldar from the galaxy has caused.


    Slaanesh would be rising in power, which would cause lots of turmoil and inner friction among the Chaos godlings. The loss of Hell Forge Xana would deny them a nearby launch platform at Cadia, which will possibly mean a push from the Maelstrom.


    And that was my intention. The Maelstrom was in range of the Pharos, and wasn''t that just peachy?


    Still, I did have Trazyn on call. "Hello again, my robotic friend. Still interested in that Ordo Sinister Titan?" I asked in curious voice.


    "...Errr. Of course. But I was tricked! All I gained for my effort was a piece of Eldar armor, and that Keeper of Secrets. No Avatar!" the Necron Lord complained in a childish voice.


    I almost laughed in his face. "Who tricked you, Lord Trazyn? Did I not supply you a time and place? Was my gift not there? Are you blaming an innocent stranger for your inability to capture a mere Avatar?"


    He grumbled for a minute, but logic was on my side. It was his failure, not mine. Plus the Avatar wasn''t really a physical being like the C''tan, nor a sentient Warp construct like a Greater Demon.


    "You knew I would fail..." He muttered in suspicion.


    "You did not fail, Lord Trazyn. You have the armor, it just needs an Eldar Exalt to put it on, and the Avatar will appear. But you will not attack the Eldar, so you might have to wait for them to attack you." I explained in a patient voice.


    This put a stop to his grumblings, and our good relations resumed. "Good enough then. Eldar are always attacking Necron worlds. I just hope they attack me soon!" Trazyn said in anticipation. Who wants the Eldar to attack them?


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    I mean, sure they had nice ships and powerful weapons to capture easily in a tesseract, so it...dear Emperor! I was becoming a tiny Trazyn, hoping something advanced attacked me.


    So I checked the Bone Kingdom to find their crownworld overrun with Tyranids. Oh well, that quest was finally over.


    "Well, it seems the Bone Kingdom has fallen. What other enemy shall we send the hungry Tyranids to, perhaps Sarlok</a>?" I offered in a pleasant voice.


    Trazyn immediately became cheerful. "Oh, that would weaken Imotekh</a> even more, especially as his troops are deployed at Hypnoth right now. And not doing so great even against a single Forge World...after losing Mandragora and many ships."


    "Right. I''ll even arrange some aid to arrive at Hypnoth and destroy a few Tomb Ships. But, I will need heavy cruiser sized reactor and warp-less engines for this. In STC template, even if a tiny bit more complicated. With variants for battle-barges and battlecruisers." I demand in a shameless voice.


    Trazyn was in a good mood, might as well profit.


    Meanwhile, I prime a Cyclonic torpedo for the Necron World of Seidon</a>, which has begun sending colony ships all over the sector from some kind of subterranean shipyard, and an Incendiary Exterminatus at Drazak</a>, to catch a dozen trillion Tyranids on the ground and in orbit around the former Necron World.


    My special gifts are also ready, two more Enslaver Bone Staffs and the hybrid Null Rod/Bone Staff for my Rose.


    And then, since I notice the Scythe Barges are all gearing up to depart for Macragge in a hurry, I steal all their Exterminatus and Vortex torpedoes. They can request new ones from their Primarch, or maybe Forge Metalica, since they did tow that Tau battleship there, at my insinuations and at the Lady Inquisitor''s demand.


    Just after my bodyguards begin to return with their loot from the artifact planet, I call Rose to explain the new developments, and the necessity to redirect the Pharos beacon again.


    There is no absolute rush, as the Imperium doesn''t move fast even when it wants to, but I have a nasty feeling in my gut that things have gone too well for too long.


    The Tranquility leaves first, escorted by the Serenity till the Warp limit.


    Rose plays with her impossible staff in wonder, and gets to massacre a hundred Orks with the blade of her daughter, just to sense how it works. It works great, and she becomes even younger and prettier, maybe because Orks are ageless, since their makers didn''t bother to consider what immortal mushrooms might get up to. Or perhaps they did, and intended the C''tan to be hunted by their creations for eternity.


    Just before I leave, I call Fidelia to arrange the transfer of her family of Blanks. She and Letitia step directly onto their homeworld, and thus I can begin to abduct everyone they point out. Almost 13 thousand Blanks, and 11 thousand of them are women.


    Perhaps they do get born in a preferential female ratio, that''s why there are more female Blanks than men. Or perhaps the Astra Telephatica cull the men at every centennial visit, to prevent too many births of Untouchables.


    Anyway, it is a great boost to my Blank program, and my Rose agrees. I can even accelerate rebuilding the Lamenters, after a decade of compulsory harem management for all the younger men, and tons of schooling and training in the meantime.


    To have a good soldier, you need to send him to school first, or all you have is a beast in human leathers.


    History, politics, medicine and science.


    How can they make wise decisions for strategy, without the knowledge of past failures?


    How can they use weapons effectively, if they do not know the principles of their work, the limitations and the ways to exploit those limits in their enemies?


    How can they provide first aid, or target vital organs without medicine?


    And most importantly, how will they know who to shoot? Too many times Astartes shoot innocents, without ever thinking for themselves.


    To fight and die for the Emperor, is too easy. Anyone can do that, from attack wolves to the PDF and the Imperial Guard. You don''t need Astartes just so they can die. You need Astartes to win. And to win without dying, well...that takes knowledge.


    Knowledge of battles, of science and of your enemy. Know yourself, and know your enemy, and you shall be undefeated in a thousand battles.

 Option B - Chapter 104

    While Immaterium currents may prevent most ships from travelling around Sotha, after yet another beacon shift, my Icarus carrier doesn''t use the Warp.


    Takes us 3 days to arrive at Forge Retribution, and immediately begin a hundred new research programs on some Tau artifacts, even using Tau prisoners to speed up the translation problems.


    Same thing for Dark Eldar artifacts and prisoners, of which I do have way too many. Practically their entire war fleet and command structure is in my pocket, and we are not restricted by any Geneva Convention on interrogation procedures.


    Eldar Corsairs and some of their artifacts get then same treatment, to the extreme joy of the imported tech-priests with a love to study xeno artifacts and biology.


    Well, for deep analysis we are building research outposts far in asteroid belt, with my minimal security protocols, designed to prevent a plague or rogue experiment ruin my new and pretty Forge.


    The various Orkish adaptations of Necron and Eldar weaponry get a different moon for large scale experiments, as these improvised weapons tend to explode in the hand of the user as much as blowing up an enemy.


    By the next year, the poor moon has a hundred new craters, and gets named the Mythbuster Moon.


    Everyone seems to agree to my suggestion, especially the pirates converted into servitors doing the testing. They might wish to die sooner, and escape the torment of their new existence, so I don''t really trust them being completely sincere.


    There are also a thousand Lamenter tech-marines with Red Scorpion gene-seeds, getting schooling and training from the Forge Angstrom specialists, although I don''t intend to stop at one thousand. Tech-marines do not count as Battle-Brothers and do not receive full organ implantation, especially not the acid spit glands. Sure, two hearts or Black Carapace along the spine and arms will make them use even light power armor with excellent control, but mind impulse units are even more important.


    They will pilot spaceships, dropships, fighters, bombers and gunships, as well as tanks and APCs or walkers.


    And speaking of ships, 10 destroyers arrive in the system empty of crew during this year, and are all rapidly converted into the Los Angeles-pattern, as my Blank daughters have finished officer school and are begging me for a command.


    Sure we do have plenty fast cutters or transport ships, already busy transporting minerals or wood or promethium and coal to our Forge, or to Forge Antax.


    But as it happens, there is another Forge World somewhat close, called Henscuetl B, in the Pandraxx_Subsector</a>, and we have struck a good deal with them for Armed Sentinels and plasma torpedoes, which we cannot make yet.


    Those torpedo destroyers now escort slow transport ships filled with our valuable exports, and return with various consumable goods like clothes, or pict or vox casters, and also lasguns, chainsaws and krak missiles as well, plus immigrants and servitors from the Hive World Fulcrum, in that same system.


    A few trading routes went great, until a Chaos Space Marine Chapter called Angels_of_Pain</a> attacks that system in force, despite resistance from the local Astartes.


    Sure, my daughters immediately rushed to help. Destroying a Chaos battlecruiser and 2 strike cruisers before running out of torpedoes, and retreating, but I was also on the way with the Icarus and the Tranquility, as soon as I heard.


    Five days later, we arrived in the system to find the Red_Scimitars</a> struggling to defend a big space station called Trantation. Almost instantly, the Chaos ships began drifting, as their entire crew was quickly vanished into my labyrinth, then ejected into the sun.


    Cultists and corrupted Marines were not my favorite, and I wouldn''t risk my precious collection to some Warp infection.


    Then we launch the corvettes and blow all their ships up, erasing all evidence of cheating. The Blood Angels teleport on the station to help clean up the remaining opposition, while my corvettes are already pushing the Chaos infested hulls toward the sun. The poor locals are rather terrified and many of them mutated or infected by Chaos sorcerers, while human limbs and heads are hanged on spikes and nails, in a macabre presentation.


    So I make sure to return the favor with krak grenades detonated at those bastards armor joints, leaving many traitors crawling on mangled stumps, until the Blood Angels arrive the end their misery.


    It doesn''t take long to get invited at a pleasant meeting with the Fabricator Dominus of this Forge and with the Chapter Master of the Red Scimitars.


    It seems I did get a bit famous around the Eastern Fringe, and even my wolf is famous. Well, he is a wolf that can understand words spoken or written, so maybe that''s why.


    His descendants with normal she-wolves did not inherit the best traits, especially his size, although they are smart and have acute senses. But then all wolves are like that, I think.


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    Maybe I should test the chronophage blade if it works on wolves? The Immortal wolf, huh?


    "Lord Lancefire, you are smiling creepily." the Fabricator says as I just stare at the cogitator screen, lost in thought.


    "Ah, that. Brain implant, sometimes I get lost in thought. So, you like the corvettes, I would say?" I wonder out loud.


    "Not overly much, but we could invest some resources to produce a thousand such ships for better system coverage. If only we could have salvaged that adamantium from the traitor ships..." the Fabricator complains in a familiar manner.


    "Demons in the walls, Fabricator. Not worth it, trust me! What about the Planetary Gellar Field, for the Hive World Fulcrum? It should reduce chances of Warp incursions, maybe even stop psykers acting up." I advise him, gently.


    "It is an amazing STC discovery, I admit. Not overly complicated either, especially the one buried in the planet mantle for geomagnetic energy. However, I believe it will interfere with Warp capable ships. We will need to test it on a distant moon, and a whole range of spaceships and Warp engines."


    the Magos says in a rational voice, and he is perhaps right. Haven''t considered this, til now.


    "I do prefer travelling with the warp-less engines. It is a bit more expensive to obtain a large hull like a galleon or conveyor, but after that...it only takes water or even ice to travel among stars. Our Navigator is the most relaxed member of the crew." I explain in tiny snort.


    "I would think it so. Perhaps one day, my Forge will have a behemoth ship like that too." he allows in a pitiful voice. As it happens, I do have a big ship in my pocket.


    "Well...I do know the location of an abandoned Ork Terror ship. Large enough to fit a battleship scale warp-less engine. I mean, my clan conquered that Ork planet, and that ship was just left derelict in the void. Stupid Orks, right?" I offer in a wide smile. Nobody doubts Ork stupidity, so the gambit works.


    More wine gets poured without asking. "A xeno ship?" he asks in worried voice.


    "Well, I suppose it has been a human commercial galleon once, millennia ago. The engine placement is the only thing left to identify it after." I muse out loud.


    "Really, then it not a problem at all! And I expect is plated with a megatonne of adamantium and plasteel, right?" the Fabricator asks rubbing a few tentacles.


    I just nod kindly. "And a thousand Orkish weapons of any kind imaginable, plus some really outside any imagination. My tech-priests were horrified, but then I am a son of the Emperor, so what do I care?" I reply in a careless voice.


    "We should really tow that derelict here, for safekeeping. My Forge will compensate you on delivery." the tech-priest promises in a solemn voice.


    "Can you repair my Tranquility battleship? Also mount a Nova Cannon and 200 lance batteries on the broadsides? We can provide more adamantium hulls and even some Dark Eldar captured machines." I ask in a curious voice.


    The Fabricator nods with confidence. "It would be an honor to restore that Apocalypse-class to full strength. Even if the Tranquility was modified with torpedo cells, like those system corvettes."


    "Projected timeline?" I ask with some worry.


    "Depends on mineral supplies. Maybe 20 years, maybe 50. It will never be new, but without traveling into the Warp, I suppose it will have an excellent service from now on. But 200 lance batteries, is that even feasible?" he asks in worry.


    "The Macharius-pattern reactor is three times stronger, so it can supply enough energy for more lances. I was also thinking a couple of thrusters on the side, for faster turning. Like two horns, or an ancient bicycle steering handle. I saw something like this on various fortress-monasteries." I propose with an ignorant shrug, and produce a childish model on a commercial dataslate.


    It does have everything I want, just made in crayon, so to speak.


    Three teleportarium, three Gellar field generators, ten landing hangars for assault dropships. Three vertical torpedo cells of 100 warheads each, probably sufficient to blow up a Necron Tomb Ship in one salvo. Or at least cripple it badly.


    Then five Void Shields, an Ion Shield and a Flare shield of battleship strength, which should slow down railgun or macrocannon shells, plus block fighter or bomber ordnance like missiles and bombs.


    I could take on a Gloriana-class battleship in fair fight with such a beast, and I will probably need to.


    Those extra maneuver engines will provide extra acceleration, or you turn one engine off, to change direction 20 percent faster.


    "It''s doable, I suppose. But we will name it Apocalypse B-pattern for my Forge''s prestige. I have no doubt you will lead it in many glorious battles once it is finished." The Fabricator replied after a long minute.


    I smiled genially and held out my hand. "You can be certain of this, Magos. I have never lost a battle."


    The tech-priest laughed in a mechanical tone, probably a recording from his biologic years. "It only takes once, Pef Lancefire. But maybe you''re lucky, or the Omnissiah has plans for you."


    He was right though. With battles, you only needed to lose once.

 Second Phase - Chapter 105

    Every year, a lucky ship Captain from my clan gets the honor of discovering another flotilla of abandoned destroyers, mostly intact if in bad repair.


    It seems the systems around our core worlds are littered with pirate ships, the crew vanished and ship logs showing no clue.


    Then again, there are strange Warp things like the Maelstrom and the Hadex Anomaly which often cause the same results to unwary explorers.


    Soon enough, the eager Navigators and my officers get to fly their new ship to a Forge World like Metalica or Tigrus, to get it upgraded for Fringe operations, in exchange for xeno artifacts or even a rare STC pattern of lesser value.


    Then a heavy cruiser gets found, and sent to Triplex Phall to receive a Nova Cannon, right as Primarch Guilliman begins his own enormous Crusade, creating a hundred new Fortress Worlds in the path of the Tyranid Fleets, and mustering a million Guard regiments all over the Ultima Segmentum.


    That''s the real power of a Primarch, and there are few who dare say no to the Son of the Emperor.


    Primarch Khan is doing something else around the Solar Segmentum, cleaning up corruption on the larger Hive Worlds, with an ever-increasing horde of Astartes and a few Mechanicus Legions. Hive World Necromunda gets mentioned a few times by the astropaths, which doesn''t surprise me at all. Khan really is a pointed sword, and I did point him at Necromunda.


    A dozen Astartes Chapters get founded at his demand, to safeguard those Hive Worlds, after the tech-priests have scoured the under-hives for extra servitors and hidden STCs. Cults get investigated and butchered, corrupt Governors burned alive, just business as usual in the Imperium. No mention of Reality Cages being installed anywhere, which is troubling.


    The Siege of Forge Hypnoth ends in a Pyrrhic victory for Cult Mechanicus, as the Necrons unleashed a few advanced infocyte viruses on that Forge, destroying many of the defenses and the robotic defenders.


    But it is still a victory, as Hypnoth is not conquered, while the attacking Necrons lose two Tomb Ships and a dozen Harvest Ships to the combined might of the defenders. Massed torpedo volleys and archeotech weapons from the Ark Mechanicus cruiser are the principal methods that worked, plus Nova Cannon cruisers supporting the fleet from afar. Knights and Baneblades with Ion Shields prove devastating on the ground, just like Fury Interceptors in void combat.


    Soon after, a certain Warp Rift in the vicinity, called the Van_Grothe''s_Rapidity</a> closes unexpectedly. I suspect this was Lord Trazyn, playing with his Blackstone Fortress and testing its capabilities. A Chaos strike force that departs from the Hadex Anomaly towards Solemnace disappears mysteriously, which only hints at more anti-Warp weaponry being experimented by the insane Necron wizard.


    Sadly, I am banned from Sotha for several more years, so I don''t get a clear confirmation, except reading astropathic telegrams and my own logical deductions.


    Larissa does get a special mission afterwards, and sneakily blows up a Necron World called Cthelmax</a>, which seemed to be a dead world but really wasn''t. The star system is now littered with fragments of Necron tech and entire asteroids made of blackstone, so we have another salvage and mining spot only known to my clan and Forge Retribution.


    My daughter Andrea travels to Forge Megyre, and sells them the tip about the melted Space Hulk on Gorkamorka</a>, and gets promised another fleet carrier filled with torpedo corvettes, and a dozen more Catachan regiments, provisioned to our own specifications. The STC dataslates and warning about Necron and Tyranid invasions spur the Fabricator into a massive defensive buildup, which will be constructed from the recovered adamantium and blackstone from the burned world.


    It will take a few decades for a solid result of this trip, but Andrea did tow a large Dark Eldar cruiser after her, which is filled with advanced xeno tech. Our Favor is guaranteed now.


    Forge Antax gets the same and more, as I donate to them the old Grand Cruiser I confiscated in the Magog Crusade, and they immediately begin repairs and refit to create a true Ark Mechanicus from the casino ship.


    My mentor Gyron is away though, and it wouldn''t surprise me if Forge World Palomar simply gets expunged from all records.


    Finding an intact STC is the Holy Grail of Cult Mechanicus, and the culmination of any Magos Explorer''s life. Sadly, I can''t really help my mentor directly, but I did point him at the right path.


    I also whisper a rumour to Forge Ryza, via my daughter Ginea. She went there with another Dark Eldar cruiser in tow, and more blackstone and adamantium, to propose the Macharius-Omega tank pattern, based around an atomantic reactor and a simplified Plasma blastgun, covered by an Ion and a Flare shield.


    There was also a Sentinel variant with an Ion Shield and a Melta gun, for anti-necron work, but we didn''t have miniaturized plasma reactors and plasma weaponry. Only Ryza or Mars could make these, and we only wanted a thousand Macharius tanks and ten thousand Sentinels.


    She came back with our second fleet carrier called Daedalus and ten Catachan infantry regiments, plus a small Explorer expedition to be based at Forge Retribution. And by small expedition, I mean five cruisers and 20 destroyers, plus a few million tech-priests and enginseers on a Mobile Forge ship containing most of their advanced technology.


    The Ork Invasion on Ryza was still going on, although a single continent remained infested with greenskins, and the Ironclad battleship on the moon had been breached and raised, to be converted in a powerful Ark Mechanicus, armed with the best technology of the Cult. That would take perhaps a century, so it was a long project. Still much faster than building an adamantium hull from zero.


    Stolen from its rightful author, this tale is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.


    The colonization into the second wave of expansion continues with this influx of hardy pioneers, and also immigrants from nearby Hive Worlds.


    It will take a decade to produce the first Reality Cage at Forge Retribution, because we do have too many projects going on. Like repairing and upgrading the Vitrix battleship, which takes megatonnes of plasteel, adamantium and blackstone for example.


    But the Fabricator Dominus is also training millions of new acolytes which will take over the job of servicing tanks and fighters and Sentinels, as well as mining machinery and colonial infrastructure.


    Slowly, the more experienced tech-priests will return to the Forge and be replaced, increasing the manufacture output a dozen times.


    And they do manufacture, by hand and tentacle.


    The only concession I could receive was for wood processing and furniture factories, which are being organized on every jungle or forest planet with fewer restrictions and religious protocol. I think the Mechanicus just doesn''t see organic processing to have the same value as metal and forging, which kinda makes sense.


    Exporting furniture and paper is a good business though, as the huge masses of humanity in the Imperium need as many megatonnes of it as they can find.


    Of course, we never sell directly to a Hive World, which would be stupid and costly. We donate our wares to a nearby Forge World, and they sell it, using the cash to recover the cost for the machinery they gift to us. It''s a simple but effective tax evasion method, as no money changes hands, thus no value can be asserted to our trade.


    The Imperium might catch on in a few hundred years, but by then the infrastructure would be built, and dozens of generations would have used these machines and electronics to create new towns, railways, roads, power grids and many other projects of planetary importance. Even then, there is little the Imperium can do, to a Trader dynasty based beyond the borders.


    Well there is, the Administratum can expand the Imperial borders to include my holdings or withdraw my Warrant of Trade, but I also have friends in high places.


    And while the first Company of Lamenters slowly gets trained and implanted with their special organs, the next company of Blank recruits is reaching the cutoff age for safe implantation. So they spread their gene-seed into as many women as humanly possible, about 600 every year. It is hard work, as I can attest personally.


    I had to stop accepting new daughters and their sisters from the local nobility into my bed, just because my body was still flesh and thus weak. Plus Blank concubines were a lot more effective at producing Blank babies.


    One new planet usable mostly for agriculture was consecrated as a Cardinal world though, at the request of my saintly nurses, and then a miracle occurred, as thousands of Sisters of Battle kidnapped by the savage Dark Eldar appeared on the surface, followed by millions of former slaves and captured people.


    There were even Order Familious sister among them, and let me tell you those women were not saintly at all. They rapidly took charge of my eugenics project, mixing and matching genetic attributes for extra reliability and durability, first among the new immigrants, then my Catachan regiments, and lastly my own clan.


    Even their own Sisters of Battle were kinda harshly ordered to start pumping babies to increase the next generations of female warrior by ten times.


    Sadly, no Imperial Cult priests or Administrators were found among the saved, and thus they had to improvise and select leaders from their own ranks. Female Bishops worked side by side with a self-elected Cannoness and her retinue, while my clan and tech-priests provided housing and infrastructure.


    And of course, every visit by me or Victor and any of my sons was seen as some sort of day of celebration which ended with a dozen Sisters getting impregnated while singing glory hymns to the God Emperor.


    It is a crazy galaxy, but I have learned not to examine the underlying substrates too deeply. Take whatever joy from life you can, because the Tyranids were coming, and the horrors were endless.


    The only problem is my slightly overpraised legend, and over-analyzed life, which leads to Lady Justine being declared a Saint for fighting beside the Angel of the Emperor to defeat Fulgrim the Serpent, and myself for killing Lorgar the Traitor.


    Well, they surely don''t know everything I did, because I would get burned alive as well.


    Anyway, this effervescence of religion sentiment spreads among all the worlds and colonies, which increases productivity and reduces dissent, especially in the Hive Cities.


    There is even a proposal to begin construction of new Hive City on Salvation, the new Cardinal world. I delay that for a few decades, because manpower and resources are not sufficient. Plus I want that world to produce food, both cereals and meat.


    Fisheries are being set up, and millions of grox</a> and local poultry get imported from other agri-worlds in preparation for large food processing plants getting built here, as well as buying tractors and cereal seed.


    If this project works, I might duplicate it on a dozen more worlds with slightly better climate. My Hive Cities sure need to receive other food than processed algae, nutrigruel, carboloafs, vitamead and recycled proteins. Already their populations are slightly healthier and vigurous, from vaccines and food imports, but the Imperium is too far and expensive to trade with in large quantities.


    At least water and methane are not an issue, due to having system-corvettes deployed in every system, able to drag comets into orbit for processing.


    Asteroids are plentiful as well, both for minerals and silicates, so the industry gets a cheap influx of resources.


    Defenses get built over every single world, also outposts and listening posts for a hundred light-years all around, which is normal and common sense in my opinion.


    Then one day, a Mars-class Battlecruiser and an Universe-class conveyor arrive at Illevar, with a couple of White Scars on board.

 Shadow - Chapter 106

    The battlecruiser is possibly the replacement sent by Primarch Khan, for my lost corvette. A thousand times more valuable, but then that sacrifice brought with it the destruction of Commorragh, most of it anyway.


    I couldn''t be certain I found all the hidden Webway dimensions and sub-pockets, and probably did not. However, raids and mass blood and pain sacrifices would certainly cease, and the proof was my astropath choir that hasn''t reported more Dark Eldar raids, anywhere in 10 thousand light years radius. The galaxy is much larger, but attempting long range calls always killed an astropath or more.


    They did report an attack by a Chaos warband calling themselves the Company_of_the_Shadow</a> on the world of Mortain, before the desperate plea was suddenly interrupted.


    I made note of it, but I wasn''t close nor had any Lamenters ready for a large scale action.


    Two more Companies were training as Aspirants, the training grounds only 50 kilometers away from their homes in the Blanktown, where they still had more tech-priest lessons and family matters to attend.


    Overall the Codex Astartes wasn''t bad at all, especially for training regimes and weapon practice. It was actually quite the work of a genius.


    Most of the tactics and strategies thought out by Primarch Guilliman were also good, and in some cases exceptionally brilliant.


    The tactics were also limited, and would not account for moral or out of context problems, and nearly nothing to counter Chaos and its insidious infiltration. Mental mantras and regular check-ups by the Librarians and Chaplains...well. Those were exactly the psykers most likely to fall to chaos.


    As for Two-tonne Astartes in power armor piloting fighters and gunships, that was rather stupid. Not to mention piloting ground vehicles with more armor than their own. What was even the point to train brutally effective warriors, designed to break through enemies lines and engage in close-range combat, and then waste them as glorified gunnery servitors or tank drivers?


    You could take for example a 4-wheel-drive Tauros</a> car, and emplace a Tarantula</a> automated turret on it. Then build millions of them, to be used by the Auxiliary troops to support deep-strikes with heavy bolters, lascannons or even missile launchers.


    That ''lost'' STC template did find itself on the dataslate I gave to Primarch Khan, who was known to prefer rapid assaults or harassment on bikes, land speeders and other mobile vehicles.


    Astartes were never meant to serve as front line troops, battling hordes of xeno or Chaos invaders while outnumbered a million to one. Boarding ships, breaching bunkers and command centers, fast raids on munition depots or fuel supplies, and target killing of enemy leaders and their officer staff. Those were the best way to use Astartes, not as mobile turrets. If you wanted mobile turrets, build damn mobile turrets!


    And this guy in front of me was the perfect example of that close-in combat doctrine, and possibly sent to impress me or something. I wasn''t that easily impressed though, though of course I admired the man for his centuries of honing the sword.


    Maybe I can get him to teach me?


    And my people too. I can only ask.


    "Chapter Master Lancefire, we owe you a great debt for finding our Primarch, and destroying the filthy Dark Eldar xenos inside the Webway." Joghaten Khan, Master of Blades and Captain of the 4th Company declared in a harsh voice.


    His face was scarred by a hundred battles, and he wore a Power Sword relic which has likely killed millions of traitors, heretics and cultists, not mention xenos and demons.


    He was a one man army, just like his Primarch.


    I waved his debt away with a slow gesture. "Very well, anything else?"


    "... Myself and these other four Battle Brothers are to assist you in any task, even onto death. So has the Primarch commanded." The grizzly Veteran Astartes said in a calm tone.


    So, he really meant it, considering his life spent already.


    "Brothers, you are also Sword Masters?" I asked to make sure, although they did have artificier-grade chainswords on their backs.


    "Yes, my Lord. Nothing like the Captain, but we can hold our own." One of them replied in a fake meek voice.


    Meek, but also sent to keep watch on my operations here in the Fringe. Well then, let''s give them something to do.


    "Excellent! I have a few thousands Blanks, men and women who could use some melee training. You don''t mind Blanks, do you?" I wondered in a jovial voice. A cadre of expert sword trainers would be wonderful indeed.


    The men glanced behind me, where a dozen Silent Sisters were all wearing Power Swords and power armor. "You have thousands of Silent Sisters?" Captain Joghaten Khan asked in a curious voice, eyes measuring the women for some sort of reason.


    Possibly for how many seconds it would take him to dismember them all. No more than three seconds, if you must know.


    "Nah, only about 30 Sisters. As for the rest, some are my descendants, plus I found a place filled with more Blanks and had them transported here. I am lucky like that." I commented in a wry voice.


    The White Scars Captain nodded cautiously. "It will be done, Lord Lancefire. As for the Mars-class and the conveyor, they contain what you were owed by our Primarch. Torpedoes, Nova Shells, and some other gifts you may need, if you intend to hold the Tyranids here, outside the border of the Imperium."


    I smiled gently while examining those spaceships in my tesseract vision. A hundred more Exterminatus torpedoes, a dozen Vortex torpedoes, macrocannon shells, many heavy bolter crates and autocannon rounds by the billion. That silly Primarch!


    This story is posted elsewhere by the author. Help them out by reading the authentic version.Those small munitions would not be sufficient to defend a single world if the Tyranids managed to land, even with a small Hive fleet.


    I snapped my fingers to empty the precious contents of those ships in my pocket. "Andrea, my dear. Take command of the Mars cruiser, and some escorts, and visit Retribution to load our exports, then travel to Forge Tigrus and covert the conveyor into a fleet carrier. Filled with corvettes too." I said in a gentle voice, while mentally sending orders for two Blood Angels and two Sisters to provide enforcement and anti-warp cover.


    I would have to find a name for those ships...nah. Andrea could handle it, going by how her eyes were glowing with excitement. She ran off, followed by her retinue.


    I think the blade master blinked, observing how those two Sisters were the only ones not pregnant.


    I may be charming and all, but 28 of 30 Sisters was the best I could manage, even after years of constant interaction and showering the poor muted women with kindness and gifts.


    Then again, those two Sisters Dalia and Sophie, were in their sixties when we met, bitter and worn out with age and battling horrors. They looked like 20 years old now, and will likely never die of old age anymore.


    Those chronoblades were quite a cheat, as were the xeno hexagram necklaces. I had a hundred xeno specialists Magi attempting to decipher the secrets of a blade and the last necklace, but so far nothing.


    I may need a certain Necron Overlord, or perhaps a helpful C''tan to aid with it. I was certain Trazyn could duplicate the Null Rod technology, because it was only an artifact of the Mechanicus.


    However, whoever these xenos with their ancient statues were, they did posses advanced knowledge of the Warp and the dangers of Chaos, and likely were exterminated for it, or by it.


    Just as I was waiting for my daughter to reach her new cruiser, a sleek black shuttle departed from the Mars cruiser, possibly covered in a dozen anti-augury paints and scrambling engrams, because it wasn''t visible on the Starforts sensors, nor my fleet in orbit.


    An infiltrator of some kind, no doubt. I could use a black ops shuttle myself, so it vanished inside my large pocket, while its pilot was frozen then dropped in front of the White Scar Captain.


    It was a woman, lithe and supple, and highly trained. In a second, she recovered and swirled her hi-tech helmet around, to find a Power Sword a centimeter from her neck. Mister Khan was just as fast as I predicted.


    "Purpose of your visit, my dear?" I murmured in a thoughtful tone.


    "Classified, Lord Lancefire! ... Well, that plan failed, obviously." the woman grumbled and removed her helmet to reveal a pretty face, deep-red hair and the familiar ports of a mind impulse unit implant.


    However, the sigils guarding the datasphere access to her implant were a hundred times too complex and complicated for a private operator. And that needle rifle split in three and worn on her back was inscribed with other complex gene-codes.


    I have seen one such rifle a few years ago, in the hands of that blonde assassin from my Rose''s retinue. Same outfit, same rifle...same job perhaps?


    "Obviously it failed, this classified mission of yours, but we''re all friends here. And seeing how you arrived on the Primarch''s gift battlecruiser...what could an assassin from the Vanus Temple</a> possibly want, with a not-too-important Rogue Trader, merely trading paper and furniture to a few Forge Worlds?" I asked in a wry tone.


    That was my cover story, and I kept with it. Maybe a few STCs here and there, if I got lucky on my travels.


    Ludvaius snorted and stepped back and to the side, his bolter still aimed at the pretty assassin. "Why even ask, Captain? It obviously was a poisoned gift, just like these other Brothers." my bodyguard grumbled, and all my escorts all raised weapons to target the White Scars, and the assassin.


    I sighed inward, at the over-reaction, while the Scars simply closed their eyes waiting to die. Damn brainwashed idiots!


    "Oh no! Nothing like that!" the woman argued with a pleading voice, looking around for someplace to escape.


    "I consider the good Primarch is not the type to send an assassin after me, even an infocyte like yourself. What do you say, Captain Khan?" I asked in a soft voice.


    "It is as you say, Lord Lancefire. Primarch Jaghatai Khan is an honorable man, beyond any hint of reproach or taint. We were also warned to regard you with caution, at the same levels of ability as an Alpha psyker. Or the reverse of that, however it works for Nulls." the Astartes Captain announced in a cold voice, mostly towards the disgraced assassin.


    "Alright! My name is Elixa_de_Mornay</a> and I was ordered to protect you from the shadows, Captain Lancefire. And...also obtain a clear picture of your assets and abilities. How did you even find me?" the woman demanded in an outraged voice.


    Ludvaius and Rafen both chuckled amused, and holstered their weapons, while my other guards lowered theirs but were still wary.


    "Alena, what do you say?" I asked gently, holding my hand out for the most vocal Silent Sister. Alena rushed to take my hand and examined the assassin named Elixa with curious eyes.


    "She isn''t even a Pariah! Plus she would spy on you!" Alena claimed in a vocal tone.


    "Not like that, silly! I have plenty women. I meant Elixa''s infocyte skills." I answered seriously.


    Bedding a pretty assassin might be fun, but too risky indeed. But hacking and subverting Machine Spirits for my tech-marines and Blank sisters? That would be even more useful than another concubine.


    "Are you serious, my Lord? You expect me to divulge the temple''s secrets, just like that?" the red-headed prisoner muttered in naive confusion.


    Well, Elixa was right, and she would need a very deep motivation to change her allegiance.


    Perhaps I did need to bed her.

 Vampire - Chapter 107

    I smiled at Lady Elixa and she vanished in my labyrinth. We will resume the conversation in a different setting.


    "Any more surprises I need to know about, Brothers? Maybe a dozen Inquisitors, like that idiot who tried to arrest your Primarch, back on Sotha?" I asked to make sure, and also checked the ships for hidden compartments filled with bombs or assassins.


    Didn''t find any, but the ugly face of the Imperium was already showing its true face.


    Unlike the trades with local Forges, which were based on mutual interest and lots of gifts made in good faith...this new shipment arrived from the Solar Segmentum, the largest hive of scum and villainy in the galaxy, possibly even worse than the Eye of Terror.


    These entitled Nobles would smile and invite you to dinner, just to dismember you and drain your brain of useful information. Or have their defense batteries fire in a targeting error and blow you up.


    Or any other scenario that ended with you dead, and they gaining some advantage.


    At least in the Eye of Terror, you could shoot back.


    However, my experience in that shadow realm of the Mandrakes had taught me that even the tesseract labyrinths had limits, especially when dealing with the Warp. Things might not be solid enough to be stored in stasis, or the stasis not strong enough to hold them. Or more probably, you needed a C''tan to power up the abilities of that labyrinth.


    The Crimson God was still impaled by a sort of Canoptek_Sentinel</a>, chains of living rock or such binding the immortal shard and preventing his escape. Only problem, I wasn''t a Necron, and thus had minimal access to those controls.


    Plus I was nearly certain that Trazyn had sabotaged my controls in some way. The Necron Lord wouldn''t give anyone the same access to the kind of power that he had, seeing how two Tyranid tendrils from Hive Fleet Behemoth avoided his homeworld of Solemnace</a> and then got lost in the void, drifting into hibernation.


    I could only replicate that feat on a much smaller scale, and not for long, by blowing up the Queen and her Hive Ship with Vortex torpedoes.


    "When shall we begin training those recruits, Lord Lancefire?" The White Scar Captain asked after waiting a minute in awkward silence.


    "In three seconds. You the four Veterans, on the surface." I replied curtly, storing the four chainsword-wearing Scars and depositing them beside the training ground''s gate. We had a proximity sensors and automated turrets protecting the recruits and the training cadres, so intruders would take fire otherwise. The Lamenters Apothecaries would know what to do, I hoped.


    The blademaster just glanced around before shrugging. "So you want me to train you, my Lord?" he deduced instantly. Well Astartes are smart, and Captains do start learning how think for themselves eventually. In a few centuries.


    "Yes, one hour per day, every day. Mostly the reasoning behind each strike and how the Scars position themselves for melee. I''m more of a strategist than a brawler, and the few times I fought Astartes in melee, I kinda got pounded." I admitted in a cheerful voice, only to get patted on my shoulder by a compassionate bodyguard.


    "He doesn''t have the Astartes organs, Captain Khan. Might be better to consider Lord Pef a simple tech-marine." Ludvaius explained in a pleasant tone.


    The old Veteran just nodded knowingly. I did not look like all the other Astartes, that was certain. "Tech-marines can also be quite deadly. Especially in a good armor, like Master Lancefire has. That shoulder-mounted stormbolter...you can aim it with your mind implant, right? Target the eyes or the joints?"


    I nodded, with my head and the mobile arm as well, then swirled the shoulder stormbolter around, to envelop the large meeting hall in the Lamenters Starfort, the targeting reticles and the Auto-Sense</a> Machine Spirit locking on everyone''s eyes in less than a second. Perhaps a good tech-marine was indeed deadly, if he could gain access to top-level gear like I had.


    "I guess I could drop everyone in this hall in a single second, if they''re not shielded. Doubtful if any sword master can do it that fast." I mused to myself.


    "Quite deadly already, like I said. And if they are shielded?" The White Scars Captain asked curious.


    I turned towards my escorts. "Then...it would depend on many things. I would certainly not rush them with my blade."


    "And yet, that is the best course of action, Lord Lancefire. Rush towards an exit, cut your way out with your Power Sword, and escape to fight another day. Sadly, you''d be too slow and unskilled for that. Even after a century of daily training." the man said in a convinced voice, and Rafen just chuckled.


    "I''d bet a throne on Lord Pef every time. He did burn down Commorragh without lifting a finger." my loyal bodyguard commented wryly.


    Hey, I did lift a finger! Damn myths blowing out of proportions! I lifted a finger every time I teleported an Exterminatus torpedo, about 30 times!


    "I''d find another way. It would take something on the level of an Eldar Avatar or a C''tan to cause me worry. Maybe a Daemon Prince too, without my brave retinue." I said in a thoughtful voice.


    "So I have heard, and a dozen top tier seers have confirmed it. The traitor Lorgar is still dead, after you found another way. Your raid on Commorragh however, is mostly attributed to our Primarch, in the public communiques delivered from Terra. No mention of Eldar allies either. Your participation is noted, of course, and last I heard Lord Khan has proposed you for some medals of valor and a Nobility title." the Captain explained in curious voice, as if testing me to argue.


    This story originates from Royal Road. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there.


    But, I was rather content with that development. Primarch Khan would gain credibility and support from many parties injured by the Dark Eldar, while the little known Astartes Chapter like the Lamenters with a single Battlebarge, and a fleet of Rogue Trader corvettes wouldn''t seem that impressive. I would gain some notoriety for that title, more than for my raid. There would be a real House Lancefire, with all the benefits of that rank.


    Noble Houses would receive a bit of land and a small palace on Terra itself, which would be worth trillions of thrones or maybe more.


    With a local base, I could start slowly gathering support for a High Lord of Terra rank for the Rogue Trader Houses, much like the Speaker_for_the_Chartist_Captains</a>.


    All Rogue Traders risked their ships, life and sanity exploring beyond the borders, fighting xenos of a hundred kinds, or aided in Crusades, much like I did. It was time we got our own voice, in this case my own voice.


    Though I would most likely send a representative, just like the Navigators or the Inquisition did.


    Still, this would mean making contact with some other famous Rogue Trader Dynasties, and convince them to work together. That would be fun, even if they will see the immense benefit of having someone defend their wealth and Warrants of Trade in the highest Imperial court. And more importantly, it would allow certain regulations to be imposed on the scummy Traders. Too often they sold out the Imperium or restricted technologies for a quick sale.


    "Sounds great, Captain Khan! I might even accept that Noble rank. I''ll have to ask my clan if anyone dares to approach that planet though, I hear it''s infested with corrupt officials. About as bad as landing alone in a middle of a Tyranid invasion, I expect."


    I replied in a less amused voice, then turned towards my next scheduled destination.


    My brave children, getting tortured in implantation sarcophagi by the Sanguinary Priests. Not fun at all, and in fact terminally dangerous for any single one of them.


    Sure, I updated the procedure as much as I could, even bringing a hundred Biologis tech-priests to oversee the machines and repair them, but the gene-seed technology was really advanced and pretty much nobody knew enough to make it safe.


    Luckily, there was a newly arrived Forge Antax tech-priest available, who did work on the Blank genes projects for a few decades.


    My hopes were on him, as he struggled to adjust the coffins to produce live subjects and not biologic sludge or malformed creatures.


    "How does it seem, Magos Eleven?" I asked via an implant message.


    Voice didn''t quite translate well with Mechanicus specialists, as the Cult''s techno-lingua had too many attributes of esoteric meanings.


    And specialists had too little patience with moron humans too. Explaining delicate genetic and soul transfiguration to a normal person was pretty much impossible, just as 5-dimensional Warp manifold mathematics were beyond most tech-priests ability to comprehend.


    That was why Vortex warheads were so rare and precious. Maybe a thousand people in the Imperium understood the procedure well enough to create those weapons.


    The Astartes genetic code was probably just as complex, due to bloodline reverberations and stigmatic imprints caused by the death of Sanguinius. Adding the problem of Blank genes into the mix solved some problems and created others, with less logical solutions.


    Everyday, I would come to the Sanguinary ward and commune with my sons, via my MIU implant, entering their mental landscapes and reinforcing their will and mental resistance.


    Speeches, mantras, canticles and simply being here beside them helped. The Black Rage did not manifest at all, and that was great. Mutations were also stopped at the source. Flesh might be weak against the Warp, but Blanks were immune.


    However, that psychic stigmata caused by our Primarch''s wound, and the Red Thirst...that was bad.


    I also had to suffer that pain beside them, and it wasn''t fun at all. Maybe I should punch Sanguinius in the face after I got him resurrected.


    Fucking vampire thirsty for blood!


    "Continue your duty, Astartes. Your daily efforts are working, and we might not lose a single Lamenter recruit. Which is not normal at all!" Magos BD/ANT/J8NN11 explained in a techno-lingua transmission of his own.


    Who cares about normal, damn cultist! How is it normal to lose a hundred children for every Astartes?


    Sure, because my boys are rather older than normal Astartes, they have a stronger soul and will, which helps them withstand the horrible process better than some 10 year old farm boy, thrown into a dark coffin and told to pray.


    They will lose a tiny bit in strength and speed, because the body is grown and less malleable, but they will survive. As for strength and speed, they will have the best power armor and mind implants.


    In my view, that mattered more than a few kilograms of extra strength. Ogryns were even stronger, after all.


    And about that, in a sealed wing of the Starfort, we had Ogryns being implanted with Red Scorpions gene-seeds.


    I didn''t want more muscles on their already gigantic muscles. I wanted to give them able minds, like all Astartes had.


    However, this plan didn''t work as I hoped, not at all. Should have remembered the Dark Eldar.

 Flail - Chapter 108

    All those flesh mutations that Astartes had to endure? Wings, claws, fangs and snake eyes?


    It was a dozen times worse with the Ogryns, because the poor things were already mutated and weak to the Warp.


    Just like the Dark Eldar obtained creatures like the Wrack</a> and the Grotesque</a> from their genetic manipulations, so did my own experiments with Ogryn flesh. All I could do was take their lives with my chronoblade, and attempt to store their souls in a Prism-like Soul-Trap</a>.


    I failed to do that either, because I''m not a Dark Eldar Archon like Valossian_Sythrac</a>, the former owner of this artifact.


    Well, in time I would learn all their secrets, unless I died somehow. Even then, there would be methods to revive myself, from discarding the failed timeline to blood sacrifice or cloning my body and restoring a backup mind from storage.


    If Fabius Bile could clone Horus or Ferrus Manus</a> and even the other Fulgrim, then I could do it too. I just had to learn as much or more than the poor traitor without limbs.


    Perhaps I could even use that same knowledge as a start, by downloading his memories?


    Something to think about, and decide later. I still had time til the Ruinous Powers would manage to gather enough forces for another Black Crusade, and I could hamper their efforts even more, by burning Demon Worlds or Fallen Knight Planets or Hell Forges.


    My xeno artifacts vanished in my dimensional pocket, as Magos Eleven entered the Ogryn Ward to examine the specimens.


    A burst of data engrams flashed as his auto-senses measured the room and the dead Ogryn corpses. "Another failure, another day." he might have said, if the techno-lingua translation was correct. Probably not.


    I held out my hand and a Drukhari Hexrifle</a> appeared. This weapon fired some kind of vitrification virus called the Glass_Plague</a>, turning anyone into glass, and giving them a True Death. In my other hand I had a canister containing the counter-virus, which would certainly be needed when these mad scientists experimented with the xeno virus. "I want this weapon examined and duplicated into a Mechanicus format, then tested on Orks. You will join Juggler and his team at their Fungal Research Outpost in the Oblivion system. Make sure to duplicate the counter-agent first, before you play with the doomsday weapon."


    I had a young Sister named Ordela_Grendoth</a> assigned to that remote and classified star system to protect the Biologis researchers against demons and Warp intrusions. Her powers as a Pariah were already the greatest among all my followers, such that even the Catachan concubines living in more distant villas of Blanktown were disturbed by her presence. Ordela could continue her studies and training under Juggler''s guidance, and probably become a version of Pariah tech-priest, just like my dear Juggler wanted to try.


    "It will be done, Revelator. A weapon that might extinguish the Ork threat would be truly valuable, and would spare humanity trillions of lives. Plus, it should secure this Lancefire domain against Ork Waaghs and help clear out infested planets of their fungal spores. So, the Ogryn project is ended?" the Biologis Magos asked in another data burst. I think I got everything right.


    "We will return to it, but once I manage to produce Blank Ogryns. Have your Fabricator secure a thousand young females for that task. Prettiest and smartest Ogryn girls, and I shall close my eyes and do my duty, in bed." I uttered in a slight shudder.


    It would be much worse than my trials with Catachans and even the pampered noble daughters, which were in some ways more difficult to deal with than an angry Ogryn. Pampered little minxes, with barbed words and constant plots for social ascendance.


    Luckily, I only had about 100 of these cute darlings, so I only had to spend three weeks per year in their company, till they were sent back home with their bellies filled with another heir.


    My wife Serena had dominion over the noble concubines, somehow keeping them from each other throats, at least until each House had a few Blanks to continue the leadership without fear of Chaos corruption.


    In time the allied houses will all become part of my Dynasty, by blood. That would take a century or so, and perhaps some accidents happening to the more reluctant elders.


    Anyway, it was time to return down on the surface, check up on Victor and his progress on tesseract temporal experiments, and then deal with the new problem: the pretty infocyte Elixa.


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    Perhaps she could continue her job, setting up a SIGINT center in the main Hive City and absorb all available data. From census and tax reports, to cult activity and detecting other infiltrators, an infocyte would be worth as much as a battlecruiser.


    And if she agreed to train a company of agents to a similar skill, her value would grow to a whole fleet of cruisers.


    Soon enough, I emerged from the teleport room at the top of the Governor''s spire, and shook hands with the Blood Angel guarding my son. "How is he?" I asked in a paternal worry.


    "Well enough, I say. Those 50 Blank women you have brought him are all with child, as you know already. Perhaps bring him more? He keeps staring at the cogitator screen, not unlike his weird father." the Veteran Astartes joked and patted my pauldron.


    I did have Victor look over my STC templates for a second opinion, especially on the simplest machines, to find other uses or gain inspiration for a new weapon.


    So I entered his personal quarters, to find it slightly eaten by his two wolves, pillows and bedding shredded by playful animals, while Victor was lost in reverie in front of the cogitator holoscreen.


    "Romulus and Remus, bad dogs! Get out in the garden now." I grumbled at pointed at the balcony door, leading to a suspended garden with lawns and trees. Nobles did have nice perks, even in 40k.


    Both wolves mewled, caught in the crime and acting like sheepish children. Then Romulus ran to press the green button for the door while Remus rushed outside howling for freedom.


    The howl woke Victor up, and he turned to see me and his Astartes watch him in amusement.


    "What! I never wanted a wolf, let alone two of them! Look what they did to my place..." my boy complained like a kid. He was obviously my kid, so I didn''t comment. Plus Victor was right, wolves were not made for indoors.


    "Wait on the balcony, Astartes. Play with the wolves if you want." I told the bodyguard while I sat on the plasteel block beside my son''s armchair.


    A minute later, Victor brought up the newest invention of his, an alteration of one of the many vehicles I had remembered and roughly drawn out for his perusal.


    "This mine-clearing tank from Old Terra, we could use the concept for melee battles, instead of chainswords. Also, for important gates defenses, only the drums spinning to butcher armored attackers with Power Flails. Vehicles wouldn''t have this kind of energy, except those powered by atomantic reactors, but for fixed positions with their own power generators it should work. Maybe even for defending starship corridors, right?" Victor proposed and brought up a few concept designs, based on Weasels, Chimeras and Macharius tank chassis.


    I nodded at his great idea, and then tried to expand on it. Except in confined spaces like a gate barbican or a tight mountain pass, drum flails would naturally be avoided and attacked from the sides.


    But any vehicle had an engine, and that engine could spin a drive shaft horizontally for traction or vertically for lift, like old helicopters did.


    I linked my implant to the cogitator and rapidly brought out an old helicopter. "A ground vehicle with a spinning horizontal flail, would create a deadly area around it, in 360 degrees, preventing flankers from attacking from the side and rear. Might also be useful in jungles and other clearing duties. Try  it on the Sentinels waist and Weasels'' turret ring first, and see if striking height can be adjusted. I don''t want dedicated machines, I want an upgrade to those we already have. Perhaps for emplaced Tarantula sentry guns as well."


    Victor shook his sleepy head and loaded a lascannon Sentinel template and began to work. "Anything of note for the temporal chambers in the tesseract?" I asked softly.


    "I can grow algae, if I provide light sources and air, plus basins of water and nutrients. Only tried at twice speed of normal timeflow, and it''s already getting out of control. Couldn''t even germinate plant seeds." Victor muttered while most of his focus was on the waist ring of the Sentinel, trying to create an outer ring rotating independently. Nothing high tech, but still a lot of hard work.


    I copied his initial design, to offer to my Forge as a broken STC pattern found by one of my ships while exploring the outer Fringe.


    We didn''t find STCs there, only alien species and more Orks and Tyranids splinters. Soon enough Erwynn''s_World</a> would come under attack from such a splinter, and I planned to interfere. There was an Astartes Chapter based there, which would be a shame to let perish. The Dragon_Lords</a> were here beyond the Imperium border on the same mission as my Lamenters, trying to defend humanity from the deadliest xenos prowling at the edge of the galaxy.


    Just for that, I would save them and support them. There were billions of stars in the Fringe, and not enough ships and troops to patrol it. Not yet.

 Elixa - Chapter 109

    An hour later, I arrived back in my own villa in Blanktown and setup one small apartment for my new guest, including a bank of cogitators, and a small clade of tech-priests with knowledge of datasphere warfare and the special Runes of Engineering, a rather complex religious protocol for establishing a monitoring station, on par with a Knight suit of battlefield awareness.


    Then I retrieved Elixa and her infocyte gear from her stealth shuttle.


    "You will live here from now on, my dear Elixa. I want a signal intelligence operation prepared, to monitor this star system for infiltrators and other dangers. You can do that, right?" I asked gently, and patted her silky hair. It was cut kinda short, but that probably made sense if she needed to wear a sensorium helmet and other devices like that Signum</a> transceiver antenna.


    "But...oh my God-Emperor, so many cogitators! I can really work from here!" the woman exclaimed in surprise then joy.


    "Yes, you will. And these nice tech-priests will look over your shoulder constantly, making sure my House and the Astartes Chapter are not endangered by your actions. My own rooms are down the hall, it says Pef on the door." I continued after a few seconds, watching her enthusiasm drop visibly at the new regulations.


    "That''s not so great..." Elixa murmured in a sour tone, glancing at the creepy cyborgs with suspicion.


    "Dinner is in three hours, until then make yourself at home. I''m certain you can manage locating the shower and the wardrobe." I added as I walked out, only to find Ludvaius and Canis watching me with cautious eyes.


    I ignored their obvious displeasure and began mentally selecting a dozen daughters from the local merchant concubines for infocyte training. The girls need not be Blanks, only smart and disciplined. Well, maybe one Blank at least, just in case.


    The information they gathered would also help increase revenue from better taxation and resource management, plus they had local knowledge of industries and general trends.


    Perhaps give them a special name, like the Obsidian Auguries? Yes, that will be conveniently vague and allow a certain degree of mystique and fear when they produced an identification tag plated with black obsidian.


    Pretty sure everyone else would just call them spooks, but that was only natural. Technology was similar to magic in this universe, and the Necrons managed to beat Gods using only advanced science, with no Warp powers at all.


    Humanity will need a long time to reach the same heights, even if they had examples of advanced xenotech or human archeotech practically littering the galaxy. There just was not enough education to make use of these artifacts, not to mention constructing new technology of the same capability or better.


    "Woooof?" Canis asked in a small voice.


    "Yes, my genial friend. Today we do like we always do. Sit at the cogitator and tinker with more STC patterns. But no more meat dispensers templates!" I explain and ruffled my wolf''s hair with my hands.


    "Woo?Woooooo!" the Fenrisian wolf complained and glanced at his paw-print food dispenser, which already had a dozen types of meat. There just wasn''t anymore room for more food storage, as the room next door was now transformed into a large pantry filled with meat pellets and crunchy bones.


    Ludvaius snorted at our antics and sat down on the plasteel dais, bolter aimed carelessly at the balcony door. That would be the most obvious point of entry for any intruder, although it wouldn''t be just as easy as it seemed. I knew many people or not-people might want me dead, so I took precautions.


    Three hours passed in a flash, simply tinkering with more automated turrets and flying drones. I did not intend to drop my troops into ambushes or hostile landing zones, losing a good part of them before they could regroup and counter-atttack.


    Wouldn''t it make more sense to drop a million turrets and clean up a large enough landing site?


    Here I had the template of the classic Astartes Drop_Pod</a> more importantly the Deathstorm and Support variants, those that did not carry troops but on-board turrets.


    Sure, these things were massive, highly armored and of course, hugely expensive. It was actually cheaper to deploy 5 Space Marines with 5 heavy bolters than one of these monsters.


    They would also run out of ammunition pretty soon and then just lay there, millions of thrones expended for little gain and immobile. Perfect for Orks to dismantle and arm themselves with perfectly good weapons of the best quality.


    No, what I needed was a cheap version, armed with a twin-multilaser, and a lascannon version for hard targets like vehicles or power armor, perhaps one with a spinning flail for close defense. Naturally, these autonomous turrets could have more armor than the mere 10 mm of plasteel in the original template. It would depend on the Forge resources, but at least 10 cms of armor would be possible without making them too heavy. Perhaps even ceramite plates.


    Drop those in a series of concentric rings, and a single dedicated light cruiser could transport and unload the equivalent of 20 regiments of firepower in a concentrated pocket. Soon after, insert tech-priests and servitors to repair, refuel and clean up the debris, before landing mobile forces.


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    Sure, a cargo ship could carry even more drop pods.


    The problems begin when encountering enemies. From raiders and pirates, to harassing corsairs or traitor warships, to full orbital blockade or a tyranid swarm on approach, it is much better to have a light cruiser actually deploy the drop pods.


    It is much faster, has better armor and guns, but most importantly is faster.


    Pretty much why all Astartes use Strike Cruisers to deploy drop pods filled with powered armored Brothers in emergencies. This also carries the risk of troop pods getting shot down, or the limited Astartes numbers surrounded and destroyed by overwhelming defenses.


    And if you landed say Chimera infantry transports, they could just carry these Tarantula turrets on top of their hull, and connect their power lines to the internal generator. Mobile turret obtained!


    Or just place them on wheels and drag them into new fortified lines as the front lines moved, much like General Rommel did in Africa during WW2 with his 88mm cannons.


    The best thing was the ability for rapid defense of compromised positions, simply dropping these turrets in front of a Hive City or an important Manufactorum.


    This ability was the most used option for Adeptus Astartes, and caused the most casualties, even if a thousand pods and a few tech-marines could do the same job and possibly not lose a single life.


    Even inside spaceships, such turrets could pop up from the deck plates and massacre invaders on long hallways and intersections.


    Maybe even heavy flamer turrets? Only for fixed positions, because promethium might not like being dropped from orbit.


    Missile turrets were already used on many Hive World or Forge Spires, but in the field they would rapidly run out of missiles. Plus they were kinda expensive.


    No need to drop them, they could be landed with the troops and not damage the fragile missiles either. But then, forts and command centers would have some anti-air protection, at least until the fighters gained air supremacy over the skies.


    The door opened to reveal a completely different Elixa de Mornay, dressed in a tight dress of blue silk and a House Lancefire cape. "I look like a Lady now, right?" she asked in a timid voice.


    I just smiled genially and nodded, kinda lost for words. "You are a gorgeous woman, my dear Elixa. As for a Lady title, you just need to ask. I bet a throne our children will be very smart." I complimented her in a shy voice, while Ludvaius just blinked at me, then sighed in acceptance.


    You should have expected this, Brother! I wouldn''t let such a treasure get away, even if it meant a new wife.


    Canis lifted his head to watch the new wolf mistress with curious eyes, then uttered a single "Woof!" which probably meant "Nice bitch, boss!"


    "...What? How can you just propose to me!" she exclaimed in a rather outraged voice.


    I just shrugged and rose from my adamantium chair to peek closely into at her blushing face. "Common sense, Elixa. You will have access to the House Lancefire secrets, thus you need to be part of my House. You would not betray your family and children, but instead work hard to keep us safe. I''m thinking to call your infocyte clade the Obsidian Auguries. Keeping watch from the shadows, for agents and subversion from other Houses, cultists or xenos." I explained as I reached the door and offered my elbow.


    She blushed even harder as I escorted her to dinner, still grumbling at her new fate. "I didn''t even say yes..." Elixa concluded as we reached the dinning hall.


    I smiled inward and outward. She didn''t say no either.


    "Everyone, this lovely Lady is Elixa, our new spymaster." I presented her to my wives, a few of my children and a few Apothecaries who usually joined me at dinner.


    "She is all flustered and red, daddy! Did you bed her already?" Talia asked with an innocent 8-year-old voice.


    Elixa coughed in surprise, while Decima glared at me for a second, before approaching us with a queenly pace, slow and majestic. Well, she did oversee like a thousand star-systems for me, and acted as a Rear Admiral for a thousand space ships forour Rogue TraderDynasty.


    "Quiet,Talia! Hannibal, stop giggling! Ludvaius stay by the door!" my sweet wife ordered, returning the room to silence. Then Decima poked Elixa''s forehead, watching her reactions shift from social awkwardness to a combat posture, the mind implant powering up for extra speed and auto-senses.


    "At least Lady Elixa has decent training. We shall see about other duties, after your Apothecaries and nurses finish the medical examination. Vindicare temple?" Decima continued with a frown.


    "... Errr. Classified." Elixa answered with a wary glance towards me. Probably shouldn''t blurt out her secrets, if I wanted her to keep mine.


    "Pef''s mother was of Vindicare. Good assassin too, Lady Justine. Killed Fulgrim in her last mission." Decima explained in a softer voice, and gave me a short kiss, before returning to her seat.


    "Daddy is better though. He killed Lorgar and didn''t even die." Talia commented wryly, and without any tact.


    I sighed audibly and sat down to eat. This looked like one of those dinners.

 Holy spear - Chapter 110

    After the meal, kids were sent away for evening lessons with their non-combatant Adepta Sororitas teachers, those that myself or my sons have managed to seduce and bring them over from their Salvation Cardinal World.


    Once the Sisters were part of our extended family, their loyalties shifted enough, so I wouldn''t have to worry about getting doused in promethium for the slightest mistake.


    Just like I hoped with Lady Elixa.


    "Say Decima, which Forge Worlds should we trade with next? I''m thinking Gulgorahd</a> and Iridial</a>. We can afford to donate some adamantium and blackstone, in exchange for more Sentinels, and a million of Tarantula turrets." I proposed to my main wife, and ignoring her suspicious look towards Elixa.


    Decima sipped some of her too sweet wine while pondering, running estimations on her own implant. "Just a thousand tons of blackstone, and a megatonne of adamantium. Maybe two megatonnes, if the next transport ship arrives on time." she concluded with a sour face.


    In truth, we did donate the Mechanicus way too many resources, for too little gains. But good will and future trade options were even more important in my eyes. I wasn''t running a corporation, to make profit.


    "I see. Perhaps we should explore a little more, and discover more derelict ships. I will be quite busy for a month or two, but Victor can try his luck as well. He can take the Vitrix, I think." I mused to myself.


    Our second battleship, the Macharius Vitrix was about ready to travel now, if not ready for a full fleet engagement for a few decades. But Victor could ''find'' some Ork ships and tow them to Forge Retribution for re-processing the valuable metal.


    Even if he did encounter trouble, he had his own tesseract, so only something truly dangerous could pose problems.


    Decima nodded slowly, no doubt already conjecturing something about the proposed expedition.


    The Explorer Fleet from Ryza was already scouting ahead in force, noting down inhabited planets and xeno species. Plenty of them too, because the Emperor''s Great Crusade didn''t reach this far, and many xeno species were left intact, unlike closer to Terra where there were hundreds of xeno species butchered into extinction.


    Of course, only a few xenos had space travel, and even fewer had FTL travel. In fact only five such potential enemies were discovered so far, the Demiurg being the most advanced, if not warlike.


    The Arachen</a> had too many legs and organic ships, so they were classed into the burn-on-sight notice by the Cult Mechanicus, who saw them as abominations against the Machine God. Plus might give the Tyranids better weapons or propulsion for their bio-ships, which wouldn''t be fun at all.


    Another race called the Thexian</a> were put on notice for capture and examination, because one of their ships was found containing no less than six other xeno species on board, hinting to some grander alliance, which would certainly be used against the Imperium or humanity in general.


    The Tau were also classed as interesting to investigate and capture, with some advanced technologies, especially in weapons, approaching Imperial Navy standards.


    The remaining Kroot were marked for destruction, for being cannibals able to evolve from their eaten preys abilities, just like the Tyranids, even after their homeworld of Pech</a> was mysteriously burned into magma, just like their allies the Nicassar.


    The Barghesi</a> infested the Grendl Stars region with their beastly forms, and I even had some of them in my inventory, after being transformed by Dark Eldar Homunculi into Pain Engines of phenomenal danger, probably on par with Tyranid Tyrants.


    In fact, I might organize a few bouts one day and see who would win in a ring fight. My bet was on the Tyranid, but you never knew where 40k might surprise you. I even heard of a Battle Sister called Praxedes</a> killing a Tyrant with her mace.


    "This Vitrix, is a Navy battleship? Perhaps the one lost during the Macharian Crusade?" my dear infocyte asked, after running some fast computations and data comparisons on her implant. See, she would be amazingly valuable!


    "Perhaps I should rename it, if the origins are so easily deduced. Vigil for the Vanquished, how does it sound?" I asked Decima, and glanced at Henna as well. She used to be ship crew as well, so her opinion would matter.


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    Henna smiled kindly and nodded. "It does have the special resonance of a Lancefire vessel. We might soon run out of religious ceremonies, if you keep adding more and more ships to our Trader fleet."


    Decima just shrugged unimpressed. "So that''s why you want two new Forges in our trade routes. To mask the provenience of those extra lances. One hundred new batteries from each Forge, am I right?" my Rear Admiral inquired in a calm voice, eyes thinned into slits as her own implant ran at full power.


    I was right, this was going to be one of those dinners. Time to run away then. No point arguing with my Master of Logistics, she was always right.


    "Serena dear, grace my rooms with your noble presence. Lady Elixa, back to work and consider my offer." I demanded as I rose and ran away in a dignified walk. Not even looking back at the explosion.


    Ludvaius smirked at me and patted my head, then gave me into the care of Brother Rafen. "Having a smart wife is such a blessing, right Captain?" the Veteran Astartes quipped at my back, and I nearly stumbled.


    Damn Astartes! It wasn''t that funny being laid low with a few clever words.


    Then again, social games were never my forte, as many of my friends and contemporaries have remarked too often.


    Luckily, I had Canis still on my side. But my brave wolf was sleeping and pawing at the air, so I let him hunt in peace.


    As I came out of the shower, I found my wife Serena already waiting for me in bed, and smiling wryly. "My Lord, you need some relief from all this stress?" the pretty noble woman asked me in a cultured voice, and licked her lips suggestively.


    You bet your round perky ass, I sure did!


    Unlike concubines, wives were much better at marital arts, that being their job description.


    Maybe one day, sweet Alena will also be ready for this job, and take over the Blank side of my operations, just like Serena dealt with nobles and Henna with the children. All of them. Over three thousand kids now, and soon that number will double with all the new Blank concubines mass-producing kids for the greater good.


    My 300 Blank sons already in the Astartes training all had at least 300 kids of their own, but much fewer Blanks. At most 20 such blessed children and only Victor would have a chance to match me in time, if he kept working hard with the new generation of Blank women.


    The Blank daughters couldn''t possibly hope to match a man''s ability to produce children, being limited to one per year in the best case, and more reasonably one every three years, as to not abuse their bodies too much.


    And because cloning Blanks often produced monsters that had to be cleansed with orbital strikes, we couldn''t even use their extra fertile eggs except for Blank Machine Spirits.


    Best not to think too deeply about that. No sacrifice is too great and even entire planets were considered expendable. I know, because I''ve burned quite a few planets myself.


    So, much later I woke up to find Elixa entering my room led by the hand by Decima. "Husband, I have reached an agreement with your new wife." she explained in a slightly warmer voice.


    Canis woke up and yawned wide enough to devour a wife or maybe two in one gulp. "Woooo?"


    "Yes Canis, we''re family now." Elixa murmured shyly.


    The space wolf nodded wisely and went to pour himself water.


    "Any conditions I should care about?" I wondered as Decima sat down in her armchair to watch the new show, while Rafen glanced at the balcony window.


    "Not for several decades, Lord Pef. But my services were not actually lent for an unlimited duration, by my employer. Even Primarchs only have so much power in the current Imperium." the Vanus Temple infocyte explained demurely as she undressed her medical gown.


    I sighed inward in agreement, and I drew the bedding cover aside.


    My new wife examined my muscles with amazed eyes, and gulped for some reason. What? I had demi-god genes now, and it showed.


    "Close your eyes and think of Holy Terra." I quipped as Elixa climbed cautiously on top of me.


    She snorted but did close her eyes. "Let''s hope I didn''t make the greatest mistake of my life...oh God!" Sweet Elixa exclaimed as was impaled on the holy spear of Sanguinius.


    "Just like that, dear. Think harder!" I commented amused.


    We thought long and hard about Terra, both of us, with Decima giving us new ideas to meditate on, every few minutes.


    I think Decima was recording this deep meditation for posterity as well, just in case I got too many Sisters of Battle to follow me, and might need to project my life''s exploits on a pict screen the size of a mountain.


    Poor Sisters were always dreaming of martyring themselves, so why not on a holy spear?

 Engine - Chapter 111

    However pleasant and rather unexpected, my honeymoon with the gorgeous Elixa was cut short by a desperate astropathic message.


    From a hidden corner in the Vidar sector, where Forge World Antax was located as well, an immense Necron starship, larger than a planet and even better armed has awoken from its long sleep, and has began attacking Imperial shipping, blowing up anything crossing its path. Wasn''t moving very fast though, so a quarantine area was declared for 20 light years around it.


    Even worse, Primarch Guilliman has called all available Astartes and any available Navy or Rogue Traders to lend their gun to destroy this menace, now called the World_Engine</a>.


    Well, I was both an Astartes Chapter Master and a Rogue Trader. Surely I could raise a finger and help, right?


    "What do you say Canis? Big fire or normal fire?" I asked my best advisor.


    "Woof woof!" the space wolf replied eagerly and nudged my left glove as a hint.


    Hmmm, I was thinking to use the Pharos...but perhaps Canis was right. Guilliman would surely figure out why the Tyranids fleets were attacking a Necron world in a frenzy, when there was nothing to eat there.


    And I wasn''t ready to face down another Primarch. Not unless I wanted to get beat up again.


    The Icarus carrier was out on patrol, but I did have two light cruisers ready for duty, plus the Serenity battlebarge.


    I could take the Dominator cruiser as well, the one with a Nova Cannon.


    Yep, should be enough. Shouldn''t show my entire deck yet, after all.


    Sadly, the first 1000 techmarines were still in training, and the next 1000 were undergoing gene-implantation right now.


    As for my Lamenters...well. They had a decade more to go til I considered even the first Company ready for action.


    I should take a Sanguinary Priest, probably Yollus, and one Apothecary with me, and leave Priest Helios in command of the Starfort and the Chapter.


    Only problem, my nice capital Illevar would be exposed until Victor returned from his ship finding expedition. This sucked!


    I mean, we did have more defenses than a real Imperial Hive World, merely 300 asteroid forts, a real Ramillies-class Starfort and 3 Astartes battlebarges and 12 cruisers, plus 3 Lancefire battlecruisers, 100 destroyers and nearly 300 corvettes left in defense, so it wouldn''t be completely exposed.


    I just didn''t feel safe without someone using a tesseract to keep an eye on things. Hopefully Elixa would manage the spying network while I was gone.


    Soon enough, I took Fidelia and Hestia aside and had them assigned as protectors of the House and Chapter, grabbed Lord Whitelance and his Knight, plus my wolf and my wife Henna for my comfort during this long trip.


    Then we began to embark a Catachan regiment and four PDF regiments on the ships, just to have some inner ablative armor in case of boarders, the Necron kind. Or any kind, for that matter.


    Also, 8 Pariah women from Blanktown got the prestigious role as mobile Gellar fields for the bridge and Gellar generators, also in case of unwanted intruders of the more insidious type.


    Ludvaius and Rafen came along as well, as well as 20 more Blood Angels for a tactical strike, if needed.


    "How worried should I be?" Decima asked me after she kissed me for a long minute.


    "Oh, you mean the Necron thing? Not very worried. Might lose a light cruiser, depending on some factors." I answered after computing my own odds in my mind.


    "They are gathering a thousand capital ships. Doesn''t sound so easy to me." my wife whispered in a scared voice.


    "Just place a call for Victor to return, and stay on yellow alert until he does." I said confidently then triggered the teleport beacon.


    "Welcome aboard Captain!" Signus said in a joyous voice, seeming happy to see me. Also looking a bit older...like all normal people when they aged.


    "Do you know how to wield a sword, Signus?" I asked instead.


    "...Errr. Slice and thrust. Are we expecting boarders soon?" the enginseer asked in a slightly worried voice.


    "We always do, my friend. Still travelling through the Warp, on the small ships." I explained patiently, although I had other reason for asking.


    I held out my chronoblade and had him show me a few sword moves. They sucked, even worse than me. Well, I was getting training now.


    Then I pointed at a tech servitor to the side. "Three cuts, fast but minimal strength. The blade has atomic edge."


    Blinking at me then at the ornate sword with a dozen purity seals hanging from its guard, Signus executed the servitor and drained his life.


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    "Good enough. Make yourself a sword, Signus. I''m not giving you mine." I demanded after grabbing the precious xeno artifact and returning it to its blackstone and plasteel sheath.


    Two weeks later, my small fleet arrived at the meeting point and I quickly considered their strategies flowing on the vox box among the gathered Captains. Utter disaster, or at least until Roboute Guilliman got here.


    "Navigator, do you have a hint how to reach this World Engine from here, but far enough from its weapons? Say a billion kilometers away, but in front of it." I sent via the vox channel.


    "That far wouldn''t be a problem, Captain. Our weapons will be out of range too."


    "But that ship would be moving fast towards us. And we have Nova Cannons and Vortex warheads." I explained in a patient voice.


    A single Vortex torpedo wouldn''t be enough, of course. But it would breach that Necron shield. After that, I could lift a finger for humanity.


    "As you will, Captain. Your plan at least has a chance of success." the Navigator muttered in some displeasure. Sure, he got kidnapped along with this former Mantis Warriors barge during the attack on Forge Angstrom, so he wasn''t really a volunteer.


    Then again, he was still Navigating a ship, so it wasn''t all bad.


    In a minute, we opened a Warp rift and departed, ignoring the increasingly annoying vox messages from all the other ships gathered here.


    It didn''t take long to overtake the Necron Engine and drop in front of it. Then I just closed my eyes and saw the void in the tesseract, the dimensional shield of that planet-sized spaceship blocking teleports just as expected.


    But it couldn''t block teleports right in front of it.


    A purple flash small like a pinhole opened in the Necron shield and a Cyclonic torpedo sneaked inside, incinerating the surface and burrowing a dozen kilometers through the thick armor plate, before detonating.


    "Commence Nova Cannon bombardment!" I ordered as more of my Exterminatus-grade ordnance struck the same place, over and over.


    As soon as the Nova shells left the cannon, I flicked them into the breach, while I urged the Serenity to fire our melta torpedoes at the same spot.


    Flares of bright light obscured the incoming ship.


    "High energy maneuver. Turn the ships and dive!" I commanded after our torpedoes departed.


    The Serenity barge had a 100 torpedo cell-block on the top side, which soon reached optimal release angle and I fired them all, one per second.


    Meanwhile, Nova mines and Cyclonic torpedoes kept detonating deep and deeper into the monstrous warship, breaking apart small bits, the size of mountains. Thus, I was able to start stealing everything not nailed down, gigattones of blackstone and millions of Necron weapons and machines of every kind.


    I strained my mind to abscond with as many broken bits of the Necron planet-ship, while targeting any exposed generators and conduits with high-yield explosives. No matter how redundant the Necron technology was, at one point the damage would be too much and systems will begin failing. It pained me that I had no idea what devices were powerful or rare, but I grabbed anything glowing green in the hope of figuring it later, somehow.


    An hour later, our visible string of torpedoes started impacting the Necron ship, just as Battle barge</a> Tempestus</a> arrived next to us. The plasma warheads had little actual effect, but made for a great smokescreen.


    "Chapter Master Lancefire, you managed to breach the xenos doomsday machine?" an incredulous voice asked on the vox channel.


    "Nah, it was open when I found it. And those demons burning on the surface are not the result of a Vortex torpedo. Merely a flicker of imagination." I commented wryly as my fleet sped away.


    A series of explosions marked my words, and the shield protecting the World Engine failed completely.


    Well, perhaps I did hit something vital after all. Time to leave this battle, as more ships were approaching.


    I was fresh out of munitions again, which wasn''t fun at all. So I set course for Forge Antax to reload, while the brave ships of the Ultima segmentum all began arriving at the scene of the crime and began firing all their weapons at the defenseless Necron ship.


    In a violet flash, we vanished into the Warp, just as a Glorianna-class battleship named Macragge''s_Honour</a> arrived to win the day, with Primarch Guilliman on board.


    Good for him.

 Cain - Chapter 112

    On Forge Antax, I got to meet a company of my future Lamenter techmarines at their school, and a company of future Blood Angels also training and learning the ways of advanced technology and ritual repairs, plus seeding their large harems with the next generations of possible Blank children.


    The Fabricator intended to keep the resulting Blank girls as future tech-priests and Ark Mechanicus ship Captains, which made quite a lot of sense. Plus harvesting their eggs for Blank Machine Spirits, no doubt.


    These days, a thousand new craters dotted a moon orbiting around the planet Antax, all results of failed cloning experiments of Blank tissue.


    I heard rumours that the Cullexus Temple had figured out the process, but sadly I wasn''t in any relation with their temple, nor was I too interested into being conscripted and mind-wiped as a future assassin.


    What I was interested in, was modifying the pirate light cruisers into Lamenter Strike Cruisers filled with drop pods, and the drop pods filled with Tarantula turrets of my own design.


    And if I had to pay for this with my hard work on heretical STC-patterns, and bits of advanced technology from the Eldar, Dark Eldar and Necrons...well, I did have plenty of that.


    "You do have the strangest luck, Captain Pef. Finding so many ships and discovering caches of STC templates, even as damaged as these..." the Archmagos of Forge Antax mused in a soft voice, after taking a peek at my gifts.


    He also did not mention anything about the STC on Forge World Palomar, so I didn''t ask.


    I just smiled and nodded. "The Dark Eldar did have a large cache of such templates, and even bits of assembly constructors. I''m sure your people on Forge Retribution already informed you." I answered in an easy going voice, while I scanned the star system for the next Ark Mechanicus, finding it hidden by a scaffold of iron asteroids, almost like a small artificial moon.


    I did give Antax a Grand Cruiser hull, like they always wanted, to remake into a true Ark Mechanicus. And since the internal volume was so large, they were also attempting to install a Macharius-pattern warp-less engine on it. Of course, the battleship-sized engine would not fit, so they were actually enlarging the Grand Cruiser to make the engine fit. Ingeniuous, if very expensive.


    That unholy fusion of Necron, Tau and human technology was the hope of humanity, and the extra energy from the better plasma reactor didn''t hurt one bit.


    "I also have to thank you for damaging that Necron battlemoon, and letting me know of where to find it and salvage what we can. So we can certainly try refitting these light cruisers to your Chapter''s needs. But I also need you to test them in combat when ready, with a group of Magi specialists overseeing the deployment. Such a strategy might be effective for Cult Mechanicus as well, especially where we need to deploy a Legio Titanica and secure the landing zones in advance." the Fabricator demanded and poured more wine to weaken my will.


    Sadly, the flesh is weak and the wine was too good. I shall have to oblige and test the new Steel_Rain</a> strategy, only with fewer Astartes and more guns.


    The two years I spent at Antax while overseeing the production of the new drop turrets, and testing different variants for different missions and enemies was not wasted.


    I did have a thousand female Catachans in my armor regiment, all of them Sentinel pilots, and enough time and energy to impregnate them all, as well as training my body with Captain Khan and my bodyguards, and learning more Mechanicus lessons about controlling Machine Spirits with my mind, and piloting my brand-new Knight suit with advice from my step-father, Lord Whitelance.


    My own Knight suit had a Volcano Lance for long-range engagements and a Knight-sized Power Glaive, kinda a sword at the end of staff, if anything big got too close. Or just for butchering infantry by the hundred with each strike.


    There were of course secondary weapons, like a pod of anti-air missiles and a couple of assault chainguns, but hopefully they won''t be needed. This Knight suit, which I called Reason for Peace, also had a nice Ion Shield and a Flare_Shield</a> converted into a Knight-sized Rosarius, and an atomantic reactor adapted from a Fellblade heavy tank.


    The reactors made by Forge Tigrus were indeed the smallest and the most powerful of any small reactors, and I was ready to demote a few old Fellblades into Doomhammers just to provide extra energy for my Knights.


    So, when news arrived of the impending First_Siege_of_Perlia</a> by an Ork Waagh led by Gargash Korbul</a> I was ready for a showdown.


    The PDF regiments I had brought were also armed with new Forge Antax gear, and had nearly finished training with them, everything from Chimera troop transports, Basilisks artillery guns, Armed Sentinels and Weasel-pattern recon light tanks. They will need to be forged on the field of battle, and experience was the best teacher anyway.


    Torpedoes were re-stocked, Nova Shells and Nova Mines as well, and of course the drop pods filled with Tarantula sentry guns. 40 thousand drop-pods per cruiser for now, mostly because I wanted to retain enough lance batteries to engage escorts with impunity, much like the old Litany.


    Those were a mix of classic twin-heavy bolters and twin-lascannons variants already in storage, and the new Salvation-pattern STCs with quad-multilasers and single lascannons, but with better armor and larger power cells.


    I had hoped to use the drop pods'' retro-thrusters to provide extra energy for the turrets, but that project would take a few decades to be tested and developed into a working solution.


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    My ''fragmented'' STC template did not provide the knowledge of how to create such a mechanism, because I hadn''t the faintest idea. So I let an entire Forge World work on it, and let them claim an Antax-pattern when they did succeed.


    Already Forge Antax had climbed the ladder from third level to the second, in Mechanicus rankings, and that meant they were given leave to produce cruisers and Knights, along other more exotic and restricted Mechanicus-only robots and battle-automata.


    Plus, the Defendarius Crusade called by Primarch Guilliman against the incoming Tyranids and awakening Necrons obliged the Forges to work harder to produce naval assets of any kind, from orbital defense platforms to torpedo corvettes and destroyers in large numbers, plus cruisers armed with Nova Cannons.


    Well, someone was paying attention to successful fleet actions, and the less-successful ones.


    And due to a much smaller number of Dark Eldar and Chaos raids in the Ultima Segmentum, the Primarch had an easier task of mobilizing troops and resources. Even the Eldar attacks had largely diminished, only some Corsair bands still being annoying dicks like always.


    The Tau were not expanding anymore, probably too busy rebuilding and reeling in their ships after their two capital cities were invaded by demons, and two allies having been wiped out.


    The Tau would have news of the revived Primarch if they were paying attention, mostly because the human worlds under their control were being reconquered one after the other, by large numbers of brutal Astartes, Imperial Knights and Titan Legions.


    ++++++++++++++


    Down on Perlia, Commissar Cain cursed his luck again as his rag-tag band of PDFs and Imperial Guard troops stumbled upon the Ork Boss Korbul''s camp.


    Reluctantly, he called the boss out for a duel, to encourage his troops and provide example. Plus killing the boss would allow a higher chance of survival, both for him and his men.


    The immense Ork was armored to the teeth, and had size and strength on his side, but Cain wouldn''t let that scare him. He sneakily allowed the Ork to push on his chainsword, drawing the brute close enough he could poke his red, furious eye with his laspistol, then fire the entire power cell, the harmless beams deflecting from the inside of the skull and metal helmet over and over until the boss fell down, dead.


    "For the Emperor!" Cain shouted raising his eyes towards the sky.


    And the Emperor answered, raining down with fire balls and pillars of light, a sure sign of drop pods and orbital lances striking at the invaders.


    "Astartes! The Angels of Death are here!" the vox sergeant yelled in triumph and pointed at the sky.


    Well, it was about the damn time. Maybe he could rest in some secluded corner now.


    All around his small army, drop pods landed on pillars of flame but instead of disgorging Space Marines they unfolded to reveal thousands upon thousands of Tarantula turrets, which quickly scanned the ground forces and began attacking the disorganized Orks with brutal precision.


    Lascannons targeted vehicles, heavy bolters fired at Nobs and Mek boys, while multilasers massacred the normal Boys and Shootas with unlimited ammunition.


    "This isn''t just here, Commissar. The army lines to the west also report tens of thousands of drop pods falling from the skies and unleashing death on unprecedented scale." The vox sergeant yelled much too loud.


    Well, it was good news this time, so no need to admonish the man. Plus his eardrums might be ruptured, due to the Leman Russ tank''s cannon firing from close range.


    "What Chapter is this? Where are their Astartes?" Sergeant</a> Alaric Tayber</a> asked in confusion at the lack of actual Angels of Death emerging from those drop pods.


    "... They are the Lamenters, brother. Only three of them on that battlebarge, and some Rogue Trader vessels that are engaging the Ork space hulk." Enginseer Felicia Tayber explained after doing some voodoo spells on the vox receiver.


    Cain nodded to himself. The Lamenters were kinda greatly diminished after the Badab War, with rumours of losses of over 90 percent of their Battle-Brothers. No wonder they resorted to supply drop pods to secure a landing zone.


    If only three of them could come, they must be in really bad shape.


    Then, after most of the Orks were scattered, assault dropships did begin their landings, bringing down Auxiliary regiments, and even a Catachan armored regiment.


    Doomhammer heavy tanks, flanked by Chimeras, Hydras and some sort of Sentinels with mechanical arms began emerging and engaging the Ork warbands, and even a pair of real Knights from a house named Lancefire.


    A flash of a Volcano Lance vaporized a Big_Mek</a> while the other Knight opened up with a multimelta gun of gigantic size and tremendous damage, while also advancing to slash with a Power Sword into the Ork hordes.


    In a single hour, the back of the Ork Waagh was broken, while the troops could only stare in awe at the amazing display, just like Cain himself was. Not even a Commissar could tell the soldiers to stop gawking, since their few tanks and vehicles were protected by a fortress of auto-targeting turrets.


    "This display of Omnissiah''s might makes me feel a bit excited." Felicia admitted while starring with wide eyes at the nearest Knight with the Volcano Lance.


    At the same second, the Knight turned to stare at the young enginseer, as if it has heard her. It probably did, Cain realized, considering how sensitive a Knight''s auspex sensors must be.


    Then the Knight turned as started walking towards his position beside the Ork Boss corpse, flanked by a dozen Armed Sentinels, a pair of them also holding a Volcano Lance in their mechanical hands, like a long rifle.


    "Commissar Cain, you did the Imperium proud this day. I shall see your heroic actions are rewarded as you deserve." the huge Knight proclaimed with a booming voice amplified by a powerful vox caster.


    Cain nodded cautiously and cursed his luck. He only wanted a peaceful life!

 Grapes - Chapter 113

    "Enginseer Tayber, I suppose you like my Knight? Perhaps you want to touch it, all over?" I asked in a wry voice, and a smaller volume.


    The blonde woman nodded unconsciously. Probably saw it as her life''s dream.


    Well then, touch it you shall, pretty lady!


    The brave Commissar coughed in surprise at being ruthlessly cockblocked, then slumped in defeat. He wouldn''t have anything better than my huge Imperial Knight.


    And his Blank aide Jurgen would be much more useful pumping thousands of babies for the greater good of humanity, than being wasted as an Imperial Guard soldier.


    "Well then Felicia Tayber, you and the survivors from your PDF regiment are being transferred under my command, to recover my losses in this campaign. I don''t need the Valhallan regiment, except your aide, Commissar Cain. Go and make haste toward the landers." I commanded while my Power Glaive struck the dead Ork Boss and chopped him into a hundred smaller bits.


    Damn Orks could be resurrected after all, and I wouldn''t take a chance.


    "My Lord, the Boss was certainly very dead." the Commissar grumbled at my actions.


    "Yes, until some Pain Boy found the corpse and revived it. Stand aside and let the Sentinels torch the corpse now." I ordered as I urged Reason back towards the battlelines. Behind me, the Armed Sentinels of the Catachans were unleashing promethium over the minced corpse, while the Volcano Sentinels ran ahead to secure a safe path for my Knight.


    However, I didn''t have much time to waste, if I wanted to recover that Shadowlight</a> artifact in time. The Mechanicus temple was already under attack, by a rogue tech-priest and an insane Inquisitor named Ernst_Stavros_Killian</a> with his merry band of brainwashed Sisters of Battle.


    His goals were the complete opposite of mine, while I was trying to empower humanity with Blank genes, he aimed to create massive armies of psykers, as if that wouldn''t backfire in a spectacular way, probably by increasing the size of the large Warp Storms and Vortexes, like the Maelstrom and the Eye of Terror.


    Meanwhile, I spread my awareness towards the nearby Mechanicus Shrine and kidnapped the guilty party of murderers, and the precious relics and measuring instruments as well.


    When I met with Rose again, I will let her carry out the sentence for treason and heresy.


    I kept the Ancient artifact surrounded by megatonnes of blackstone, and then Tyranid bioships, even inside the tesseract dimension. No point letting the thing leak out Warp energies.


    Surely my Rose and Janice could benefit from becoming Alpha-level psykers. And then, there was the sacrificial psykers for the Astronomican and the Golden Throne sleepyhead who might need a tiny power boost.


    Not yet, but the time will come, when I was chosen a High Lord of Terra and had some actual powers in the Imperium of Man.


    Soon enough, the Perlia PDF were integrated as a company into the rearguard PDF regiment, and given drinks and food, and bunks to sleep in the STC containers serving as field barracks.


    They did a great work breaking through the Ork lines, and their experiences will spread to my own new regiment, which wasn''t lacking for vehicles and weapons now.


    A dozen of Weasel logistic carriers were also sent to the good Commissar, providing them with supplies and transport to the Imperial Guard''s positions to the west, where three more of my PDFs regiments were also debarking for a combined assault against the Orks.


    Cleaning out planet Perlia would take some time, even with orbital support and thousands of tanks and walkers, but it was also an excellent target practice environment for my troops, and me.


    The western continent contained most of the industry and cities as well as the Capital Hive City named Havensdown, so it made sense to concentrate most defenses there.


    But that also allowed the rest of the planet to be infested with Orks, which would need to be eradicated with fire.


    However, by the time the cleansing was over, I had a new blonde concubine called Felicia, who was very much attached to the pleasures of flesh, and also loved tinkering with machinery, much like me.


    Her talents were more of a practical nature, possibly something imparted to her during her captivity to the Orks, as she had an intuitive understanding of any machinery no matter how advanced, even xenos ones.


    Aided by a new Mind Impulse Unit brain implant, Felicia could now transfer her understanding directly into my mind, via neural cables.


    This sped up my STC creation and repair a few times, and also allowed me to fix a hundred tiny problems that I didn''t have a solution for. Plus the sex was excellent, even with a spinal mechadendrite in the way.


    Also, the decade of imposed exile from Sotha has passed, and Victor sent news of our second carrier the Daedalus, returning filled with Tigrus-pattern corvettes and more Catachan regiments. Excellent news, for my new kingdom in exile.


    So I departed from Perlia after gifting Commissar Cain a chronoblade disguised as a relic sword, an inferno pistol, and a light power armor with a Rosarius shield mounted in the chest Aquila. The armor had an Enslaver bone mind-shield fitted into the armored neck collar, in a rough replica of my Bone Staff. I also left him a bodyguard of my Catachans, which pleased him even more, especially the young blonde women piloting the ten Armed Sentinels. Perhaps the snipers too, I''m not too sure.


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    However, Ciaphas_Cain</a> now looked like a proper Hero of the Imperium, and was even promoted to Lord Commissar, then given leave to roam as he pleased and sniff out corruption.


    And that Departmento Munitorum</a> standing regulation to list Cain as alive and active at all times, regardless of evidence to the contrary? Well, now it would be true forever, as the man will likely never die. His life-draining sword was inscribed with a single word: Pacem, which meant peace in High Gothic.


    I doubted Cain would ever find peace in the 40k universe, but at least he carried it with him. And that glowing Aquila on the pommel? Wasn''t any real relic supposed to glow, after all? And so I passed the Warp Tracking Aquila onto Cain. Surely the man''s dazzling adventures will keep any Lord Inquisitor occupied for a few decades, or centuries.


    I didn''t take the Drop Cruisers with me towards Sotha, because they returned to Forge Antax for post-battle analysis of their pods and turrets, and I had to admit that some heavy bolter Tarantulas could remain as standard deployment loadout, due to their sheer destructiveness. Only better armored and with a larger magazine. At least 1000 rounds, not 600.


    However, I should have remembered that Sotha was now an Inquisitorial Fortress, mainly for the Ordo Xenos.


    I didn''t find my Rose here either, instead being met by a pretty blonde woman named Amberley_Vail</a> who was sent to investigate the C''tan prisoner and the strange happenings around the Pharos installation, including temporal shifts and vanishing starships.


    Nothing to do with me, but I should be careful.


    "Chapter Master Lancefire, I heard so many things about you that I don''t even know where to begin." the cheerful woman began as she sat down in front of me, and we shared some good wine I had prepared for Rose.


    She even wore a custom-made power armor, the light-weight variant and a Power Fist, which made my jaw ache in phantom pain.


    "Lady Amberley, I assure you, everything you might have heard about me is true, depending on what you heard." I quipped and sipped my wine as her cheeks blushed deeply.


    I didn''t mean that, but those stories were probably true anyway.


    "... Well, I meant about Commorragh! Yes, destroying the Dark Eldar, nothing else!" the Inquisitor dissembled while grinning cutely in her wine cup.


    "That''s certainly true, even the truce with the Eldar Avatar. I also have a thousand concubines and hundreds of Blank sons being inducted as Astartes in the Blood Angels and the Lamenters." I admitted in a level voice, while Rafen chuckled to himself for no reason.


    "You better wait outside, Veteran. There are more delicate matters to discuss from here onwards." Inquisitor Veil demanded with a glare towards my bodyguard.


    Rafen glanced at me for confirmation and I sent him the okay password via the mind implant. It wasn''t like I would be exposed to psyker powers by anything, not even this pretty Inquisitor. Perhaps a different form of torture, if my guess was right and Rose praised me in too much detail.


    As soon as Rafen left, the woman simply sat elegantly in my lap, and caressed my chin in a seductive gesture.


    Emperor of Man, having so much luck with ladies was great!


    "Delicate matters?" I inquired with a gentler voice.


    "I want a Null staff too, because I really need it. And I will be extremely grateful if you can make it happen, Lord Pef. Nothing is beyond the reach of the Inquisition, after all." Amberley proposed in a throaty voice, both enticing and menacing.


    So I grabbed her own chin, and stared into her eyes. "I don''t have the prime ingredient for a such a device, my dear. Rumours say the Inquisition itself is suppressing the manufacture of such rare artifacts like a Null Rod, such that only they have the means to defeat demons. Quite contrary to the Emperor''s own wishes, that his finest warriors have the mightiest weapons, able to best any foes. Any foes!" I growled in an angrier voice.


    The blonde woman patted my hand, so I let her go. "Not my personal fault, Lord Lancefire. Probably the Ordo Malleus would do something like that. Maybe even the Ordo Hereticus. We, in the Ordo Xenos know better, but are not as important nor have a say in the higher conclaves."


    I sighed and leaned back, holding the sad Inquisitor in my arms. "Blank genes will help in time, as they spread more among humanity. Probably best if you start with the System Governors and Hive leaders, then Generals and Admirals. As you can sense, psyker powers or genestealer cults cannot affect a Blank, thus making them less likely to turn traitor. Mind implants help as well, imposing reasoning over superstition and anger, thus reducing the occurrence of stupid decisions in the ranks of the Imperium''s leaders."


    "You mean like yourself. Or your family?" Lady Amberley asked in a teasing tone.


    "Exactly, my lady. Like myself and my family. If you''re interested." I proposed in a slightly shy voice.


    "I''m not drunk enough for that." the pretty blonde quipped and held the wine bottle in a trembling hand, before gulping the contents in a long drag, which made her throat move in very seductive waves.


    What can I say? The flesh is weak, so I could only stare in wonder.


    "You''re very pretty" I managed to say, before she hungrily shut me up. I had plans with the Pharos...but those could wait. Amberley tasted like grapes and strawberries.

 Phase - Chapter 114

    Much, much later the amazing blonde finally gave up trying to exhaust my enhanced body and crashed on top of me, sweaty and content.


    "And to think I thought your Rose was exaggerating... I bet you can still go on for hours, right?" Amberley murmured in my neck in a soft voice.


    I let my hands wander and grope her amazing body, without using words. I got much better at bed games during the past decades, and the Angel genes surely kept me going. Which was why I wouldn''t accept Astartes organs, not even the Black Carapace, worried they might make me impotent or sterile. And who would save the universe then?


    "You will need a Deathwatch escort, my love. And Silent Sisters against psyker xenos or Chaos Sorcerers. And as it happens, I have 200 Executioners held captive, only needing a black coat of paint over their armors." I said instead, as she melted in my embrace.


    "... Of course you do, Pef. Those that were not accounted for from the Badab War. Maybe even some Astral Claws?" the Inquisitor inquired and pinched my delicate progenoid glands. Damn their torture training!


    It was very hard to keep secrets from an inquisitive Inquisitor. Especially one with a digital weapon on her finger.


    "Maybe. But those Claws are really not trustworthy now, and might have been neurally and hypnotically modified by their fallen Master. I don''t yet have a permanent solution to re-use their deaths for the Imperium." I muttered in displeasure.


    That''s why I needed access to the Pharos, and contact with a certain Necron wizard.


    And many other trades of mutual benefit, of course.


    "And what? You just produce 200 Executioners and expect them to become Deathwatch Marines, from their own initiative? Nobody asking questions?" Amberley asked in a curious voice.


    Well, I didn''t think that far ahead. "You can take a Company and my Rose the other. As for how to motivate them...it should be easy enough for an Inquisitor. Their Chapter is under a Penitent Crusade for the next century, and the Deathwatch always needs more bodies. The borders of the Imperium are quite extensive." I argued as glanced at the door, as Ludvaius leaned inside to check on me, then held his thumb up for another impossible and improbable conquest.


    "And the Blood Angels are still watching over you...ever since you killed that traitor Stele. I shall need to know why." the pretty blonde demanded in a steely voice.


    "It''s complicated, my dear. Only part that matters is me revealing the Inquisitor''s corruption and returning to them the Spear of Sanguinius. Those are the facts, the rest is highly interpretable, and thus considered the Chapter''s dark secret, to be added to the long list of such secrets for every Astartes Chapter. Still nothing as dubious as the Exorcists</a> being implanted with demonhosts, or the Death_Spectres</a> killing their Aspirants with poisons then bringing back a percent of them as Neophytes." I commented wryly just to see Ludvaius become rather upset and Amberley rather tense.


    "I see there''s very few secrets you don''t know, Chapter Master. Doesn''t surprise me you''re able to defeat any enemy with such ease." Inquisitor Veil concluded with a good enough reasoning.


    "Well, on my ship I speak with the Voice of the Emperor, my dear. Everything I say and do is thus approved by the Emperor himself. Absolute and unlimited legal authority, given by my Rosette, my Warrant of Trade and my Lamenters Chapter." I explained in a softer voice, and ordered Ludvaius out before he started crying again.


    As the blackstone armored door closed, Amberley sat up, already awake and combative. "You should know better than that, Lord Pef! The High Lords of Terra are the rulers of the Imperium, and all those trinkets can also be revoked." Amberley claimed in a stern voice and poked my chest in warning.


    "The Imperium eterna. Of course the High Lords would want that, and keep their privileges. But it''s not quite true, Agent of the Throne. The Emperor might be slightly indisposed right now, but two of his sons are back. And while Khan might be vanished somehow, Guilliman is too popular to remove. I''d expect at least six of these High Lords to rebel soon enough, exactly when Guilliman reaches Terra and proclaims himself Lord Commander and Imperial Regent. And won''t that be a fun struggle for the High Lords of Terra?" I asked rhetorically, and instead of poking her back, I drew her into a deep kiss and groped her bountiful body again.


    Soon enough, the enemy was laid low and conquered again, with love. Wasn''t that hard, as her reserves were dwindling.


    "Oh God! Please let me rest..." she asked in a pleading tone.


    I could be merciful sometimes. "Return to your Fortress, my dear. I shall arrange a prisoner transport for your new Deathwatch." I whispered in her ear and went for a cold shower.


    Inquisitors could be amazingly fun, but always so dangerous. I would need more of them on my side, and my charm seemed to work. Although I shall need some other method for most of them. Women were few in the higher ranks of the Imperium, no doubt exactly because the flesh was weak, and women more liable to be ''deviated'' from their Masters'' agenda.


    It wasn''t a perfect solution, but once kids began showing up, maternal instincts took over and that was something much harder to erase, compared to other reasons.


    A dozen minutes later, I arrived inside the Pharos and began lining up Exterminatus torpedoes for today''s punishments and a Vortex warhead for the nice blue Tau.


    The Demon World of Bastonbeil</a> burned, and with it the last remains of the Company of the Shadow traitor Chapter.


    Then soon after, the planet Ahi_Tipua</a> followed, incinerating their Chaos Titans and disgusting sacrificial temples to the Dark Gods.


    The C''tan on the wall watched me in silence as I began arming the next Exterminatus-grade warhead.


    "Where is that going, my Lord?" Rafen asked as the torpedo''s logis-engine began humming for fire and death.


    "This one, to Razlivanova</a>. The Knight House there fell to Chaos, and I don''t feel like giving them an honorable death in a duel. Nor would it be that easy as my adventure on Prelia." I explained in a wry voice, and consigned that world to Oblivion.


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    I did get tired after this, so I took out my bone staff to lean on it for strength. Maybe one more warhead today.


    But not yet. First, I used the tesseract and retrieved a dozen Necron artifacts to be identified by the captive C''tan.


    "Mighty Zarhulash, I expect you know what these are?" I asked in a friendly voice.


    "Pef Lancefire, still at this useless and foolish game? Removing unimportant pieces from the game? The Immaterium''s emanations will just corrupt other human worlds. And those Tyranids swarms entering the galaxy...they hunger. They will come again, here and to your Weapon on the Golden Pedestal. You cannot win!" the C''tan argued, and most likely correctly.


    There wasn''t a real solution to the Chaos or the Tyranids. I could already sense bigger Hive tendrils pushing back on the Pharos perception with their combined Silence.


    "I have never lost a battle, Mighty C''tan. The hard things we do now, the impossible a bit later. You should learn to trust me already. Now, these captured Necron items? Name and use and approximate value, for a Necron Dynasty." I demanded in a gentle tone, like talking to a baby. Sure, the C''tan might be a god, and strong and wise, but he wasn''t whole.


    "...Perhaps. Perhaps you can indeed find a way like you always do, Pef Lancefire. I shall aid you with this, and we will be even." Zarhulash announced in a definitive tone.


    I just smiled kindly at his pathetic attempts for negotiation. Then I began noting down the uses and value of these rare items, of which only one was actually good, and two more of medium value. I might have picked up the vacuum cleaner just because it was glowing with green lights.


    The Phase_Shifter</a> was enabling an ability that I saw the Crimson God C''tan use, letting Titan-grade weapons pass through him without doing damage or sinking himself into the ground.


    The other two were called a Cloak_of_the_Ctan</a>, which was certainly needed to use the powers of an enslaved C''tan, while the other was a Nebuloscope</a>, basically a multi-dimensional tracker which would serve me well one day.


    Trazyn was certain to posses these last two, but a Phase Shifter was rare even among Necron Lords.


    "Lord Trazyn, congratulation''s on the Warp Rift test." I began with a teasing voice, and letting him know I saw his new Blackstone Fortress close a small Warp Rift near his homeworld.


    "Ah, the wandering stranger has returned. I have deduced you must be a human. Or perhaps an Astartes." the Necron Overlord warned me, after no doubt he tried to observe where the tesseracts have been present and blocked certain timelines.


    "I''m not too sure myself, my robotic friend. So what progress did you make on those projects we have together?" I asked, this time really curious.


    "The cruiser sized reactor with a Mechanicus STC template is ready. Wasn''t even hard, if I may be so honest. The warp-less engine miniaturization...well. It''s a bit harder without some more advanced materials and production capabilities, I only have one version smaller by 20 percent, and already needs angstrom scale engineering. Only those human Grand Cruisers and the larger Battlecruisers will be able to use them. As for the Eldar weapons...they work backwards to any scientific principle!" Trazyn complained and seemed exasperated.


    I feel your pain, my friend. Technology should not grow when you sing at it. Damn Eldar Bonesingers!


    "It was only a suggestion, Lord Trazyn. Perhaps psycho-plastics and soul-fused crystals are more magitech than real science. But you do have plenty Mechanicus ships and weapons in your tesseracts. After you copy all of them, you might attempt to reverse-engineer those for my mentally handicapped tech-priests friends of lesser education to mass-produce. Mostly gravity and direct energy weapons that would work on Tyranids. My recent long-range scans point to a dozen large tendrils followed by a gravity bending mass of hungry mouths and sharp claws." I explained in a gentler tone, drawing his ire towards the invading bugs.


    "...That sounds exciting, to be honest. It will be the greatest struggle in the recent history of the galaxy! And this Guilliman Primarch is certainly trying to defeat the Tyranids with those rather flimsy ships and weapons. Hmmm. I could help a little, even if it''s cheating. After all, the humans do have somewhat better weapons, they just forgot about them." Trazyn the Infinite allowed after long minute, no doubt checking on my own observations.


    And so, I sent him the Phase Shifter, in advance. I was so trustful, right?


    "Very well, Necron Lord. A trade was made. I hope you don''t need instructions on how to use a Phase Shifter. The Crimson God already has this ability, so it''s useless to me now." I explained in a faint tease.


    "...Errr. I thought the Canoptek link was encrypted with my best...anyway, yes! This would be very useful to keep my person safe, especially if anyone figures out who actually killed a certain Pharaon, hehe!" Trazyn exclaimed in a joyful tone.


    I sighed inward, as it seemed the insane Necron had indeed trapped the C''tan controls, and did not expect me to survive.


    "You broke your word, Lord Trazyn. You owe me two free trades for that. One is a another Null Bone staff, using your own resources. The other...those Venatoria Titans and their pilots, with Enslaver-based mind control implants. They shall be sent to Forge Retribution, along with the dataslates for their manufacture STCs." I demanded in a harsh tone, almost ready to transport a Vortex torpedo on his location.


    Since Trazyn couldn''t find the Reality Cage in the Eye of Terror, he did what any Necron always did. And attacked Forge World Venatoria to steal it.


    The Mechanicus tried to chase him back to his homeworld, only to get trapped into a labyrinth, like all the others who tried.


    It would be a pity to kill him, but I was getting tired of his bullshit.


    Say whatever about Trazyn, he did have top-notch survival instincts. "You are correct, stranger. I went over the bounds of our agreement. Perhaps I wanted to test you? I am not certain why I did that."


    I grumbled inward then sent over a lock of Amberley''s hair, and closed the mental link. We would need a dual Blank/Psyker child to make the weapon work properly, but I was already hard at work on that issue.


    Then I checked on the Tau, only to find a large Demiurg ship in their homeworld''s orbit.


    Well then. I have found a target for that Vortex torpedo after all. Stay away from Tau, next time.

 Triplex - Chapter 115

    With the Aegida''s dungeon now filled with the captured Executioners, Amberley was quite busy explained to the silly Space Marines the errors of their ways, and what happened to their Chapter.


    And since they were presumed dead in the hundred of vaporized ships at Forge Angstrom, nobody would miss these 200 dead Astartes while the Deathwatch got new recruits for their brutal work, often involving sending suicidal Kill-teams straight at the heart of some xeno empire, and expecting them to kill everything or die. Or both.


    Now I only had the Astral Claws in reserve, if quite a lot of them. If nothing worked, I could just extract their gene-seeds and make more tech-marines. Like 16 thousands more.


    It would simply be another dark secret in a Chapter''s dark basement of such secrets.


    The Emperor would approve, I had no doubt. But if he didn''t, he could simply speak up!


    Nobody spoke, so it must be alright.


    However, a month later I did have my Apothecary confirm that Amberley was with child, which was great. I worked hard for that result everyday, for long, sweaty and tiring hours.


    Henna has already delivered another Blank daughter, and was now recuperating and mostly reading things in bed. I didn''t mind at all. Reading was very important, even more here.


    My dear blonde engineseer Felicia was also in the same pregnant state, and seemed quite happy with her new life, often sneaking into the Knight''s deck to paw all over the machines, before eagerly running back to the Mechanicus Shrine to learn more from the tech-priests on board the Serenity.


    I wouldn''t let her modify my Imperial Knight walker until I was absolutely certain she understood the basic technology front and back.


    And for that, I had Felicia work on the Tarantula and Sentinel mating, something that would indeed give legs and create a mobile turret of equivalent firepower to most Astartes and often even more for the lascannon turrets.


    I would have to plate the new Guardian robots with Blackstone armor to give them enough durability to last on the against stronger enemies, but I had more than enough blackstone now, so could even cover a planet in this stuff.


    Then give a battalion of 100 of such walkers for a tech-marine to command, and then deploy 1000 techmarines with their autonomous robots on any battlefield. It would be something like the Legions of Old, which had 100 thousand Astartes each.


    And we would need such levels of firepower to clean up Tyranid infested worlds, or liberate planets from the Orks, without burning them.


    Burning some world with Exterminatus was easy, but those planets would not bear life again.


    However, I did loot like 1 percent of an entire Necron planetoid made of Blackstone, which gave me enough to cover all the Imperium''s ships with several meters of it. I also looted much of the Ork Space hulk at Perlia, possibly enough adamantium to construct a couple of battleships. Or tens of thousands of cheaper corvettes.


    I was getting low on Exterminatus torpedoes again, which was a sure sign that something bad will head towards Sotha, like it always did. The Pharos was too potent of a weapon in the hands of humanity.


    But even so, I did burn all the Fallen Knights worlds I could reach, from Gerontius </a>and Derovire</a> in the North to Credence</a> in the South and even a dozen smaller Hell Forges, a dozen more Chaos Chapter worlds and some Xenos Empires like the Phoroki</a>, which seemed a bit too beastly to cohabit peacefully with humanity.


    Actually, beside the Eldar and the Tau, there were very few races that I would allow to exist, mostly because they all seemed eager to fight, enslave or eat humans. Not a good survival trait to have, in the same galaxy as me, if I had my way.


    And if you were in the range of the Pharos, I would have my way. Sooner or later, their time will come.


    Beside massive explosions that would incinerate entire planets, I did dispense smaller bombs when I located cults and genestealers, or roving pirates and corsairs, even Traitor ships if I could easily discern their allegiance. Normally those Chaos ships would be filled with mangled bodies, skulls and other tell-tales like 8-pointed spikes, so a plasma warhead inside their reactor room would ruin their days and lives.


    Sadly I didn''t find more corrupt Inquisitors, although I did check about 20 for corruption signs or enslaved cults. Then again, you could never be certain what was really in a heart of someone, anyone.


    Just like Naya turned traitor, so could anyone else.


    Pretty much why all the older Lamenters were followed everywhere by my Silent Sisters, both Veterans or Novices. Kinda hard to fall to Chaos with a Pariah standing by your shoulder, all the time.


    The Starfort did have three Gellar generatoriums of Mechanicus best grade, plus a dozen mechanical Gellar generators in every wing of the fort, but those weaker fields tended to failed at least once per week, even with the fort just sitting in orbit.


    If you spot this narrative on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation.


    Someone or something was certainly trying to use Warp fuckery to mess with my Chapter, and give them nightmares and unlucky accidents. Sadly, we would need to endure for a few decades, until I had my own Apothecaries trained and ready to carry the job, while also being Blank. And If I could produce more dual Blank/Psykers, they could become my Librarians and smack demons with Alpha-level spells while laughing at their ineffective curses.


    But until then, I was preparing to deal with more Tyranid Fleets, like Hive Fleet Moloch</a> that was busy right now devouring the Pale Stars region.


    I just needed warp-less drives for my ships, or else I would be forced to always run from advancing wavefronts of Silence, and being denied intelligence and maneuver for my fleet.


    Deploy the Warp-engine ships in orbit over important planets, while hunting with my battleships and carriers only? It might work, if I had sufficient provisions.


    And as it happened, a real Inquisitor was around to requisition those supplies, specifically torpedoes and Nova shells.


    That goal set, I proceeded to consult with Amberley about this, while asking gently about my Rose.


    "My colleague is on some infiltration task towards the Tau, that''s all I know. Mind control might be involved, but we don''t have hard evidence about these Ethereals." Inquisitor Vail said in a still stern, but more normal voice, now that we were friends and lovers and building a family. No more wine though, so the blonde bomb-shell wasn''t as pliable as before.


    I nodded thoughtfully, as I did suggest this task to my Rose.


    "That''s too bad. I have a crazy and traitor Inquisitor in detention, the one that massacred the Mechanicus Shrine on Perlia, and also brainwashed a squad of Sisters of Battle to aid him. When I apprehended him, he was trying to mass-produce an army of psykers, and empower them with some xenos artifact being examined by the Mechanicus. Now, if this Killian tried for example to boost the Emperor, or the Astronomican fuel, it would have been different. He wanted instead to attack the Eye of Terror with a horde of millions of Chaos cultists with Beta and Alpha-level psyker powers." I explained in a careless voice.


    The pretty Inquisitor changed a dozen faces, before settling on just one. Death.


    "I will need to interrogate him and his accomplices, Lord Lancefire. I expect you also have that xenos artifact somewhere?" she demanded in a harsh voice.


    "Very tightly contained, of course. Nothing that the Inquisition can provide, unless you can open pocket dimensions with your psyker powers?" I asked in a mild voice.


    Technically, the Inquisition did have such means, just like that Demon Cache on Pythos</a>, but that was made 10 thousand years ago, and they even forgotten about that prison.


    Amberley glared at me then sighed, as her powers weren''t even close to my Rose, probably only a Gamma-level psyker. "This ability of yours drives me crazy. It''s almost like you''re a Paternova Navigator, not a mere Blank!"


    I smiled and nodded. "I am something like that, my dear. A Paternova for Blanks, if you will. And you carry one of my descendants right now. One day...I will be a High Lord of Terra, probably as the Speaker for Rogue Traders." I whispered to her in confidence.


    She frowned as she meditated on my words, and measured me with something approaching caution.


    "That''s why you gather so many allies. It''s a power play?" she asked in suspicion.


    "Restoring the Emperor is my final goal, my dear. Still need to figure out how to revive Primarch Lion, and perhaps Sanguinius. I have maybe half the puzzle pieces ready. But until then, there''s still the Tyranids to deal with, especially the big tendril coming from the north right now, and then the big claws from the east and from the south. Might need to establish listening posts equipped with lasers and radio emitters, and screens of carriers patrolling the borders, with warp-less engines. Perhaps geomagnetic Gellar field around entire planets to counteract the Silence." I mused to myself, and sipped more expensive wine by myself.


    Amberley sighed and sipped her expensive fruit juice, with too many vitamins. "We can visit Triplex Phall and requisition what you need. More Nova Cannons I expect?"


    I just smiled and sent an engram call to Felicia to join us. We could end the sad story here and have some fun. Then I called Henna as well, because she was surely lonely and bored in the nursery.


    Amberley will just have to get used to the new reality, and this way was the most pleasant.


    She figured it out in a second when Henna and Felicia arrived wearing only bulky robes, escorted inside by Ludvaius. "You want all of us? At once?"


    I just grinned and jumped on the bed. "Only the women." I quipped in a teasing tone, making Ludvaius chuckle and check his combi-bolter.


    "You''re the best, Lord Pef!" Felicia exclaimed with glee, and rushed to join me in bed.


    "Pef has a thousand more concubines, back home. Better get used to it, Amberley." Henna said in a gentler voice and then winked suggestively.


    The blonde Inquisitor starred at me for a second, before shrugging and starting to take off her leather clothes.


    ''Just as planned'', I thought to myself while drawing Henna into a long kiss.

 Coming storm - Chapter 116

    After two weeks of travelling through the Warp, we reached the Forge Triplex Phall to find it in great upheaval, a thousand of asteroids dragged in concentric circles around the shipyards and the Forge World itself, perhaps a dozen conveyors being re-fitted as fleet carriers, and a second battleship nearly completed.


    It was even being plated over with Blackstone, just like I was doing for nearly every vehicle and ship, even the Astartes armor.


    The stuff was incredibly resilient to be fair, more so than ceramite and even adamantium, although not as easy to work with, since we could only mine it, not manufacture this material.


    Anyway, I was glad to see at least the Ultima Segmentum Forges adapting to produce better products, after stagnating and even decaying for 10 thousand years.


    Sure, perhaps the sudden decrease in Chaos, Eldar and Dark Eldar incursions and raids helped as well, and the looming threat of the Tyranids and the sudden awakening of more Necron Tomb Worlds also contributed to the frenetic activity.


    "Pef Lancefire, we owe you much but everything you seen in orbit is being requisitioned by the Defendarius Crusade. I can give you no ships." The Fabricator declared loudly after glancing at Inquisitor Vail for a second. "A cruiser in the next decade, if you come alone." another message followed on my implant.


    I didn''t even come to ask for ships! But sure, another cruiser will be nice.


    So I just smiled patiently, and held out my own gift, a dataslate with the Tarantula drop-pods, the modified light-cruiser for inserting them, and a dozen templates for Sentinels, both piloted and autonomous.


    "You might have heard I have taken charge of the Lamenters Chapter, Fabricator. The Chapter might lack Battle Brothers right now, but we did our duty anyway, with sentry turrets and auxiliary regiments. I hope our combat testing at Perlia will prove sufficient, as these war machines have bested an Ork Waagh with little difficulty." I explained while the Archmagos perused the templates and the combat records attached.


    He powered up his cogitator and measured the silent Inquisitor again, as if looking for my confirmation.


    "A massive orbital drop, followed by landing of mechanized and armored troops. Even a hundred Doomblades and some Fellblades! Your Auxiliary forces seem strong enough, perhaps too strong, Chapter Master." the Fabricator commented with some surprise.


    He was right, of course. I would always prefer some armor between enemy fire and my soldiers, because even light tanks and Sentinels had 10 times more armor than a grenadier in carapace armor.


    "Sadly, Forge World Antax could not figure out how to connect the pod retro-thrusters to the turrets'' power cells, and thus the energy for laser guns is limited, compensated with larger numbers. Heavy bolter turrets or autocannons would run out of ammunition even faster. As for other options like plasma guns and flamers, the technology is fragile anyway, and would not survive the high-g forces of an orbital drop." I said calmly and examined the trading goods with a raised eyebrow.


    It seemed they had already began producing my own designs of Macharius-pattern tanks, mostly the Volcano Lance and the Plasma Blastgun variants. The Plasma Blastgun variant even had atomantic reactors instead of the classic plasma reactor! That allowed supporting Flare shields and increased rate of fire, plus nigh-unlimited mobility.


    "You may select anything your Chapter needs, Lord Lancefire. For the sons of Omnissiah, everything we can do, we will do." the Fabricator announced in a proud tone, and he spewed some scented incense and a barrage of tetragrammic prayers in binharic.


    "Yes, you will tech-priest. But right now, we are in need of munitions to halt Hive Fleet Moloch in the galactic north. Torpedoes, missiles and Nova Shells. Show me everything you have in storage!" Amberley demanded in a harsh tone, her left hand revealing her Rosette for a millisecond.


    Without commenting, the Fabricator began lighting up more holofields screens, with inventories of capital class munitions. I could only gawk at the immense stores available to a big Forge World. Where could they even keep all this?


    "For starters, I shall requisition torpedoes: 200 Atmospheric Incendiaries, and 20 Vortex Warheads. Then 1000 Melta Warheads, and 400.000 Plasma Warheads. As for Nova shells, I think most of them. 4600 Nova shells, and you''ll have 97 remaining to resupply the Victory battleships holding station in orbit. I will need 4000 of these Nova shells modified for my MIU implant''s trigger and detonation. And lastly, 8 million krak missiles and 2000 vortex missiles. Hopefully it will be enough." I demanded in a shameless voice.


    Then again, it was a damn Hive fleet. It will probably won''t be enough.


    My two carriers could unload 2000 corvettes, and those will only have 10 shots with their cells of torpedoes and missiles. That''s why I needed more Nova Shells to thin the ranks of the incoming bugs, to more manageable levels.


    "This will delay fully arming the Segmentum''s Battlefleet carriers for a decade or maybe two. Primarch Guilliman will not be pleased." the Fabricator warned me as his stores of torpedoes dropped in the red.


    "The carriers can move, tech priest. Have them sent to Metalica or Anvilus to load with torpedoes. Anything else you need from this Forge, Lord Lancefire?" my dear Inquisitor asked while dismissing the Fabricator''s complaints.


    "One of these Navy carriers, loaded only with Fury Interceptors, with their flight crew and enginseers support. I think we could fit about 8000 of these starfighters easily. And then, a dozen Navy cruisers armed with Nova Cannons and a dozen light cruisers refitted for orbital pod drops. The defense fleet should have at least 200 escorts, for orbital support and interceptions of flying creatures and lander spore pods. Mostly armed with energy based weapons, if possible. The new Drop cruisers shall be remitted to my Lamenters Chapter, if and when this Hive fleet is defeated. There are more planets out there in the Fringe that will need to be reconquered." I concluded in a thoughtful voice.


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    Well, the Lamenters were in theory a Fleet based Chapter, and once we had a full complement we could start attacking and conquering anything we found in the Eastern Fringe, while the Rogue Trader Dynasty would benefit by absorbing those conquered planets and star systems into our domain.


    The Fabricator General measured me for a long minute, then nodded slowly. "We will need a year to prepare everything to your needs, Lord Lancefire. And the Lady Inquisitor better have an ear to her superiors, or this plan of your might fall apart, just like Inquisitor''s Kryptman plan did. You will not need Astra Militarum guardsmen for this? I would expect at least 100 regiments for an operation on this scale."


    I sighed inward while considering the offer. Generally, most Imperial Guard regiments would be poorly supplied and poorly trained, and would not help much when the horizon was filled with moving fields of Tyranids biological war engines.


    However, a dozen armor regiments, and a fifty artillery regiments, those could make a big difference. If anything, the Imperial Guard could hold ground quite well. Moving and maneuvering was a different issue of course.


    I went to change the holofield screen myself, checking the stores for Hydras and Basilisks. Hey, they even had Lascannon Sentinels in stock! I will take all of them.


    "We will take 50 regiments of Valhallan artillery, 10 of Cadian armor, and 40 of Catachan infantry. Of course they don''t have air interceptors, so we will need extra 10000 Hydra anti-air and 5000 Basilisk mobile artillery platforms. Plus all of these 8700 Sentinels. It only comes out about 200 Sentinels per frontline regiments, but it must be enough. It''s better than they had anyway. Oh, and STCs containers with supplies for all of them, triple ammunition loadout. Enough tech-priests and acolytes for all the extra holy machines and a million Servitors to help around." I allowed after reviewing the better Imperial regiments in my mind.


    Amberley glanced at me as if trying to object to something, then sighed softly. "You better not fail, Lord Lancefire. It might ruin my career."


    I grinned with confidence. "Have no fear, Lady Vail. We are what they fear!" I quipped in a cheerful voice, then held my hand out to the Fabricator. "Always a pleasure and an honor to meet the brightest of the Cult Mechanicus, Fabricator. When your next battleship dock gets free, let me know and I''ll bring an old Ironclad for refit here."


    The Magos just nodded as it was only natural and shook my glove with a mechanical one. "You''re not too bad yourself, Pef Lancefire. Try not to die too soon. The Mechanicus has great plans for you."


    Well, wasn''t that ominous at all? Then again, I did kinda lift an entire segmentum with my own shoulders. Those Fabricator geniuses might have begun to notice, perhaps.


    "Perhaps, when the time is right there will be a new High Lord seat, for the Rogue Traders. Not until His son takes the sword though." I proposed in a level voice, then turned around and left, with the pretty blonde Inquisitor at my side.


    The same day, I used the astropathic choir to request the Tranquility battleship and the Daedalus carrier to be sent here, while Amberley began sending her own messages to various Astra Militarum regiments to summon them here for a small Crusade.


    And then, I could only hurry up and wait, and copy Jurgen''s example by impregnating a few concubines every day.


    Also train my body with Captain Khan and study and work beside Felicia on a dozen STC templates, with slightly better results.


    As time passed, more and more ships began gathering, first an Iron Hands Strike Cruiser, then a White Scars battlebarge with some escorts, then the regiments on their troop transports, and lastly my daughter Andrea with her Mars Battlecruiser and the Daedalus, plus all the frigates of my Lancefire Dynasty. All 6 of them.


    "Dad! I named my battlecruiser Prayer for the Vanquished. And the Machine Spirit loves it!" Andrea explained in a jubilant voice, while holding a baby in her arms. I glanced at her chosen husband, a Catachan named Sly_Marbo</a>, who was rather famous and infamous at the same time.


    "Excellent news, sweetie. Ugly husband you have found for yourself." I commented wryly, and kissed her and the Blank grandchild in greeting, and saw with my helmet pict-cam the Catachan glare at me for a second. Well, he was rather ugly, but not everyone had angel genes. Plus Mister Marbo would make a decent commander for my Special Ops group.


    "Eh, Sly has good parts too! Look what a nice boy he gave me!" Andrea replied with an apreciating look at her husband who smiled proudly. He probably beat up a hundred other Catachans to win Andrea''s hand and favor, just like I''ve taught my girls to demand. Ony the best survival genes, as all my descendants were rather angelic in their looks anyway.


    "Come with me, Sly. I guess I can give you a Major rank and leave you in charge of the Special Ops Command. Your job will be to cause disruption and misery behind enemy lines, and you''ll have whatever means my House can provide. I just want results." I explained in a teasing voice. He would love a free hand to cause destruction, no doubt.


    The grizzly veteran blinked in surprise at my offer. "That sounds like excellent news to me. I won''t let you down, father-in-law." the man spoke in a gruff tone, like he wasn''t used talking at all.


    I smiled inward and considered giving him a chronoblade. It might be too much even for this 40k universe. Sly was a walking storm of disaster anyway. Oh well. Andrea would be sad if Sly died, so he will never die.

 Sanction - Chapter 117

    In a minute, I reached my Chapter Master quarters aboard the Serenity, and let Sly get familiar with the place, and inspect all the weapons and artifacts placed on the walls. I did have plenty of relics to show off, and a mountain of them in my tesseract.


    Amberley was already waiting in her armchair, sipping tea and spinning tarot cards to read possible timelines.


    "Offer the Inquisitor your hand, Major." I demanded after powering up my cogitator and selecting a hundred items on a list, all useful for infiltration, sabotage and outright murder.


    Sly Marbo hesitated for a second, before nodding and offering a hand for inspection.


    "Ouch! Not only I can''t read him, his touch makes me feel sick!" the blonde Inquisitor exclaimed in a thin voice, obviously in pain.


    "See, Major. That''s why you had to work alone, and couldn''t have friends or family til now. You''re an Untouchable, or better said a psychic Blank. One in a trillion people are born with this gift, much rarer than psykers." I announced in a patient tone, while Amberley wiped her hand in disgust.


    "I know." the big Catachan soldier muttered and then lit himself a thick cigar, dragging from it with satisfaction.


    Amberley fled the room, after glaring at Sly Margo in outrage.


    "Amberley is pregnant and doesn''t like smoke. Even holy incense makes her sick. My own gift is milder, although I did send a psyker girl screaming to the floor at a ball. Inquisitors are made of sterner stuff, because they need to be." I continued as my bodyguard Rafen leaned back on his plasteel dais and started cleaning his Power Sword with scented oil and plying the Machine Spirit of the weapon with twirling swirls of blue smoke and low voice litanies.


    Sly observed the ritual curios, and then dragged from his foul cigar with a careless shrug.


    "Never cared for that Mechanicus crap. Never needed them either." the man commented in a superior tone, and walked around to stare at the proposed list of infernal devices.


    "Some of these rituals are indeed useless, others are recharge and maintenance protocols, regular security password checkups and purity seals against Warp entities. The Lamenters know this very well, especially when their own weapons explode in their hands, or entire warships vanish in Warp Storms and freak accidents. Blanks are much less bothered by demons and Warp-based curses, up to being immune or even inimical to demons that they can banish them with mere proximity. That last category is called Pariah, a trait developed by the Emperor himself into the Silent Sisters genome." I explained softly, and turned my hand to reveal a Psych-out grenade obtained by grinding Pariah bones into dust, while the cogitator holoscreen selected the weapon and revealed the weapon''s capabilities.


    Sly examined and possibly memorized the parameters of his new toy. "We should make millions of these grenades." he demanded in a practical tone.


    "They do make millions of them. On Luna and Terra, maybe Mars too. Catch Blanks and Pariahs men, and grind their bones into anti-demon dust. Or boil them alive in red-hot iron to make phase-iron when the death echoes imprint into the metal. Neurons and nerves extracted for Blank Machine Spirits, to make Titans immune to demons and corruption. And it''s possible worse for the Sisters, and definitely worse for the brainwashed Cullexus assassins. I hear only one in a thousand passes the trials. Their corpses are still very useful after all." I mused while watching the man nearly crush the phase-iron grenade in his hand.


    "I see. Perhaps we should not make millions of these grenades. Blank soldiers, and officers are immune to this Chaos bullshit, right?" the Catachan brute proposed in a more level tone.


    I nodded gently. "Already working on that, as you saw with dear Andrea. I have a thousand concubines and so will you, and any other Blank man we find. And we''ll keep our family secret in the Eastern Fringe, til we have enough numbers. Trillions of Blanks and armies of Pariahs. Thus, you''re hereby forbidden to die, not until you have a thousand Blank children." I ordered with a thin smile.


    Sly grunted as if hit with a Terminator fist in the stomach. "It shall be so, Lord Lancefire. But I''m not good with women..." he admitted in a shy voice.


    "Doesn''t matter. I might pass on to you my current Catachan concubines, at least those with a foul mouth and demanding a real man." I added with a wry grin.


    "Just smack...I mean... I shall take them off your shoulders, Father-in-law. You''re too pretty for a real man anyway." Sly Marbo quipped and grinned with an ugly smile.


    I didn''t mind smack talk about my angelic face, I did that everyday to my mirror. But not my kids...


    A bolter pistol appeared in my hand and I tapped his progenitor glands with it. "You smack my dear daughter once, I shoot one ball off. You smack her twice, it''s your head, clear?" I asked in a pleasant voice.


    His smile vanished as he glanced at the weapon that just appeared in my hand. "Loud and clear, sir! Very useful ability, to carry extra munitions in the field." he observed in a professional voice. I carried more than munitions in there. A lot more.


    "I shall try to obtain a small dimensional pocket for your use, Major. They are just extremely expensive, like all ancient relics. Until then, you have a month to organize a company of special ops troops, with anything you saw here, and perhaps more. Automated turrets and Sentinels, dropships, drop pods, a stealth dropship even. You will also all need mind implants, and perhaps power armor to carry larger loads. Deck 4 is reserved for you and this unit, so get started." I commanded, curious what he will do with a free hand.


    I mean, this guy liberated entire worlds by himself, even took down scores of Chaos Marines and a Chaos Titan! Most of his military records were sealed, even for me, so I could only make educated guesses about his real abilities.


    This tale has been pilfered from Royal Road. If found on Amazon, kindly file a report.And, perhaps Trazyn did have a ship-sized labyrinth in his collection, to carry demolition ordnance and other supplies. They would be much easier to make, than a tesseract able to cover a solar system.


    Rafen coughed as Sly Marbo left the room, and held his own psych-out grenade in a silent question.


    "We will still use the weapons, Rafen. We won''t let their deaths be in vain. But there will be a time for reckoning, one day. You can bet a throne on that." I muttered in a cold voice.


    The Veteran nodded and stored the grenade back on his combat harness. "There is nothing to bet, my lord. In a few decades, there will thousands of Blank Astartes. And the Primarchs were contemporaries of the Silent Sisters on Terra. They fought beside them from Mars to Prospero</a>. The debt will never be forgotten." he declared in a certain voice.


    I wasn''t so sure, Primarchs could be too pragmatic sometimes, even with the deaths of their sons, not mention other people unrelated to them.


    Then again, those Astartes sons were merely imprinted with gene-seeds, not their birth children. Not like mine.


    From this meeting I went to meet with the regiment commanders and organize the land armies for deployment, held in the largest meeting hall on the battle barge.


    It was no surprise to see a hundred Colonels and a few Generals already at each other throats, while Commissars and Sanctioned Psykers stood watch just as their bodyguards and while aides and Lexmechanic</a>s and Autosavant</a>s were often called to explain certain logistic problems or solve a dispute who deserved what munitions.


    The Catachans Colonels were way more reserved, probably surprised they were even invited to such an august meeting, even those of Noble origin. They had no Autosavants, and few Lexmechanics, but they had Ogryn bodyguards, which leveled the odds in their favor. I even recalled meeting one smart Ogryn bodyguard back on Forge Ryza, still guarding General Griess. The Catachan''s 2nd regiment was now commanded by Colonel Straken, loaded on the carrier Daedalus at Forge Tigrus.


    The Inquisitor stood on a high dais, flanked by her new Deathwatch guardians, all wearing ominous blank armor without any insignia at all, beside the Inquisitorial seal. They were already dead, and the Inquisitor will decide where to spend their deaths. Nothing more. No Chapter, no honor, not for them.


    "Attention everyone! Be silent! Bodyguards wait outside, you''re all safe in my presence." I boomed using the room''s vox casters at maximum power, making everyone not protected stumble and sway from shock.


    The awe will come later.


    Ludvaius hefted his Power Maul on his shoulder, ready to enforce my order.


    On the side, I saw Lord Commissar Cain slump in defeat at my presence, while a dozen priests from the Adeptum Ministorum all began vociferating and threatening me with sanctions.


    "Oi, you heard the Emp''ror Son! Out!" Nork Deddog, the big Ogryn yelled and began waving his big automatic shotgun at the other bodyguards.


    Most of the escorts started to trickle out, while I waited patiently. A Crusade wouldn''t work easily, not from the start.


    Then one higher-rank priest started raising his staff and praying loudly and asking me to repent, and he vanished somewhere.


    "Ludvaius, start breaking the heads of any insubordinate traitors." I commanded as the entire room stared at me in awe.


    As the Blood Angel Veteran hefted his weapon and made it glow and hum, by powering up the energy field, dissent turned into panic and the delegations started running towards the exit, while pleading to be let out faster.


    I saw only three women among the regiment commanders, an older woman called Reila_Vann</a>, then two prettier ones from Valhalla, named Jenit_Sulla</a> and Regina_Kasteen</a>.


    General Vann was in command of three Cadian armor regiments, all dispatched from the Fortress World of Spite, guarding the Hadex Anomaly Rift.


    Well, I did kinda burn pretty much everything of strategic importance for Chaos in the area, so they would be available now.


    As for the other two, they were the Colonel Kasteen and her aide Major Sulla, commanding the 296th all-female Valhallan artillery regiment. Which was very promissing, for my own needs.


    Sly and Ferik_Jurgen</a> could have all the Catachan concubines they could find, I really liked the Norse features of these Valhallan women.


    "We''re going to fight Tyranids, more exactly Hive Fleet Moloch which is attacking the Imperium from the north. It''s possible everyone here will die very soon for the Emperor, while eaten alive and crying in pain. Everyone, but not the good Commissar Cain over there, as the Emperor watches over him for some reason." I explained in a half-serious voice, while a thousand eyes locked on the cowardly Commissar with curious eyes.


    I think I saw Cain swallow his tears for a second.


    "For those of you who never fought against the Tyranids, you should expect the horizon to be filled with giant bugs, on the ground, in the air and in orbit. Trillions of them. Stubber weaponry will not bother them at all, and most of the Guard''s infantry weapons will be minimally effective." I concluded in the ominous silence.

 Splinter - Chapter 118

    I saw all the Generals and officers nod glumly at my description.


    Then Major Sulla raised her eyes to look at me. "We will die for the Emperor, Lord Lancefire. But perhaps...we might be given more weapons?" she asked in a calm voice, as if expecting to be punished.


    I smiled gently and turned on the central hologram projector.


    "More weapons, yes. For now, I''ve managed to requisition 5000 Basilisks and 10000 Hydras with extra ammunition. Thus, every regiment will have 100 Hydras each, while the Artillery regiments will receive 100 guns more. The Infantry regiments will also receive 200 Sentinel walkers, and some automated Tarantula turrets. As for Armor, there are 200 Leman Russ tanks and 100 Macharius tanks available to be spread among the regiments. At need, the Lamenters will deploy our Auxiliary regiments and provide drop pods with turrets and supplies. But, most of my efforts will be focused on stopping the bugs in the void. Once they manage to land, the Tyranids will devour any biomass and reproduce rapidly, growing in numbers a hundred times." I explained in a level voice, waiting for someone to crack.


    Reality was harsh in this 40k universe, and it will get much worse.


    General Vann glanced at the hologram, showing the nice Macharius tanks in all their glory. "More tanks are great, my lord. But I already have 300 tanks in my regiments, and even double that...it won''t be enough. Surely there will be more reinforcements?"


    Well, a normal Cadian armor regiment had 30 Leman Russ tanks and 5 Hydras. Good enough for minor Ork raids and defending a city, but obviously not enough for a big campaign. The armor units were kept in reduced numbers by intent, to prevent them getting too strong in case they went traitor, as they often did.


    I nodded at her question. "There are 700 more Sentinels and a few hundred Tauros and other light vehicles like the Centaurs. However, most of your job will be to simply destroy the bio-titans of the Tyranids, and prevent our static positions from being overrun or outflanked. There will be ships in low orbit to provide fire support and some spacefighters, plus ground attack craft from the Lamenter Auxiliaries. I cannot speak for other Astartes Chapters, but I expect a few Companies might arrive, just like these Iron Hands and White Scars did. There are some Blood Angels with me, and even some Silent Sisters, but they''ll mostly target the psychic leaders of the Tyranids, with deep-strikes aimed to disrupt their synaptic links."


    And if the Catachan infantry regiments ''accidentally'' received some containers with artillery shells normally used by the Basilisks, well...they did like setting traps and mines.


    After that, the long task of preparing a logistic chain and supply method began, with the Navy cruisers obliged to load up the extra vehicles and munitions and the tech-priests and their servitors, while most vehicles and turrets were being hastily covered with blackstone armor, mostly provided freely from my own reserves that just appeared in empty fighter hangars on the carrier or my barge.


    In this month, I did manage to strike a friendly relation with Regina, firstly over a working dinner, then a visit to my quarters to show her my trophies and exchange war stories over a few bottles of wine.


    I bet Regina didn''t expect my glands to still work, but she wasn''t disappointed at all. Sadly, she had to return on her transport to oversee her troops, but her aide Jenit stayed as a liaison with a squad of her own Valhallan guardswomen to feel safe. Well, it was very safe in my bed, that was certain.


    With good relations thus established, I decided to conscript the entire Valhallan regiment as Lamenters Auxiliaries, both because we lacked a dedicated artillery group, and for the other more obvious advantages of an all-female unit under me.


    A month later, we arrived at Periremunda</a> and began setting up orbital defenses and ground defenses. However, only two regiments were needed here, one infantry and one artillery. The terrain was broken up into high plateaus, easily defendable.


    I picked the most green and covered with vegetation plateau, where the city of Konnandoil was located. Then I let the Catachans prepare the ground with surprises, including a squad of Special Ops Catachans selected and slightly trained by Sly Marbo.


    The 276th Valhallan regiment was moved on board my ship, the Tranquility, the Battleship with warp-less engines. These brave platinum-haired women wouldn''t see much combat on my ship, and they could raise their children in relative safety now.


    From here, the bulk of the fleet moved outward, reaching Isis_V</a> and preparing stronger defenses here, even landing five regiments, including 12th Artillery with Commissar Cain overseeing the defenses.


    A few smaller fleet departed for Coelia and Karak Prime to secure the Hive Cities there, but mostly to pin the Tyranids in place if they arrived. An armor regiment, two infantry and three artillery each, plus a cruiser with a Nova Cannon.


    Then we moved onwards, with the roving fleet, reaching the Kiltor Sector</a> and burning down a dozen worlds already overrun by Tyranids. Exterminatus torpedoes were very useful for that.


    A hundred small-scale void battles ensured we saved most of the sector, with liberal use of teleporting Nova mines, plasma torpedoes and even a Vortex torpedo on top of a Hive Queen.


    If you spot this story on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation.


    It wasn''t really difficult, when controlling spatial powers with impunity.


    As for the planets already under attack, it was triage.


    We couldn''t defend everything, but Hive Cities, Mechanicus Forges and Research Stations, important industrial centers, those we could.


    And every time some priest demanded we defended some empty planet with religious significance, he vanished and wasn''t heard again. I did not care at all for Shrine Worlds, or Cardinal Worlds or any other type of Imperial Cult bullshit.


    Population and industry would allow the Imperium of Man to survive and fight back, while Sanctuary Worlds or Cemetery_World</a>s were amazingly stupid in my opinion.


    Given this was 40k, dead people should be burned as soon as possible, and their ashes used to grow plants, to feed the living. Having ossuaries and crypts filled with skeletons would only tempt Warp entities or biomass seeking monsters.


    Also, precious relics or libraries should be kept on Fortress Worlds, because they also tempted cults and traitors or demons. Better have guns close to kill them.


    Wherever possible, I organized such maneuvers, sending the priests away to escort those relics to a Fortress World, presumably to boost morale and piousness of the defenders, beside keeping them safe.


    Guilliman has also began setting up Sentinel Worlds, somewhat akin to a factory, fortress and shipyard world, with a Reality Cage being constructed deep underground. Only a couple of them, probably testing the effects on nearby Warp Storms like Medusa_V</a>.


    That world was doomed anyway, so might as well try to save it, even if the means were somewhat...unorthodox. And then someone closed the Rapidity Warp Rift, and the installation stayed.


    And then the astropaths received a message from an agri-world called Jollov, sent by a frantic Mechanicus tech-priest that was studying an STC fragment, but was interrupted by a Tyranid splinter fleet.


    I rushed my warp-less fleet ahead, heedless of the encroaching Silence, and began setting up hasty orbital defences, and blowing up wave after wave of Tyranid bioships and landing spores.


    But the Tyranids were hungry, and this was an agri-world, teeming with biomass. Soon enough, they began ignoring my corvettes and the Battleship, diving heedlessly towards the appetizing food source.


    A single Lamenter Drop-cruiser managed to make orbit in time, and began dropping turret pods and providing orbital support, while local regiments retreated towards the spaceport. The Deathwatch company covered their retreat with relentless determination, despite being decimated for their actions.


    Well, the Astartes were the defenders of humanity, clad in mighty armor and armed with the most powerful guns. Still, they shouldn''t be wasted.


    So I began to cheat, kidnapping bio-titans from their spore pods, placing Nova mines in the midst of landed hordes of Tyranids, while the Blood Angels began landing in the besieged perimeter beside my own Auxiliary PDF regiments, including Lord Whitelance in his Knight.


    And then we kept shooting and shooting, corvettes unleashing thousands of torpedoes and missiles, firing their plasma cannons and lances, while the Tranquility did the same, but rarely and quite strongly. Blowing up a dozen bioships per salvo was very fulfilling though.


    When the other naval forces managed to break through the Tyranid Silence on the realspace plasma engines, they found half the planet in flames, and a mountain of Tyranid corpses around the spaceport.


    It only took a single week, and I already had to resupply my corvettes from my pocket a few times.


    And I even lost a couple of corvettes, although not the crew.


    Corvettes may be cheap and easy to replenish, but good crew was not, and especially not my family.


    Soon enough, the perimeter was cleared and corpses burned, and then the armor regiments began attacking, with mobile infantry engaging stragglers and lurking organisms, hidden in swamps or rivers and lakes.


    Three squads of Special Ops and the Blood Angels took over the task of locating and destroying the Lictors and lurkers, while spacefighters and low orbit frigates cleaned the skies.


    Even Captain Khan went down to help, enjoying hunting Tyranids for sport. With his sword!


    It seemed madness to me, but perhaps the best of humanity were that good. I still couldn''t touch even Rafen in spars, not to mention Ludvaius or the good Master of Blades.


    "Mind if we join the fun, Master Lancefire?" a familiar voice asked from the vox channel.


    Heh, I was so focused on the surface I ignored the orbit for a bit. "Brother Cassiel, I see you brought an entire Company with you." I exclaimed in surprise, while checking the contents of that barge.


    My own sons in the Blood Angels Chapter, all clad in Terminator armor and armed to the teeth. And lead by Captain Aphael, like he promised.


    "You don''t need my permission, Brother. I''m not even a real Astartes!" I quipped back in a joking voice.


    "Forgive him Brother, for his idiocy is without bounds. Are you going to sit on that bridge, or fight beside your sons, Lord Pef?" Captain Aphael intervened in a sterner voice.


    I sighed inward, feeling the pain of Commissar Cain for myself now. "Let''s take that tundra region, above the last Cadian regiment. I''ll bring my good armor suit for the occasion."


    Reason, my Knight, was feeling a bit lonely, even with Felicia oiling his joints every day. And I could practice those fancy blade moves in real combat.


    Damn it, I was becoming an idiot like everyone else in this crazy universe.

 Moloch - CH 119

    I first directed a Drop-cruiser to secure a landing zone, while a squadron of Fury interceptors took station above the tundra.


    Damn winged bugs could ruin your day if you were not careful.


    Then I gathered my bodyguards, and a hundred Armed Sentinels in a few dropships and descended onto the surface of Jollov, with a few wings of gunships as a vanguard.


    Passing through thick smoke from burning fields and houses, we began our landing approach just a few minutes after the drop pods, descending in a pandemonium of teeth and claws, while the Tarantula turrets were butchering millions of Tyranids gorging on lichens and grass and even soil. Well, I guess there would be roots and worms and bacteria of every kind inside the soil.


    As soon as the ramp lowered and we started emerging from the dropships, the Tyranids suddenly perked up and began rushing towards us.


    Reason''s auto-senses targeted a smaller organism for some reason, but I wasn''t going to argue with my Machine Spirit. Surely the Mechanicus had studied this enemy and matched priority targeting accordingly.


    The Volcano Lance flared with impossible brightness, evaporating that target, and a hundred other creatures beside and behind it.


    And then the secondaries began firing automatically, and I pushed towards the largest swarm, and began slicing with the Power Glaive.


    This time it worked! Every single strike butchered dozens of Tyranids, while the Flare shield blocked most of the incoming spits and spines and whatever other projectile weapons.


    Each time the Lance was recharged, the Knight would target yet another innocuous creature, and then urged me forward to capitalize on the stunned Tyranids disoriented from losing their synaptic leader.


    Then I slashed, pivoted and slashed again, every strike eerily accurate and deadly. I felt like a sword master, dancing on the battlefield, not a mere pretender with out-of-context knowledge.


    Hours later, I remembered I wasn''t alone on this tundra, and urged Reason to return and check on my comrades.


    My sons were simply walking slowly, in a kilometer wide line, and exterminating whatever escaped from my dash across the tundra, followed by the Sentinels watching over them from twice the height and shooting lascannons as distant targets, or burning corpses with their flamers.


    "Thank you for leaving something for us to do, Lord Lancefire." I heard Brother Cassiel joke and saw him wave at my Knight as I approached.


    "Hey guys! Knights are very fun!" I explained without saying anything.


    "Hey dad! You were amazing! Do you think I could get a Knight suit like yours?" I heard Jonas plead on a different vox channel. Soon, all my kids were begging for a Knight suit and awesome weapons.


    "Perhaps a couple, one day. They won''t really work for boarding actions, or sneaky missions." I answered after a few seconds.


    Reason''s Machine Spirit disagreed, and promised we could sneak about if we really tried. I highly doubted that. The lance strikes were visible from orbit!


    Afterwards, we proceeded at a slow powerwalk, and simply cleaned out every enemy we could find, until we crossed the entire tundra and reached the Cadian armor regiment.


    General Venn was waiting on top of a Macharius tank, and wasn''t so sour anymore. "You even have a Knight, Lord Lancefire?" she asked to make sure.


    "Why? It was a gift! And it does a good job in the field." I explained in a childish voice.


    "And it has a very long lance too." the general quipped and patted the Volcano Lance of her Macharius tank.


    "All right guys! We rest here for a while, and then trek the planet clockwise. If we move fast enough, we''ll be done in a single day!" I joked and opened the Knight''s cockpit to get some air. It was freezing, because tundra, and smelled of burned meat.


    "I bet my tanks will move faster!" the old woman replied as her Cadian soldiers cheered. It felt like a picnic, at the edge of the galaxy.


    Soon enough, I rushed inside the command tank to get some food and a cup of caf, and stood to hear the General complain about her Lord Commander of Spite and how bad it was.


    Well, I couldn''t steal an armor regiment, as those were fewer and more valued by the Imperium. But an experienced General was good too.


    "If you want, I can conscript you and some of your staff to my Auxiliaries. We have a 20 Doomhammers and 500 Hydras per regiment, and will soon receive 100 Macharius..." I began my argument, a bit timidly.


    "Yes! Dear Emperor, I thought I would have to fuck you to escape from that idiot, Lord Lancefire." the grizzly woman proclaimed in a breathless rush.


    I nodded cautiously. "We''d have to get you back to youth, but that''s not a real problem. Sister Letitia over there is over 70, and looks young and pretty now. And I''m even older than you, I guess."


    The General glanced at my face in disbelief. "I''ll be 200 next year." the old soldier explained in a serious voice. Well she did have a wealth of experience then, and took some rejuvenate treatment.


    "Still not a problem, dear lady. That Blood Angel, Brother Cassiel is over ten thousand years old, and he used to rub elbows with Sanguinius. Good genes help." I said with a smirk, and laid back on the leather seat, which smelled new.


    Well, this tank was brand-new.


    "Well, I guess it''s possible. Primarch Khan is same age and looks rather fit too. I heard he was scouting Commorragh for that great raid. And he didn''t stay on ice like Guilliman." she mused and sipped some caf in a thoughtful voice.


    She wasn''t exactly wrong, but I wouldn''t shatter her illusions.


    "Primarchs are rather special though. So, you''d like to become a Lamenter troop commander? We do fight a lot though. Sometimes at bad odds." I explained in a gentle voice.


    "War is my profession, my lord. But Astartes Auxiliaries have different regulations than the Imperial Guard. Not sure what they are." General Venn said in an unasked question.


    "That depends on each Chapter, their Primarch and the legacy they carry. Psykers and sorcerers for Magnus, Swordsmen and harassing attacks for Khan, dotting every line and sheer brutality for Ultramarines. I personally prefer air power as the main weapon for my Chapter Auxiliary. Static positions for my infantry and enveloping maneuvers for armor. The Battle Brothers sent in for boarding ships or boss killing, and other precision strikes. Not that I have any Lamenters to deploy yet." I said a sadder voice.


    Stolen story; please report.


    "I heard about the Badab War. Must have been horrible, battling traitor Space Marines." she said in a compassionate voice.


    "Yes and no. Those Lamenters were flawed, like many successors of Sanguinius. Going mad with rage and blood thirst, howling and biting their enemies and allies alike. They call these flaws the Black Rage and the Red Thirst. Also, quite unstoppable until they fell dead. Those battlebarges were filled with dismembered corpses, some of them still gripping flesh in their teeth, even in death." I exposed in a grieving voice. They were still my Brothers, dead as they were now.


    Ludvaius coughed discreetly at the door, perhaps to admonish me. But his chapter had a Death Company too, mad and sent to one last battle, not expected to survive.


    "But it won''t happen anymore, right? Surely you can fix the problem." the old General asked, maybe too hopeful.


    "I am working on that, dear General. It''s hard work, but I won''t shy away from duty. Well, I guess you''ll find out when we return to our base in the Fringe." I replied in a teasing tone, then walked past her to return to my Knight.


    These Tyranids won''t die by themselves, and I could use some target practice.


    Took an entire month to clean the planet of insectile invaders from outside the galaxy, because they were like cockroaches, spawning some place else just when we thought they were gone.


    Back at the main starport, Magos Stannum Vir was loading his STC fragments into a gun-cutter that would lift them into orbit, but he possibly misplaced the memory unit with his research. Certainly, with all those fragments in his possession, he should be able to research everything again, and even faster.


    I detached a dozen corvettes to escort his Explorer Ark Mechanicus to the Warp limit, and bid him farewell. The ingrate tech-priest did not ever bother to reply.


    What can you do? Except disseminate that research to twenty Forge Worlds and steal away his glory. Beside that.


    Soon after, we had to rush and help out at Karak Prime, after conscripting some troops other local regiments to replenish manpower losses.


    This was a much larger tendril, but we also had more regiments and ships available, as more and more local Chapters and Navy warships gathered to repel the threat.


    I wasn''t able to walk on the surface in my huge Knight suit, being too busy commanding the fleet and holding millions of bioships at bay.


    The Hive Cities were ordered to mobilize en masse, and I sent most tech-priests and servitors to establish extra layers of fixed defenses, from duracrete walls and bunkers to armored gates protected with drum flails, and even gigantic flamers pumping arcs of burning promethium kilometers away. We also scoured the underhives for gangers and criminals, and had them gassed with soporifics, then imprinted with crude loyalty mnemonics and sent out to fight for the Emperor.


    These conscripts were not well-armed but that wasn''t the real purpose. Metal shields and spears, or even cheap autoguns and stubbers didn''t quite work against the Tyranids, but they did hold them in place, enough for artillery and aviation to bombard the packed masses of Tyranids, while the escorts lanced the more distant hordes from orbit. And with the Hive Cities slightly less inhabited and violent, they could focus more efforts on external defense.


    They had no other choice but fight or die. Entire PDF regiments were raised in a single week, given minimal training and sent atop of walls or manning the bunkers, only to return battered and needing a complete rebuild by the next week.


    Governors needed to be encouraged or publically executed, weapon caches made available freely, or under protest, Adeptus Arbites conscripted as Commissars to maintain discipline.


    In the end, we didn''t lose a single city, although casualties exceeded 20 percent of the entire population. Over two billion people, giving their lives for the Emperor.


    The surface of the planet was left even more baren and polluted, but at least the Hive Cities were set in order, and even became more productive and profitable. Turns out having a few thousand tech-priests repairing old reactors and factories, as well as reducing crime and population pressure was quite beneficial.


    For my efforts, I loaded five milion young women working in various factories and a few thousand scribes aboard a fleet of troop transports and had them sent to the Fringe, mostly on the hundred jungle and forest worlds that needed population growth and industrial production. They will have fresh air and natural food there, plus plenty of living space, not ten in a single room.


    Sure the Catachans will need to protect them, but they wouldn''t mind being gifted ten wives each. Population will grow fast after this, but those kids will be locals and raised with slightly different rules.


    Meanwhile, the star system was slowly being cleaned of dead husks of bioships and drifting winged bugs, only this time we cut off some of the larger bioships'' teeth and claws, because those bones were strong enough to bite into starship armor.


    I was also out of munitions already, after a single year of constant fighting a small Tyranid Hive Fleet.


    So, I left Captain Aphael in command of the Moloch Crusade, to find and finish off the remaining Tyranids splinters and I sailed for home.


    Of course, my dear Inquisitor Vail had to stay and oversee the project for the sake of her career, and I took her baby home with me. We named him Aeneas, like the mythical hero.


    He now sleeps on top of Canis, beside a young puppy sired by my wolf.


    "Wooo?" my wolf asks as he saw me leave the nursery.


    "Yes, Canis. Going back to make more puppies." I explained patiently as Canis licked both of his young ones.


    The wolf nodded wisely, then glanced at my left glove.


    Perhaps later, you smart friend. I did need to sort out those Sisters of Battle, one way or the other.

 Dreadnought - CH 120

    My new Drop-cruisers were left behind in the galactic north, because being able to intervene rapidly with drop-pods would be extremely helpful and will save countless lives.


    Once the Moloch Crusade would be declared finished, the light cruisers commanded by my daughters will return home, after visiting a Forge World each, to spread out more STC dataslates and pict and sensors logs of the turret drop results.


    The Mechanicus tech-priests were not stupid and will realize rapidly the advantages of this new doctrine.


    I didn''t have much hope with the Imperial Navy or the Astra Militarum, as I rarely saw any of my templates deployed in the field. Some night vision sensors, recon units with cheap Weasels, and sometimes the new Manticores and Hydras. In such small quantities they wouldn''t impact much, except perhaps keep the regiment commanders a bit safer.


    However, Commissar Cain did not disappoint, and he made himself a big hero again by ''discovering'' a large genestealer cult on Isis V, then leading the troops into a grinding civil war which resulted in a costly victory.


    I bet Cain is glad for his ''relic'' sword now, as well as his new power armor and shield. Perhaps even more happy with his tough but loyal Catachan all-female bodyguards.


    And funny enough, his former aide Jurgen was totally admired by the Catachan women I assigned to him, for being a real man, smelly and rough.


    I began to doubt the wisdom of trying to breed Orgyn females, as those would surely have even stronger taste in men. I wouldn''t give up until I tried a few times, just for variety¡¯s sake.


    In the meantime, I did have plenty of Norse women to pick and choose, or let Regina pick and choose for me.


    The new armor specialist, Reila_Vann</a> was even a greater treasure, especially after testing my special relic sword on a dozen captured Orks and regaining a slightly more youthful appearance.


    "My Lord, is this type of weapon common among Astartes?" Reila asked while examining herself in the mirror, with a confused but amazed face.


    She even got naked just to see everything was in the right place. And Reila had great forms, even if I saw little from my chair.


    "Not common at all, General. They are called ancient relics for reason." I explained patiently.


    "I see, so it is a great honor to even be allowed to use it once. And I suppose, you returned my body to youth, so you can fuck me, like you do with all those Valhallan women?" Reila guessed at random, and emerged from the shower to parade her young body in front of me and Canis. Damn cocktease!


    Well, I wouldn''t say no if she offered, but she did not, so that was it.


    Instead, I smiled thinly and shrugged. "I need your mind and experience, my dear General. As for making babies, that is a more complicated and involved procedure. Even if we both wanted to, my nurses and Apothecaries and the Biologis tech-priests have to conduct a whole battery of tests and scans. I told you how dangerous Astartes gene-seed is."


    My new General sighed as if I missed the point. "Just get naked and lie on the bed, Pef Lancefire. I need to test my new body, and there''s nobody else here I can trust."


    I blinked in confusion, while Canis just sighed and turned on the other side, probably amazed at my idiocy.


    Rafen just grinned and held his thumb up for luck. All right then. I could be lucky sometimes.


    So I got out of my armor and laid in bed, and allowed Reila to test her young body, in every manner she could think of.


    Guess I now have a General concubine to oversee the other guardswomen. And perhaps a wife, should the others agree to this.


    When our small warp-less fleet arrived at Sotha, we found it under attack again, by more Orks. I wasn''t surprised and just led the Battleship forward to defend the Aegida Fortress, while the carriers began launching the corvettes and the stafighters.


    In void combat the Orks were somewhat easy to defeat, even using conventional methods, but these Orks had figured out a way to weaponize tellyporta'' and launched gretchins and Ork boyz as boarders and even as destructive ordnance, since a gretchin materializing inside an energy conduit or a targeting cogitator did damage just by breaking down the expensive machinery.


    Of course, they have not considered teleporting bombs and warheads, nor being teleported themselves into my tesseract. Soon enough, three Ork Terror ships and 22 Kroozers vanished in flares on Nova mines, although the mines still targeted flocks of Ork space fighters and boarding boats.


    And imagine my surprise to find a working fragment of an STC on the largest Ork Kroozer, something to do with teleportarium technology.


    The Orks were surely crazy and lucky enough, to repurpose that ancient machine into something they could use for a Waagh. Possibly a mass-transit system for a spaceport during the Dark Age of Technology.


    I already was planning how to weaponize this discovery for my own use, for example for quick torpedo re-loads and teleporting turrets on the ground, or even inside enemy ships. Just place teleport beacons on the weapons, and they could be even retrived afterwards, without using time and fuel for landers and dropships.


    Sadly, the research and testing for this project would take a few decades, even for a larger Forge World.


    Anyway, my Rose wasn''t back on Sotha yet, but her own blonde infocyte lady was, with a whole store of Tau databases and weapon research slates.


    "I will need three copies of that data, my dear." I asked in a polite voice. But I didn''t need to remain polite, if Calixa didn''t cooperate.


    The blonde assassin measured me with obvious uncertainty. "The Inquisitor asked that everything that I recovered to be sealed. Sorry, Lord Lancefire."


    I sighed inward, then stepped closer nearly touching her with my armored chestplate. "We are on the same team, Calixa. Or do I need to take out my Rosette?" I asked softly and tapped the null box suggestively.


    "...Errr. Don''t do that, my lord. Clavis engrams will play havoc with my neural modules and I''ll be rather incapacitated for a week. Why do you need three copies?" the infocyte grumbled as she took our three data-stacks and began downloading the data from her encrypted MIU.


    "My own infocyte agent needs a copy, Forge Retribution needs one, and the third...well. The third will go way over your paygrade. The big powers will want to take a look, and that might be my ticket for a High Lord seat. You know, the one being arranged for the Rogue Traders?" I whispered in a secretive voice.


    "...I didn''t know, my lord. So, are we friends now?" the cute assassin asked in a failed attempt at seduction.


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    Already seeing herself riding on the parade, on Holy Terra. Then again...a cute infocyte? I could use another, in every way. Backups were only natural, in case something went wrong. I snapped my fingers to produce an Obsidian Auguries security tag.


    "This obsidian plate will grant you extra access, should you be in dire need." I explained in a soft whisper, right into her ear.


    Calixa hugged my arm and examined the credit card wafer with a hundred tiny auspex sensors, finding nothing to indicate advanced technology. Except perhaps the blackstone rim, which kept the obsidian from cracking or flaking.


    But I wasn''t an infocyte to track data, or a psyker to track psychic imprints. Simply the memory of this object would allow me to locate it anywhere in range of the Pharos, or in range of the Sounding Board if needed.


    "I expect the blackstone is meant to prevent psykers from detecting this...ID card? Or is it something else?" she mused softly, voice trembling a bit with excitement.


    "We''ll discuss the rest in private." I explained and made her vanish in my labyrinth. Best way to extract someone from an Inquisition''s Fortress. I wasn''t like I would carry a woman on my back, if she fit in my pocket.


    But first, I had to check on Mister Trazyn, and the new warp-less drive. I did pay for it in advance, after all.


    And of course, to recover the few Lamenters still part of the Deathwatch, which had just arrived at the Fortress, during the time I was away. Amadeus Chyropheles, now known as Chyron, was a Space_Marine_Dreadnought</a>, with millennia of experience, while Veteran Brother Semnai was the only combat-capable Lamenter remaining to my Chapter.


    I didn''t count the support staff as Battle-Brothers, even if they could technically fight. I needed their knowledge and experience, not an extra gun.


    Experience regarding galactic lore, xenos races, plagues and Chaos demons or tactics. The Lamenters have travelled all over the galaxy, and knew lots and lots of secrets, hidden routes and meeting places, Webway portals and forgotten ship graveyards.


    They didn''t even know how valuable their knowledge was, and I wouldn''t tell them. I just downloaded all the ship logs, and had the Auxilia crew or the senior Lamenters retell each and every encounter, when and where a certain sighting has occurred, who was present, what else was in the system and so on.


    Sadly, most of the old astropaths had died, as they were never meant to last long. But we had the Navigators, which was almost as good. Sure, they saw and remembered events in a haze of temporal currents and prophetic dreams, but they would know the routes back. It was their job after all.


    "You don''t look and feel like a Lamenter, Master Lancefire." Brother Semnai told me straight to my face. My angelic face.


    I just sighed and snapped my fingers, storing him inside the tesseract as well. Hopefully he''ll get better, once he was on the Starfort and among other, real Lamenters.


    Venerable-Brother Chyron did not grumble or care I wasn''t a proper Lamenter, instead being glad of having found his way back to the beloved Chapter.


    "We must be in a sorry state, if one such as yourself is now Chapter Master. I feared nobody was left alive after that disastrous Badab War." the half-dead Lamenter lamented in a pitiful tone, and you could sense his sadness pouring out of the armored shell.


    Canis smelled the towering coffin on legs and mewled back at me in confusion.


    "Yes Canis. Chyron is one of us, so don''t bite him." I quipped in a cheerful voice, and patted the robot on the side. "Come with me Chyron, we''re teleporting down." I explained in my next breath, and started walking towards the teleportarium.


    Two squads of Scythes and Executioners dressed in black armor stood guard at the entrance, and one of them stepped forward to block my way.


    "Nobody may access the Pharos, not even you, Master Lancefire." the Deathwatch proclaimed grimly, and raised his combi-bolter towards me.


    Oh well, I guess we''ll have more temporal anomalies today!


    As the squads vanished in my labyrinth, I took out the cog-shaped Rosette and began unlocking the teleport safeties.


    "That is a good trick, Master Lancefire. And even the Rosette is genuine." Chyron praised me in a slightly surprised tone.


    I just nodded, and patted Canis, making him vanish too. Teleporting was bad for his stomach after all.


    In a violet flash of Warp and madness, we emerged inside the Pharos, to find it cleaned up completely. No more Astartes oaths and canticles, no more battle flags and purity seals. Just black walls and an intact C''tan, slightly crucified on the wall with chains of living stone.


    This must have been Amberley''s work, trying to appease the alien god somehow.


    "Pef Lancefire. You have saved me again!" the Ctan shard spoke in a booming voice. Uh, this was unexpected. The C''tan seemed glad to see me.


    "Hello again, Mighty Zarhulash. What do you...ah. The teleporting Orks. I see." I realized after a second.


    Those cretin greenskins would have ruined plenty of things with a C''tan as a slave. Probably half the galaxy or something.


    "The Orks knew about me, Pef Lancefire. And they also had the means to reach me down here. Not an accident." The C''tan concluded as a warning. Some damn Eldar Farseer, most likely. When in doubt, blame the Eldar...and you won''t be far from the truth.


    I turned towards the Dreadnought and pointed towards the god shard. "This person is Zarhulash, a shard of the Potentate. Xeno species C''tan, destructive abilites about the same with a Segmentum Battlefleet. Also immortal and extremely learned." explained while returning the Sounding Board to its dais and releasing the protective stasis field.


    "C''tan...I know of them. Deceiful, liars and even aiding the Necrons in combat. The Deathwatch lost many teams to his kind." Chyron rumbled from within his coffin.


    Zarhulash wanted to say something, before glancing down in sadness.


    "Mostly true, Chyron. The Necrons broke them, and enslaved them as weapons. But there are a few still free, and causing mayhem for their own pleasure. What''s that C''tan''s name, Mighty Zarhulash? The Deceiver?" I asked as a data-stick appeared in my hand. A databse of Tau technology, which should aid Trazyn in his task.


    "Mephet''ran</a>. Yes, that is the Deceiver you ask about, Pef Lancefire. There are at least six of his shards still free, travelling the galaxy and causing mayhem and strife. It shames me to be of same race as that creature." the ancient C''tan divulged in obvious sorrow.


    Well then. A new trade deal sounded wonderful.

 Hope - Ch 121

    While doing all this, the Pharos opened in my mind to show me the true state of the Segmentum, and even beyond that in the Eastern Fringe.


    Hive Fleet Scarabus</a> was approaching human worlds, after devouring a couple xenos and Ork planets. I could cut them off from those supplies of biomass with a dozen Exterminatus torpedoes, and the same for the two smaller Tyranid fleets approaching my own domain.


    The bio-cruisers will need to be met in the void, and destroyed in detail before they could land.


    Otherwise, Rose was busy inside a Deathwatch Fortress called Eye_of_Damocles</a>, coordinating a large scale intelligence operation against the Tau, plus naturally assassinations of Ethereal leaders, and torturing captured prisoners. Janice was working hard beside her, using her psyker powers with lots of skill.


    "Father, is this you?" she mused softly, while a hundred scalpels were dancing around in mid-air and flaying some Ethereal guy, alive.


    "Yes, sweetie. So you''re an Inquisitor''s Acolyte now?" I asked in faint amusement.


    "Have to. Damn ''Greater Good'' blueberries are very resistant to normal Inquisition practices. So I help mommy sometimes. I also Navigate that Black Inquisition Battlecruiser docked outside."Janice explained while poking the damn brainwashing Tau and reading his mind while his attention was diverted by the possibly debilitating pain of losing bits of skin.


    Well, that was a good career choice, at least. Very few if any people would dare question a Navigator working for the Inquisition''s own Black ships.


    "Any boy you like?" I continued in a teasing tone, more amused.


    "Dad! I''m working here!" my daughter protested in my mind, so left her get on with her helping.


    She will probably need to find a nice Navigator boy without too many mutations, by accident or by kidnapping.


    So I turned to my dear Rose, who was overseeing a large command center filled with a Company of black-armored Astartes, plus hundreds of autosavants, sages and lexmechanics. Streams of data engrams and machine liturgies covered the holofields, some of them compiling a stack-archive on the human worlds in the Farsight Enclave.


    A pict-capture of the Talisman_of_Arthas_Moloch</a> while worn by Primarch Guilliman was posted on the main screen, with sigils and runes shifting constantly. Well, they would want to know how the Primarch has recovered from his Warp-poison injury.


    And while the hexagrammatic talisman was well-disguised as an Imperial relic, the Inquisition had real experts too. And they were suspicious.


    The vectors for a dozen small Ork Waaghs were shifting slowly on other side screens, while the top three screens were keeping watch over three Tyranids tendril fleets, all heading towards the Necron World of Sarlok.


    Well, they had things covered quite well, from what I saw. No real time data, of course, but then humanity did not have another Pharos, unless that Shariax</a> artifact on Occludus was something of the same nature.


    Not that the Death_Spectres</a> Chapter were sharing what they knew with anyone else, anyway. Keeping watch in secret, and probably intercepting any moves from those mysterious xenos in the Pale Stars. And also killing their Brothers a few times, as a graduation ceremony, for some obscure reason.


    "Hey Rose. I see you noticed my gift to our beloved Primarch. Keeps the poison at bay, right?" I asked in a level tone.


    "My strange lover is back! I expect you have already met with Calixa?" the Inquisitor asked in my mind, without showing any outward sign of emotion. Perhaps she was upset to learn it was me who woke up Guilliman?


    "Met the cute infocyte, yes. Should I do more with her?" I wondered in a teasing voice. I would anyway, but better to have permission...


    "You do what you want, horny lover. Just...remember Calixa is not yours nor mine. Grand Master Fadix</a> holds her leash, including her kill-switch. So I heard about the Moloch Crusade. Doesn''t seem so bad at it first appeared, less than 50 worlds were lost. And nothing important anyway." my Rose commented in a wry tone.


    Those devoured worlds still held billions of people, but indeed, I saved the Hive Worlds and the Forges, making the losses seem irrelevant in the grand scheme.


    "Hive Fleet Scarabus will hit Coronis in a few years. I''ll burn their landed elements, and Vortex the Norn Queen. Nothing else I can do from Sotha. Anyway, I''m nearly ready compiling the cruiser size warp-less engines, so I''ll need something to trade for another batch of old ships to appear all over with partial STC templates. We might see a strong opposition from the Navigators, this time." I said in slight worry.


    The crazy Navigators were willing and able to sabotage the Dark_Glass</a> device, almost dooming the Imperium of Man back in the days of the Horus Heresy. They would dare again, no doubt.


    "The Navigator Houses already make overtures to proclaim the warp-less engines as heretic inventions, and have them all destroyed. Of course, both Primarchs disagree violently, and a couple of Paternova family heads were removed already. Master Fadix doesn''t tolerate dissenters." the Inquisitor explained in a somber tone.


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    Well, the internal conflicts in the Imperium have begun then, and they''ll only get worse. However, that was why I gave both Primarchs Null Rods. Even Paternova-level Navigators won''t be able to scry them now. Nor would Chaos Sorcerers and Psyker Inquisitors, nor even Eldar Farseers or Avatars. They''ll have to tread carefully, not knowing where or when a Primarch might appear and ruin someone''s day, or remove a few heads.


    I changed focus on the Trazyn the Infinite, finding him fiddling with Jokaero weapons and artifacts, and even a dozen of live Jokaero orangutans kept in a green-field cage.


    "New toys, Lord Trazyn?" I asked in faint amusement.


    "Ah! The puppy stranger! Your Null-bone staff is ready, but I still need a bloodflaw genome if you want it to work for a psyker. As for those Titans...I changed my mind. Not giving them back! You can take the captured Knights, and that''s it!" the crazy Necron Overlord proclaimed in an irate voice.


    I sighed inward. Even Necrons kept the amazing Titans from my grasp...for now.


    But 34 Knights would be useful too. I even had pilots for them, Justine''s and Lord Whitelance''s children. Only a couple were Blanks, but I''ll use what I had. As for Titans I had another plan.


    "Show me the cruiser engine and reactor first. We''ll discuss the Titans later, Lord Trazyn." I demanded more sternly, and grabbed the dataslate in midair.


    A quick check showed me exactly what I wanted. And then there were the other human technologies recovered and upgraded by Trazyn. There was even an upgraded Lance battery in there, with better fire rate and range, and an even longer range Nova Cannon. A host of other schematics, from Hellguns to Vortex missiles and Stasis_Bomb</a>s and grenades, neutron and graviton guns, conversion beamers and Volkite weapons of a dozen sizes.


    And then, there were some kind of walking turrets, slightly taller than a modern dreadnought, and a bit rounded. Like my Armed Sentinels, but way more advanced.


    Checking the schematic rapidly, I discovered they were in fact also dreadnoughts, meant to preserve wounded Astartes and keep them fighting. This Deredeo_Pattern_Dreadnought</a> would make an excellent platform for mobile Tarantula turrets. Of course, nothing as complicated as the original design, but I was getting good at simplifying machines.


    Another walker template was a Leviathan_Dreadnought</a> armed with a gigantic Cyclonic_Melta_Lance</a> and a Grav_Flux_Bombard</a>. These were very large machines, the size of the largest Imperial Knights and even more powerful. I shall see to it that Blank Astartes got to pilot these Leviathans, and stand strong in the face of Greater Demons or Ork Bosses of same size. Plus the arms could be made to end in Power Fists, and thus able to hold gigantic melee weapons like Reason had his Power Glaive.


    Then tanks and troop transports in a hundred configurations, and lastly a simple, rugged and better lasgun for the infantry. Pretty much a Hotshot gun, but firing fast and without overheating. I wasn''t able to create something this simple and potent even after decades of constant attempts, and yet this Necron took only a few years to overhaul hundreds of Mechanicus designs and make them all better. Damn cheater!


    "I trust my efforts are appreciated, stranger. I had to coerce a billion of my slaves to work on the pathetic weapons of humanity and repair what flaws they could. Luckily I had a thousand tech-priests to extract memories from. They seem a bit...drained now, but I can give them back if you wish." Trazyn explained in a proud tone.


    He didn''t even work personally for this? Well, slave and serf labour was the norm in the galaxy, from the Imperium to the Orks and the myriad of slavers and Enslavers.


    "It''s decent work, I admit. Here, a database of Tau technology now. Perhaps we can obtain even smaller ship engines and better forcefields." I replied while keeping calm and depositing the valuable data-stack on his work coffin. Then I retrieved a lock of hair from Amberley''s son Aeneas and sent it over as well. "Gene samples for the bloodline flaw in the staff. Perhaps those Jokaeros can craft more Null Rods?"


    Trazyn waved a hand at the air, and produced a small wand as proof. "Their Null Wands are even better than those contraptions of the Mechanicus. Wider range, and no disruptions from Warp Storms. They even upgraded my own Empathic staff!"


    I sighed in defeat. Of course, the orange orangutans were idiot-savants, and also made the fabled digital weapons prized anywhere in the galaxy, by everyone. I took out another dataslate with my own STC templates, most importantly those which didn''t work yet, and sent it over as well. "Another batch of less advanced machines, most of them created at Forge World Retribution, to be used to develop the Fringe. They need to remain at micron-level of quality, because there are no better Forges out there."


    That wasn''t entirely true, but better appear weaker and harmless.


    "Savages! How can they even entangle quant...nevermind. These are simple designs indeed! Electric trains! Only these personal shields have a small value. Flawed and inefficient, but at least some of those silly tech-priests tried. There might be a small hope for humans, after all." the Necron tech-wizard uttered in slight disgust.


    And those conversion shields were my best work!

 Horror - Ch 122

    When I returned to my room, I remembered to unfreeze the Deathwatch guys protecting the teleportarium on the Aegida Fortress, and even gave them several archeoweapons from my personal inventory. Vortex grenades and inferno pistols might serve them well when sent on a Kill-team to hunt down a powerful Ork Boss or something.


    Meanwhile, dreadnought Chyron remained in stasis, till he was needed. No need to stress him too much, after he saw me burn a Tyranid hive fleet and kill a Queen without lifting a finger. He would be my second-in-command thus he had the need to know. Plus a Null Wand would cover other problems of a more chaotic nature. Same for Brother Semnai, most likely. If they couldn''t be Blanks, they could at least have the same protection via artificial means.


    Then, I brought Calixa in the room while I entered my shower to refresh, at the same time with Canis.


    "We got teleported...wait! I''m missing six hours on my datalog. Your master is so tricky, right, space wolf?" the blonde woman asked Canis in a curious voice.


    "Grrr. Wooof!" the space wolf replied in outrage, and went to pour himself meat pellets and water.


    He was still growing, and had to squeeze a little, to fit through the door frame meant for Terminator armors. I was ambivalent on this. A bigger wolf would be stronger, but he might reach van size soon. And then he will eat even more!


    A minute later, the blonde woman joined me in the shower, to help me wash my back. With her chest, but I didn''t mind.


    "I thought Astartes were more...transhuman." she sent with a data transmission, while examining my body all over.


    "But I''m not a real Astartes. All my organs are natural." I explained with a mind transmission, which would not be logged on her mind implant.


    The Sounding Board was very useful for tricks like this, and invisible inside the tesseract.


    I just had to wear one tesseract around my neck, like a relic talisman depicting a skull with angel wings. Made sense to have one tesseract always nearby, even when outside my armor with the magic glove. For example when naked or inside the Knight.


    "Natural organs, you say, my lord. I guess I shall test this claim, very profoundly." the infocyte continued with a data entry, getting busy with testing my claim.


    Much later, she rested on my chest and sighed in content. "All natural!"


    I wasn''t tired at all, so I called Jenit and Reila to my room, and help me relieve all my stress. "Ludvaius, see that Lady Calixa gets a room with a cogitator bank and a pair of tech-priests to watch over her. Biologis and Cogitatrice clades."


    My bodyguard just nodded and opened the armored door to let Calixa walk out, with a simple bath robe covering her. Well, I wasn''t so tight on uniform regulation, especially for women.


    Robes made for easy access and good thermal protection, and that was sufficient.


    A minute later, Jenit arrived with Regina, while Reila came hand in hand with Henna, as they were probably discussing complicated topics like raising children or blowing up xenos from orbit.


    I checked inward to see if my energy stores would suffice, and my body promptly signaled that yes, four women will be just enough.


    "General, you have the rank so you may go first", Regina joked as she leaned over to kiss me and measure my body with hungry eyes.


    "We will soon start teaching you combined arms warfare, especially with airpower and orbital drops." I explained in a gentle voice as Reila dropped herself on top of me, and began enjoying the benefits of a young body once again.


    Hopefully Amberley will remember to requisition those Catachan regiments and bring them to Illevar once the Moloch Crusade was over.


    I planned to obtain as many of those jungle expert regiments as possible, and the Catachans had raised over a thousand of them, mainly infantry. And since infantry regiments had the largest numbers, that was excellent too.


    Armed and trained colonists for the Fringe, while women will be provided by saving Hive Worlds and exacting a toll. All normal and natural in this galaxy.


    For the next generations, Blank men from my Blanktown will start being sent as minor nobles in the colonies, and do their best to spread their genes to the Catachan descendants.


    As for my daughters and granddaughters, well...I could marry them off into Rogue Trader families, or something of that nature. They will still command their spaceships, and spread Blank genes among other Houses, which will become important later.


    Alliances among nobles houses were common enough, but my House will have a palace on Terra itself. I might have to beat off eager men with a stick.


    They already knifed each other among the Catachans, but the Catachans were not rich and important and well-connected like Rogue Traders were.


    That could wait though, until Decima and Serena advised me on it. Perhaps even those Sisters from Orders Famulous. I had a dozen of them among my concubines, without even asking them for it. They just somehow appeared in my bed, escorted by Helena and Catherine.


    Several hours later, Henna took the last spot with a calm and patient demeanor, eager for another child. I was so lucky with this cousin, as she was everything other women were not, at least not here. Loving, accepting, soft and warm, a dutiful wife and mother.


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    However, while I did love her for it, those were not good survival traits, not in this hellish galaxy. Maybe in ten thousand years, if my efforts bore fruit.


    "Tomorrow morning at 8.00 shiptime. All of you report on the cadet deck, for strategic courses. Henna, you befriend Calixa and see about medical tests." I commanded after we concluded the marital duty.


    "Yes sir." Reila answered in a military tone, and leaned over to steal a kiss before she ran off.


    "Teenager hormones. She''ll get over it." Regina mused to herself, glancing after Reila as she departed the room.


    Regina did not receive the chrono treatment as she wasn''t in need for a young body yet, nor was Jenit. I caught her chin and kissed her abruptly. "Go and rest, my dear. I have other work now." I growled in a harsher tone.


    She smiled and walked away swaying her hips, confident in her charms and position. I almost called her back for another round, but that was what Regina wanted, and we couldn''t have that.


    "See you tomorrow, my lord." Jenit whispered in a shy voice, and ran after her boss.


    You bet your perky ass we will see you tomorrow! And for the rest of your life.


    These three women will form my command staff in the future, and follow me on campaigns. We will see a lot of each other, and enjoy it too.


    But perhaps not Calixa, if she was not loyal to me, like Rose had warned me. A double-agent if I ever saw one. Triple-agent, considering the Inquisition too.


    I will have to handle her with caution then.


    At my order, Felicia arrived in a minute and sat in my lap, while I powered up the cogitator to start working on the new machines.


    The blonde enginseer almost forgot to pump her hips, while watching the trove of treasures on the screen.


    "This is amazing, my lord. So many discoveries!" Felicia exclaimed and squeezed me in excitement.


    "There is even more, from what I could recover from the STC caches Prelia and Jollov and these teleporting Orks right here. Some templates even seem intact. But first, we work on the walking turrets. I want one multilaser and one lascannon, powered by this small plasma reactor, and we''ll cover them in blackstone. Maybe even a Flare shield, if you''re good enough." I teased her and squeezed her breasts in my palms.


    "Keep pumping, my lord! These babies will burn through xenos like the Omnissiah''s Will!" Felicia demanded loudly as her Mind impulse unit delved deeper into the cogitator array, mixing and matching parts, balancing targeting codes and draining me of gene-seed in a strange but pleasantly competent display of multitasking.


    I was very happy for her assistance, and offered Felicia a sip from the expensive Apple-peach</a>juice from planet Iax. She sipped greedily through the straw and kept working hard. I knew she loved it, as her flesh was weak for pleasure.


    But I would provide all the pleasure she wanted, in exchange for valuable service. My body, good food and drinks, gifts and treats and even children, one day.


    My work was progressing a few times faster with her aid, and I got prime service too. What was not to like?


    By the next week, most of my goals for this trip were achieved, including the obliteration of the largest Ork worlds in the Jagga</a> Tyrant empire, a dozen more xeno worlds burned to the bedrock to eliminate potential new traits for the Tyranids, and a couple Hrud worlds that would surely be huge problems once they began migrating towards the Imperium.


    While this might seem a pity, burning livable planets, truth was there were at least ten times more planets out there than those known on the official Imperial maps, and a thousand times more not livable yet, but those could be made useful with effort and time.


    The galaxy was teeming with potential, but using Warp drives and exploring blindly wasn''t really working. The Tau had the right idea, simply expanding their volume geometrically, slowly exploring and conquering every star system in their reach. Or at least they were, until their alien allies started getting burned, and their own cities invaded by demons.


    What the Pharos showed me was entrenchment, orbital forts and starbases being built to defend the inner lines, exploring ships recalled for defense, and Ork Waaghs getting brutally massacred with ranged fire like in the War_of_Dakka</a>.


    Of course, this time the Kroot Warspheres did not survive, with plasma torpedoes teleported inside their engine rooms and bridges, while hundreds of Orks found themselves teleported on board the ancient vessels and doing what they did best, grabbing anything shiny and shooting with it. And given that the shiny weapons they found were Necron and Dark Eldar in origin, they had a substantial advantage over the Kroot.


    Eventually the Tau would win, as they too had cheat codes in technology and organization, plus a star faring civilization still unbroken by the horrors of the 41st Millennium.


    Not yet, not while they were useful. But later, the sky will open and rain fire on the heretics.


    Now there was a God, and it hated them.

 Arrangement - Ch 123

    Perhaps it was me, but I felt the urge to just crush most Inquisitors I found, even those with exemplar conduct. Sadly, they were actually needed, acting like white cells inside a sick organism.


    Sure, most of them used axes and hot irons to cut away and burn the infections, often without much care of burning innocents in their zeal.


    A few of those that I caught in the act, just ordering Exterminatus on planets on mere suspicion of hiding a cult, those I introduced to a krak grenade on their necks, leaving their Acolytes to carry on a proper investigation.


    Their power armor will just need doused with a stream of water to wash off the brains and blood, and it would still be good as new.


    The cults leaders were also blown up, leaving a trail of smoke and fire for a smart Acolyte to raise above and become an Inquisitor himself.


    As for Trazyn, we arranged for another space hulk to be broken up into useful bits, this time the famous Olethros</a>.


    The ships themselves would be emptied of cultists and genestealers, and their engine cogitators would be filled with the new STC patterns, including the cruiser-sized warp-less engine.


    A hundred Navy and Mechanicus ships were casually dropped in Forge World systems, from Antax to Gryphonne IV, or from Canto II to Khania</a>.


    As a gift for my Rose, the Norn''s Ghost</a> Inquisitorial battlecruiser arrived near her Eye of Damocles fortress, while the Dark Angels battlebarge called Caliban''s Will arrived in front of their wandering asteroid-fortress, the Rock.


    Sure the voidships were beaten up and would need lots of work to be recommissioned, but that wasn''t the point. The stores of STC templates were, a wealth of knowledge that should push the strength of humanity a few thousands years ahead.


    Forge Retribution received another damaged Apocalypse-class battleship, because I was playing favorites. And if there were 34 Knight suits on board that ship, plus enough Mechanicus weapons to arm a Skitarii legion, it must have been Emperor''s Will. Maybe the Omnissiah? It sure seemed that way.


    As for Forge World Lentrel_Prime</a>, which wasn''t blown up by the Necron World Engine this time, they received an entire Ark Mechanicus, just to spit in fate''s face. I made my own fate, damn hellish universe!


    Of course, I couldn''t stop every tragedy and massacre, either being in the wrong place, or lacking the means.


    But I could prepare for example for Armageddon, simply by having Lord Trazyn drop the asteroid core of the Olethros on a collision course with planet Urk</a>. A mere cosmic accident, as it happened so often to human worlds. Why not to Orks, right?


    While the range of the Pharos was small, and I couldn''t burn the place with Exterminatus, an asteroid crashing onto a planet would still burn most life away, just like the dinosaurs of Terra found out.


    The Ork Boss Ghazghkull might survive this, because he also had gods on his side, but the crazy mushroom wouldn''t have that Ork army to start with anymore.


    The sad truth was that Warp godlings were able to direct space hulks as transport ships and infection vectors for Tyranid genestealers or various Ork and Chaos forces, or create Warp Storms to abduct entire star systems or Astartes Chapters.


    I was simply returning the favor, using advanced technology in place of mighty psyker powers. Sadly, the currency of this great game were lives, and often human lives.


    I had no doubt the Emperor was playing the game as well, possibly in a loose alliance with the Eldar gods.


    As for the Tau, it was increasingly clear that their leading caste, the Ethereals were a strange breed of Navigators, using their empathic powers instead of psyker powers. Not being Warp-based, or possibly only tangentially like the normal Blanks were.


    But because they were rather close in galactic terms, I needed the Tau contained, before they began the 3rd, 4th and 5th Expansion Spheres which would make them a match for the Ultima Segmentum.


    Their allies were instead free game, and Trazyn was glad for a challenge. "My Warriors would enjoy the challenge indeed, if what you say it''s true. Can''t have someone else join our party and collect species and individuals with mind-control. I shall direct a dozen of my Lords to raid and harass those allies, while using incremental weaponry like you wish. But I will need more of those Dark Eldar Void mines, to...conduct political maneuvers. Yes, that''s the correct term. Only my own Dynasty is worthy to lead the Necrons."


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    Easily accomplished, as the Void mines were smaller than a torpedo. I provided three dozen of those darklight weapons, which will soon be transformed into three dozen Necron Dynasties left without a leader. We did have plenty of common enemies, Trazyn and I.


    "All right, Lord Trazyn, now I shall tell you another story. In the final days of the Horus Heresy, the Battle_of_Drooth_II</a> took place on a massive scale, among Titan Legions from both sides. And here on Drooth II is where the famous Psi-Titans of the Ordo Sinister were deployed. One of these rare Titans, the Occedentalis-Chirion was tragically lost on this Ultramar world, and as a final revenge, a loyal Titan Princeps targeted the space elevator and brought it down, killing almost everyone and pulverizing the great machines of Humanity. But, someone with great skill and patience might be able to pinpoint the exact place and time to interfere. A damaged Psi-Titan, and a mostly intact Warlord Titan vanishing right as the orbital structure falls onto the battling armies below. Just imagine the value of those treasures! Plus, nobody would even know they were not destroyed." I whispered in his robotic mind, while leaning heavily on my Bone Staff.


    "...And for this lesson, you want what in trade? All those Titans I so painfully worked to capture from Forge Venatoria?" the Necron Overlord asked in a suspicious voice.


    "You have made clear you want a collection of Titans. Fine! So you can keep those you already have. But that Psi-Titan is armed with a powerful Pariah weapon the dread Sinistramanus Tenebrae</a>. The pilot is also a Blank of tremendous power, and only that Pariah Princeps can fire the weapon. Now imagine that weapon, repaired and magnified, combined with the Blackstone Fortress. It might even work on the Hadex Anomaly!" I suggested in a teasing voice.


    "...Perhaps. It would take me years to pinpoint the exact timeline, and extract the weapon undetected. The Human Emperor is still active at that time, and he scares me. It would be very risky for me even if working through a disposable remote, and the gains... The gains would be worth it, as I do have these orange monkeys to repair and upgrade that Tenebrae device. And in return?" Trazyn asked in an aggravated voice.


    "I want that other Titan, including the crew. And a mind-control device based on the Enslaver bones. Something very subtle and undetectable by psykers. Plus the STC schematic for a better Titan, although I assume you already have those." I demanded in a eager tone. I wasn''t asking much, and the Necron knew it.


    "It is a small claim indeed, if the extraction is successful. Surely you need something else?" Trazyn the Infinite wondered sensing something was amiss.


    I pretended to think it over. "I could use a dozen small-scale tesseracts, for my agents. A thousand cubic kilometers of inner volume would be enough, perhaps also allowing short range teleports, don''t wanna give these agents too many powers, you surely understand."


    I think the Necron chuckled in amusement, while checking his stores for something on that low scale. "I do have a couple of these trinkets, we call them a Nexus_Arrangement</a>. However, a dozen of them would be too much. Two of them, one paid in advance for your helpful information, the other when I recover that Psi-Titan. And your Null-Bone staff is ready too, although the flaw is very small. Perhaps the infant human needs to grow stronger and widen the flaw, before more psyker powers can be used."


    Well, that made sense, I guess. Aeneas would only have the Blank traits manifested, like all the Blanks. But as he reached puberty the psyker genes will activate just like they did for Janice.


    I could wait a decade no problem.


    As for other trades, I would need more valuable information or artifacts. Back to lore digging, when I returned to my Chapter.


    Checking with the Pharos one last time, I located a fleet of Ravagers</a> Chaos vessels in orbit above the Tau world Salomine. With some carefully placed melta bombs inside the engine rooms, their ships were immobilized and prevented from retreat, giving the Tau a worthy enemy to fight. Why not let the Tau enjoy the wonders of the galaxy, and test their tactics on Chaos Space Marines?


    After this, it was time to leave Sotha, before another less-friendly Inquisitor showed up. I couldn''t count on my luck to meet another Ordo Xenos beauty. Were they hired as ambassadors for the human race?


    Not that I would mind another pretty Inquisitor, even with the host of problems and demands they brought along.

 Daemon - Ch 124

    And lastly, it was time to finish the deal with the pretty blonde infocyte, setting her on a long quest of my own. Well, after thoroughly pumping Calixa full of endorphins and gene-seed, naturally.


    She stretched on my bed like a cat, and licked a finger teasingly, which made me almost keep her in my retinue, just for fun. But her talents would be wasted like that.


    "Dear Calixa, focus on your mission!" I chided her sharply with a mind transmission, which broke her reverie.


    "Of course, my lord. Another mission beside birthing you a child, you mean?" the blonde minx asked while patting her belly. It wasn''t visible, but my Navigator confirmed a Blank fetus was growing inside.


    "We will meet again, and you''ll have many more children, my dear. I will keep the Blanks, and you will train the rest of our children. As for your mission, you will have to travel and compile a list of allies for our House. Rogue Traders and rich Governor Houses, on Imperial worlds that have shipyards and weapons factories. This data-stack contains a thousand STC patterns, which would be tremendously valuable to any of our allies. As for your escort, you will have this space wolf puppy called Trajan, Silent Sister Hestia and five Deathwatch Astartes from Rose''s retinue, and battalion of Catachans for...aggressive negotiations. For more diplomatic matters, you will have Sister Helena and a couple of Order Famulous Sisters to conduct genetic testing." I explained in a gentler voice, while Canis licked his puppy with a sad face.


    Sorry buddy, we all make sacrifices. I will have to temporarily detach one of my cute nurses and her too friendly family advisers, and Hestia was rather a formidable warrior in her own right. Just in case some Chaos cult tried to impede my plans.


    I even detached Sly Marbo to aid Calixa in her difficult mission, along with three thousands Catachans, a thousand of them women. Couldn''t let the big bad monster rest over the next decade, when he could pump babies during travel, and then strangle or vanish impolite reluctant allies who didn''t know yet who their boss was. And that pocket tesseract would be very useful for his task. Perfect place to store dead bodies too.


    Calixa skimmed the data-stack with wide eyes, no doubt realizing exactly how valuable the information inside was. "So, I''m to wait here until your daughter Andrea arrives with a Mars battlecruiser, and then proceed to Kar_Duniash</a> to install Macharius-pattern warp-less drives on the ship. After that, I have free rein on my travels, though not too far from the Ultima Segmentum." she mused while reading the mission''s parameters.


    "It''s why it is called an independent command, Calixa. Andrea also has 50 billion thrones in her vault, and some other gifts. Our Lancefire house is not poor, as you well know. The Vigil for the Vanquished was gifted to us by a Primarch, right?" I reminded her in a wry tone.


    "... And if I misbehave, those Astartes have orders to hunt me down. I see." the infocyte deduced with perfect logic.


    "You will not misbehave, my dear. We have the same goals, and the same enemies. We just use different means, and Grand Master Fadix and I will be colleagues on Terra, soon enough. As secondary goals, you will locate cultists and corrupt officials, and keep watch for Inquisitors that are themselves corrupt or helping cultists. Those you will report to Captain Andrea, and she will decide their fate. You will not act yourself, is that clear?" I demanded while twisting her nipples in warning.


    "I understand, my lord. Your daughter is a Blank herself and thus not suspect of corruption." Calixa muttered in a weird voice, as if enjoying the pain. Very possible, considering what they must have put her through to become a member of the Vanus Temple.


    "Exactly. And the very reason Blanks were hunted out from Terra, including the Silent Sisters. Can''t have people immune to Chaos, right?" I asked in a rhetoric question.


    The blonde infocyte nodded while meditating on my words. "It does seem stupid in hindsight. So that''s why..."


    Soon after, my Battleship and the carriers departed for home, while Calixa and her new small army awaited for Andrea to arrive.


    A week later I received a hero''s welcome on Illevar, while our troops and crew on the Crusade fleet were regarded as invincible heroes against the xenos terror.


    Our losses were indeed minuscule, and mostly only machines and equipment.


    And so I continued my long task, staying on Illevar this time, to oversee the progress of the Lamenters, and returning the lost Brothers to our Chapter. Veteran Semnai still wasn''t too happy with me, but there was nothing he could do but lament to himself and keep his duty, training the new generation.


    Chyron took over most of the tactical training, because millennia of practical experience counted a lot.


    After two years of hard work and constant exploration and expansion, we had to halt, because the volume was becoming too large and difficult to patrol. Five hundred habitable worlds and ten times as many star systems used as naval bases and mining outposts will suffice, until we had a large enough population.


    A couple of arid Ork-infested worlds were kept as training ground for our regiments, as well as live testing area for the new weapons and machines being produced by Forge Retribution.


    Meanwhile, Elixa kept expanding the Obsidian Auguries like I had hoped, and taught the future techmarines the tricks of an infocyte. Their implantation with gene-seeds was not as easy as with the Blank recruits of the Lamenters, but we did have high quality stock from the Red Scorpions and Primarch Khan himself, plus gene-seeds extracted from Mantis Warriors, Executioners and Blood Angels. Plenty of Aspirants still died, even with all my efforts to prepare them.


    Company after company, the techmarine candidates were either sent to friendly Forge Worlds to be trained, or trained at home by the tech-priests of our own.


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    And as it happened, those candidates sailed on ''discovered'' ships, cruisers and destroyers captured during the Badab War, but their hangars and troop decks filled with blackstone and other valuable ore. The ships will return upgraded and filled with more Catachan regiments, to serve as colonists for my new kingdom in the Fringe.


    On Forge Retribution, my half-brothers and sisters were learning how to pilot their Knights, under Lord Whitelance''s supervision.


    Everything seemed to work fine, and I was getting worried it was something too good for this hell.


    And only a month after, a huge Ork Waagh arrived at my doorstep, with crazy Orks throwing asteroids at my defenses and capital, while to the side, a gathering of ten Chaos Chapters waited for the way to be cleared.


    It would have worked no doubt, despite my efforts to provide as many orbital forts and defense ships as humanly possible.


    There were other gods, and they hated me.


    "You should gather your family and retreat, evacuating as many civilians as possible." Dreadnought Chyron advised me in a calm voice.


    "Things look so bad, huh?" I mused out loud, while scratching Canis on his head.


    The space wolf snorted in dismissal and went to look for another imported she-wolf to subdue. He wasn''t that interested in my games it seemed.


    Sadly, those bitches were all one-time partners for Canis, as they rarely survived being mounted by a van-sized wolf. Even if they did, and carried a few puppies to term, they were rather...let''s say, too broken for further use.


    Right, the big Ork Waagh.


    I almost forgot...and they''re gone. A minute later, the Chaos ships also vanished, but only to reappear into the sun, with plasma warheads detonating inside their engine rooms, to keep them from escaping.


    The void was almost clear, and I was not even paying much attention as the last Chaos battleship started melting deep inside the sun, when the Starfort shuddered and trembled like something huge hit us.


    "Gellar generatoriums overloading! Breach on wing 8!" the console lexmachanic announced in almost panic.


    "Containment protocol! And let''s go and receive the visitors! I proclaimed while priming Reason for combat.


    In a minute, I climbed inside the cockpit and urged the Knight at full speed, rushing towards the breach. In the tesseract I could faintly see the invader, some kind of big demon slashing about our garden and the precious hydroponics. Damn it!


    Those had costed me a billion thrones to import from all over, since combat drugs and rare medication were hard to find and had to be produced by Astartes Apothecaries. Who knew?


    Brother Semnai ran even faster than my Knight and managed to slash off a wing from this demon, with the Chronoglaive I gave him, before getting slapped aside, his Terminator armor tumbling like a 2-ton leaf.


    Semnai vanished in my labyrinth before he could dent my deck, and probably get a concussion. Or give the deck a concussion, for that matter.


    "I am M''kar</a>, the..." the big demon began shouting as his head vanished under a blast from my Volcano Lance.


    The demon didn''t die, instead starting to regrow it''s lost head and wing, when the Silent Sisters arrived in force and began chopping at his body with ease, while my Power Glaive held the demon''s own sword locked.


    I kinda wished to give the thing a True_Death</a>, but I didn''t have a Force Weapon, nor the psyker powers to use one. And the only other such weapon, usable by a Blank, was the True Name of a demon.


    Well luckily for me, I did know of this M''kar. And the Silent Sisters were quite a force-multiplier too.


    "You are Maloq Kartho ! Merely a Word Bearer traitor, unable to keep your oath. I sentence you to die a True Death, your soul erased forever!" I boomed from my cockpit, just as Sister Letitia jumped and slashed the arm holding the black demon sword.


    With my Power Glaive free, I could cut and slash the corrupted marine transformed into a winged demon into tiny bits, and portion each cut to my Silent Sisters, to be exorcised.


    A flint dagger was all that remained from the banished demon, which I collected for myself. This must be one of those rare Athame</a>, an Interex relic able to cut through space itself.


    It will take me some time to learn its use, but from what I knew, they could turn an enemy to your side.


    Then I remembered to bring back Brother Semnai, and proceed at directing the tech-priests and servitors to seal the fort''s breach and burn the poor plants. It wasn''t like we would use frozen and corrupted plants for anything.


    We will need even more Blackstone armor and Gellar fields. Damn demons!


    "Is M''kar truly dead, Master Lancefire?" the Veteran Brother asked as the last vestiges of the demon''s body were burning under the Pariah boots of my Sisters.


    "Probably so. Using a human vessel makes it very easy to kill the stupid demons. Shout their name, and cut them down. And having Silent Sisters around helps too." I explained patiently while driving Reason back to its hangar.


    "...It seems too easy." The man muttered in distrust.


    "Knowledge is a great power, Brother. Guard it well." I said wryly as the cockpit opened and I patted Reason on its armored head.


    A minute later, Enginseer Felicia arrived running at full tilt, passing me without a word and going over the scrathes of the Knight with cooing sounds like calming a baby.


    Incense and oil as well as prayers and machine canticles covered the poor Knight suit, and its mechanical head stared at me in a pleading gaze. ''Make her leave!''


    Sorry, dead brother. Just endure, like we all did. Plus you did fight a Daemon Prince, so holy oils and techno-lingua prayers should help. Or at least, do no harm.

 Brood - Ch 125

    As I returned to the command center, I was already exploring what these Orks have brought me, besides the Space Hulk still far beyond the gas giant.


    Nearly 80 Kroozers, 6 Ork Battleships and 250 escorts, of which 50 ships were Chaos Destroyers still bearing the marks of a couple Chaos warbands. This was possibly the payment the traitors used to attract the Orks, not that it actually took much to convince them into attacking anyone. Done it myself a few times.


    But this indeed gave me a great idea, if only I could find an Ordo Xenos Inquisitor to get on board with my plan.


    And while my ships formed into a strike group to dismember that Space Hulk, I concluded my work and ejected those infested Chaos destroyers into the Sun. Good riddance.


    I now had even more precious metal to construct my army and armor up my ships.


    The battlecruisers and battlebarges first, because they had the huge reactors meant for battleships, and thus more than enough energy to move, even after tripling their armor.


    And once all these Ork Kroozers were cleaned up and repaired, I would have a hundred capital ships to form the core of my personal fleet, backed up by ten battleships and several carriers. And everything would be able to travel outside the Warp too.


    The logistics would get a bit complicated, but while I had the Kroozers towed to friendly Forge Worlds, then upgraded, the next generation of granddaughters will be almost ready to become Captains.


    The decision thus made, I nodded to myself while Chiron just mumbled something.


    "You said something Chyron?" I asked to make sure.


    "I said you''re breaking all the rules, Lord Lancefire. Not that the Chaos worshipers didn''t break them first. A hundred Ork capital ships, and a hundred traitor vessels, just gone. There must have been billions of Orks and ten thousand traitor Space Marines, with Emperor knows how many Demon Engines and fighters and bombers and tanks." the dreadnought grumbled in a deep voice from his coffin.


    I nodded in agreement. His estimations of enemy numbers and equipment were spot on.


    Going by any rational measure, the traitors should have won, in less than a year. Probably before any help could be sent from Ultramar.


    Then again, I did kinda burn down nearly any remaining Demon World in the Pharos range, plus a hundred Ork worlds and just as many Tyranid crawling nests.


    Must have ruined lots of carefully laid plans and reduced the Chaos influence in the segmentum by half or more.


    I should have captured some cultists and interrogate...wait. There were some remaining on the Space Hulk. And a billion Orks too, plus the other assortment of creatures generally found on a Space Hulk, like mutants and genestealers and a dozen types of xenos I never seen before.


    These guys must have come from the Eye of Terror or somewhere.


    But in a few hours, it was kinda over, as the monstrous hulk began breaking up under a barrage of torpedoes and Nova shells, and I could start stealing away battleship-sized fragments, widening gaps for more weapons to strike at fractures and split off mangled hulls and twisted weapons and engines.


    Even so, the hulk began moving away while losing megatonnes from its mass with every salvo from our strike group. Seeing this, I directed a thousand corvettes to dive and unload everything in the middle of the remaining hulk.


    A fragment 100 kilometers long sheared off under the thousands of torpedoes striking along a mid-line, and less than half of this hulk reached Warp limit and jumped away.


    Damn cheating bastards! In time the Space Hulk will collect more victims and grow again, as in the Warp dimensions were malleable, and ships could intersect each other, then remained fused once the hulk emerged into realspace.


    Anyway, I did manage to collect a couple of sorcerers and even a Navigator. Well, it kinda made sense to use a Navigator to guide this beast, and the captured ships would each have a Navigator. One of them would eventually crack and do the bidding of his new masters.


    I began organizing an interrogation center, with security protocols in place. Pain wouldn''t be really useful, but techpriests and drugs would, as well as memory reading devices and Silent Sisters to keep things fair.


    And then, the interrogations began, recorded on pict-cams and send to the command center and the Lamenter barracks. The new Lamenters should know what to expect in their career, and fucking use their melta backpack before they lay limbless and dissected on a torture table.


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    Brother Semnai arrived escorted by a Sanguinary Priest and huffed at the display. "This will hurt morale, and give the recruits bad dreams."


    I snorted and waved a hand at the big holoscreen. "No Astartes has ever died of old age, Brother. The lucky ones will get a bolter round in their face, or maybe a claw. As for the unlucky ones, this is very mild. The worst would happen to those Lamenters who are stupid enough fall the Chaos. Because then, I will be the one making them suffer. Not merely having the memories torn away by a Mechanicus brain probe. A millennium of real suffering and then True Death, obliterating their souls completely." I continued in a pleasant voice, as if we were talking about wines.


    The Sanguinary Priest shuddered and walked off in a hurry, while his eyes turned black. He could run, but I knew all of them now. I had every single one memorized, just in case I needed to extract them, or hunt them down.


    Semnai was made of sterner stuff, or he has seen too much in the Deathwatch. Inquisitors could be inventive and brutal too, I suppose. The man just sighed and sat down to watch.


    "We''ll need to salvage that Ark Mechanicus. It will make good training for the recruits. We''ll incinerate and melt the rest of the metal to buy new ships and weapons." I continued while highlighting a nearly intact Mechanicus cruiser that was only lacking engines.


    "Expected opposition, Chapter Master?" Chyron perked up at the idea of killing xenos.


    "There are 68 thousand hostiles on board. Half of them genestealers. There''s even a Broodlord, on deck 15." I explained in an amused voice.


    The dreadnought grumbled something like insanity and impossible. Then spoke more clearly. "And who will go?"


    "Those 5000 Aspirants, the techmarines, and all the Sanguinary Priests in the first wave, under your command. Bolt pistols and melee weapons only. The Blank recruits and Semnai will teleport on deck 15 to engage the Broodlord and its retinue using only melee weapons." I demanded, giving the easy job to Chyron.


    So many people, will only need to fire 10 shots each, and not miss.


    Semnai grunted at his task, hand patting the bolt pistol on his hip. "We cannot take our weapons?"


    "You can take whatever weapons you want. Those who use anything else than what I ordered get disqualified. Now this, this will become our Lamenters training schedule. What other chapter can train in boarding operations, with live enemies, in their home system? Just imagine how big that Space Hulk is! We can train a million Aspirants with ease." I exclaimed in a joyous voice.


    "As you say, Chapter Master. Here we can train in safety. But you won''t always be there to watch over us." Chyron proclaimed in a wise voice, and walked away to prepare the operation.


    Brother Semnai had a much smaller task, and fewer troops to command. In ten minutes my Blank sons were ready, half wearing Terminator armor, the other Devastator models.


    Once they confirmed readiness, I just moved them on board the Ark Mechanicus cruiser on deck 15, and then started sending over small groups of techmarines and Sanguinary Priests, as soon as they held a palm out for transport.


    Initially it went well for both groups, but as soon as I started to move Aspirants over, it became hectic. Men were panicking, genestealers were jumping about from pipes and behind corners, their claws able to slice through metal with ease.


    Pistols served little purpose if you were not able to see and target your enemy.


    I allowed most injuries, except losing limb and life, extracting the ''dead'' ones and sending them again on deck 1. The injured men found themselves in the Apothecary for emergency medical care, and then sent once more to deck 1, to start the mission again.


    It was kinda fun, playing dungeon master.


    Once in a while, a group of Orks Boyz would spawn at their backs, forcing the Aspirants to advance more carefully.


    New bolter crates and bottles of water and nutrigruel would await at every new deck, as a reward for reaching a new level. It was kinda fun.


    Sadly, the boss raid wiped, as a Broodlord was a bio-titan and not easily defeated by noob players.


    They had to start all over, passing through corridors infested with Orks and Tyranids to reach the boss room again and again.


    About six hours later, the men seemed exhausted, and they still didn''t manage to complete the mission.


    Don''t worry guys! We will start again, tomorrow.


    I had enough Orks and Tyranids in my tesseract to train an Astartes Legion of old. And...that''s what I did try to obtain.

 Ashuria - Ch 126

    By the end of the decade, Forge Retribution had finally completed the long shaft towards the planet mantle and installed the Reality Cage, which did in fact prevent Warp-engines from working next to it, and also gave hundreds of techpriests and acolytes terminal seizures. Nobody was certain why that happened, but many humans did have latent psyker genes, including the Cult Mechanicus members.


    However, it wasn''t all bad. Those psyker techpriests were also the most likely to fall to Chaos, like the Dark Mechanicum had.


    As for FTL communication, we had the Forge''s astropaths secluded on a distant moon, near the edge of the system, and they weren''t blown up by the island of reality. They just couldn''t see the planet or commnicate directly, instead having to use Manifold transmissions via encrypted gravity waves, or even laser or vox communiques for pict or voice messages.


    It wasn''t perfect, but it worked well enough that I gave the go ahead to install such devices on every large world in the Lancefire Dynasty. From Natale to Radium, then Illevar and Liberation, then lastly Salvation.


    We should work out the kinks and potential problems before using the Reality Cage on the Cardinal World. Well, it was more of an agri-world and Fortress World now, the first Hive City being slowly dug downwards instead of raised.


    The Hive City would be much less exposed to air and orbital attacks that way, plus the earth itself will provide structural resistance, instead of relying on expensive materials and complex technologies to keep those spires up.


    I had a much better use for adamantium than holding up a thousand skyscrapers dozens of kilometers tall.


    For example, building a thousand starships.


    Imports of immigrants continued at increased rate, both criminals and indentured serfs from the nearest Hive Worlds.


    And when Amberley finally arrived, she did not come alone. Beside the Catachans and the Drop-cruisers, she had brought her daughter Cyrene, and another Inquisitor of her Order called Ashuria_Indris</a>.


    Cyrene had the psyker gift, which wasn''t actually good, but I kinda expected that. All of my kids with Rose have been psykers after all. Must be my damned luck.


    And Ashuria...well she wanted something from me, as expected. Turns out it wasn''t a wonderful romance or gifted children, but instead Ashuria wanted xeno technology and weapons she could use.


    Well, I did have plenty of that, as it happens. Inquisitors did have a seventh sense for smelling a rich bounty and that sense led her right towards me.


    But the woman should be used in other ways too, not just as a weapon against the terror.


    Although Ashuria had a plain face, with brunette hair reaching her shoulders and brown eyes watching me calm and restrained, I wasn''t easily convinced.


    Especially not when Ashuria glanced at Amberley as she played with the Null bone staff, something like envy and greed flashing in those eyes before resuming a homely demeanor.


    "Xenos technology, huh? I suppose I can help, dear Ashuria. Are you a psyker?" I asked to make sure. Not all Inquisitors were, but those with psyker powers were the most likely to survive.


    "A very minor talent, Lord Lancefire. Lambda-level." the brunette woman complained in a soft voice.


    I nodded thoughtfully and considered a few options. I could help her, quite a lot. Perhaps even make her a Beta-level psyker with the Shadowlight artifact from Prelia.


    "And you, Amberley? How much power do you have with the relic staff in your hand?" I asked the other Inquisitor.


    Amberley grimaced and struggled to lift a few tarot cards. "About Lambda-level as well. Your Rose is much stronger, even with this staff."


    "You''ll get stronger, my love. As for Lady Indris, we will need to work very hard together. Perhaps a dozen children, before we obtain one child bridging the Emperor''s gift and my own. Only after that feat, would an artifact like Amberley''s work for you." I proposed with a shameless smile, and sipped some expensive Dammassine</a>.


    Good stuff, and also very expensive to import. A barrel of it was as expensive as a Fury starfighter.


    The new Inquisitor lady measured me with suspicious eyes, before turning to her colleague. "Are you okay with this, Inquisitor Vail?"


    Amberley just shrugged and began taking off her leather suit in response. "Just sit back and observe, esteemed colleague. I kinda missed my lover, and he''s grown even taller. Should be a lot of fun, my Pef darling."


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    A couple of hours later, Ashuria had emptied my bottle of Dammassine and her face seemed rather red and hot. I waved her closer, and stole a gentle kiss. She tasted like almonds, which was very sexy.


    Much later, I had both women resting beside me, while I caressed their sweaty skin.


    "I could get used to this, even if it would delay my task." Ashuria murmured and kissed my shoulder.


    "Then we shall do our best, for a month or so. Afterwards, I have to visit Forge Retribution and check the progress of the anti-Ork virus."


    Both Ordo Xenos Inquisitors raised themselves and started interrogating me in various ways, until I spilled the beans.


    "I''m quite certain experimenting with xenos weapons is forbidden and considered heresy." Amberley muttered while playing with my progenoid glands.


    I shrugged and drew Ashuria into a long kiss. "Out here in the Fringe, I speak for the Emperor. Everything I say or do is divinely inspired. To disobey me is heresy." I explained in a patient voice, while playing with Ashuria''s body as a counter-point.


    "One more time, Pef?" she pleaded in my ear in a throaty voice.


    I smiled inward. Angelic genes were quite useful today.


    By the third week, I decided to test the Ancient device on Amberley, and see what it could do. Should I have been surprised, to see her psyker powers jump from Gamma to Alpha-level in ten minutes of exposure?


    Well, I wasn''t. The device was working exactly as promised. Amberley now had her own powers back at Gamma-level even with the Null-bone staff, and the Inquisitor was very grateful for my gift.


    "This is amazing, lover! Oh, you''re getting so fucked this week, til you won''t be able to walk!" the blonde woman claimed in a determined voice, making Ludvaius chuckle to himself.


    I signaled ''Silence!'' with two fingers before grabbing the horny woman and making her look in my eyes. "This one time, for fun. You''re pregnant already and our friend Ashuria is not. Plus I have many other concubines."


    Amberley pouted and jumped on the bed, her bountiful body enticing me to just keep her in bed for a few decades. "I''ll be back in two years anyway. And perhaps I may find you a nice gift in return."


    Sadly, my duty demanded more than just pleasure.


    I still had a hundred Catachans, a hundred nobles, a hundred Valhallans and a thousand Blank women to impregnate, and then a thousand Ogryn females waiting for me at Forge Retribution.


    Yes, I did not forget about that project, although I might spread that difficult duty to some of my sons as well. Even their prettiest exemplars, and not yet fully mature, and they were taller than me and twice as muscular. And not that pretty, as you can imagine.


    Perhaps do it from behind and lights turned off? And then close my eyes and think of Terra.


    And on Terra, things were going quite bad from what I could glean. Of course, most reports were Redacted, or expunged or mere propaganda but a Cardinal dying couldn''t be hidden. Nor could the Master of Astra Telepathica, despite claims of a long illness.


    Their place in the Senatoris Imperialis had been taken by the Lord Commanders of the Astra Militarum and the Imperial Navy, which pointed to a more militaristic conduct for the Imperium in the next decades.


    Primarch Khan was merrily butchering his way somewhere in the Segmentum Tempestus, reinforcing Forges and moving dozens of Astartes Chapters over Hive Worlds instead of their preferred Feral Worlds, which had nearly no value.


    In the east, Primarch Guilliman was still gathering troops and ships for the Defendarius Crusade, which simply meant more and more Sentinel Worlds being set up, and his characteristically brutal cleansing of corrupt officials.


    If the Imperium had three more Primarchs they might make it through the future crisis, but they did not.


    It seemed I had to ''accidentally'' wake up Lion El''Johnson, the Primarch of the Dark Angels.


    And also, chat up my insane Necron friend, and obtain extra technology based on the Tau database.


    The next week however, I did depart for Retribution with Ashuria and her retinue on board the Canticle. She even had a Genetor Magos willing to follow her, which would be quite a boon for the Fungal Research Division, those making the glass-virus against the Orks.


    My battlecruiser finally had warp-less engines now, plus megatonnes of extra armor and a Nova Cannon, and so did all the battlebarges and battlecruisers under my command. The Lamenter Starfort was being plated over with even more armor and Blackstone, and configured to serve as a mobile base for future operations.


    However, the battleships will still take decades to be ready for combat, even those sent for repair at Forge Triplex Phall.


    They were just too big and complex machines, and some of the upgrades I demanded wouldn''t be easy to install anyway.

 Velayne - Ch 127

    I had brought 20 of my Blank sons with me on this trip, each with their own harem and retinue of bodyguards and tech-priests, and a couple of Blank Lamenters to begin trials for the Leviathan Dreadknights.


    Yes, exactly those obtained from Trazyn, but made much simpler to construct, even by a small Forge World. The Leviathans were still as expensive as a Baneblade heavy tank, but more powerful and much more agile.


    The choke in production was manufacturing the complex atomantic reactors and shields, as those were the key attribute, not the size or the weapons.


    One such Leviathan could be made every two years, even with all our efforts.


    They also needed the Black Carapace bionic implants to be wielded at full performance, which kinda sucked. I didn''t have that organ, nor did my Silent Sisters.


    Of course, a weaker Dreadknight variant had been made, using the mind impulse unit implant instead, and a simpler plasma reactor. Those could be made two per year as well, and thus we had ten of them ready for trials, piloted by Blank women assigned as Auxilia Force to the Lamenters.


    There was nothing the Codex Astartes preventing me from recruiting and arming women to fight beside the Battle-Brothers, and so I used that. Small numbers for now, but in time I would have a powerful army, even larger than the limit imposed for most Astartes Chapters. And that without resorting to stupid tricks like sending 1000 men on a constant Crusade and then implanting 1000 more, like the Black Templars did.


    Ashuria seemed a bit bothered by the Reality Cage, but there wasn''t much I could do.


    "Try not to use psyker powers here. There''s a Planetary Gellar Field covering the surface." I explained while watching over the trials with interest.


    My Blank sons were able to run and do flips with their Leviathans, while the poor Sisters had to lumber slowly and fire the plasma gatling guns in support. Not that great, but these women weren''t princeps, with specially selected genes for piloting mechs.


    On the nearby field, the Knight squad were drilling in melee formations, using huge Power Swords against servitors and dummy targets.


    I took pity on them and released a few thousand Orks to make things more fun.


    As expected, their Waagh field didn''t work, and the Orks had to contend with muscles and melee weapons against Knights. Too easy, but this was merely practice after all.


    I did the same for the Leviathans, and just watched the mechs stomp their targets with impunity.


    "Can we get some Tyranids, dad?" my son Valis asked bravely.


    "They want some Tyranids to test their mettle. What do you say, my dear Inquisitor?" I asked Ashuria with a raised eyebrow.


    "I want to see that! Give them something big, like that Broodlord from the captured Ark Mechanicus." the brunette woman demanded with a grin.


    All right then. A Tyranid army it is.


    I guess I shouldn''t have sent a million Tyranids, but I did make quite a show, and tested the machines to the limit and beyond. Once again, the Tyranid Silence didn''t quite work, nor did their command synapse link, so I compensated that with larger numbers.


    In the end, the Knights had to march over and help out, while the local techmarines moved in with remote controlled Guardian turrets to even the numbers somewhat.


    Still, it took a whole day to eliminate this small Tyranid army, despite 50 Knight-class mecha and a thousand turrets firing constantly.


    As soon as combat was over, the Retribution techpriests rushed to patch up the damaged walkers and also retrieve the combat logs, and police the battlefield for precious gene samples from a couple Tyranid Hives.


    Meanwhile, I was testing myself with the Ogryns, who didn''t seem too satisfied with my pretty boy body and performance. My sons did even worse though, because they were still normal men, if rather athletic men from all the training.


    Luckily this duty took only two weeks, and then I could return to my regular concubines, and especially my wife Decima, who was feeling rather horny and eager for more kids.


    Or possibly simply needed a vacation from her boring job of administering a stellar kingdom, setting up patrol routes and supply points and sending equipment and immigrants where needed.


    I would have been overwhelmed doing all that for a decade too.


    Sometime later, Felicia sneaked into my room and dove for her prize, while Decima held my head in her lap and massaged my scalp.


    "We''ve grown so big and powerful, husband. We have a Knight House and so many planets and ships. I fear the Imperium will soon come asking for everything, like they always do. Install their Administrators and Bishops everywhere, and suck us dry." Decima whispered in a soft voice.


    Felicia glanced at my eyes a bit curious, then continued her task, sucking me dry as well.


    I nodded inward, as Decima was quite correct in her predictions. We were not far enough, to escape the reach of the Imperium completely. Quite evident by my three Inquisitor lovers and the third fleet carrier being finished upgrading.


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    Rose would be returning soon, as the Tau threat was being contained and their expansion halted. Not their technological advances though, due to constant attacks by Orks, Chaos and Necron, plus a couple of small Tyranid fleets passing through Tau space while heading for Sarlok.


    The Tau were forced to rely more and more on their human allies from the colonies, which also gave the Inquisition an infiltration path to obtain even more advanced Tau technology.


    And if some of these human researchers managed to ''discover'' Imperial STC patterns for starfighters, or slow Leviathans walkers or clunky plasma and melta guns...well then. They would be promoted, while the Tau researchers began repairing and upgrading these poor weapons to something of Tau quality.


    As for Decima''s predictions...they came true in less than a month, just as I was preparing to depart from Retribution.


    An Ultramarines Strike Cruiser arrived, bearing the commander of the Guilliman''s Vitrix Guard, named Cato_Sicarius</a>. At his side there was an Inquisitor Lady, but one I did not know, named Velayne_Ramaeus</a>.


    "Chapter Master Lancefire, it has come to the Primarch''s attention that your Chapter is in possession of a large fleet, including 5 Battlebarges, 25 cruisers and 30 destroyers. You are hereby requested and required to provide your ships to the Balur Crusade</a>, with the aim of cleansing xenos and heretics all along the Eastern Fringe. Especially those Drop-cruisers, and any armored regiments you have available in your Auxilia." the Ultramarine Captain demanded, and held out a long parchment signed by Roboute himself.


    I pretended to think about it while I read the document and had it memorized.


    Dotting every line, and did not mention the Rogue Trader ships, which were not subject to his authority. Clever and pretty much irrefutable, more so with the strange Inquisitor to his side.


    My armored forces were already famous from the Badab War, and the Drop-cruisers made a big impact in the Moloch Crusade.


    Nothing about the Silent Sisters...which was good and bad. Possibly still nominally proscribed in the Imperium, for now.


    "It is very compelling, I admit. But if I''m not in command of this Crusade, I''m not interested. The Imperium can afford to waste thousands of ships and regiments with incompetent commanders, but not me." I answered after a tense minute.


    A bit confused, Cato Sicarius glanced at the Inquisitor for support. The woman lowered her cowl, to reveal a scarred face with bionic eyes. Inquisitor Ramaeus also had a bionic hand, so she must have been through a lot, but she survived.


    "It is acceptable, Lord Lancefire. I shall observe you during the Crusade, and quell the fears of some of my colleagues. See, they worry you''re corrupting their female Inquisitors and turning them into your personal sluts." the strange woman spoke in an amused voice, bionic eyes glancing at the pregnant Ashuria at my side, with a knowing look.


    I just smiled widely in response. "Preposterous! If anything, I should be praised for propagating the human race among the stars. Have those names written down for me, I''ll make sure to castigate these insolent Inquisitors of yours."


    I think Cato Sicarius blinked in surprise, but perhaps it was just a gust of wind.


    "Is that so? How many Inquisitors did you...castigate until now?" the woman asked with a faint smile.


    "Eh, numbers! I forget the exact decimal. Obviously not enough, if they dare cast such allegations at my distinguished person." I replied dismissively, then turned to kiss Ashuria for a long minute.


    With a flushed face and heavy breath, Ashuria walked away at a fast pace. She did have another project in mind, testing the glass-virus on a couple of Ork worlds nearby.


    "Well then, I shall find accommodation on your ship as well. This certainly looks like a promising start for a Crusade." Captain Sicarius muttered a bit awkawardly and walked off, leaving me alone with the new Inquisitor.


    I offered her my elbow and started walking towards the bridge. "See? Nothing but false allegations, my dear. Do let me know if you have a candidate in mind, to become a personal slut. Perhaps someone from a different faction, I hear rival Inquisitors murder each other every day."


    The woman patted my arm and covered her face with the cowl once more. "You''re a very interesting young man, Pef Lancefire. And you even have a tesseract of your own, right?" the Inquisitor asked in a soft voice.


    I tried not to flinch, sensing my own tesseract counter hers and blocking its effect. With so many Necrons awakening, and constant attacks by Astartes Chapters on Necron Worlds, it was inevitable someone else would find one.


    But Velayne wouldn''t have the real operation manual, like I had. Nothing to worry about yet. Plus, she was still a woman, and flesh was weak.

 Avalos - Ch 128

    The Crusade was scheduled to depart from Forge World Anuaris</a>, sadly not one in my close contact list.


    But it was never too late to make new friends.


    Just like this good Inquisitor Ramaeus and her silver cube with Necron sigils. It wasn''t a solar system range tesseract like my own, and more like the one I gave to Sly Marbo, but still encrypted and holding a million Necrons in stasis inside.


    We got a bit closer during the trip, but not really close. The woman was damaged and skewed by her task, something to do with an Eldar Cabal and their Dark Pattern.


    I wasn''t all that worried. Generally the Eldar were simply trying to help, in strange and unwelcome ways. Of course, there were many Cabals, and one of them aimed to exterminate all life in the galaxy to deny Chaos victory by ending the source of nightmares and dreams. Pretty much what the Men of Iron had tried as well, and nearly succeeded.


    Other Cabals were trying to bring forth new gods, or kill some gods or both. Other Cabals were searching for Divine Vessels to host the Emperor''s soul or even summoning the Omnissiah, like the Omnissiads</a>. And I kinda suspected some of my ''friends'' of adhering to this cabal, specially the Fabricators of Antax and Triplex Phall.


    And the Fabricator of Anuaris wasn''t too friendly, which was both good and bad.


    Good, because friendly techpriests were likely to dissect you to find out what made you tick. And bad because I wasn''t given all the weapons and modifications to the weapons I wanted.


    I had hoped to obtain more Tarantula drop-pods and Sentinels, but I only got a few thousands, which wasn''t nearly enough.


    Same for Hydra Flak Tanks or enough torpedoes to massacre a Hive Fleet if we encountered one.


    But for this reluctance to help, I took revenge and emptied his stores of more classic Chimeras and Baneblades, had one Ork Terror ship transformed into a Marauder-bomber carrier, with 5000 bombers, and demanded that all Astartes Battlebarges from the dozen Chapters selected for the Crusade be retro-fitted with Nova Cannons and warp-less engines.


    This took even a large Forge World like Anuaris an entire year, so I could visit Forge World Amontep_II</a> nearby and requisition the lascannon turrets I wanted, plus more torpedoes and Sentinels.


    The Fabricator of Amontep even provided 20 Knights from House Terryn of Voltoris</a>, and thus he was rewarded with an Ork Terror ship filled with blackstone and adamantium, plus a hundred valuable STC templates.


    When the year had passed, Forge Konor arrived with a million of Skitarii on a XL Mechanicus carrier and three Ark Mechanicus cruisers, without even asking for their help. Sure I had helped them in the past, and they owed their Forge World status to me, but it was rare to see the Mechanicus act like this. Perhaps they could learn, or perhaps they were simply bribing me for extra materials and STC templates. Most likely both of that, but I didn''t mind.


    Make yourself useful, and you will be rewarded. It was a simple trade, although the Inquisitor was rather surprised and suspicious why Forge Konor would act like this now, and not during other Crusades.


    "I know for certain you did not call Forge Konor to aid you, as I was right beside you for this entire year." The woman muttered a bit displeased, while her bodyguard Watch Captain Mathias</a> nodded in agreement. They did live in my rooms, which made me lose precious work on the STCs, but I compensated by producing more babies.


    "Quite correct, my dear. I''ll have to find something to reward Forge Konor with during this Crusade. A blackstone Mining World perhaps, or some ancient STC pattern lying around in my inventory." I mused to myself, opening the galactic map for an easy target.


    Some Necron base without a C''tan defending it, which would make things rather complicated.


    I rarely used the cogitator in my apartment, mainly for supply and human resource work, arranging the troops and equipment plus their provisions and munitions.


    Being in charge of a big Crusade was hard work too, not that I even tried doing everything by myself.


    I had a command staff and I wasn''t afraid to use it. Plus a couple of Knight pilots from House Terryn were women, which made integrating them under me much easier. By the time the year had passed, the pilots were even back for light duty, three children born and even a Blank boy among them. By our agreement, I would keep the boy for my Chapter, while they will have two new pilots and even new Knights for them, in a decade or two.


    The former Imperial world of Icnarus</a> was out, because they did have a C''tan and quite a strong one. Nothing urgent anyway.


    I needed to head towards Jericho Reach now, and save Hive World Avalos</a>, before Hive_Fleet_Dagon</a> reached it.


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    Decision made, the troop transports housing 100 Astra Militarum regiments departed under escort from 200 frigates and destroyers, while a recon force of 100 Navy corvettes with Warp-engines sped ahead, to scout the terrain and map out the opposition.


    The capital ships formed up in five task forces commanded by my Blank daughters on board Lamenter battlebarges, each grouped around a fleet carrier.


    We would travel on parallel vectors spread a light-year apart, such that we didn''t miss any enemies on the way.


    Of course, Finona was quite lucky and found a Space Hulk drifting about not even a week into the Crusade, which consumed all her torpedoes to break up into manageable bits. Luckily there were a Company of Ultramarines and Novamarines and other Space Marines in her task force, to pacify and cleanse the derelicts and I also sent the Forge Konor troops there to help.


    Surely, their Forge World could use gigatonnes of free metal, after the Hulk was conquered and towed away bit by bit to be melted and reforged.


    Much better to sacrifice Skitarii and servitors for this long and perilous task, than poor guardsmen with lasguns and bayonets.


    By the time we managed to reach Avalos, another task force lead by my daughter Teresa had deviated to help with an Ork Waagh, aided by the Knights of House Terryn.


    A dozen regiments and 40 destroyers were sent there to help reconquer a dozen planets for the Imperium, and I detached two Drop-cruisers as well. They probably contained ten times as much firepower as the poorly armed guardsmen regiments, and I even had 2 Leviathans and 20 techmarines ready to assist. Doesn''t sound as much, until they each begin to remote-control 100 Guardian turrets and unleash greater firepower than two entire Astartes Chapters, while the Leviathan Dreadknights are ready and able to beat up Ork Bosses with their own limbs.


    We found the Hive World in turmoil, genestealer cults revolting while the Hive Fleet was already blocking Warp-travel with their Shadow in the Warp, even from light years away. Good thing we didn''t use the Warp then, right?


    It took me a minute to analyze the star system and formulate a plan, then I began sending orders to my fleets, grouping the heavier ships in the middle and the faster cruisers for harassment and flank attacks.


    And then out lander began transporting troops to quell the rebellions, and I even managed to locate an Inquisitor Lady trying to shoot a Tyranid Broodlord with her plasma pistol.


    Most of her retinue was already dead, except two Deathwatch marines with Storm Shields and Power Weapons, desperately trying to defend the brave Inquisitor from the xenos bio-titan. It worked about as well as you can imagine, as I did try that scenario with 200 Astartes with melee weapons, and didn''t go well for 23 test runs.


    However, everything changed when a couple of Silent Sisters wearing Leviathan Dreadknights materialized in front and back of the Broodlord. Chop, shoot, slash, shoot.


    It was over in ten seconds, and then they continued onwards, butchering genestealers and cultists while a Lamenter techmarine in a heavily armored Armed Sentinel arrived with his retinue of Guardians to secure the perimeter.


    "Are you alright, Brothers?" the new techmarine asked on the Vox caster.


    "The Emperor protects! We were about to discharge our last duty." a Veteran Deathwatch answered in relief, and checked on his boss. "Lady Kalistradi</a>, are you injured anywhere? These filthy beasts are poisonous."


    The woman crashed to her knees and drew a deep breath. "I saw my death...but I was saved. The Lamenters?"


    "Yes, Inquisitor. We only have three Battle-Brothers, including the Master...although he''s not a real...well. He does a great job, and he sent me and the Sisters here. Don''t worry you''re safe now." the man declared in a proud voice, while his Guardians walking turrets fired volley after volley of lascannons and torrents of multilasers with incredible accuracy.


    "... Then, I shall have to offer my thanks to your Chapter Master, Lamenter. So those black voids of nightmare were Silent Sisters?" the woman asked, holstering her useless pistol and glancing after the Leviathans with a shudder.


    I smiled inward as I focused my attention back of the fleet deployment. Generals Reila and Regina had the ground warfare part covered, while Colonel Jenit was heading down with 3 Auxilia armor regiments and 60 more techmarines, to set up defenses for the main Hive City of Lordsholm.


    Of course my Chapter''s armor regiments were nothing like the normal Astra Militarum units, with 20 times more warmachines, and lots of drones and ground-attack craft in support.


    A couple of different Chapters Astartes Companies were already on the surface and knee-deep in blood, brutally quelling the rebellions while my techpriests and servitors were also preparing to deploy and use the captured rebels and cultists for Omnissiah''s work, converting them into more servitors and digging trenches, setting minefields or simply being marched out as forward artillery observers.


    We still had a month til the main bulk of the Hive Fleet arrived, quite enough time to drag a hundred asteroids for a minimal array of orbital forts, and hit-and-run attacks by Nova Cannon cruisers.


    In the grim future of the 41st Millennium there is only war, and I learned to love it.

 Unbroken - Ch 129

    Having so many resources at my disposal meant I could enact strategies that might be considered wasteful by the Imperium, such as layered void minefields containing plasma and Nova warheads, asteroids with torpedo tubes and missile launchers placed far ahead to soften the attackers, and a couple of old defense lasers repaired and raised into orbit, and then set in geostationary orbit above the planet''s poles.


    On the ground, terrace walls of ferrocrete were being hastily poured, with plasma generators inside, to provide continuous and autonomous power to lascannons Tarantula turrets, and recharge slots for the infantry''s lasgun powerpacks.


    Poles with horizontally spinning flails dotted the dead ground around the Hive City, and drum flails above the gates, would provide some measure of protection against melee attackers, while underground the hive was being cleaned up and reinforced with extra walls of ferrocrete and plates of blackstone around important generators and conduits.


    A couple of Drop-cruisers were making their way towards Avalos on sub-light engines, but they will still need a month to arrive, even going at a quarter of the light speed.


    Perhaps using light cruisers wasn''t so inspired after all, especially not against Tyranids. Might need to ''find'' a heavy cruiser pattern for drop-pods, one with warp-less engines.


    They were not bad, and worked great against Orks or other xenos or traitors, but when the space around a star system was blockaded by the Shadow in the Warp, a slower heavy cruiser would still reach the deployment zone faster. And they could carry 10 times as many drop-pods without having to remove the capital class weapon batteries.


    On a side note, Avira Kalistradi was very grateful for being saved, and it only took a couple of days of light romance to express her gratitude in my bed. The other Inquisitor Lady was perhaps not too pleased, seeing her predictions coming true in front of her bionic eyes. Not that I would turn a friendly Inquisitor into a slut, that''s insulting! Who would raise the children then?


    Perhaps a really crazy Inquisitor, but with a great body? It would be like saving her life, and giving her a new purpose, in my opinion.


    We shall see, once Trazyn provided me an enslavement method like he was testing right now on Astartes and many other of his slaves and subjects.


    It would have to be very subtle and undetectable, as the Inquisition or the Librarians were quite adept at detecting xenos influence.


    "Why is she here, Pef? Surely you can tell Lady Velayne_Ramaeus</a> to wait outside while we enjoy a few hours together?" Avira muttered in my neck, and glared at her fellow Inquisitor for invading her privacy.


    I wasn''t that bothered, having gotten used with my bodyguards or wives keeping watch over me, even in bed.


    "Doesn''t bother me one bit, my dear. My body is pretty much perfect, angel genes and all." I answered in a cheerful tone, and gestured at my nearly Catachan-shaped body. Getting close to 2 meters tall, strong muscles, youthful appearance, angelic face, what was not to like?


    To the side, Canis lifted his eyes to measure me, and then glanced at his own van-sized body of pure raw strength and glossy fur. He was quite amazing as well, too bad I didn''t have a Fenrisian Wolf female for him.


    "Also immune to Warp... I want kids like that too." my new Inquisitor lover murmured while pawing all over me, then deciding to climb for another ride.


    I agreed, naturally. Her kids would be great as she had perfect genes. Someone on Terra must have been selecting the prettiest women to become Inquisitors, for some strange reason. And dear Avira was on top of the list even so, long black hair curling gently over her shoulders, and G-sized breasts meant to feed a dozen children.


    "Your wish is my command, Lady Inquisitor. At least a dozen children, I suppose?" I quipped while groping those great prizes.


    "Oh! At least that...yes." the black-haired beauty whispered in a slight daze.


    Much later, I was having dinner and pushing Canis away from my food when Lady Velayne sat beside me and watched me in silence.


    "I think the mystery is solved, Lord Lancefire. I will absolve you of the silly suspicion of corrupting Inquisitors. However I have one condition!" the woman demanded raising her tone a little.


    I turned to measure the bionic Inquisitor in surprise. Don''t tell me...?


    "... Really?" I asked quite confused.


    "... Not like that, damn idiot! But, my retinue could use a couple of Blanks, to cover my activities from Farseers and other psykers in that Cabal. Perhaps a Null Rod for myself, if you have it." Velayne asked in a more pleading voice.


    Well, Blanks were quite rare indeed. Especially after a host of psyker groups started hunting them down, from Navigators to Inquisitors and a dozen influential groups in-between, including Chaos and genestealer cults, Eldars and even Necrons who made anti-psyker weapons from Blanks.


    I pretended to think about it, before sipping my wine to wash off my meal. "It might be possible, Lady Velayne. But the same rules apply. You want Blanks, you give birth to them. It''s the only way I will allow it, and make sure you''ll take care of my children."


    The woman scowled in disgust, as if having sex with me would be a chore. "That''s not...I''m way over the biological limit anyway. I was over the limit a thousand years ago!" she explained in a low growl.


    Oh, that explained why she was trusted to check on me, being this old and shrivelled inside.


    So, I just nodded wisely and caressed her scared face. "Then you need a miracle, my dear. Luckily, you came to the right person. We shall see to it, after the Tyranids are defeated."


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    Ludvaius chuckled and held his thumb up, while Canis grumbled something like, ''Old bitch!''


    An hour later, the first bio-ships of the Tyranids began entering the system, and thus my tesseract''s range and I kinda forgot about this promise.


    Too busy coordinating the fleet and setting up ambushes and surprise detonations.


    As always, blowing up the Tyranids in the void was much better than letting them reach a planet, but sadly my fleet was much too small to intercept 10 million bioships.


    Over the week, non-stop raids and harassment have forced the Tyranids to disperse somewhat, as to avoid being splashed by Nova shells and lose thousands of destroyer-sized organisms with every detonation.


    So I began to cheat, and fire Nova shells at the larger organisms, while small bioships were stolen and then released back inside the explosion''s radius.


    This worked great, and the Tyranids were powerless to adapt. Only a million bio-ships from Hive Fleet Dagon reached the orbital forts, and less than a tenth managed to drop transport spores on the planet.


    It was still a trillion-sized mass of teeth and claws and bio-plasma guns, and many other biological and psyker organisms, but Avalos was a dead world, polluted and radiated by millennia of careless exploitation.


    That made orbital bombardment feasible and quite advantageous, striking the desant spores on the ground with lances and plasma cannons, while thousands of torpedoes created a barrage of death and blood mist in orbit.


    And since the polar defense lasers did not have to content with atmospheric dispersion, a single shot could core a dozen bio-ships at once, while the battlebarges were constantly teleporting plasma warheads directly inside the Tyranid vessels, instead of Space Marines.


    Cato Sicarius wasn''t too pleased with my innovative use of teleports, so I told him to land and defend the Hive City''s walls. It would come to a melee fight eventually, and the guy was a superb swordsman.


    Captain Khan and most of the Blood Angels and Deathwatch Astartes received the same task, supported by Silent Sisters and Lamenter techmarines.


    There was even a Company of Dark Angels, all fitted with multi-meltas and Storm Shields, waiting beside the Knights of House Lancefire. It would be the safest place on the battlefield but perhaps the worst too.


    And then the horizon grew dark with Tyranid hordes, and artillery shells began landing among the first waves, our drones and ground-attack crafts with servitor brains took off to launch incendiary bombs and missiles over the rolling terrain of horrors,


    while the skies filled with bombers and fighters vying for air supremacy with Tyranid flyers.


    Our corvettes were ordered into low orbit over the Hive City, providing an extra screen against spores and flyers, as well as precise lascannon fire of lower energy output.


    There wasn''t much I could do right now, except hope my strategy was solid, and that the wall of firepower will be enough.


    There were 30 Baneblades and 60 Doomhammers forming the bulwark against the terror, and 60 Macharius-Omega armed with Plasma cannons, backed up by 5000 Sentinels and 3000 Armed Sentinels, 6000 Guardian turrets and thousands of Chimeras and Hydras and Manticores, all unleashing hell towards the invading xenos.


    And they just melted and broke, especially when the Knights added their colossal firepower and the wall turrets entered effective range.


    I smiled and focused on winning the orbitals, as the ground troops could take care of themselves.


    This was how humanity should fight everywhere, and while the Tyranids were the object of the lesson, the recipients were those Astartes and officers taking part in the fight, and seeing what we could do when we were not sabotaging ourselves.


    And when the fighting reached the walls, I handed over a chronoglaive to Lady Velayne and sent her and her Deathwatch guards right beside Cato Sicarius and Captain Khan, and gave the Inquisitor the miracle she needed.


    "The Emperor protects, dear Velayne. Pray hard and strike the xenos, and you will see!" I whispered in her mind while Ludvaius and Rafen prayed hard near my Sounding Board.


    I will need the Angel to make this work, because healing was not among my abilities.


    Did I cheat? Lie and steal? Of course I did. Nothing our dear Emperor wouldn''t do.


    In a golden glow, the Sanguinor appeared beside Ludvaius and stared at the three of us with dead, stone eyes.


    The space twisted, bringing the Shadowlight out and touching his free hand, making the Warp construct increase in power a dozen times. He became more solid, larger and grew armor plates over the golden body, and the dead eyes flickered almost alive.


    Almost. Not yet Primarh, but soon. Death will not bar my way.


    "Go and help humanity, Angel. And do heal Inquistor Velayne. Can''t have the mother of my children be a dried husk with half cyborg organs." I sent towards his mind.


    The Angel smiled sadly and poked the Ancient artifact almost curious. Then he teleported away, slashing hundreds of Tyranids on his path and illuminating the Hive City walls with his golden aura.


    Wounds began to stop bleeding and even restore themselves, drained Imperial guardsmen and terrified PDF soldiers were invigorated and motivated, and his Force Sword could slash with beams a dozen kilometers long, evaporating half of the enemy force in only a minute.


    Among the golden glow covering the entire Hive City, the Silent Sisters were now visible as dark spheres, and a dozen more people in the city were not glowing, instead looking normal, dirty and poor like most Hive dwellers but not glowing. Well, that was an easy way to detect Blanks, so thank you Angel!


    Those Blanks vanished in my labyrinth before the superstitious locals could grab them and have them lynched or something.


    I guess we could repeat this miracle on the next Hive World, probably Castobel if it was still standing.

 Newseam - Ch 130

    Can''t say I was really surprised when a silver-haired beauty, with rosy cheeks and newly grown deep-blue eyes joined me in bed, eager to repay me for the miracle.


    Lady Kalistradi was now grumbling beside me, for giving the other Inquisitor the idea of sharing my bed.


    "Just wait your turn, pretty lady. There''s plenty of Pef to share!" I answered in a genial voice, and drew the woman into a deep kiss, while fondling her with grabby hands.


    "... Fine! It''s not like the two of us will be enough anyway." the black haired model allowed in a softer voice, struggling to regain her breath.


    Indeed, I had Sister Letitia on the menu tonight as well, the glorious siege and the glowing finale having determined the elder Silent Sister to join my family and produce a hundred children to defend humanity.


    Well, nothing like seeing the immensity of the task ahead, I guess. Letitia only had to gaze at the roiling ocean crashing towards her, to realize we needed many more of us to stop them.


    And this Tyranid Hive Fleet was still among the smaller ones, even if divided into a hundred tendrils to reach for food in more places.


    Damn bugs were sustaining themselves by foraging, which was both clever and a weakness.


    Soon the last remains of Hive fleet Kraken would destroy the Necron World of Sarlok, and Trazyn will owe me another favor, for eliminating yet another rival.


    But Necrons had a million Tomb Worlds or more, each of them a match for an Imperium''s Forge World. The Necrons possibly had enough numbers to match the Tyranids in their stasis vaults, and plenty of advanced weapons. Plus those enslaved C''tans, each of them a match for a Segmentum Battlefleet if unleashed.


    And defending Hive Worlds one by one was slightly futile in the long term, except for the immediate gains of requisitioning millions of women for my colonies, plus setting up less corrupt governments indebted to me and my House, cleaning up the underhives and upgrading the defenses to modern standards.


    For wherever my fleet went, I had absolute judicial power as Commander of a Crusade, plus Inquisitors and Astartes to enforce my edicts.


    It seemed amazingly stupid to me for a Hive World to have more than 100 billion people, yet muster less than a million as soldiers.


    On my orders, the new Governor had to raise a billion soldiers over the next 100 years, and the local techpriests covens were also tasked with raising a billion new acolytes, enginseers and techpriests, to support the militarization. The PDF troops were given under the jurisdiction of the Adeptus Arbites during peace time, increasing their ability to patrol every corner and enforce Imperial Law by a million times.


    Then I ordered the construction of a dozen underground Hives with a fortress on top, about 10 kilometers from the main Hive City, such that overlapping fields of fire could protect each of them from invaders.


    It would be the work of generations, but already Avalos was twice as productive as before, and that will keep growing as more and more people got technical training as techpriests. They also had blueprints for system-corvettes and a Planetary Reality Cage to be constructed once they had sufficient numbers and materials.


    A week later, we arrived at Hive World Castobel</a>, to find only 4 Hive Cities still resisting the immense hordes surrounding the battered walls, while a fleet of starved Tyranid bioships were blockading the planet from astropath messages or Warp-engine ships.


    It wasn''t even hard to destroy the lethargic xenos, first clearing the orbit with Nova Cannons and heavy lances, then scouring the Tyranid hordes on the surface with our corvettes and bombers.


    I wasn''t about to sacrifice millions of guardsmen to liberate the devoured Hive Cities, so those infested cities were just melted into boiling slag, to be mined for metal once they stopped glowing.


    Reorganizing the Hive World into a productive place took longer than cleaning up the starved Tyranid armies, even if a thousand corrupt officials, priests and nobles had to be burned publicly to restore morale.


    However, Castobel had been heavily militarized already, and had many factories and manufactorums producing weapons and munitions to keep the Tyranids away, and all they needed were a few billion servitors and techpriests to increase production, both on the ground and from their future shipyards.


    From here, we scoured the Jericho Reach for an entire year, often finding only devoured husks of planets, cultist worlds and a couple of verdant worlds being devoured just then, like Phonos</a>.


    Well, it is why the fleet carried so many Exterminatus torpedoes, to purge the xenos and heretic with holy fire.


    Then we headed north, passing by Sternac</a> to aid with a band of Nurgulite Chaos Marines lead by some guy naming himself Mephidast</a>, which was much too easy after his blighted cruiser appeared deep inside the sun.


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    We kept going, liberating planet Obliterax from another Tyranid tendril named Hive Fleet Jormungandr</a>.


    More ships joined the Crusade when we reached Hive World Sephrax, including five Heavy Drop-Cruisers hastily prepared for me by friendly Forge Worlds.


    Well, I wouldn''t say no to a couple of Navy Battleships anyway, plus a dozen battlecruisers equipped with warp-less engines.


    It was how things worked in the Imperium, Crusades gathering momentum with every glorious victory, or the survivors fleeing in shame and terror after getting mauled by superior forces.


    From there we headed towards Gedron II</a>, and then Sarposia, and reached Forge World Megyre just in time.


    This world had been on my gift list, and they were sort of prepared, even massing thousands of system-corvettes and dozens of Ark Mechanicus cruisers, and they had orbital defenses on gigantic scale, including forts with Nova Cannons, minefields and Vortex torpedoes to shoot at the largest Hive Ships.


    The arrival of my Crusade only hastened the victory, and introduced me to a new Inquisitor Lady named Zaretta_Ngiri</a>, whose name sounded Spanish but was most likely Japanese in some distant past.


    Or possibly both, who knows? She had Asian eyes and rich blonde hair, which kinda made me drool a little.


    Sadly, there was little time for meet and greet and something else, or Lady Ngiri simply didn''t like me. Sounds impossible, I know...but who can tell what''s in a woman''s mind?


    It might have been the two other Inquisitors beside me, holding babies in their arms. But they looked so cute, so it can''t be that. Probably it was though.


    I made a note to appear single and lonely the next time I meet her, and perhaps not flirt with the psyker lady in her retinues. Probably it was in bad taste.


    Still gave Zaretta a dozen expensive gifts, because I was rich enough and powerful religious relics were useless in my inventory. And maybe the advice to get herself a squad of Deathwatch marines from Aegida will come in handy one day. You never knew when you might need some troubleshooters on your side.


    "So you''re not always successful, Lord Pef." Lady Velayne murmured while glancing at the departing Lady Ngiri, with something of a wry voice.


    I sighed inward and declined to answer. Sometimes you had to lose a battle to win the war, and I was dealing with too many unknowns.


    "It will be as the Emperor wills it, my lady. Miracles can happen." I answered in a gentle voice and kissed the baby girl. Little Veria was a Blank like Velayne wanted, and when she''ll grow up she will be her mother''s shield.


    The boy cooking in the oven was a Blank as well, and he''ll be the shield for all humanity.


    Whatever the Angel did to Velayne, it surely worked great if all of our children will be born Blank.


    Lady Adria''s boy was completely normal, if a tad too big. That boy will likely be a giant, and thus we named him Hercules. He had my blond hair and his mother''s eyes, which will certainly be useful when I sent him to seduce the daughters of dozen Rogue Trader Dynasties.


    And while we waited at Forge Megyre for repairs and a dozen Catachan regiments to be equipped to my standards, a certain infocyte named Calixa arrived on Andrea''s battlecruiser, with news and feats worthy of a whole adventure novel.


    Most of those involved trying to create an alliance with a Rogue Trader house based on the rich mining world of Newseam</a>, and then the brutal murder of said Rogue Trader, the planetary Governor, the mining bosses known as the Oremasters, most of the miners themselves and almost half the planet. Sounds bad, but it involves a genestealer cult known as the Rusted Claw</a>, and a crashed voidship infested with genestealers. Luckily, for the good guys I mean, Sly Marbo was there, to even the odds.


    So, my dear Andrea has ''inherited'' her own Warrant of Trade, by marriage and inheritance or vice-versa. Plus the ownership of a mining world rich in adamantium and other precious metals.


    Sure, those nobles signing over the transfer may have been slightly broken and coerced, but then such is life in the 40k universe. Sometimes an anvil named Sly Marbo drops on you, and crushes your dreams.


    As it happens, I had a Forge World right here always in need for minerals, and able to provide servitors and techpriests, in exchange for a sizeable portion of those minerals. I could bet a throne on that.

 Adrielle - Ch 131

    For the final part of the Balur Crusade, Forge Megyre sent their Titan Legion and two Knight Houses to help, because the Ork World of Balur</a> and their Warboss were building a massive army of Gargants and Stompas, the Ork equivalent of a Titan.


    Now, fighting Orks is rather simple, if you know what you''re doing.


    First exterminate their orbital assets. Much easier than dealing with a Tyranid Hive Fleet, as even a thousand Ork warships and a hundred Roks, plus five smallish Space Hulks only served to increase my inventory of ship hulls and free metal.


    Of course, if a hundred capital ships like Ork Battleships, Terror Ships and Kill Kroozers happened to be completely obliterated by a massive barrage of Nova Cannons, and then reappear intact inside my tesseract, that must have been a miracle from the Emperor.


    As for the other ships and the Space Hulks, they will serve as prizes for the participants in the Crusade, each Chapter participating being granted the honor of boarding and reclaiming a dozen Kroozers for their Chapter, while Skitarii and battle-automata from Konor and Megyre got the share the dismembered Space Hulks.


    The Inquisitors and their retinue joined the Mechanicus techpriests and servitors in the second wave, to make sure nothing corrupted was kept by the cargo cult and instead melted down with plasma and promethium.


    On the surface, we deployed lines of turrets and Sentinels, then Guardians, Knights and Titans, with a few Leviathans to handle more delicate tasks.


    Our armor formed a flanking force, and struck the Ork horde from the sides, while the corvettes and bombers provided air support.


    The infantry regiments were entrenched heavily where the terrain was advantageous, like marshes, swamps, and mountains and created kill-zones for artillery and ground attack craft. Once everything was in place, all I had to do was dare the Orks to attack, and give me a good fight.


    Of course, they were genetically constrained to oblige, and were butchered in detail, band after band and Boss after Boss, while their supply lines were bombed or sabotaged by special ops units.


    In a single month, the world was taken with minimal casualties, and we moved the troops onwards, cleaning up 50 more planets from Ork garrisons in the next year.


    Then the troops reassembled into another big fleet and proceeded to liberate Boros</a> and restore Knight House_Boros</a> as the rightful rulers.


    Sadly, most of their population had been decimated under Ork rule, being used as slaves or food by the Orks. I could help a little, using the techpriests to rebuild the capital and import a few million new colonists, as well as station three Astra Militarum regiments here, indefinitely.


    Forge Konor could use an allied Knight House, and provide them new suits, while I worked hard for a month to provide their female pilots with new heirs.


    Sly Marbo acquired another Ork Boss head in his collection, which made his Catachan concubines even more content at having a ''real man''. Oh well. I was better off, I hoped.


    Calixa had two more kids, and the Blank boy was named Flavius and scheduled for the Lamenters. The infocyte blonde kept the girl by her side, and promised to train her in her arts.


    It worked out great.


    Soon enough, everyone began returning to their homes and bases, and so did I, but deviating to Sotha on the way.


    Lady Kalistradi and I parted ways as she had a job to do, but she had a Blank daughter beside her to keep her safe. She did promise to visit my House on Illevar at least once a decade if possible, and keep an eye out for more Blanks or Silent Sisters.


    Instead, Lady Velayne continued her trip on my ship, eager to fulfil her mission. I didn''t completely trust her, because I wasn''t that naive. Inquisitors were three bladed weapons, and one of those blades was aimed inward at all times.


    I did hope that raising children and having her body rebuilt by an Angel would quell her suspicions, in time.


    A month later we arrived at Sotha to find it under attack again, this time by more Eldar Corsairs and a band of Chaos traitors, as an unlikely alliance as it might seem.


    Even worse, the system was covered by Tyranid Silence, a clear sign of another Hive Fleet being drawn by the Pharos beacon.


    On the bright side, there were two more Inquisitor ladies on the Aegida Fortress, named Adrielle_Quist</a> and Ezu_Ghraile</a>.


    My companion smiled thinly at me and covered her eyes with her cowl. "Perhaps the Emperor is watching over you, Lord Lancefire. I''ll tend to the Fortress while you romance my colleagues." Velayne whispered after my battlebarge Serenity was cleared to dock.


    I just sighed inward and focused on winning the battle first. The carriers were already deploying our corvettes and starfighters, while vox transmission from the attackers were swiftly replied with plasma warheads riding back the guiding signal right onto their bridge.


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    There were almost 5000 enemy ships present, most of them Sky_Raiders</a> and Void_Dragons</a>, insane Aeldari that had abandoned their Craftworlds for a life of fun and raiding. Mostly raiding on the Imperium, naturally.


    I didn''t ask who those Chaos guys were, possibly Tzeentch worshipers going by the bird heads and wings of their warships. The traitors and their 30 Chaos cruisers melted just fine inside the sun. Nothing important was lost, most likely.


    The Deathwatch and the Scythes of the Emperor also had two battlebarges and a dozen cruisers stationed here, busy defending the fort lines, by shooting torpedoes and Nova shells on intercept trajectories, forcing the fragile Eldar to engage only in hit-and-run attacks.


    My own barrage of Nova Cannon and torpedoes forced them to clump up, just enough that a hundred Nova mines lit up the void in a blinding conflagration, leaving 30 Corsair battleships listing, their solar sails burned to crisp, and most of the lighter voidships vanished.


    In a minute, I had my techmarines, Silent Sisters and Blood Angels teleported on the lead ship, with my own fleet surrounding the Eldar derelicts, ready to annihilate them.


    "Hey guys? You may want to board the other battleships and take prisoners. We have captured their leader, an Eldar named Saarania</a>." I demanded towards my nominal allies, who seemed reluctant to leave the safety of the fort belt.


    Pretty sure they were not expecting my arrival and the rather brutal victory over the Eldar, even if my Chapter had almost parity of the numbers with the Eldar voidships, with 32 capital vessels and 2000 corvettes from the Lancefire Dynasty, plus 4000 Fury starfighters. Used to be 5000 starfighters, but a Crusade is rather costly and losses are inevitable. I did recover the fighter pilots though, so it wasn''t all bad.


    "Right! We will begin boarding immediately. Thanks again for your help! Be advised, there are two Inquisitors here that are anxious to meet you, Chapter Master Lancefire." a Deathwatch Watch Captain answered after a minute of tense silence.


    Probably being given orders, right at that moment.


    "One at the time, Captain. Send the youngest one first." I quipped and closed the pict-transmission.


    Then I looked around the bridge to find my officers snickering to themselves, even my own children! "This is serious guys. Inquisitors are dangerous, especially in packs." I told them in fake worry.


    Rafen flipped a silver throne, and held it up to show me the Emperor''s skull grinning at me. "The Emperor smiles on you, Captain. Ludvaius can watch over you, while I take a stroll on those xenos warships to look for anything shiny."


    I nodded and had him appear on another Eldar battleship, beside Sister Tanau_Aleya</a>. Two of them together should be enough to subdue a battleship, but I added a dozen techpriests and a thousand combat servitors, just in case.


    Canis was the first to greet Lady Adrielle at the docking tube, smelling her with suspicion before turning to nod at me.


    "A space wolf! And a rather large one." the Inquisitor remarked after petting Canis fearlessly. That was a good start.


    "Well met, Inquisitor. Any reason why you wanted to meet me?" I wondered while checking her out. Another brunette, wide hips, inferno pistol on that...


    "That C''tan asked for you, by name, when the Eldar appeared. He seemed rather convinced only you could save him." the woman said in a rather annoyed voice.


    I raised an eyebrow. That did seem rather strange, but then who knew what a C''tan might say or do.


    Then I shrugged as there was nothing I could do. "And here I am, saving the day. Perhaps the xenos is precognitive."


    Adrielle moved closer and poked my nose gently. "I may not be a psyker, but I''m quite certain Blanks cannot be predicted. And as proof, you massacred the Eldar Corsairs without giving them any chance to flee."


    I nodded and captured her hand in mine. "The C''tan are not psykers, my dear. They just see very far, and can compute trajectories and arrival dates to the second. Like a ship''s Machine Spirit could, if it had sensor range over a thousand-light years."


    The brunette Inquisitor glanced at her hand in surprise, before staring me in the eyes. "And you''re not a real Untouchable. I have met a Silent Sister once, and could barely stand her presence from meters away."


    I politely kissed her hand, then placed it on my elbow. "I am not a real Astartes either. Only natural organs, and they all work fine."


    "Woof!" Canis confirmed with a joyful tone.


    "All natural, you say? Perhaps you can tell me all about it, at dinner. I am rather starved." the woman asked and walked beside me like a princess.


    Oh well, I did buy lots of expensive food and drinks, in case my Rose was here. But as she was not, I''ll make due with another Inquisitor.

 Perseus - Ch 132

    Much later, I entered my shower to wash off the sweat and tend to the scratches on my back. Lady Adrielle had been really starved, for decades maybe.


    Then again, she was perhaps too paranoid about genestealers. It wasn''t like they really were everywhere, even if I did find...well they kinda were everywhere, in fact. Even on Illevar, with that cult of theirs.


    Might need to ask Trazyn for a genestealer detector of some kind.


    Leaving the good Inquisitor to rest, I headed towards the teleport room, and entered the Pharos with Ludvaius at my side.


    A stern woman with a ponytail and a dozen men in her retinue were busy interrogating Zarhulash, using some arcane device of possibly xenos origin and a robed psyker with gouged eyes, glowing with bluish tendrils of warp-lightning.


    Beside her, a pair of Deathwatch Astartes reacted instantly and one drew a grav-gun to hold me at respect, while the other moved to protect the Inquisitor Lady.


    "Intruding on an Inquisitor is a capital crime, Lord Lancefire." Inquisitor Ezu warned me in a glacial voice.


    I just shrugged and kept walking, ignoring the feeble threat. "We are not in the Imperium here, my lady. Out here in the Fringe, you need a Warrant of Trade to speak with Emperor''s Voice. Or just have overwhelming power on your side." I explained politely,


    walking past the menacing psyker and through his lightning cloud, until I stood face-to-ankle with the huge humanoid shape of the C''tan.


    "Pef Lancefire, you have my gratitude! And you may gain a small favor, if you stop that annoying psyker from electrocuting me..." Zarhulash proclaimed in a slightly pained voice.


    "I do not command the Inquisition, Mighty Zarhulash. Tell me about planet Icnarus</a>, it should be in your vision range." I ask in a level voice. My astropaths had picked up a distress call, warning of a being of light and immortal robots.


    The C''tan glanced at the Inquisitor then back at me. "They are waking, and have deciphered the engrams controlling their C''tan slave. Only that one is not like me, but a hundred times stronger. A single Knight still stands, protecting the spaceport in futile bravery. The world is lost to your Imperium anyway."


    I sighed inward at the news. A Transcendent C''tan would be impervious to any normal weapons, so possibly only a Vortex warhead might work.


    So I turned towards Lady Ezu Ghraile and held a finger up. "I will need an hour to deal with that mess." I explained politely while vanishing her retinue inside me tesseract, and bringing out the Sounding Board and a Vortex missile.


    "What are you doing? How..." the woman demanded, walking beside me curious and suspicious.


    "I''m quite certain the exact details of this installation are classified and sealed, by the Inquisition and a certain Primarch. If you don''t know already, then you were not told on purpose, my dear." I whispered while locating the Icnarus world, where a pair of Cairn-class Tomb Ships were slowly emerging from deep underground, while shuttles filled with refugees were struggling to reach the last departing transports.


    A wing of Necron interceptors sped by and struck, blowing up the slow transport shuttles and ending the hopes for the remaining citizens stuck on the surface. Already the merchants and transport ships were speeding away from the planet, hoping to reach the Warp limit with whatever refugees they had on board.


    Guardsmen and PDF troopers were being overwhelmed at the spaceport''s edge, and that Knight was still fighting, an arc lightning weapon striking everything in front, melting and blowing up dozens of Necron Warriors with each shot.


    It was futile anyway. There were millions of those infantry troops, and behind them there were Necron Monoliths and anti-grav tanks, advancing slowly but inexorably.


    "Go and support the Knight, Ludvaius. I''ll try to locate the C''tan." I said softly, twisting space and relocating Ludvaius on Icnarus, just beside that Knight. It didn''t have any House markings, so it must have been a lonely Freeblade</a>, ostracized or fleeing his old House. I could use that pilot, and his Knight as well.


    Using Ludvaius as an empathic anchor, the Pharos connection became much stronger, and hundreds of those soldiers and crying refugees behind them vanished from Icnarus to reappear in the Pharos, then instantly got sent into my labyrinth.


    As expected, it took an hour to rescue the remaining survivors, and then the Knight and Ludvaius appeared beside me, just as the horizon lit up with a green glow.


    The Vortex missile detonated right underneath the floating energy being, sending it into the Warp in a hundred pieces, while demons poured out from the purple Warp rift. It was a waste to destroy such a potent weapon, but at the same time I did not have the means to control it.


    "You''re safe now, Freeblade. Now, let''s see about those Necrons and their Tomb Ships..." I spoke gently as the Knight locked on me observing me with a raised weapon, while the gouges and cuts on its armor were slowly repairing by themselves.


    That was possibly an archeotech device called a Blessed_Autocimulacra</a>, using forgotten technologies to repair a machine to functionality, which would be tremendously useful, as well as the anti-necron arc weapon housed in the right arm.


    Another weapon materialized next to me, this time a Cyclonic torpedo. Simply burning down the place would not be enough, as those Tomb Ships were rather durable, especially if their shields were active.


    Then I just took out my Rosette and began the activation sequence, glowing codes and runes lighting up on the cyclonic warhead, while my guests just stared at me with indifference or gritting teeth.


    "Where did the Exterminatus torpedo come from? Who is this Knight?" the Inquisitor demanded in cold outrage.


    "The torpedo was given to me by Primarch Khan. As for the Freeblade Knight..." I answered only half-attentive. Here, my own tesseract could see and control everything, and thus I could see the pilot, an elderly woman with a cruel slash marring her face, body near death and kept together only by willpower.


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    "You''re sending that torpedo to Icnarus, my lord?" the pilot asked in a cold rage.


    Everyone seemed to have opinions these days.


    "It is a Necron Tomb World, my dear. Millions of them in the galaxy as well, though few contain C''tans and Necron fleets. Only the crownworlds of their dynasties, I suspect." I replied in a patient tone, while running a final check on the humming weapon.


    "Good then! Burn the xenos and send them to hell!" the lady pilot muttered and collapsed in her command throne, possibly exhausted and tired to death.


    Don''t die on me, pilot!


    I vanished the woman into the labyrinth, keeping her in stasis until I could fix her aged body.


    A bit later, I began a new mind-chat with Lord Trazyn, finding him away from his homeworld and instead on board the Blackstone Fortress, with a retinue of Crypteks and techpriests and a couple of Jokaero orangutans, running complex code tests on a giant cannon with living stone wires leading to a half-human inside an egg-shaped control room, filled with blue liquid.


    That must be the Blank pilot of the Psi-titan, and the weapon itself.


    "Congratulations on your success, Lord Trazyn. May I propose a small trade until our weapon is ready to fire?" I asked with a wry voice.


    "I should have known you''re observing me...with whatever means you have, stranger. I know you''re not using the Celestial Orrery, because I just did, for a huge price. So what is there for me?" the Necron asked rather irate.


    "A new dynasty has awoken, on Icnarus. Perhaps, I can arrange a small accident for them?" I proposed as the Exterminatus torpedo began humming under my hand.


    Trazyn took out a green cube and rapidly located that world using some obscure engrams and a datawand.


    "Oh yes! The Atun_Dynasty</a>! It would be quite a boon, especially if you can also remove their transcendent weapon. I also have those Tau technologies repaired and your Titan rescued." Trazyn exclaimed, holding out another Nexus Arrangement device, and a pair of bone wristbands, which were totally not mind control devices.


    He stored them into the Nexus and let it fall, certain it would not reach the floor. And it didn''t. I held my own Titan in my hand, and it even included its Heresy-era Princeps, a woman named Dae_Vergos</a>.


    Now, this was a massive deal...for my future plans.


    So I focused on Icnarus and launched the Exterminatus, and watched the planet ignite and detonate, shattering the underground vaults and the Necron armies and fleet. It was still draining and tiring, but I couldn''t let that small fact stop me.


    Then I checked on the Necron World of Sarlok, to find it covered in a trillion hungry Tyranids. Oh well, an incendiary torpedo will be enough then, if the defenses had failed. It only took a dozen years, damn slow Tyranids. Move faster!


    Seeing me priming the next Exterminatus-grade weapon, Lady Ezu glanced at the silent Knight suit, then at the wall where the C''tan was observing me curious.


    "I take it the world of Icnarus is no more, Exterminated from such a great distance. No wonder so many enemies attack this burned Sotha planet and our Fortress. You can even send and recover people from distant worlds, at your whim." she deduced while measuring me for another purpose.


    I nodded wisely, while releasing the last safeties on the incendiary torpedo. "This baby is going to Sarlok, another Necron World covered with the feeder elements from three tendrils of Hive Fleet Kraken. Nothing much to eat there, except dead robots and now a small ray of sunlight." I said softly as the torpedo vanished to ignite the atmosphere and incinerate about one third of the remaining Tyranid fleet.


    The rest of the bioships in high orbit escaped and began moving away, while their brethren screamed and boiled alive as the sky rained fire.


    The Tyranid were learning to be cautious, it seemed. But avoiding planets would starve them too.


    "And now Sarlok is gone too. Any other enemy you want eaten by Tyranids, Lord Trazyn?" I asked in faint amusement.


    The Necron Overlord checked his galactic map for a minute. "Who else? Who else? So many enemies, so little time...Perhaps the Charnovokh Dynasty</a> on Bardic? Phaeron Thoekh</a> was always so high and mighty."


    I scanned the void for a suitable Tyranid tendril, and located Hive Fleet Perseus</a> on a direct course for Macragge. Someone was really sending enemy after enemy on those poor Ultramarines.


    Not anymore, not if I could help it. Focusing my mind on the Sounding Board, the beacon shifted on the Necron World of Bardic</a>, thus directing any nearby Tyranids towards the potential food source.


    Then I began instructing Ludvaius via the brain implant, before sending him back on Illevar to bring back the Lancefire Dynasty''s private fleet.


    The warp-less engine voidships could arrive in a week or two, depending on their starting position, while the torpedo destroyers could travel on the Warp engines and arrive behind the Tyranid fleet approaching Sotha.


    Until then, I still had nine Vortex torpedoes and a hundred Nova Mines to destroy the largest Hive Ships and clusters of smaller bioships, right from inside the Pharos.


    Should have known that the Tyranid Hive Mind would also deduce the source of the constant attacks, and would send a punishment fleet to end this threat to their race.


    Soon, the Pharos and its entire homeplanet would need world engines and begin to move, or no defenses could hope to save it.


    That will take some work.

 Seven shards - Ch 133

    While completing my task of ambushing the Tyranid fleet heading for Sotha, a part of my mind was busy digesting the new STC database from Trazyn.


    It would be hard to sell most of them as proper Mechanicus designs, even if the Necron wizard had tried to give them the Imperium look, gothic and somber and gritty as hell.


    A few exceptions were the advanced version of a Phased_Plasma-fusil</a> using adamantium instead of plain iridium for extra heat resistance and durability. Now, these Dreadnought or Knight weapons could also be used to bash Orks in their teeth, and break those teeth with no worry.


    I could even mount them on Tarantula turrets or light armored vehicles like Chimera and Weasels...which should be doable after Forge Retribution started a new Manufactorum line for these heavy weapons.


    Same for a few Tau shields, which could possibly count as refractor shields of an ancient design. Maybe.


    As for railguns, the Imperium had precious few such weapons, mostly sniper rifles and missile accelerators, and even those in very limited quantities due to the advanced technology that was never properly understood and replicated from ancient archeotech. Things like the Exitus rifle or the needle sniper rifle.


    But the most interesting and valuable technology from the entire database were not weapons, but the communication systems, including advanced mechanical cogitators and superluminal transceivers.


    For the Imperium, which depended completely on Warp and astropaths for long range transmissions, these devices would increase traffic volume and quality a hundred times. They still needed astropaths to bounce off the signal on the edge of the Warp and then onto their target, much like radio towers did.


    Kinda primitive and skill dependent, but in a tight volume like an Imperial Sector, hundreds of worlds could be linked into a comm hub, possibly on the Sector''s Capital. Or a Naval Base, or Inquisitorial Fortress too.


    Range was limited to about 10 light-years, though of course with repeater-relay stations a message could arrive anywhere, barring accidents and gaps in the relays.


    Very useful for deployed fleets as well, as the ships could keep in contact simply by staying in range of their FTL transceivers. For a transition system to the next technology level, it would work great.


    "Lady Ezu, how to you think the Imperium will react to a communication system less dependent on the Warp?" I mused gently as I sent the last Nova mine into a cluster of destroyer-sized bioships, incinerating a thousand and wounding many more.


    The woman tugged at her ponytail, letting her red hair fall down and frame her face, giving her a more pleasant appearance. "I shall have to examine such a device for any xenos influence or impurity. Is your bombardment over?"


    I smiled thinly as my legs began to tremble. "For today, yes. At least a tenth of the Hive fleet heading towards us has been neutralized." I explained and ported straight in my room, letting Ludvaius disarmor me and tuck me in bed.


    Perhaps nine hours later, my door opened to reveal the same Inquisitor, this time wearing a simple leather uniform and a violet toga.


    "She really insisted, Captain." Rafen muttered and closed the door behind her.


    I just stretched and held a hand out for a cup of recaf, to find Adrielle sipping from it while Ludvaius was staring blankly at the wall.


    Damn mind control!


    In a second, Ludvaius vanished in my labyrinth, and the cup appeared in my hand, due to Emperor''s grace.


    "For someone without psyker powers, you sure use plenty of them. Is it some kind of new mutation? Or a xenos artifact?" Adrielle asked watching me with an intense look.


    "I think it''s the C''tan, or some kind of control device over that thing, like the Necrons have." Lady Ezu murmured while sitting down at my cogitator and abusing her Clavis over-rides to rifle through my stuff.


    The tale has been illicitly lifted; should you spot it on Amazon, report the violation.


    The next second, my space wolf appeared beside my bed, to be scratched and petted.


    "What do you say Canis? Do we eat these women?" I asked the wolf in a fake whisper.


    My wolf just snorted and walked away, pressing the button for water and gulping from the dispenser with thirsty laps.


    "I can''t believe you slept with him, Adrielle!" the other Inquisitor exclaimed in outrage, watching the recording I''ve made for...recreational purposes.


    "I can''t believe you recorded...wait! Your bodyguard does pict-capture for all your bed adventures?" Adrielle asked in a slightly trembling voice, as the scene heated up on the holoscreen.


    "Bionic eyes are so useful, after all. I did execute about 30 Inquisitors, with solid proof for their treason. You never know what Inquisitors would reveal in their most intimate moments. Want to see one having sex with a Slaanesh demonette?" I asked rhetorically.


    Lady Ezu coughed politely and turned off my cogitator, before a demon jumped out. "If you have such proof, then it is probably nothing to worry about, Lord Lancefire. Now, you were saying something about a warp-less transmitter?"


    I nodded and finished my recaf, while Adrielle slumped and fell into an armchair, looking defeated.


    "A infocyte friend of mine recovered it from a research center, deep in Tau territory. The current theory is that the Tau are using an ancient STC cache to advance their technology at a fast pace, using weapons and templates from the Dark Age of Technology." I lied with a wide grin, and held out a data-stick imprinted with a dozen human looking tech of alien design.


    "An infocyte...friend of yours. Tau territory, that makes it the Eye of Damocles...she wouldn''t be Calixa, would it?" Adrielle asked glancing towards her colleague with a knowing look.


    "... I am not at liberty to disclose ongoing operations, or operatives. Surely if you had the need to know, someone would have told you. You may examine the data-stack, but no copies. Not until we know for certain how the Imperium would react. Especially the Astra Telepathica." I said in a stern voice, then threw off the bedding and entered my shower.


    Damn woman had said she had no psyker powers, and yet was able to keep Ludvaius sedated with so much ease.


    No wonder Chaos Sorcerers were so adept at infiltration. People would only see what you wished them to see, including even Astartes. I was so glad for my Blank genes now.


    A few minutes later, I found both women examining the STC templates on my cogitator, no doubt after having made copies for their own use.


    "It seems to work quite similarly to the Macharius drive, even though there are some signs of xenos tampering." Lady Ezu said in with a deep frown, and then turned to stare at my naked body.


    There was something in her eyes, temptation and revulsion and sadness. She probably lost someone, like everyone living in this hellish galaxy did.


    "Really? You''re thinking of bedding him, after you yelled at me for it?" Adrielle exclaimed in outrage, possibly reading her friend''s mind.


    "He is clean though...no sign of corruption. And he even showers himself." Lady Ezu mused in a longing voice.


    "Woooo?" Canis asked and stood up, his head reaching over the two women in a menacing stance.


    I just sat back in my bed, and smiled angelically. "I only have time for three rounds, before my bridge shift starts." I explained politely as my spear raised itself for battle.


    I think the red-headed woman gulped a little, before throwing a warning look at her grinning colleague. "This better never leave this room. And I get two rounds."


    Adrielle grinned wider and leaned in her armchair. "But of course, my dear. Enjoy your present!"


    A dozen rounds later, I showered again and went to check on Zarhulash again, leaving those two sleeping in a mess of sweat and gene-seed.


    "If you want to live, Mighty C''tan, you will need to help as well. I have seen a Necron World Engine, flying through the void. We''ll need something like that, and move the planet elsewhere." I announced in a serious voice, holding out a data-stick and a brain download implant.


    The C''tan examined me for a minute, before nodding minutely. "Just engines will not be enough. A Reality Cage and Transdimensional_Beamer</a> to assemble what we need at a higher speed. It would look like a green pistol to humans."


    Thus I began searching among my trove of Necron weapons for green pistols, proposing a few hundred green weapons and getting rejected, until the good one appeared.


    "And this thing will generate enough energy to move a planet?" I asked a bit doubtful, holding the gun in my hand.


    "Of course not. But there are seven more shards asleep beside me. We shall use one of them as a power source.


    The Pharos will lose some range, but we gain mobility and eventually a few weapons." the C''tan proposed and pointed with his eyes at another wall.


    The living rock drew apart to reveal a yellow human shape, with tentacle hair and closed eyes. The creature felt strong and menacing, even asleep and bound with living rock chains.


    "What now?" I wondered glancing at Zarhulash.


    "Now, you lock his location in your mind, and shoot him. He will appear in a transdimensional pocket, inside the weapon. Sadly it won''t remove the binding, but it will allow me to convert his transdimensional mass/volume into engine components, what you call blackstone." the C''tan explained patiently.


    Mystery solved, I stored the new superweapon in my tesseract and smiled inward. I might be evolved from a monkey, but I wasn''t one.


    "Perhaps some other day, Mighty Zarhulash. Not to be rude, but you are lying about some things right now, and it hurts my feelings." I commented in a sad voice, and focused back on the Sounding Board.


    The C''tan had been helpful, giving me a weapon that would work on his kind. But he was planning his escape, and we couldn''t have that, could we?

 Harness - Ch 134

    I did return to the Pharos just in time, to observe Trazyn''s the Infinite latest feat.


    With a black beam of unreality, the Black Fortress fired upon the Hadex Anomaly slowly reducing it in volume and glow until the Blank pilot inside the liquid cockpit just died and the black beam vanished. It was a bit sad, but that Psi-titan Princeps did lack everything below his stomach, thus he wasn''t useful to my plans.


    However, it was still a great result, as the Warp Vortex had been reduced by almost half, restoring thousands of star systems back into the galaxy. His death has not been in vain.


    "It seems you have failed, Necron Lord. I am very disappointed." I spoke to his mind, letting my sadness filter through.


    "So am I, stranger. I would need a powerful human Pariah or a Solitaire Harlequin to attempt this type of adventure again, and those are too rare in this damned galaxy." the Necron Overlord complained seeming disappointed as well.


    I mused on this for a minute, searching for a suitable target. Eidetic memory and the Chapter''s extensive travel logs did help.


    "There is someone able to help. An Inquisitor named Ivixia_Dannica</a>, who does have a Pariah in her retinue. You''d need to disguise the operation as a Mechanicus adventure, using those Forge Venatoria techpriests and their records for similar attempts in the Eye of Terror and the Maelstrom. You won''t get the credit for this magnificent achievement, but you also won''t be chased down by a dozen Great Demons afterwards. Better deflect the guilt elsewhere, right?" I proposed with a faint smile.


    Better have an Ordo Malleus Inquisitor face down those demons when they came howling for revenge.


    I saw Trazyn stand still for a few moments, before reaching the same conclusion. "The techpriest ruse won''t hold out for long, stranger. I''ve dealt with Inquisitors before. But for the sake of completing the task... I shall try. Any chance you would know the location of another such Psi-titan? Two of those weapons firing from parallel timelines would seal the Anomaly for good, even without having to use the Ymga. Asking for its use would be too costly, even for one such as myself." The Overlord pleaded with a glance at the ceiling.


    I smiled inward, already expecting his demand. Two weapons meant two pilots, each from different eras. "There is one such Psi-titan which might be salvaged, Lord Trazyn. During the Horus Heresy on the world of Espandor</a>, in Ultramar. The Psi-titan is called Occedentalis-Damysus. However, you should expect heavy psyker activity around that location, and you''ll need at least a Null Rod or Wand."


    The Necron wizard grimaced visibly, and held out the very Null Rod I gave him. "And I should expect you need another Null Bone Staff for this. Maybe two extra Bone Staffs with mind shields, like you always ask."


    I nearly chuckled, as the Necron was getting used to my style.


    "Sure. Those are useful to my agents, but what I need is the operation manuals for a couple of Necron devices. These ones." I explained and sent over the five Necron artifacts I had saved for this exact moment, including the new transdimensional beamer.


    If a Necron had spit glands, I bet Trazyn would have spat in disgust. "Such a random collection...including a tracker...a C''tan cowl and a beamer. And these two...a memory assembly chair for Crypteks...and a polishing datawand. You really want a manual for this? Just point and click and the item gets cleaned. No manual needed!"


    Well, I didn''t know what it was til now, but a magical device to clean anything was good too. Washing blood from my weapons and armor was a bit tiring sometimes.


    Anyway, I had another demand of more importance, for me. Thus, I sent the self-repair device from the old Freeblade''s Knight over. "This item, I need it in three STC versions, from simple to very advanced. I''m told it''s similar to Necron self-repair, but I doubt that. Human tech is never that advanced, even if it looks similar in operation."


    Trazyn sighed while scanning the Blessed machine and agreed. "It doesn''t even have a subspace storage for repair alloys! I guess that feature would be the very advanced option. Sold separately, as it would require extra time from my Crypteks."


    I agreed to his demand, of course. It might be something simple for Necrons, but self-repairing Titans and Knights would be immensely valuable to humanity. And perhaps even spaceships, one day.


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    "And lastly, that planet moving engine...which you never traded to me, even after Sarlok got burned." I demanded with a grin.


    "Moving planets now! With human-made machinery...it almost sounds impossible. I rather visit the Orrery and move that planet directly where you want it." Trazyn grumbled as he took out a Mechanicus data-slate and began downloading stuff on it.


    "Aren''t a couple of Dynasties fighting over it right now? Makes me wonder how you even gained access to that device." I grumbled in annoyance.


    "Ha! I cheated of course. But that''s something for another time. I expect I''ll hear from you in a decade, stranger?" Trazyn said as my promised items began falling towards the blackstone floor, and vanished.


    I didn''t answer, of course. We were not that kind of friends, anyway.


    Plus being mysterious had many advantages, one of which was complete surprise. Poor Trazyn could never rest, never knowing if he was being observed and judged, by a stranger with a puppy.


    I opened my eyes and looked Zarhulash in the eyes. "Shall we try this again, Mighty Zarhulash?" I asked while reading and memorizing the instruction manuals for those Necron artifacts.


    I don''t think C''tan can feel fear, but perhaps worry flashed in his eyes. "...Is it so bad to desire freedom, Pef Lancefire? Surely you can understand my predicament." the prisoner pleaded in a clear case of a prisoner''s dilemma.


    "Nobody is truly free, my friend. We all have enemies, friends and duty. I have my duty and you have yours. Just ask yourself this, Mighty C''tan. Do you really want me as your enemy?" I asked in a gentle voice, while playing with the green Necron pistol, that could in fact capture C''tan star gods and even Greater Demons. Only had three shots though, unless a Necron Cryptek would recharge it.


    "That would seem unwise, at this moment." he admitted in a suffering tone.


    I nodded in agreement, and stored the pistol back in the tesseract. Using advanced weaponry was a luxury I could not afford, not yet.


    "Let''s start again. World engine, Reality Cage and a C''tan power source?"


    "We don''t actually need all that, as you know already. The Reality Cage would be useful, mostly to prevent Farseers and those Immaterium dreams from finding us. As for propulsion, we could either use those slow engines provided by Trazyn, or control the Tyranid Narvhals to drag us away, much like they do for their fleets. You have control bracelets, so we just need a living rock harness inserted directly into the synaptic node." Zarhulash explained in a patient tone, glancing up at the dataslate I deposited on his head.


    I twisted space and brought the memory device into my hand. This did seem to work, possibly. Like a carriage drawn by a hundred dragons, tied with gravity chains instead of real ones.


    I''d have to feed the mind-controlled Narwhals some biomass to give them energy, but I had plenty of Orks in storage to serve as fodder. Or even better, other Tyranid corpses that would be soon arriving for this task.


    Even better, there was sufficient living rock around for a million such living rock chains to control the Tyranids.


    So I took out the beamer and pointed at a wall and took a meter wide bite from the indestructible element. Inside the transdimensional pocket, the living rock seemed alive, and easily malleable into whatever form I wished.


    Well, I suppose it was why it was named living rock, right?


    Took me a couple of hours of hard work to construct the control harness, which looked like a spear with a dozen spikes...anyway. It was a harness, it said so in the title.


    Then I took the spear out, and materialized the control bracelets on my wrists. With a mental push, I felt the harness activate, ready to inject nanofilaments into the target.


    A second later, a captured Narvhal</a> bioship appeared behind the gas giant, and my spear vanished to impale the synaptic node. Controlling the Tyranid was complicated, as it used senses alien to me, instead of eyes or sound.


    First thing, I fed it a thousand Orks for a test run, then grabbed a small asteroid and flung it into the gas giant. Of course, this happened in slow motion, and took many tries, but eventually it worked.


    An internal alert returned me to my own body, as the Inquisitors were awake and asking Canis for me.


    I guess mind controlling those traitor Astral Claws could wait. These ladies needed some hard work to be turned to my side, both with logical arguments and my favorite weapon, my spear.

 Crib - Ch 135

    It did take two weeks of daily hard work, until I knew I had something solid with these two, including an agreement to aid me in my personal quest for a Blank humanity and other common goals like eradicating corruption and xenos wherever it was possible.


    And from this goal, we began sharing tiny secrets, like my daughter''s exploits on Newseam or gifting them each a Bone staff to keep their minds safe from intrusion.


    "A Speaker for the Rogue Traders...that would be a powerful tool indeed. My mentor, Hezika_Carmillus</a> has often found Rogue Traders involved in heretical and heretek deals. Especially those operating around the Hadex Anomaly." Adrielle said in a hesitant voice, then bit her lips in deep thought.


    "As it happens, I have some rumours of a coven of techpriests working to close the Anomaly. The only success I know of, was the Rapidity rift at Medusa V, and a partial one with the Anomaly. Their other trials with the Eye of Terror and the Maelstrom were not worth mentioning, so I doubt any of them survived." I whispered to them in fake secrecy.


    Ludvaius knew better, but he didn''t show any sign of protest, just patting his vambrace which contained a Null Wand now. Made him immune to psykers and the Black Rage, but sadly those amazing devices were in very short supply.


    "So you have an informant among the techpriests...might it be a Magos Lady with a weakness for flesh pleasures?" Lady Ezu asked with a teasing voice, and offered me her breasts to be suckled.


    It was a different kind of interrogation, but also effective. I enjoyed the flesh pleasures for a few minutes, then drew her under me for another round. She wouldn''t get more pregnant, but her teasing had to be punished.


    Thus, I stopped just before her release, and offered my spear to Adrielle who smirked and then swallowed her prize in victory.


    "I need to start preparing my officers for combat, so the fun times are over, dear ladies. There are still a million Tyranid bioships heading this way, if the Silence didn''t warn you enough." I explained while entering the shower to make myself presentable.


    I saw with my spy-cam Ezu pouting like a young girl, then pinching her colleague in revenge. Adrielle shared a kiss, and probably more, as Ezu seemed a bit more content as I emerged from the shower.


    "How do you even have two battleships and five battlecruisers in your private fleet? Plus all those cruisers and carriers...it is too much for a Rogue Trader Dynasty." Adrielle asked me while observing the fleet deploying in defense of the Aegida.


    I shrugged and began dressing myself. "Captured from Space Hulks and pirates, or from Orks and returned to service. We only had a light cruiser when I was young, the rest was paid in lives."


    "I was beside the Captain during most of his campaigns, starting from the Battle at Antax. It is completely true." Ludvaius announced with a stern voice, daring anyone to contradict him.


    Adrielle sighed and measured me with a discerning eye. "There are many Rogue Traders, but no one is that lucky." she complained and entered the shower while shacking her head.


    The other Inquisitor smiled sweetly and joined her, teasing me with an enticing sway of hips.


    Fuck it. Another round in the shower then.


    It would take a month for the Tyranids to arrive anyway. Damn slow insects!


    Of course, I didn''t simply wait to be overwhelmed, instead sending the Lancefire cruisers and battlecruisers armed with Nova Cannons on hit-and-run attacks on the Hive Fleet, conducted a dozen drills and organized the Scythes'' fleet for better coordination in battle, upgraded the forts and the fortress with extra weapons and blackstone armor...anything I could do to gain an advantage.


    Having these three Inquisitor Ladies supporting me in this operation was a great boon as well, while scouting the lower decks of the Astartes ships with a group of astropaths produced a couple more Blanks and thousands of new gun-servitors to be used as disposable crew on the defense forts.


    Sadly, the conditions on those lower decks were so bad that the poor men were irradiated and sick, and even with my techpriests injecting them with anti-rad medication and rejuve cocktails, they might only live a few decades and still remain sterile.


    These Blanks would serve as portable defense in the Inquisitors retinues, clad in Purity Armor and wielding only an adamantium staff. I was pretty certain they would be mentally indoctrinated to obey all commands like skitarii, probably using the same Mechanicus devices.


    The Hive Fleet arrived famished, and there was nothing to eat here, except ships containing warm bodies, so the bioships soon began chasing after food in hunter packs. Made it even easier to defeat them in detail, as my ships were many times faster on their realspace engines, or they could micro-jump from one end to the other of the star system to engage a new target.


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    Meanwhile, the Deathwatch and the Scythes began using their teleport rooms to beam warheads instead of strike teams, as did the Aegida Fortress.


    We even had the fleet of Eldar battleships lined beside the defense forts, using captured Eldar to fire their lances on the Tyranids or get eaten alive.


    They may have been Corsairs, but without Soul Stones their fates would be rather...grimdark. So they manned their weapons and fired, with techpriests and Silent Sisters keeping watch over them.


    Well, I had the tesseract anyway, in case of rebellion.


    And to capture more Narwhals too, for the Celestial Carriage project.


    By the second month, my Lancefire destroyers that were available arrived to strike at the back of the Tyranid fleet, adding 9000 torpedoes and many lances and point defense batteries to our forces.


    Did I cheat and resupply the torpedo cells as needed? Hell yes!


    Did anyone mind? Possibly.


    Leading a Crusade gave me a lot of leeway for what munitions I could requisition, and there were plenty torpedoes left to fill my pocket.


    Anyway, the heavy bright lance batteries of the Eldar battleships did most of the damage. Compared to my own battleships, the Eldar ships were three times stronger, and they had numbers too.


    Even when combined with the firepower of all the battlecruisers and battlebarges present, the Eldar still came out on top by a dozen times.


    Damn Eldar. If only they could be turned against a real enemy.


    After the battle was over, I continued implanting the captured Narwhals with Trazyn''s control harnesses, then fed them some corpses of their brethren.


    And then, I called Lady Velayne for a meeting...and after a passionate victory celebration in my bed, I began laying down my plan.


    I think she was rather surprised. "It is a completely insane and heretical plan, Lord Pef! Would it work?" the Inquisitor asked after a long minute.


    I nodded gently and kissed her in thanks. "We''ll drag the planet on a south-west course, roughly towards Sternac, but aimed at a dead star system. Some place with billions of metal asteroids to craft a constellation of orbital defenses. It will be grand!"


    I explained while drawing a line on the galactic holomap, placing the destination way above the galactic plane, and thus having half of the upper hemisphere clear of potential enemies.


    This new galactic position was also increasing the inward range for the Pharos by a thousand light-years, reaching a bit inside Segmentum Tempestus, while also bringing it closer to the Lancefire domain.


    Of course, there could be no witness to the heretical plan, and thus my ships were ordered back home, the Scythes sent away to patrol the Fringe, and I had the rest folded inside the Tesseract.


    Leaving me with three Inquisitor Ladies and a couple of STC containers to serve as habitation blocks during transit, deep inside the Pharos caverns. It was like a picnic in a cave, if you think about it.


    Ludvaius and Canis mostly resided in the tesseract, as they ate a lot, both of them.


    In case you did not know, every planet is a spaceship, since it does travel through the void. But now this planet-sized spaceship was being sucked into a gravitational tunnel by the Tyranid Narwhals, stolen from its sun and carried away.


    As we moved farther and farther from Sotha''s sun, our speed increased, crossing the light-speed barrier and going higher.


    The auspex sensors were unreliable now, and constant impacts with matter particles peppered the planet with new craters. The planet''s magnetic field helped a little, as did the layers of melted rock above the living rock bunker.


    But I had the mental connection with the bioships, and the Pharos itself as a navigation device and that was enough.


    Only a year passed for us, as the gravity tunnel distorted the passage of time relative to the objective universe, barely enough time to have my new lovers give birth to a few kids, two Blank boys for Velayne and Adrielle and a normal girl for Ezu.


    But when we arrived at our destination, a dozen years have passed, and Velayne''s first boy was already enjoying his harem on Illevar, and exploring his new psyker powers under the watchful eyes of his sister Janice and her mother.


    Lady Kalistradi and Amberley had also visited and left, and a certain new Inquisitor was interrogating the Lamenters on the Starfort.


    Must be Inquisitor Carmillus then. Easy to check, simply by asking Victor or Decima. It was her.


    "Your mentor has been looking for you, I think. She is now pestering the Lamenters and nosing everywhere." I told Adrielle with a faint smile. The woman nodded a bit worried.


    "I will fix the problem, lover of mine. But I will need that special staff now." Velayne declared and laid her boy back to sleep in his crib.


    This will take a bit of work, but it was doable.

 Visitors - Ch 136

    The first step was constructing a huge asteroid-made defense network around the Pharos, with two gigantic battleship-size defense platforms anchored above the poles. And not Oberon-class battleships, but Glorianna-size.


    Then merging together thousands of metallic asteroids for a huge shipyard with a thousand docks, millions of ice and methane comets brought close to provide fuel for my future fleet, depositing a gigatonne of blackstone and most of the Eldar and Ork ships in my inventory next to the future shipyard, and lastly ordering Forge Retribution to send all the Forge ships here, to begin building a new secret fleet.


    Made it look like this had been the site of a huge battle. There were three Ork Battleships, and a hundred Ork Kroozers, plus Eldar and Dark Eldar battleships, a couple of Grand Cruisers with Astral Claws markings, but each ship just empty of crew or xenos.


    A week later, the first Forge ships arrived, and Lady Velayne stepped away from the Pharos and onto the Lamenter Starfort above Illevar, escorted by Adrielle and Ludvaius, plus their Deathwatch bodyguards.


    Lady Ezu stayed beside me, because we wanted a Blank child, and that would take more work. Pleasant work.


    It is amazing to see what a Forge World with a million techpriests and 10 million servitors can do, when truly motivated.


    A dozen projects began at once, from drilling and installing a Reality Cage inside the burned planet, to examining the Ork and Eldar ships, constructing defenses and shipyards, and converting the Grand Cruisers into new Ark Mechanicus shrines.


    Over the next month, more Forge ships arrived from nearby Forge Worlds, detached as permanent Explorer expeditions into the Eastern Fringe, from Antax and Ryza, to Triplex Phall and Metalica, even Konor and Megyre.


    The asteroid field became a bee-hive of activity, and the nearest moon was selected as a new Forge World, called Machine Forge after a thousand proposals were discarded due to religious and historical reasons.


    This place would be a testbed, with each Forge''s techpriests bringing with them a host of different manufacture techniques and secret technologies, in exchange for the access to the caches of STC templates discovered on board the Grand Cruisers, of which the Tau designs were the most valued. The teleport guns of the Orks and the fragments of a real STC constructor were seen as a Holy Grail, while xenoarheologist Magi dismantled a couple of Eldar and Dark Eldar ships to study the alien machines for greater knowledge.


    And then I revealed the final piece, a Warlord Titan from the Heresy era, somewhat damaged but with intact crew inside.


    The Princep pilot, Dae Vergos stared around and focused on me and my space wolf. "You are Astartes, from the Space Wolves?" the woman asked in a hopeful voice, glad to see someone recognizable.


    I smiled kindly and offered her my hand. "Not exactly, dear lady. Things have changed a bit in the past eleven millennia. Let''s get you some food."


    "Woof!" Canis exclaimed greedily, as food was his main concern on most days. Playing with human-shaped puppies or making his own wolf-shaped puppies came second.


    It took a few days to get the woman used to her displaced timeline. In a huge underground cavern dug under Forge Machine, a few Moderatii from the Titan''s crew were assisted by techpriests as they went over each system, from the Volcano Cannon to secondary batteries and power systems.


    "I suppose I should return to Gantz and serve in the Legio Titanica again..." Lady Dae mused out loud, watching the techpriests cover her Titan, named Pride of Konor, with logic canticles and purity service protocols, involving scented incense and lots of oil.


    I sighed inward. "I have a better proposal, Lady Dae. I aim to create a new Titan Legion here, formed from Blank Princeps. Just like the Lamenters and the Blood Angels will become full Blank Chapters in time. You have experienced yourself the horror of fallen crew, turning their Titans against humanity. "


    The Princep glanced to my left side, where Inquisitor Ezu was quietly conversing with a group of techpriests called the Crucible Resolviate</a> that she had called here personally.


    "And that involves turning me into your concubine?" the woman guessed and grimaced in displeasure. Well, that option was out then.


    "Not at all. It would involve marriage and many children. I can only pilot Knights, but I am also a Blank. And there are few people in the galaxy that can offer you a loving family and safety for your children. Well, until fighting starts at least." I proposed in a soft voice and squeezed her hand a little.


    "... Let me think about it, Lord Lancefire." the Titan Princep whispered and squeezed my hand a little in response.


    Oh well, it wasn''t any rush anyway. And if she refused, I had control bracelets anyway. I couldn''t take no for an answer.


    "In a couple of decades, this Forge World will begin manufacturing new Titans, even better than your relic. I have sent out calls to thirty Forges, and a dozen have already arrived. They will bring a female Princeps each, to serve as the initial force that will defend Forge Machine." I explained in a gentle voice, and left out the unspoken part.


    Support the creativity of authors by visiting the original site for this novel and more.


    And serve as concubines too, as their Scout Titans were mere tokens of participation. No Fabricator could send a big Emperor or Warlord Titan out in the Fringe, even for all the resources I could provide. But a Scout Titan to form the base of a new Titan Legion...and then being given a Warlord Titan in exchange? That was possible.


    Of course, getting my own candidate approved as a Fabricator for the leadership of Forge Machine wouldn''t be easy either. And sadly, Felicia was not millennia old and respected by the techpriest community.


    I had my eyes on someone else though. A certain Fabricator Locum from Forge Tigrus, who was also a woman.


    Given that Cult Mechanicus was a religion, it wouldn''t matter how old and experienced she was. Forge Tigrus would never allow her to become the leader.


    But with a simple sidestep, the Lady Archmagos would be a Fabricator General here, and bring me the atomantic technology and experts from her old Forge.


    It took me a month to romance the veteran Princeps to my side, as we have just consummated our marriage when Adrielle and Lady Hezika arrived, with Decima and Ludvaius on their Black Inquisitor ship.


    I left Dae asleep and teleported in front of the new Inquisitor. She was old and scary, but I wasn''t afraid.


    "Lady Adrielle and Hezika! Well met." I exclaimed in a cheerful voice, then went to kiss my wife and pat Ludvaius on his pauldron.


    ''Anything to worry?'' I asked mentally.


    ''Nothing you cannot solve, Lord Pef.'' the Veteran Blood Angel replied with a confident tone.


    "So you are the maverick Rogue Trader! And whatever other ranks you have acquired, including a Space Marine Chapter." Inquisitor Carmillus announced and then examined me with suspicion.


    I nodded politely and went to kiss Adrielle, just to make a point. "Welcome back, love."


    "Not now...Pef." the woman muttered a bit embarrassed.


    "Yes...spreading your seed like oats, are you?" the stern Inquisitor asked in an angry voice.


    "Is there a point to your question, esteemed Inquisitor? My Blank children are immune to the Warp, are they not?" I asked with fake naivety.


    "I suspect it''s more that defense against the Warp in your plans, Lord Lancefire. Your Rogue Trader Dynasty has become too strong. Your alliance with so many Forge Worlds, the Silent Sisters, and even some Inquisitors...they all point to a greater plan." the old woman whispered in a psykery voice, about as strong as Rose had been when we first met. Beta-level psyker probably.


    "Careful there, my dear. You might be an Agent of the Throne, but I am actually related to the Emperor, by blood. Via his son, Primarch Sanguinius. My children...they are the Emperor''s grandchildren, by blood." I proclaimed in a low voice, using all my focus to remain upright and unbowed.


    At need, I could take out my Bone Staff, but I was making a point here.


    My argument seemed to have an impact, as the Inquisitor stepped back a little and glanced at Ludvaius then back at me. So she had learned about the Angel, right from an eyewitness.


    "There have been other sons who turned against the Emperor. And only recently a pair of the loyal ones returned to help the Imperium...with your help, correct?" Lady Hezika demanded in a sharp tone.


    I just shrugged and drew Adrielle into another kiss.


    "Accuse Lord Pef again, old witch, and I will crush your bones. Perhaps a demon will crawl out." Ludvaius growled and hefted his Power Maul, making it glow blue with energy.


    The Inquisitor''s bodyguard drew ranks, hefting weapons and trying to look menacing. So they vanished in my labyrinth for now, before one of them fired by accident.


    "Lady Hezika is correct, Ludvaius. Primarch Sanguinius was killed by Horus, was he not?" I said in a peaceful voice, and held my hand towards the stern Inquisitor.


    The woman touched me cautiously, almost like expecting to get burned at my touch. "Immune to Warp but not nearly as painful as those Silent Sisters."


    "The Primarchs had plenty of Silent Sisters, and did not use them to protect themselves from Chaos. Probably defending the Warpgate under the Imperial Palace. Or they simply considered any defense beneath them. Prideful guys, the Primarchs." I declared in a low tone, placing the Inquisitor''s hand on my elbow and having her walk beside me while I explored the Black Ship.


    "I feel like I''m the one being examined for corruption..." Lady Hezika Carmillus muttered as we passed interrogation cells, and decks of sealed rooms with purity seals on the doors.


    I just hummed inward, while cataloging and inventorying everything on the spaceship. So many exotic weapons, Assassins and xenos held in stasis, a thousand autosvants and astropaths a few decks below...prisoners of a thousand kinds, from Governors to Rogue Traders and Navigators, to simple techacolytes and Imperial Guardsmen.


    Did I steal an Exitus Rifle and a hundred rounds for it? I deny any such allegations!

 Anomaly - Ch 137

    After a week of examining my new guest, I concluded that Lady Hezika would not qualify for into my family.


    Mostly due to her Puritan philosophy, which fit more into the Sisters of Battle group, using faith and willpower as a source of strength. Sure, those were both immensely powerful tools, but they needed exceptional people to work.


    Not everyone could have the strength of will to stare a Daemon Prince in the eyes and crush him in a desperate last stand. One in a million people, maybe.


    For the rest of humanity, prayers worked almost like home. As in...very little. Which is why there were spaceships and army regiments actually fighting in the Imperium''s wars, and not Holy Saints all over the place.


    I found some actual relics to gift her, and a mostly vague story about my abilities and plans. The woman wasn''t stupid, but she also had nothing on me, nothing concrete.


    "The Inquisition will still need access to the Pharos, Lord Lancefire. However you managed to transport the planet here, the C''tan inside is a dangerous xeno, and there is much to learn from examining it and its abilities." Inquisitor Carmillus muttered with a sharp and hateful look at Zarhulash.


    The C''tan pleaded silently at me, but I just smiled. "I will agree to this, with the caveat that I will screen these Inquisitors. And if they are found wanting, their corpses will be sent to Terra, along with their Rosettes. So no demonhosts or other corrupted traitors, nor the many other kind of insane freaks I hear about, massacring Astartes Chapters or burning entire Imperial planets because their bowels said so." I replied a with a gentle voice.


    The old woman blinked once, before vanishing with a flash of purple fire.


    Oh well, I guess there won''t be too many Inquisitors visiting Forge Machine in the future. Their curiosity will possibly be tempered by the promise of certain death, and the numbers of dead Inquisitors returned to Terra slightly dead had steadily increased over the years, often with proof of their treason attached inside the stasis box. Others had mysteriously vanished or died in various explosions, and only their Rosettes were returned.


    After Lady Hezika left, I began searching for a new deployment target, as my Lamenters had finally reached two Companies of Battle-Brothers and two thousand techmarines, not the Forging kind, but pilots and field commanders for the Guardian mobile turrets. Would it surprise you to find out the Blood Angels had 40 techmarines in total? I almost felt like slapping their heads around.


    Perhaps it was time for visit.


    Then again...Hive World Meridian</a> was experiencing earthquakes, which naturally announced a Tyranid Fleet approaching. My dear Adria Kalistradi was there, purging a genestealer cult with their aid of the Deathwatch, and even Lord Commissar Cain was there, no doubt cursing his luck while neck deep in cultists and genestealers.


    I helped a little, emptying two crates of krak grenades to thin out the enemies, and sent a squad of Blood Angels and two Silent Sisters to keep Adria a bit safer.


    She didn''t have Cain''s luck, after all.


    "Clean out the southern hab-spires of Orks, and make sure to secure the manufactorium until my fleet arrives." I whispered in Inquisitor Kalistradi''s mind.


    "Pef! I should have known it was you, damn situation was so familiar." the woman grumbled as Sister Aleya fired her phase plasma fusil into a huge genestealer Patriarch, ripping off a limb-claw, while her Sister charged ahead and slashed with a Knight-sized Power Sword, taking off a leg and crippling the beast.


    "Got delayed by some kind of temporal distortion, my love. There are a hundred thousand bioships heading your way, so you''ll need to mobilize every able citizen. Just make sure to place Commissar Cain in command, he has good instincts."


    I explained in faint amusement, before switching focus to a certain Necron.


    Damn wizard was playing puppet master with his captured tech-priests, preparing his Blackstone Fortress for another shot at the Hadex Anomaly.


    "How long til you''re ready, Lord Trazyn?" I asked curious.


    "...Stranger. I almost forgot about you. As for firing the weapon, the Inquisitor wanted the ignition button, so it''s up to her. We''ve been ready for weeks, but she keeps demanding more machine prayers and purity rituals! As if my creations would explode from improper maintenance." Trazyn the Infinite complained while his staff discharged a green cloud of energy.


    Well...I wasn''t surprised at the Inquisitor''s precaution, as many Mechanicus contraptions did explode or malfunction in horrible ways. Most often when Warp fuckery was involved.


    But that was mainly because the moron techpriests only used a single Gellar field instead of twenty, even on critical installations or spaceships. Those Ruinous Powers did enjoy ruining things for humanity.


    While I was musing for something to trade, Lady Adrielle teleported beside me, and went to pet Canis without any fear.


    The space wolf just snorted and allowed the woman to scratch his magnificent fur, eyes still fixed on the alien creature on the wall.


    "What are you doing now?" the Inquisitor demanded and walked beside me.


    "Arranging for the closing of the Anomaly. It won''t take long." I murmured out loud, while measuring the Ordo Malleus Inquisitor with my mind''s eye.


    Lady Ivixia was formidable, even from this distance. Then again, she carried her own father''s skull on her shoulder, used as a shoulder mounted autocannon. This was true dedication and willpower, although she would need a Null Bone Rod to be safe against the Warp. Perhaps a chronoblade...no. She had a real relic polearm anyway.


    "You need to give the Inquisitor a Null Wand, Lord Trazyn. She hears voices, and that''s not a good sign." I told the Necron after observing the damaged Inquisitor whisper to her dead father.


    This text was taken from Royal Road. Help the author by reading the original version there.


    "That''s...actually makes sense. No wonder she was so undecided. Something is inhabiting that skull, perhaps?" Trazyn asked while he teleported a Null Wand to one of his mind-controlled techpriests.


    I just observed her reaction, as the Null Wand instantly suppressed the ghost inside the skull. "Inquisitor Dannica, is everything alright?" the techpriest underling wondered and drew back.


    "It''s nothing...I just had a revelation. Very well then. Let''s fire your weapon and hope we don''t all die gruesomely when it fails." the black-haired woman muttered and took out a hand device with two green buttons.


    "Just...make sure you press both of them at once, Inquisitor Dannica. We''re confident that is the best way to close a Warp Rift of this size." Trazyn proposed with a mechanical voice emitted from the techpriest''s vox box.


    Clack!


    The armored woman pressed both buttons and the weapon blurred and split in two, then two parallel black beams struck the Anomaly. Well, only one was visible.


    The Warp swirled and constricted, then an immense howl emerged from deep inside the vortex, followed by a giant red claw the size of a few stars.


    But Trazyn wasn''t a wizard for nothing. Some kind of brilliant green gauss beam shot from beneath the Fortress, flaying the gigantic claw and forcing it to draw back, while the Warp contracted more and more until two waves splashed into each other, and sent spatial shockwaves for light-years, annihilating everything in their path, stars or Demon Worlds or spaceships.


    "It worked! The Anomaly is gone!" Lady Ivixia exclaimed in surprise.


    And then, despite the Null Wand in her hand, a voice spoke in her mind. "The Ruinous Powers will never forgive you, Lady Ivixia. You''re not ready to fight a Great Demon either, if a mere skull ghost could fool you for this long. And your techpriests are not actually friendly, now that your purpose is over. I advise you to depart hastily, and ask Inquisitor Ramaeus for help."


    "Who is this?" she asked looking around suspiciously.


    "I have a puppy. And that''s your safe word too, if you keep calm and demand to leave right now." I explained while keeping watch on Trazyn, who was obviously considering adding an Inquisitor to his collection.


    To give her credit, Lady Ivixia could be very decisive at need.


    In a second, the skull was dismounted and shot into melted sludge by her inferno pistol, before she turned towards the nearest techpriest.


    "I will leave now, for my service to the Emperor calls me elsewhere. Also, be warned if you try to stop me, for I have a puppy." She proclaimed sounding fearless.


    The techpriest in front of her hesitated, before waving a mechadendrite in disgust. "I should have known you were his agent! All this waiting, just to receive the go-ahead to fire when the stranger returned. Fine! You will arrive on Forge Retribution a minute earlier and forget about us. You hear me, stranger?" Trazyn muttered as the Inquisitor vanished from the Blackstone Fortress, to reappear on Forge World Retribution, just beside my Knights and their techpriests supervisors.


    So...Trazyn did keep a locator on those Knight suits.


    "You can already start preparing a Null Bone Wand for my agent, Lord Trazyn. I shall provide a bloodline flaw in a decade or two. Now, I want those repair modules, for Knights and Titans." I asked while another Dark Eldar Archon and his retinue appeared in front of Trazyn, only without weapons.


    "Oh? Is this my present? The rulers of a nearly extinct species, who live on pain?" The Necron Overlord wondered while examining the new prisoners.


    "Just imagine how many secrets they might know. Secret webways and weapons caches, hidden subdimensions of the Commorragh, maybe the construction method for those amazing Void mines?" I offered with a teasing smile.


    Trazyn nodded, obviously considering my words. "Yes, indeed. And in exchange, you only want a copy of their knowledge, in STC format?" he asked rhetorically.


    I smiled inward and did not reply, instead checking on the Necron World being assaulted by Hive Fleet Perseus.


    To my surprise, those Necrons were still on Bardic, and their Tomb Ships were fighting a gigantic Eldar fleet instead, while the void was littered with dead bioships. The planet itself was still infested with billions of Tyranid warforms, battling a black C''tan shard and armies of Necron Warriors, all wearing Tyranid hides on their backs like capes.


    Not unexpectedly, an Avatar of Khaine was leading the Eldar Fleet from a large battleship with too many guns, empowering the bright lances to pierce right through the thick blackstone armor of the Necron warships.


    The Necrons had almost 100 ships but were outnumbered 30 to 1, and their weapons seemed to have no effect when striking the Eldar battleship, green beams of death striking a golden aura and vanishing. Damn cheating Eldar God!


    Well, the Avatar sure chose the perfect time to attack, and I decided to lend a hand, deploying a couple Nova Mines in the midst of the Necron escort ships.


    A minute later, the Necron fleet was faring even worse, reduced to 8 capital ships and their shields weakened a little. I was pretty sure the Avatar would object if I used a Vortex warhead, so I just watched.


    Well, I could sell tickets to this fight now.


    "Something amazing will take place on Bardic, Lord Trazin. A C''tan shard and an Eldar Avatar, fighting among hordes of Tyranids. Want to buy a ticket to this once in a lifetime show?" I asked in a curious voice.


    "Yes! So it hasn''t yet begun? I can prepare then...and you''ll get your trade, don''t worry stranger. Might need more test subjects to perfect memory downloads on the Dark Eldar. At least a few thousands?" the Necron proposed quite shamelessly.


    Couldn''t say no to such a nice robot, could I?

 Shower - Ch 138

    Lady Adrielle waited patiently beside me as I opened my eyes.


    "Well?" she asked curious.


    "It is done. The Hadex Anomaly was closed." I replied with a glance at the C''tan God.


    "A fine blow against those warp-ling creatures from the Immaterium, Pef Lancefire. Now you''ll have to repeat that...several more times." Zarhulash spoke with a slightly impressed voice.


    I picked up a Null Wand from mid-air and offered it to Adrielle. "I think you should stay here, for a few decades. Keep an eye on the new Forge and raise a few children."


    Adrielle had a bionic eye, so my joke wasn''t all that tactful. "This is a xeno artifact, Pef. My left eye was made by a Jokaero, and it picks up certain xenos vibes." she explained while twirling the wand in her hand.


    I just shrugged and hugged her to my side. "One day humanity will make even better tech. But it would be a pity to blow up your brains, if you let a demon inside or some mind-controlling xenos gets hold of you. Your children will be sad to grow up without a mother."


    She sighed and glanced at the C''tan. "This creature better cooperate then. I won''t waste two decades for nothing."


    I smiled gently and began setting up a holographic screen, matching cogitator components from my inventory. "Lady Adrielle has level two access, Mighty Zarhulash. Lady Ezu and other authorized visitors, level one."


    The C''tan wasn''t a stargod for nothing, and he measured my lover with curious eyes. "It is a pact then. For my safety." he demanded in a cold voice.


    I just smiled and flicked a comm cable at his foot''s pinky toe, where the connector just merged with his toe, seamlessly. Then I grabbed Canis and the Sounding Board, and stepped through the Pharos directly on Forge Retribution.


    No point wasting travel time and fuel to reach my own domains. "Fabricator Dominus, you heard the news?" I asked the techpriest in a gleeful tone, making him jump in surprise.


    "Lord Pef! You mean about this Inquisitor who appeared out of nowhere?" the Magos said and pointed at a holoscreen to show Lady Ivixia conducting interrogations on my Knight pilots.


    "Related to that. This woman has just closed the Hadex Anomaly, with the aid of some deviant techpriests from Forge Venatoria. Quite an achievement, wouldn''t you say?" I explained while bringing out Canis and preparing a few cups of drinks for my guest.


    Dominus stared at me for a moment, before looking at the screen again. "Some kind of Reality Cage? But the energy for that..."


    "It was way more complicated than that. The energy came from a Blackstone Fortress, my friend. Plus some really deviant procedures." I spoke softly and twisted my labyrinth to bring Ivixia in the room.


    "Lady Ivixia, meet Canis, my puppy." I announced with a genial smile.


    The Inquisitor stared at me, and patted her hip where she had the new Null Wand. "This was another teleport, without using the Warp." she concluded while examining Canis with a long stare.


    "Wooof! Wooo." Canis explained logically.


    "Tea, peach juice, recaf?" I proposed with a kind smile.


    "Tea will do, Astartes. Lamenter Chapter?" the Inquisitor demanded with a stern voice, and went to pet Canis while examining his shield collar with expert eyes.


    I poured tea and waited, while discussing with Magos Dominus through our Manifold circuits. Much faster exchange of data that way, and more secure.


    I had lost plenty years and had much to catch up, but Forge Retribution has not been idle.


    Fabrication lines for the new infantry Hellguns, Lascannon Tarantula turrets and Armed Sentinels were already operational, while the new Forge districts for Guardians and Macharius tanks were almost ready.


    Nearly a billion immigrants have been imported via Antax, mostly servitors and new acolytes.


    In orbit, there were six dockyards now, four for escorts and two for capital ships, and the Canticle battlecruiser had been already finished upgrading to my specifications. Primarily extra armor, new reactors and better shields.


    Even better, my mentor Explorer Magos Gyron had sent a short message saying "Entry found", which most likely meant he was inside the Speranza now.


    Wherever he was, he was not in the Pharos range, which didn''t surprise me at all.


    If you discover this tale on Amazon, be aware that it has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road. Please report it."I am not the usual kind of Astartes, my lady. Must be my Rogue Trader origin, but I prefer using my brain instead of muscles. For example, I prefer using Blank Astartes in my Chapter. Pretty much zero chance of falling to Chaos and being turned against humanity. Sure, I just copied what the Emperor did with the Silent Sisters, but since it works then it surely means my adoptive grandfather approves." I explained in a polite voice, and sipped some recaf to recharge.


    "Blank Astartes...how does that even..." the Inquisitor grumbled inward, and handed me the Null Wand, but I waved it away. I was a Null myself, after all.


    "There is a big difference between Blanks and Pariahs. The first kind is a mere adaptation, to withstand the energies of the Warp, just like dark skin protects someone from the sun or windows tint to block weapon flares. The second kind, it''s more akin to photosynthesis and solar sails. Warp energies are used to provide that person with extra power, beside simple immunity. Power to close the Hadex Anomaly, for example." I continued in a soft voice, and raised an eyebrow knowingly.


    The Inquisitor nodded in deep thought, now realizing why those heretek techpriests had asked for her scrawny Pariah so insistently.


    "This means...we need to grow and protect Blanks until they produce more Pariahs. Such weapons would...this is huge!" Ivixia exclaimed in an ecstatic voice.


    "Yes, of course. That it is exactly why the Silent Sisters were banished from Terra, and Blanks all over the galaxy hunted down and murdered for being dangerous mutants. Often by your own order, Lady Inquisitor. How many High Lords on Terra are psykers?


    Who pilots the ships, maintains the Astronomican, provides empire-wide communication, or hunts down rogue psykers? Aren''t the most powerful Inquisitors psykers too? And other secretive groups like the Grey Knights and the Templars_Psykologis</a>?" I asked rhetorically.


    The woman froze for a second, before sighing in defeat. "You never heard this, Fabricator. Sealed by my order." she demanded forcefully and returned the tea cup on the tray.


    "Of course, Lady Dannica. It will be so, unless Lord Lancefire countermands that order." Magos Dominus answered with a flat voice, and glanced at me for praise. Well, he was loyal so I praised him on the Manifold.


    "Come, Lady Ivixia. Let''s take a walk and visit Forge Retribution." I said peacefully and offered the woman my elbow. That always worked. "Canis, wanna come or visit your lady friends?" I asked my other friend.


    Canis just snorted and grinned wolfishly. Alright then, go have fun making puppies, horny space wolf! He vanished to reappear in the wolf pen, and proceeded to dominate his new bitches immediately.


    "That Fenrisian Wolf...how it that a puppy?" she asked as we walked around the Forge and examined the new fab-lines.


    "Obviously Canis has grown up. I got him as a puppy though." I replied with a wide smile, and produced a dataslate with his cute appearance as a wolf puppy.


    A couple of hours later, we returned to my rooms to eat, and Felicia arrived in a rush to welcome me with kisses and hugs. "Pef, I passed the entrance rites! Next year I will be a full Magos." she explained proudly while sitting in my lap without a care.


    A flash of jealousy passed over Lady Ivixia, making Felicia tilt her head curious. "Don''t worry Lady Inquisitor. I can wait, if you want the first rounds." the bubbly enginseer added cheerfully and kissed my angelic cheek, lovingly.


    That didn''t help as much as she expected. "That''s...what is this exactly, Lord Lancefire?" the black-haired Inquisitor demanded in a stern voice, watching my hands fondle the blonde woman in my lap. Couldn''t help it really...must be a reflex.


    "Blanks cannot be cloned, Lady Ivixia. Only made naturally, with deep sessions of hot sweaty bedtime. Or other locations, like a steamy hot shower..." I replied very seriously, while Felicia was already breathing heavily and pushing herself harder into my hands.


    Her eyes glazed over for a few seconds, no doubt envisioning the promised scene.


    "Perhaps...I can watch. Yes. And I do need a hot shower." Ivixia murmured to herself.


    It didn''t take that long until my new lover joined me and Felicia in bed. Didn''t plan for a threesome on the first day, but maybe I was that lucky sometimes.

 Meridian - Ch 139

    "You want me to travel with you to Hive World Meridian?" Ivixia asked looking strangely at me.


    "Not just for the pleasant company, my dear. There is a cache of demonic artifacts there. And this time, it won''t be just the Lamenter fleet. House Lancefire will provide some cruisers and the Knights." I explained with a big smile, just as Rose entered my room.


    Even as a Blank, and my lover wearing the Null Bone Staff, her powers were obvious, as the air shimmered around Rose with a light blue glow.


    Ivixia patted her hip to make sure the Null Wand was still in place.


    "Pef, my love. A demonhunter now?" Rose asked with faint merriment.


    "Lady Ivixia was instrumental in closing the Anomaly, my dear. She even fired the weapon." I said while offering a hug.


    Rose smiled a little, while her deck of tarot cards flew out and glowed, before falling on the table in some mysterious reading. "Even so my naive Pef, your sweet Ivixia is only waiting for an opportunity to burn you alive. It''s how their kind are trained or better said, brainwashed."


    I sighed inward, knowing it was probably true. "There''s a long list of those who want me dead, but it will never happen. In fact, it only saves me time by exposing the traitors and allowing me to exterminate them easier." I answered in a cheerful voice, then kissed Rose for a long minute.


    When I returned inside my body, Ivixia was staring at me with a doubtful look, possibly reconsidering her life choices.


    "I do not burn innocent people, no matter what you heard about my order, colleague Inquisitor. And Lord Pef is a Blank, so most corruption accusations would be absurd, at least those involving the Warp or Chaos. There is some doubt on his Chapter''s approach on the Codex Astartes...plus all the proven heretek use of xenos artifacts." Inquisitor Dannica replied in a dignified voice.


    "Proven you say? A Blackstone Fortress is made by xenos too, with the purpose of fighting against Chaos. Now, how should you be sentenced Inquisitor Dannica? Surely if you''re not guilty, being submerged in molten brass will not hurt you." I explained with a wide grin.


    "That would be interesting to watch indeed. I boiled Fulgrim''s corpse in molten adamantium, but never an Inquisitor, not yet." Rose commented and weaved a claw made of Warpfire around her hand.


    "... That won''t be necessary. If Lord Pef did use a xeno artifact, he must have had a good reason." Lady Ivixia muttered as the adamantium floor beneath her feet started melting.


    Rose cast another deck of tarot cards, while the floor became solid again. A trick of the trade worth remembering, as it did use the environment against someone immune to Warp.


    You could also simply use weapons, which was how most Blanks got killed anyway.


    "See Pef? Now we''re all friends. Next crisis will happen in seven years, if the nice Inquisitor survives so far." Rose predicted with a warning voice, then continued on the Manifold. "This woman is completely deranged. Keep her away from Illevar."


    I sobbed inward. All my efforts would be wasted on Ivixia, if things were this bad.


    "Perhaps it''s better if you are given a new quest, Lady Ivixia. Travel to the Rock and awaken Primarch El''Johnson. Those silly Dark Angels have forgotten about him and keep him hidden in a stasis crypt, right under their fortress." I murmured in a soft voice, while taking out a few items that will help. A dataslate containing the best STC templates I had, another Null Wand and a Blessed Autocimulacra disc, which contained enough alloygel to heal a power armor a few times.


    Both women exhaled in unison, perhaps at the amazing news. "Why her?" Rose demanded in a furious tone.


    "Because, only Ivixia can enter this crypt. She needs a Ferryman to help her cross, and those Ferrymen only listen to Ordo Malleus." I declared confidently, and then moved the demonhunter aboard the Inquisitorial Blackship in orbit.


    Then I sat down and sighed deeply. If my conjecture was correct, the Ferrymen</a> Grey Knights would be able to resolve those Watchers keeping the Lion in stasis. They were all Pariah after all.


    "Dad! We''re going to Titan! Too bad it takes two years to reach it." Janice sent me as the Blackship cruiser began undocking from the Forge Retribution''s receiving spacestation.


    "Be careful there, Janice. Trust no one." I advised my daughter with parental worry. Terra and the Solar System were always the most dangerous place to be, even for a Navigator. And Titan was the base of the Grey Knights.


    Then I turned to stare at Rose, watching her get undressed with bemusement. "So all that was to get me for yourself, my beloved Rose?"


    But she only laid herself in bed, and beckoned me over. "You have to stop doing this, love. If not Ivixia, then the next. But you will get excommunicated, and doom your family as well. So far, you got amazingly lucky, but don''t chase after more Inquisitors. Even Velayne can''t do much against the Inquisitor Lords."


    While joining Rose in bed, I mentally scratched a notch on my bed pole anyway. Having seduced at least one woman Inquisitor from Ordo Malleus, it was time to look for an Ordo Hereticus lover.


    Banking on my amazing life story, and my rather impressive resume of campaigns and high-profile kills, I would bet a throne at least one heretic hunter would fall for it.


    Anyway, it seemed Rose was very eager for a new child, which made me just as eager too. I did choose a pleasant type of duty, and I''ll never regret it.


    The Blanktown has grown into a Blankcity in my absence, as my children and their children kept increasing our numbers, as did the imported Blanks like Jurgen and Sly Marbo and all the others.


    As for the Catachans, we had 150 regiments now, and their children had also reached recruitment age, at least the first generations.


    Technical training in the colonies was already the best I could offer, and that reflected back in increased output in new factories, mills and even agriculture.


    My kingdom had finally achieved resource independence, although we will keep importing advanced machines and immigrants, in exchange for raw or processed materials.


    This story originates from a different website. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there.If this wasn''t a total war economy, things would have been much easier, but war will never end in this universe, not with Orks and Tyranids and Necrons eager to smash, eat or destroy everything, while Eldar and Chaos plotted the demise of the humanity at every opportunity.


    However, while things were still bad for the Imperium, in the Ultima Segmentum it was possibly a better state of affairs than anywhere else. Many of the Forge Worlds doomed in that other timeline were still here, some battered, some thriving but alive even so.


    Also, pretty much every Demon World I could reach had been burned, as were many Ork, Necron and other xenos planets.


    Plus, all the new technologies and the blackstone and adamantium provided for the war effort, and a few easy victories over Eldar, Orks and Tyranid Hives, and much costlier victories over Necrons and Chaos forces.


    I was just waiting for Primarch Guilliam to make up his mind and commence his march for Terra. The man had charisma and momentum behind him, something I could never hope to achieve. To put it simply, Roboute was the hero of the story and everyone else was his helpful aid.


    Soon enough, this proved true again as my fleet reached Meridian, and we rapidly began preparing defenses against the Tyranid Hive Fleet.


    With over 30 billion people, I could demand and obtain a thousand regiments being raised without any problem, although arming and training them would take time.


    So I tasked my techpriests, and the local techpriests to convert the criminal underground into tech-servitors, and had them assemble Hellguns and Lascannons and land mines and autocannons by the millions, while my troops and Astartes provided enforcement.


    It would have worked great, because my plans always work. It was not the first Hive World that I defended after all.


    But then, the damned Blood Ravens objected, claiming this world was under their protection, and sent a priority communique to the Primarch, and the damn idiot gave them command over the defense.


    It wasn''t enough that this Space Marine Chapter had an ungodly large amount of psykers and Librarians. No, that I could deal with.


    Not with a fucking corrupted Azariah Kyras</a>, the cretin wishing for demonhood.


    So now I had to find a damn Ordo Hereticus Inquisitor, or let this world get munched on by Tyranids.


    Well, I could also act sneakily, but I was pretty sure this time and place was not right. There were too many eyes watching, and not many friendly ones.


    At least I had a patsy to send forward and take the blame.


    "Commissar Cain! We meet again, and you look rather healthy now. How has duty been treating you?" I asked over a glass of expensive wine.


    "...I manage, Lord Lancefire. The armor and sword you gave me saved my life a dozen times, and the bodyguard twice that. Although some of them have died, fighting valiantly for the Emperor." the man muttered not too pleased.


    I nodded gallantly, because death was too common in the Imperium. "I have another gift for you, esteemed Hero of the Imperium. This is a miniaturized Warp Null Rod, disguised as a combat knife. It also cuts, but that''s not the point."


    I explained and offered him a Catachan Style jungle knife, with the handle drilled to allow a Null Wand to nest inside.


    The man hesitated, before accepting the gift with a sad face. "Protection against the Warp is too valuable to refuse...as much as I would like."


    "I am a Blank, so I don''t have a need for such a trinket. However, I do require a favor, Commissar. Place a call and ask for an Ordo Hereticus Inquisitor to be dispatched at once, hopefully on a warp-less drive ship." I whispered in fake secrecy.


    Really no need, inside my quarters but it made a better impact.


    "I suppose it is within my rights as a Lord Commissar, although I never used the rank. But why me, why not yourself, Lord Lancefire?" he asked with visible worry.


    I just shrugged and emptied my cup. "The last time I met a Chapter Master who fell to Chaos, it ended in the Badab War, billions of people died and that Chapter was excommunicated and completely exterminated. My Chapter, the Lamenters lost 900 Battle-Brothers fighting the Astral Claws and their allies. We only have 200 Astartes right now."


    Cain blinked at me, and drank his wine in a single gulp. "I shall make the call, Lord Lancefire. And let''s pray the Emperor listens too, and sends us someone able to fix this, before the Tyranids arrive."


    I sighed inward, and poured myself more wine, while mentally placing a vox call to the Governor of Meridian, while Cain walked away at a rapid pace.


    "Governor Derosa</a>, do you have time for a meeting?''" I asked while smiling at the holoscreen.


    "Lord Lancefire...In one hour, if you''re available then. There will be a working dinner, with my closest staff only." the Lady Governor answered a bit flustered.


    My face did have that effect on mortals, and I planned to use that. For the benefit of the Imperium and the salvation of the human race, of course.


    "I''ll invite Inquisitor Kalistradi then. Best if she scans your staff for genestealer infiltrators." I explained with a gentle voice.


    The genome scanning gadget from Lord Trazyn was really useful after all, even if it cost as much to make as a dreadnought suit or Baneblade heavy tank. A single tank would not save a planet from a genesealer cult, but the Invictus-patern auspex could.


    Sadly, only Forge Masters or Archmagi with great experience cold craft them, and not very quickly. Not when it required using thin slivers of Enslaver bones and other exotic materials, like psyker nerves and neurons and an Emanatus Forcefield to scan for special aether and empathic markers.


    Trazyn was working on a new device, able to detect Chaos corruption just like the Necrons could for themselves.


    Only, doing that with Mechanicus level of technology was not as easy, nor were Enslaver bones an item found on markets.

 Lesson - Ch 140

    After the meal with the Governor was over, I stayed for a nice bottle of wine and a relaxing chat in front of fireplace, which even had a gigantic beast fur laid in front of it. Very promising.


    "So why do I get this honor, my lord? I heard that you caught Gregor Vandis, just before he managed to run away with all the stolen riches from my planet." Lady Derosa murmured with a worried glance towards the Inquisitor.


    "I did, and thus came in conflict with the Blood Ravens, who also claim ownership over some relics. Including Chaos-tainted artifacts, that had to be destroyed. I and my Astartes are all Blanks, which means were are immune to corruption, but that''s quite the exception among humanity. I also believe that Chaos incursions will continue in this sector, and where else would they strike than at the leadership, the noble houses?" I asked rhetorically, while the blonde woman paled and gulped some more wine for courage.


    "Our faith in the Emperor will keep us safe, and perhaps your troops." the Governor murmured in a hopeful voice.


    I smiled gently. "There is a simpler solution, and quite a pleasant one. I will be available to impregnate most of the noble daughters with Blank children, and thus create a ruling class immune to Chaos." I commented with a knowing glance towards the welcoming fur.


    The woman blushed fiercely, and then turned towards the Inquisitor. "Is that all right, Lady Kalistradi?" she asked in a shy voice.


    "We don''t have that long, Lord Pef. I already feel the Silence in the Warp, reducing my abilities and giving me nausea. Perhaps a month." Adria said with a soft voice, and sipped fruit juice instead. I kinda guessed the nausea was not the Silence''s fault.


    "... Here?" Elena Derosa asked while her hands were already unconsciously unbuttoning her uniform.


    I swiped the fur into my tesseract and then stole the Governor as well. "I do believe my bed will be much more appropriate. What do you say Adria?"


    "I don''t care, as long as I get a few rounds." the black-haired beauty explained and massaged her breasts teasingly.


    Well then. Time to do my fucking duty then. And Rose might wanna watch or even join in...which would be great too.


    Much later, Lady Elena returned to her apartments quite tired, while Adria and Rose stayed in my bed to explore my talents in depth.


    "So why are we here, Pef? Except saving a Hive World from Tyranids." my stern lover asked while massaging my glands.


    "I need Blood Ravens'' geneseed, to obtain psyker Librarians for my Chapter. I am quite certain that it''s the geneseed itself that turns feral boys into Gamma-level psykers." I explained with a wry voice, and relaxed under her pleasant ministrations.


    Rose exchanged a look with Adria, and drew closer, pressing her breasts in my face while Adria took over the massage. "Tell me more." she demanded in a throaty voice.


    Damn the Inquisition! Such torture was impossible to resist!


    They listen to my plan, and fine-tuned it to be legal and less risky.


    "You better hope the Ordo Hereticus sends a woman, and one...very amenable to your charms, my love. This plan of yours might turn into a disaster otherwise." Rose grumbled as she rested on my chest.


    I hoped so as well, counting on my knowledge of the events around Aurelia and the Blood Ravens. It was always possible that things will turn out different, especially with the Eldar Farseer Idranel</a> involved.


    This Farseer will join my collection when I found her, as she was surely around somewhere, using the turmoil on Meridian to draw the Hive Fleet towards the Imperium.


    Over the next two weeks, Elena kept inviting noble daughters to visit her, and then they got simply ordered by an Inquisitor to bear my children and promote them inside their Houses, the Blanks most of all.


    We managed to score about 50 of them, before another Navy battlecruiser arrived in the system, carrying Inquisitor Adrastia</a> and her retinue of witch hunters and Interrogators.


    Strangely, there was a locked adamantium vault deep inside this spaceship, holding a young woman in a stasis pod, and the stasis pod bound with a hundred purity seals and phase-iron chains.


    A mystery for another day.


    Right now, Commissar Cain was tasked with receiving and offering his suspicions, backed by a couple of Blood Ravens marines sharing his accusation.


    "Return to your duties, Commissar. I shall interrogate these witnesses myself." the Inquisitor demanded with a deep frown, and locked her cold blue eyes on Captain Angelos.


    I just laid in bed, while sweet Elena was riding me in glorious ecstasy. The blonde Governor was not the first nor the last noble woman to give herself to me, but I would do everything I could to keep her, and my future children safe.


    An official marriage would not be possible, but she could receive a bodyguard and techpriest expertise to raise her world to the peak of productivity and civilization.


    Even simply repairing the underhive conduits and algae farms would allow the world to double its population in a few decades, while cleansing the gangs and opening new weapons factories would provide increase exports and profit.


    The nearby Forge World Accatran</a> was asked to help set up shipyards for system corvettes and mining spaceships, as well as manufactoriums for Armed Sentinels and Tarantula turrets.


    Unauthorized duplication: this tale has been taken without consent. Report sightings.


    My own techpriests from Retribution would train and consecrate a million new techpriests here, to produce Weasels and interceptor fighters, and just like that, Meridian would soon be able to export mechanized regiments wherever they were needed.


    Nothing too high-tech, but thousands of Imperial Guard regiments armed with light tanks and walkers were much better than simple infantry regiments with puny lasguns and bayonets.


    "You go and help Inquisitor Adrastia, my love. Make sure you take the Deathwatch and the Silent Sisters." I sent to my dear Rose, who was lounging in my armchair and enjoying the show.


    "Damn horny lover. You had six women today!" Rose grumbled as she grabbed her staff and vanished in a flash of purple light.


    I shrugged inward and continued my fucking job.


    On the outskirts of the system, my cruisers armed with Nova Cannons were already skirmishing with the first bioships, cutting of a small Hive tendril heading towards Typhon_Primaris</a>, and testing the new weapons. With increased range and power, the Long Lances on the cruisers allowed the ships to engage and harass the Tyranids without much danger, a hundred Lamenter and Lancefire cruisers easily terminating a thousand bioships in a single day.


    After my dear Governor crashed on top of me exhausted, my spear sprang back, ready to fight again.


    "Is it my turn now?" Sister Alana asked in a hungry voice, trying to sound sultry, but failing so cutely.


    I sent Elena back to her own bed to rest, and waved Alana closer. "Your turn for what, my dear?" I asked teasingly.


    "You meanie Astartes! Always teasing me, even when I''m on bodyguard duty." the vocal Silent Sister grumbled as she took off her armor and jumped in my bed, to guard my body closely.


    Rafen passed a throne coin to Ludvaius, no doubt paying some secret debt among them, making the Veteran grin at me and hold his thumb up. "I''ve bet a throne you''ll reach seven women one day, Captain. Took you a couple of years, but you finally managed." the powerful warmachine explained over the Manifold connection.


    Well, I guess they would get bored watching me bang women over so many decades.


    "One of you will need to remain on Meridian for a couple of decades. Guard my children until they grow up and gain power over the Hive World." I sent as a reply, while I pampered sweet Alana with kisses.


    Ludvaius nodded slowly. "It would be my honor, Captain. Perhaps you''ll reach eight women by then."


    I sighed inward, sad to part with him. But two Blood Angel bodyguards were rather wasted on me now, and the presence of Ludvaius would entrench Elena as a planetary Governor even in front of other Astartes or techpriests or Ministorum adepts.


    While Alana enjoyed bodyguarding me, I kept watch on my Rose and the swift and brutal manner in which she and Lady Adrastia confronted the corrupted Chapter Master and executed him.


    From there, the purging spread among corrupted Blood Raven Librarians and Chaplains, and then to their connections among House Vandis of the former Governor.


    A Noble House was a large entity, comparable to a national government on Earth. Purging and rounding up the traitors took an entire week, even with the aid of the local Adeptus Arbites, the Inqusition''s own troops and a company of Lamenter Terminators backed by fifty Lamenter techmarines to provide perimeter security with their mobile Guardian turrets.


    It would have been my right to confiscate some of the loot, but I did not, not even relics and Astartes armor.


    Instead, I demanded a hundred ampules of Blood Raven gene-seed for my own Librarians, and denied their Chapter further involvement on Meridian.


    The new Chapter Master was not too happy, but he relented in the end.


    "I feel we got played by you and the Inquisition, Master Lancefire. You should have let us deal with the traitors ourselves." the grizzly old veteran muttered with a cold voice.


    "I just learned from my mistakes, Master Angelos. As did you I suppose. I heard you released a Greater Demon with that big hammer of yours. Smashing things is not always the better option." I commented wryly, as this idiot did indeed release a demon by crushing the Maledictum</a> artifact.


    "Do not try to shame me, Lord Lancefire! And a hundred gene-seeds is too much, as we''re too recovering from losing so many Battle-Brothers and Librarians." Gabriel Angelos exclaimed a bit outraged.


    I nodded in agreement. "What I can offer, is a hundred Blank recruits in a decade. Also Blank ship Captains for your spaceships. At least with them, you''ll be certain they will never fall to Chaos."


    The Blood Raven glanced behind me, where my sons were arrayed in powerful Terminator armors, immune to Chaos and most mortal weapons.


    "Why a decade?" he asked curious.


    "Blanks are few and they need to produce offspring of their own, before being sent to die as Astartes." I answered with a shrug and walked away.


    In my rooms, I found Rose and Adrastia discussing the topic of the day, me.


    "I''d have thought you''ll be eager to leave my presence, Lady Adrastia." I murmured as I began taking off my power armor.


    The pretty Inqusitor smiled coyly and unbuttoned her own leather uniform, showing off a boob window, under the leather jacket.


    I blinked and checked with Rose.


    "Turns out Lady Adrastia wants a Blank daughter too." my lover explained with a smirk.


    I jumped in my bed and checked the new conquest, as Adrastia peeled off the black leathers of her job. "You can leave your hat on" I demanded on a whim.


    It was a quote from the classics, after all.

 Leather - Ch 141

    In the end, the Tyranid fleet barely managed to land a thousand assault spores, which was not enough to provide a proper Tyranid occupation army.


    My corvettes bombarded the more distant landing sites, while Marauder bombers and ground attack craft sortied to launch melta bombs and other incendiary ordnance on the closer landing sites, where orbital bombardment would be much too dangerous for our ground troops.


    Then we simply defended the Hive Cities walls as billions of Tyranids bioforms crawled through fields of burning lava and artillery barrages, only to enter killing grounds of land mines, spinning flails, and turret lasers.


    Sadly, I couldn''t take part in the last melee, being busy chasing down the void bioships and the last battleship-sized Hive Ship, which would provide me with battleship-grade bioarmor from the attack claws of the Hive Ship.


    The organic compound that made those claws was incredibly durable, which kinda made sense considering it had been evolved to crush spaceships.


    A millimeter thick plate of Hive-claw was more durable than a centimeter of ceramite, and much lighter. I guess I could sell it as a new organo-mineral, and use it as armor for boarding torpedoes and assault shuttles, or even drop pods and gunships.


    Anywhere weight was a limiting factor, from Sentinel walkers to Guardian turrets and even Knights or Titans.


    The Eldar used something similar, those wraithbones of theirs allowing durable but light and agile Titans and starfighters. Humanity did not have something like that, but we could skin our enemies and wear them on the outside, much like we did with leather armor.


    I even tried my new toy, the transdimensional beamer, but Hive-claw was not living rock and the Necron device didn''t know how to shape it. Not yet. I bet Trazyn could find a patch-fix for the new material.


    After that, I could dedicate some time to mass-produce durable components for my armies, especially for attack drones and ground-attack craft which were always the highest casualties in every deployment.


    By next month, Meridian was declared clean of Tyranids, and my Lancefire forces began embarking on their warp-less carriers and cruisers while the Lamenter Auxilia and the Lamenter Astartes and techmarines returned to our battlebarges and Drop-cruisers.


    I think Gabriel Angelos was a bit envious on my military might, since we barely lost any units against an entire Tyranid Hive Fleet. I might have cheated a bit, but only to save lives.


    Machines could be replaced, but trained soldiers and pilots not that much.


    "Is it really alright for an Astartes Chapter to have so many Auxiliary troops? A single one of your armor regiments is 10 times stronger than my own Auxilia." the man muttered with a gruff voice.


    "Probably not for the Blood Ravens, seeing as easily your Astartes fall to Chaos, Master Angelos. Best if you ask Primarch Guilliman for a solution, preferably one that includes Blank recruits and Silent Sisters watchers over your Chapter. Then again, you can try it your way, and next time I might have to exterminate your Chapter for corruption. It would be my duty, after all." I explained in a gentle voice, and smiled genially.


    The Veteran Space Marine glared at me for a long minute, before glancing at the Ordo Hereticus Inquisitor at my side. "Warning received, Master Lancefire. I shall travel to Ultramar and ask the Primarch for aid in this matter."


    "You''ve let them get away too easy, Lord Pef. Best if I purged them now, before other traitors spring up from their midst." Adrastia muttered in a low voice, watching the big marine walk away towards his shuttle.


    I sighed inward, knowing that Angelos certainly heard her. "By your words Lady Adrastia, I should exterminate and purge the Inquisition as well, before other traitors spring up from their midst. Correct?"


    Rose giggled faintly and smiled at me, then she vanished in a flash of blue light.


    "On the other hand, blanket accusations serve nobody. But, I shall keep an eye on the Blood Ravens even so. I fear the corruption will not be easily cleansed, even if I got all the traitors." Adrastia whispered and leaned on me, as the Blood Ravens shuttle departed the landing bay.


    I nodded with grim acceptance. The poor Blood Ravens carried the curse in their genes, most likely gene-seeds from Magnus the Red, going by how many psykers sprang up.


    "Come, my dear. Let''s celebrate this grand victory in bed, and provide the Imperium with another incorruptible child. Your first Blank son can join the Blood Ravens and serve as your inside man." I proposed with a cheerful voice.


    By the next week, my fleet was already en route to Forge World Accatran</a>, so I could finish up another trade deal for more Catachan regiments and a new fleet carrier, in exchange for STC templates and more blackstone.


    We arrived just in time to fend off a gigantic Ork Waagh, composed of three Space Hulks, a dozen Terror Ships, and thousands of smaller Ork contraptions assembled from transport ships and ore carriers, as well as mobile asteroids.


    You could be reading stolen content. Head to the original site for the genuine story.


    Accatran was a rather small Forge, barely a tier four despite having a Titan Legion and a dozen orbital shipyards.


    Maybe my luck struck again, or they were situated much too close to a giant Ork domain. Probably both.


    We managed to break up a Space Hulk before it could Warp away, and captured nine Terror Ships more or less intact.


    My labyrinth collection grew with a billion more Orks, mostly the bigger or better armed, while my Lamenters got to train with full armor and weapons clearing out the Space Hulk, and some even complained it was too easy.


    Well, it was much easier than the training we did at Illevar with swords and shields, instead of Terminator power armors and Rapiers and Guardian turrets in support.


    Forge Accatran brought millions of skitarii and combat servitors to speed things up, or it would take decades to clean up an entire Space Hulk made of thousands of wrecks and derelicts merged together.


    It was worth it anyway, as we looted a wealth of relic weapons, even more Astartes armor and a stasis pod filled with a dozen Heresy era Dreadnoughts, a couple of battlebarges heavily damaged, a hundred cruisers of different classes and even two battleships, an Emperor-class and another Retribution.


    I immediately and generously donated the Emperor-class to Forge Accatran, as the thing was too big and too expensive to repair. The Retribution battleship will be tractored to Forge Metalica for repair, as would a dozen more intact cruisers I set aside to become my new Heavy Drop-cruiser squadron.


    Other nearby Forges on my gift list would receive some spoils, in exchange for millions of tech-acolytes and ship-mechanics, and billions of tech-servitors to work on new cruiser-size shipyards, here and at Machine Forge.


    It took almost an entire year to set up the spread of wealth in metal and technology, including a chain of warp-less transmitters to Meridian and Forge Metalica.


    By then, Forge Accatran jumped an entire tier in Mechanicus ranks, reaching tier 3 and access to extra technologies, including the production of Chimeras, Hydras and Macharius heavy tanks.


    In a few decades Accatran will have a battleship-sized Ark Mechanicus though, and probably climb one more rank.


    They just needed to import a lot of human resources and acolytes, and now they had the wealth for it.


    My time here was not wasted anyway. I also received thirty more Catachan regiments in trades with nearby Forges, as well as a hundred million immigrants and thousands of new tech-priests.


    A couple of raids into the Ork domains cleared up a dozen planets as agriworlds and mining settlements, while also providing live training for the new mechanized regiments and my Lamenter Astartes and Lancefire Knights.


    Meanwhile, Rose disappeared somewhere and returned with a dozen leather-wearing women, hailing from a Death_Cult</a> called the Emperor''s Blades</a>. My implant marked them as dangerous and began highlighting power swords and daggers, vials of poison and neural gloves, and dozens of other unknown items which were certainly not massage sponges or acupuncture needles.


    I examined the sexy assassins with a frown, being quite certain it would mean death to touch those appetizing women.


    "Blades, this is your new Master, Pef Lancefire. You will serve him onto death, carry his children and kill his enemies. Now take off the leathers and let your Master examine you." The Inquisitor commanded in a cold voice, as if these women were lower than trash.


    The women obeyed without comment, exposing themselves to my eyes and cautious fingers.


    "Really, dear Rose? A Death Cult coven is your gift for me?" I murmured while tracing my finger over faint scars and surgical sutures.


    Whoever worked on these women had been a fleshcrafter, not quite a Magos Biologis but close enough. I could bet a throne there were a dozen of adrenal and cyborg implants under the soft skin.


    Rose just smiled thinly and nodded. "They work better in pairs, and are best deployed on Hive Worlds or at least industrial worlds, where their talents will allow them to blend in easily among the brutish cultists and gangers."


    "And they can''t speak?" I wondered while opening a woman''s mouth to examine her teeth. As expected the teeth had been worked, containing poison capsules, both for attack or suicide.


    "We can speak, Master." a red-haired woman replied shyly.


    "And you agree to this?" I asked a bit curious.


    "We have been told of your deeds, Lord Lancefire. You protect the Imperium and draw the ire of its enemies. We are to make sure those enemies die." the death cultist replied in a cold tone.


    I glanced at Rafen with a raised eyebrow. "Your advice, Sergeant?"


    The Veteran Blood Angel measured the women and their arsenal with a cautious look. "Induct them into your Obsidian Auguries, Captain. Lady Elixa would know best where to deploy them effectively. Otherwise, it would only take two days for your spear to convince them to become loyal."


    I sighed inward, and went to take a shower. These will be two long days.

 Gift - Ch 142

    When I returned to Forge Machine, it had barely been two years yet the place was unrecognizable.


    A hundred Mechanicus ships from different Forge Worlds, and even a couple of Inquisitor Blackships, now covered in expensive blackstone and being outfitted with extra torpedo cells and drop pods.


    Someone had been paying attention, copying my tactics both for orbital and planetary combat.


    Inside the Pharos a coterie of no less than six Inquisitor Ladies were busy interrogating the trapped C''tan, sitting on blackstone benches and writing down his words like gospel.


    Zarhulash blinked towards me in the same second I checked inside the Pharos with my tesseract labyrinth. "Pef Lancefire has finally returned, Inquisitors. Part 34 of the War in Heaven history will have to wait." the C''tan explained in a wry voice.


    Lady Velayne glanced in my direction as well, although she couldn''t have possibly...unless she gained some control over her own tesseract. "Indeed, Lord Lancefire has arrived in system. You have been very helpful, Mighty Zarhulash." the woman announced politely and tapped the floor with her Bone Staff, and vanished.


    She reappeared on the moon, right beside Lady Dae. "Pef is back, my dear Princeps. Have you finished the report on the Horus Heresy era?"


    The Titan pilot nodded and held out a data-stack. "Everything I remember, from birth to death...or whatever this new life is. You will have to compile the rest of the pict-image from my moderatii''s memories."


    "Yes, I will do that, Princeps Lancefire. As for your mystery, I do have some clues now. Although a stasis field does sound as the more probable method for your unlikely salvation, I also believe it''s incorrect. My classified source has revealed a dozen different ways to achieve your temporal dislocation and none of them involve a stasis field." Velayne said with a wry smile, and vanished again.


    Damn woman! Don''t ruin my marriage with your suspicions.


    Perhaps giving the Inquisitors access to Zarhulash and his well of arcane knowledge wasn''t all good.


    Then again, knowledge was power and Zarhulash was ancient even compared to the Necrons. If I wanted to beat the Necrons, I needed ways to defeat their advanced technology.


    That meant pinpointing weak points in the Necron defenses, flaws in their knowledge and operating instructions and many such advantages.


    A couple of hours later, I teleported inside the Pharos as well and released Rafen and Canis from the labyrinth.


    "Ladies, I hope you have received many lessons from the resident C''tan?" I asked politely.


    A dozen pairs of eyes blinked at me, most of them related to me, except for Inquisitor Carmillus.


    "We have learned of your adventures, Master Lancefire. At least this time you avoided massacring an entire Astartes Chapter, by appealing to the Inquisition to prosecute the traitors." the old woman muttered, and nodded approvingly.


    I shrugged and went to kiss my lovers, and ignored the old witch.


    "If the Astartes were Blanks they wouldn''t fall to Chaos at all. Something the Emperor himself was working to address, as shown by his Silent Sisters and Ordo Sinister programs. Too bad those traitors on Terra desired to rule with psyker powers and without any controls, thus the persecution of Blanks and Pariahs." I explained in a stern voice, pointing an accusing finger at the female Lord Inquisitor.


    The woman held my gaze for a minute, before glancing away. "I''ll wait on my cruiser, Lord Lancefire. It is obvious we will never see eye to eye." she declared in a dignified voice and stepped on the teleport pad.


    "As long as you avoid hurting my interests in the Eastern Fringe, we can be allies Lady Carmillus." I advised her just before she teleported away.


    "Pef Lancefire, you should know that fourteen Warp Rifts were closed and two Warp Storms have been reduced by your friends." The C''tan spoke with a rumbling voice, surprising the remaining Inquisitors.


    I just nodded and took out the Sounding Board to check on latest developments. It seemed Overlord Trazyn and his followers had been busy, clearing a path towards the Maelstrom and closing interface ports with the Immaterium. Perhaps not for the exact reasons you may suspect. A hundred Ork planets were also conquered and hundreds more worlds were being invaded right now. The Necron wizard was expanding his influence, and increased the size of his Dynasty.


    "Lord Trazyn, setting up a small stellar empire for yourself?" I asked the Necron with a mind transmission.


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    "Oh, the stranger is back, and much sooner this time. Well, Bardic has fallen as you promised. I expect you''re in need of another trade?" Trazyn asked while taking out a dataslate.


    I did want better technologies but most of all, I wanted something else.


    "The Halo_Device</a>, if it works." I said curtly.


    "Ah yes. The effects of that device are rather strange, even for me and my orange helpers. Only the Orks seem to survive the transformation with any degree of sanity...though for Orks that''s very low anyway. I needed a few billion test subjects to finalize a less aggressive variant." the wizard admitted with a wave of his robotic hands.


    "And no human or Necrons, perhaps Dark Eldar?" I wondered curious.


    "Not yet, puppy stranger. What I can tell you, is that the devices are not medical machines, nor psyker artifacts but a type of transdimensional interface. Something at the other end is configuring the receptacles for a kind of database download. The Ork brains are luckily completely empty and self-erasing. All we obtained are Orks 50 meters tall and even more savage." Trazyn complained and produced such a gigantic Ork held by thick chains of living rock, easily as large as C''tan or a medium Titan.


    I mused on this for a minute. "The Tyranids should adapt to anything. Perhaps the Kroot or Barghesi as well. I expect the Jokaero simply died?" I added in a teasing tone.


    The Old Ones had surely encountered the Halo Stars civilization, and were likely the ones that destroyed them. No wonder the races they created were not compatible, most likely by design.


    "The Jokaero...managed to control the device to craft a teleporter, and attempted to escape or suicide. His body was splattered over a whole deck!" Trazyn the Infinite explained seeming outraged.


    I closed the link and turned, as Velayne arrived inside the Pharos and came to hug me. "Glad to see you Pef. And look, I figured out what this thing is." she whispered holding the silver cube and pressed three runes at once, making a Necron engram project in a miniature star system.


    I sighed inward and took her toy away before she blew up my new Forge World. Then I took out my dataslate and projected a galactic map from it. "Stop playing with pocket universes, my dear. And you, Mighty Zarhulash! You should know better!" I growled at the chained C''tan.


    "Heh, it was a harmless function, Pef Lancefire. Merely a real time window." the ancient stargod muttered like a naughty child.


    Damn galaxy was doomed with idiots like these!


    In a second, I sent the cube over to Trazyn. "Please make a manual for this, before my agent blows up a sun, by accident. She already figured out a dozen functions, simply by pressing runes at random."


    The Necron examined the cube and sighed then took out an identical silver cube. "I''ll keep the sleeping army for myself. Here, take this pocket tesseract and a dozen Titans in exchange. Plus the dataslate with the latest technologies. But no crew! Damn Titan pilots are too rare, unlike those unsightly robots. I''ll make them new ones and better."


    With a twist, I collected the trade goods and began downloading the manual on my implant, learning how to operate yet another Necron device.


    "What did you do?" Velayne demanded in an irate voice.


    I just held out the data-stick manual. "Learn the manual before you play with the doomsday device, my dear xenos expert." I explained and stepped out from the Pharos and beside my Princeps wife.


    "Pef! You''re a bad husband and father. Your son can already walk, and you''re never around." the woman complained and smacked my head not very happy.


    I nodded and drew her into a hug. "Sorry love. I worked hard to acquire resources for our family. Spaceships, ancient technologies and a Titan maniple." I whispered in her ear and showed her the silver cube as proof.


    Dae was quite smart, and realized what I held in my hand. "A portable storage dimension, and it can hold Titans inside?" she asked in a breathless voice.


    "Exactly, dear Dae. But that can wait. First we visit my son, and then the bedroom." I continued in a teasing voice.


    My wife hesitated for a moment, before relenting. "I guess you did work hard, husband. You are still allowed in my bed, as long as you bring me such nice gifts."


    Perhaps she''ll get more mellow with time? I thought about all those other women in my life, and they were just as demanding. Probably not then.

 Seed - Ch 143

    Fabricator Gemmina arrived in a single minute, as soon as the new Titans appeared in the Titan hangar.


    Two more Warhounds, two Reavers, seven Warlords and one Emperor-class Titan, the largest and most powerful of the godmachines.


    Of course, the Emperor-class Titan was burdened to carry two cathedrals on its shoulders, abusing and encumbering the mighty warmachine to its limit.


    Not in my Machine Legion it will not, plus all those sanctified cathedrals and relics inside will be very useful to decorate my kingdom and attract devout believers.


    Faith was very important, as it kept the citizens safe from Chaos and made them more productive, religious zeal and all that.


    "Lord Lancefire, where did these Titans come from?" the female techpriest demanded with obvious surprise.


    "Not exactly sure, my dear Fabricator. A donation from a pious believer in the Omnissiah, most likely." I answered with a fake shrug.


    The woman glared at me for my obvious lie, then gestured something with her two mechadendrites. Yes, she only had two, which was proof of amazing restraint in a techpriestess.


    "The Tigrus Eye of Judgement was thought lost during the Horus Heresy. Last known records of the godmachine place it as deployed to support the Ultramarines, possibly on Calth." she explained pointing at a Warlord Titan with Forge Tigrus markings.


    "Anyway, remove those cathedrals and have them sent to Salvation and Natale, before you begin repairs on the Emperor-class. I''m certain the Sisters of Battle will be overjoyed for my gift, as will the Titan himself." I ordered in a casual voice, and turned away.


    "You can''t just expect...of course he does..." The Fabricator muttered towards my back, watching me greet Inquisitor Velayne and pat her bottom.


    "If you tell me there were Titans, held in stasis in my cube, I will smack you, Lord Pef!" the Inquisitor warned me sounding serious.


    "Then I won''t tell you that, my dear. You managed to learn how to use it yet?" I asked while holding the silver cube in my free palm.


    "...Still learning the manual. It might take me years!" Velayne complained and leaned into me, possibly enjoying me fondling her ass.


    I sighed inward but didn''t press her again, as not everyone would enjoy having their skulls opened to install a Mind Impulse Unit, and psykers least of all.


    "I have a couple of free weeks, my love. Getting the fleet refit and upgraded, torpedoes and missiles replenished and all that. Want to reserve a slot in my bedroom schedule?" I asked in a teasing voice.


    "Damn idiot!" Velayne complained without rejecting my offer.


    Much later, I snuck out from the pile of sweaty and sleeping bodies of my Inquisitorial harem and went to take a gradually colder shower, until my mind cleared.


    This was a dangerous game I was playing, but I would need trustworthy Inquisitors to place in positions of power. Same with Generals, Admirals and Governors, even Bishops. As long as they were members of my family.


    All I needed was time, to allow my last perk to grow and reach its full potential. The Ancient Awakening was activating very slowly, but I was growing in mind, and body and possibly soul as well.


    And just like with the Primarchs or the Paternova Navigators, my descendants will receive benefits as well, reflections of my genes boosting their own powers even more.


    No doubt, using the Pharos to observe the sector of the galaxy contributed to this as well, forcefully opening my mind to allow empathic communication and matter transfer over thousands of light years.


    I knew I had about 50 years left of relative peace, before all hells broke loose, literally.


    Didn''t have much hope to stop it completely, although I could reduce the impact a bit, at least in areas that I could watch over directly. The galaxy was too big and the array of enemies too great.


    The Dark Eldar that had undoubtedly survived would need time to recover and regroup, and hopefully direct their anger at the Eldar for their contribution to the genocide. The Tau were busy turtle-ing themselves against constant attacks, from all the usual enemies plus demonic incursions and Necron raids on their allies.


    The Necrons had yet to awaken en masse, and I kept watch, burning emerging Tomb Worlds or directing Orks or Tyranids at the Necron Crownworlds, which had war fleets and C''tan shards as powerful defenses.


    The Orks were a plague for which I was crafting a cure made of glass, although live tests of the Glass-virus were not yet successful. The virus was not easily controlled to target only Orks, and it rapidly mutated to vitrify all life, which didn''t help as much as it sounds. Humans were also life. Luckily, the counter-agent copied from the Dark Eldar still worked.


    As for Chaos...I had my own plans to ambush Abaddon the Despoiler when he began his Pandorax_Campaign</a>, but for those Chaos Gods one Champion was as good as the next one. And I wasn''t certain I could kill or trap Abaddon anyway.


    Damn guy had his own Luck perk, and reality bent to his will to provide opportunities and artifacts just like it did for me.


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    I had my own cheats, and enough ships and troops to make it a fair fight anyway.


    By the time the vacation was over, my Inquisitor Ladies were pregnant again, as were the imported Princeps ladies and the Death cult girls. For now, I detached half of them as assassins for my Inquisitor friends, while the rest were being sent to Illevar to become Elixa''s enforcers.


    On Illevar, Victor was already ruling as Governor and I agreed to his promotion without a blink. It wasn''t like I actually had time to rule a Hive World and manage their problems directly.


    Better spend a year in Blankcity, and enjoy a thousand Blank concubines set aside for me.


    The noble concubines got their due as well, and their Blank daughters and rarely sons were sent into the colonies as Colonial Governors. It sounds great for them, until they realized they were tasked with growing and managing a billion people and a thousand small cities over the next century.


    Where possible, I assigned Blank men to join their retinue and provide Blank genes for a new nobility, which sounds great until you realize how hard it is to impregnate a thousand women. Really, it is hard work especially for someone without angel genes.


    And when you finally reach the end of the queue, you have to start again. I know, because I had this fucking job for decades.


    Wives and lovers are nice and fun, but it gets less fun with concubines that you barely recall their names.


    Not the case with the pretty Elixa and my wife Serena sharing my bed right now, just for pleasure and relaxation.


    I filled them both with love, and then let them rest on my chest and legs, breathing heavily in afterglow.


    "My lord, if you keep importing immigrants...the food production and the housing capacity will be overwhelmed." Serena complained after she regained her voice.


    "And we will dig subterranean hives, for each new billion. I want to reach at least a hundred billion citizens both here and on Natale. Geothermal pits and cometary ice will sustain the Hive Worlds for millennia, without impacting the environment too much. I''ve seen how much Hive Worlds can produce, and I want that for our domains. Plus recruiting troops and crew for ships will be easier." I explained in a serious voice.


    "More work for me then. Monitoring Hive Cities is not easy, Lord Pef." Elixa muttered and licked my spear to prove her point.


    "The new Hive Cities will have integrated surveillance and tracker implants for everyone. And when the time is right, the current Hive Cities will be demolished and the population moved underground as well." I explained in a sharp breath, as her blowjob was suddenly stronger and much more pleasant.


    Elixa was probably happy at the prospect of total surveillance, just like any infocyte would be.


    Serena wasn''t that pleased, as she bit my ear quite hard. "That will be very difficult to sell to our nobles, dear husband. They enjoy their freedoms."


    "There is nothing to sell, Serena. My wishes will be made laws, and those caught without implants will become criminals and get punished. The mines always need more servitors." I said sternly and drew my wife into a long kiss.


    Our battle resumed savagely, until Serena was felled and drifted to sleep. My eyes turned towards the other red-headed minx who was licking her fingers teasingly. "Am I going to be punished too? Ah, not there...don''t...ever stop!" Elixa exclaimed while being pounded into submission. She kinda enjoyed it, I guess.


    An hour later, I arrived on the Starfort in high orbit, to observe the new recruits and their gene-seed implants.


    My son, Aeneas already had minor psyker powers, despite being Blank, so he would be the first Librarian in my Chapter. He already had forty Blank kids of his own, and I shouldn''t delay his implantation too long.


    "Are you certain we should use the Blood Ravens'' gene-seed, Chapter Master?" my Sanguinary Priest asked sounding doubtful.


    "Yes, I am sure Brother. I''ve promised Master Angelos a Company of Blank recruits, and we have to be certain how the gene-seed reacts. And prepare ten more recruits for next week. Different fathers for all of them, of course. We need a larger range for a test sample." I ordered with a frown.


    I wasn''t certain how the natural Blanks will react with the Astartes gene-seed, but I expected problems.


    While Aeneas and other descendants from my bloodline would be safe, natural Blanks were a completely different story.


    And indeed, Aeneas passed his implantation procedure without any problems, instead gaining Gamma-level psyker powers. Now the boy will need a decade or two of training, while the Astartes organs were implanted.


    As for the other ten Blank recruits, things went bad very fast and only two boys survived the Blood Ravens gene-seed, while the other eight entered some kind of poison shock and were stored in stasis pods until I could find a cure. If there even was a cure.


    There went my hopes, right out the window. The Blankcity has failed its purpose, and I needed to find another way.


    Maybe, I would need recursive eugenics and pair the natural Blanks with females of my bloodline for a stable genome able to support a Librarian caste. Time to schedule a meeting with the Adepta Sororitas.

 Treason - Ch 144

    The cadet seminary hall was packed full today as the greatest hero of the Fringe, meaning me, was sharing a few lessons with the aspiring officers.


    But first, I flicked a throne coin right at Valerian''s ear, waking him up from his psyker trance. Valerian might be Finona''s son, but not even he was exempt from being respectful.


    "Now that we are all paying attention. Direct your eyes above my head. Tell me what you see. You!" I demanded pointing at a teenage girl enrolled for piloting classes.


    "... It''s the Aquila, Lord Lancefire. The symbol of the Imperium and the Imperial Creed." she answered a bit timidly, seeing the brass ornament but ignoring its meaning, just like nearly everyone.


    "Excellent answer, cadet! But wrong. You!" I exclaimed and pointed at another girl. A daughter of mine named Ramona, blonde and pretty as an angel.


    "It is the symbol of the Imperium, Lord Lancefire. The Imperial Creed also uses it." Ramona muttered a bit confused.


    "Good. There is a great distinction here. If there was just an eagle, it wouldn''t matter at all. But this Aquila has two heads. Why?" I asked pointing at another cadet.


    The young man, glanced at the eagle and frowned. "It is how the Imperium was formed, sir. The Emperor and the techpriests from Mars, joining together to start the Great Crusade."


    I nodded in agreement. "So this Imperial Creed worships Mars and the Emperor then? You!" I asked another cadet.


    "No, Sir. Only the Emperor." the asian-looking boy answered calmly and patted his chest where the same Aquila was stamped.


    I sighed inward and gestured at the holoscreen behind me.


    "You all better remember this clearly. The Imperium is the Emperor and the Forge. Other Imperial institutions that formed afterwards, like the Ecclesiarchy and even the Inquisition, are not meant to be part of the Imperium. Not the Adeptas Sororitas, nor the Officio Assassinorum and the many Imperial Dealth Cults. Those are all vultures, praying on the citizens of the Imperium. Questions?" I asked in a loud voice.


    "My lord, the techpriests are heretics! And while the Creed indeed formed after the God-Emperor laid down on the Golden Throne, it is fundamentally important for the salvation of the human race!" A devout believer yelled at me holding his Aquila as a shield.


    "Faith is important. Again, a big distinction here, cadet. We know the Emperor protects, and safeguards our souls in the afterlife. Now, does humanity need bishops and cathedrals to be saved? I personally don''t need anyone to tell me what to believe, because the blood of Sanguinius flows through my veins. Four times in my life, an Angel sent by the Emperor came to my aid. But perhaps for those with weak souls, and feeble faith, they do need to be led into prayer by a bishop. It is also the only reason I even allow cathedrals and Sisters in my Dynasty. I also allow techpriests. Why?" I asked pointing at Valerian.


    "They make ships and tanks. Why else?" Valerian muttered in disgust.


    "You say that, and seem displeased, cadet. Are you saying the Emperor was in error to sign the Olympus treaty? What other errors in our Emperor''s conduct would you like to point out for your fellow cadets?" I asked rhetorically.


    A thousand eyes stared accusingly at the poor boy, although they shared his views even so.


    "You!" I demanded pointing at another cadet.


    "The Emperor surely had good reasons, sir. But it was possibly a temporary measure, until the galaxy was united..." the boy claimed in a doubtful voice.


    "Of course. What other temporary measures then? The Astronomican? The Adeptus Astartes? The Silent Sisters? Shall we just destroy everything the Emperor did, and claim it was merely a temporary measure? Already the High Lords of Terra have exiled the Silent Sisters from the Imperial Palace. Let''s turn off the Astronomican next. Correct?" I wondered with a wry voice.


    A single month of losing the light of the Astronomican would paralyze the Imperium. Turning it off would be a deathblow.


    They all knew it, even here in the Fringe.


    I had already pointed the beacon of the Pharos at Pythos</a>, while preparing the ground for the next fight. A couple of Tyranid Hive Fleets and Ork Waaghs would cover my own agenda quite nicely.


    "No, Sir. And we are also not in the Imperium, not until you decide to create a new Imperial Sector." the cadet answered with a lower voice.


    "I like things as they are now, cadet. With my Warrant of Trade, I speak with the Emperor''s Voice. Because of that, my words are the law here in the Lancefire domain, and our worlds are not crawling with cultists and criminal gangs like in the Imperium. You will all soon pilot shuttles or starfighters or even become Captains. And when you do, and are sent to trade in the Imperium, you will see the squalor of those worlds. You will beg me to never allow our worlds to join the putrid corruption that is the Imperium right now. Back to techpriests. You!" I pointed at another cadet.


    "...Errr. They worship the Machine God and believe the Emperor is their Omnissiah. Don''t know much more, Sir." the girl replied anxiously.


    "Correct. Now...to understand the Forge and the techpriests would take decades of study. But I''ll give you a short history. Back in the Age of Strife, the advanced human worlds in the galaxy found themselves isolated by Warp Storms, attacked by millions of rogue psykers and demons, while the machines they were used to became savage beasts, shredding the people with metal claws and laser eyes. Very few civilized worlds survived at all, and those became Forge Worlds. There was a motive these worlds survived and not the rest. Those engineers and technicians overseeing the machines learned the operating manuals and the repair protocols by rote, and repeated them to their descendants. In five thousand years, those lessons became prayers and machine canticles, but they also kept the machines working. Adding oils and incense to the rituals helped keep demons away, and thus they survived. And then one day, the Warp Storms cleared and only the Eye of Terror remained, a gateway into the Immaterium and the horrors beyond." I narrated while images scrolled on the holoscreen.


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    "And then, only the techpriests knew how to use machines. Well, them and the Emperor on Terra." Ramona said with a knowing tone.


    "Pretty much, yes. And thus the Imperium was born. The Forge and the Emperor working together to unite the galaxy again. And leading the way, were the Rogue Traders, empowered with Warrants of Trade to deal with xenos, acquire navigation routes and pinpoint enemies for the following fleets of the Great Crusade. The Forge kept the monopoly on technology, and took over the surviving Forge Worlds into their domain. The Navis Nobilitae or the Navigator Houses were formed to guide the ships into the Warp, and every religion found was destroyed and obliterated. All religions but one, the Cult Mechanicus. You!" I pointed at another cadet.


    "Well...it seems obvious the Emperor did not consider the techpriests to be heretics. Perhaps only annoying?" the boy replied with a question, which was mildly amusing.


    "You forget something, cadet. The Emperor did not need to learn machine manuals by rote. He was immortal, and He had lived in the Dark Age of Technology. He also had the brains to understand the complex science behind any machine. For the techpriests, his intellect and knowledge of the machines were amazingly miraculous. Or to put it simply, He was the best techpriest of them all. I believe the Emperor felt pity, not annoyance with his machine-worshiping followers. Imagine looking at clouds, and hearing your naive siblings argue if they form a crown or bird. You know it''s only water and feel pity." I concluded and teleported away.


    I returned to the Starfort, and opened the galactic map on my cogitator. Decima had been updating my simulations, keeping track of imports and exports and numbers for population growth.


    My domain was growing very fast, but not fast enough.


    I will need billions of new immigrants and a billion techpriests, if slightly better educated with each generation. The geniuses will be selected for my special research teams, and given the best technical training I could steal from the Tau, and the Demiurg</a> and any nearby races with advanced technology.


    It seemed a new round of heavy trading was needed, sending all available ships and captains to Ultima Segmentum Forge Worlds, and a few just beyond, like Gryphonne IV in the south and Lucius in the north, plus the big Forges like Ryza and Graia.


    They could carry Dark Eldar and Necron artifacts, plus few Tau and Eldar weapons. The STC templates would need to be customized for every Forge to make them more attractive and valuable, plus targeting data on nearby Necron or Ork worlds.


    Did I shamelessly ask for all-female regiments and any Blanks or Pariah they could provide? I sure did.


    Did I ask Forge Ryza for 200 Catachan regiments to pacify the Fringe? Yes, I did.


    But I also earmarked a transport of 40000 Armed Sentinels and Tarantula turrets and a billion multi-spectrum vaccines doses to be donated to Catachan''s citizens. I may drain their manpower, but I''ll not leave them defenseless on that Death World.


    Combat Walkers were powerful force multipliers, and medication for an entire planet even more.


    I was also pretty sure that Finona and her Catachan husband will be able to induce an immigration drive for my domains, even if it would be only kids and women, sent to the paradise worlds filled with untamed forests and savage Orks in the Eastern Fringe.


    Perhaps send a million adamantium swords as well...and flak armor with blackstone armor plates? Sure, why not?


    The Catachans were not stupid, even if forced to live in near servitude on a jungle planet where everything could kill you.


    Plans made, I raised my eyes to look at Dreadnought Chyron, who just entered my quarters. "Yes, Brother?"


    "We have a problem, Chapter Master. A dozen Apothecaries have defected while pretending to search for new herbs. I fear your Blank women escorting them have..." He rumbled in a cold voice.


    I sighed inward and stood up. "Come with me then. Any clues on why they would turn traitor?" I asked while heading towards the docking bay.


    The Apothecaries and the Sanguinary priests, plus a few techmarines and various support personnel are the remains of the original (cursed) Lamenters, which of course implies all the Chaos fuckery possible. Like a minor plant collection expedition turning traitor when away from their base and my watchful gaze.


    "I suspect it was the failures of the Blood Ravens gene-seed, my Lord. Others have also voiced displeasure at using such corrupted gene-seed, that even poisons Blanks." Chyron said in a level voice, possibly agreeing with the defectors then.


    "It would happen even with Primarch''s Khan or Sanguinius gene-seed, my friend. That''s why I demanded test recruits from eleven different fathers, not just my own sons. The three recruits that survived, all have my genes or my children''s genes. I am the reason, not the gene-seed." I whispered as we reached the docking bay.


    I looked at the airlock door, to find Hestia and Fidelia already armed for war.


    "They have the right to avenge their Sisters, Captain." I heard Rafen murmur on the Manifold.


    Allright! The more the merrier. Plus I could use the Sisters to relax on the way to the Pharos. Damn crazy universe!

 Feast - Ch 145

    I''m not sure how the idiot Apothecaries thought they could run away and become a new Fallen group, but I wasn''t going to let them go.


    Not after I was just making fun of Gabriel Angelos for losing so many of his own Brothers to Chaos corruption.


    And even less after finding the Lamenter destroyer filled with desecrated and eaten corpses of the crew. Not the Blank Sisters, which were beaten up and thrown into the ship''s vault. Probably not good eating, unlike the rest of the crew.


    "Having a meal, are we?" I asked after stepping out of the Pharos right in the mess hall.


    A dozen pairs of red eyes turned towards me, then looked around as my own escorts appeared around them.


    "You! It''s all your fault!" One of them howled and jumped at me with fangs bared and claws extended. Damn mutations had distorted these former Apothecaries into vampiric forms, identical to those Lamenters lost in the Badab War, the bodies malformed under the Red Thirst and the Black Rage.


    I just stepped back and let my brave Canis grab a bite. Limb after limb, the cretin was torn apart, until only the head and torso remained, and he was taken to the side by Hestia for a crude cauterization of wounds, involving a melta pistol and red-hot deck plates.


    "Good boy! Now the rest of the traitors." I commanded in a cold voice.


    In a minute, we had the idiots disarmed and nailed to the wall, while I collected the beat up Sisters in my tesseract. These were not Veterans or Null Maidens, and they obviously stood no chance against real Space Marines attacking them by surprise, and even being fed drugs and soporifics in their meals.


    Then I patted Chyron on his armored shoulder. "Have the Navigator steer the ship back to the Starfort. I''ll collect the body parts and read the ship logs from the bridge."


    Canis glanced at me and then at the mangled traitors hooked to the wall. "Woo?"


    "Nah, we need to test the omophagea organs anyway. These guys will serve the task perfectly." I explained in a serious voice.


    Canis grumbled and dragged a few discarded limbs to the side, crunching them for a healthy meal rich in calcium, while the victims could only stare as their arms and legs were being devoured by my Fenrisian wolf.


    I shrugged and walked away towards the bridge. Waste not and all. Plus Canis had worked hard for this meal.


    "So you''re not going to kill them?" Rafen asked as I sat down in the bloody Captain chair and began examining the ship logs.


    "Kill them? How would I train the Lamenters then? They need to taste the truth, and learn from the mistakes of their Brothers. Henna will not be pleased her daughter was eaten though." I muttered holding up my glove, drenched my daughter''s blood.


    Being a ship Captain was risky, much more so for an Astartes warship. Poor Talia...she was so glad to have finally earned a Captain rank.


    At least it wasn''t Tyranids. We will probably all get eaten by Tyranids in the end.


    Soon after, the Lamenter destroyer reached the Warp limit and began the journey home, estimated to last 3 to 30 days.


    Damn Warp travel, I''ve forgotten how crappy it was. At least my big ships had warp-less engines now, and were not so exposed anymore like the smaller escorts.


    As expected we only arrived 28 days later, because the Warp currents were opposed or something like that.


    All three backup mechanical Gellar generators had failed as well, and one even caught fire and melted.


    The main Gellar field held, just because Hestia and Fidelia took turns sleeping inside the generatorium and protecting the blackbox component from unwanted visitors.


    Chyron had to patrol the lower decks and crush hundreds of wailing servitors, exorcising the ghosts in their machine implants.


    Damn 40k universe!


    I''ll have to sell this ship to someone else now, after changing its name to something appropriate like Emperor''s Triumph.


    Anyway, I had other more important business to take care of, beside creating a Remembrance Hall where the Lamenters would visit each month and scoop live brains from these cretins to train their memory reading organ.


    Business like clearing another hull from the Space Hulk anchored in pieces in the asteroid field, giving my troops more live training against Orks and genestealers and even a few Dark Eldar from my own stock.


    It would take about two years til the trade expeditions returned, which was just enough time to polish my skills and the Lamenters, plus their Blank Sisters and techmarines.


    I also started from level 1, climbing my way through infested decks with only a chrono-sword and a bolt pistol.


    I kinda cheated a bit, because the tesseract around my neck did give me perfect vision and denied surprise to the enemy, but I also had to keep watch for everyone else and save them at the last second.


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    Captain Khan just walked beside me, and commented on my technique and breath patterns, while ignoring the howling genestealers or Orks and allowing me to gain combat experience.


    "Keep your stance lower, Lord Pef! Strike at the wrist, not at their weapon! Breathe! Remember to breathe!" he advised me as my lungs caught fire from dispatching five genestealers at once.


    What? It was really hard, especially on slippery floors, and eerie blinking lights.


    Reaching level 5 took all my energy, and I had to rest and gulp some water and nutrigruel.


    It was much easier in my Knight, sitting in a comfortable Throne Mechanicus and having Reason smoothly execute combat stances and perfect cuts with machine precision. Using your own body wasn''t that much fun, unlike in bed.


    Anyway, by the second year, I had reached deck 10, and needed Canis to cover my back at all times. But my aim with a pistol had become almost perfect, and my lungs didn''t burn that bad anymore.


    About as well as any new recruit with a full set of Astartes organs, which wasn''t bad at all.


    I''ll have to send Sly Marbo in one day, and learn from him too. I could already bet the man will make it to level 15 without a single scratch. Damn cheater!


    But my free time was up.


    "No more Space Hulk training, Brothers. We''ll depart for Pythos next week, so rest and clean your weapons. There will be Orks, Tyranids and Chaos traitors so only Blank or warded personnel can go. Brother Semnai, you will have field command for our ground troops. Brother Chyron you have the Starfort. I''ll take the fleet and some Lancefire units in support. My wife Dae will arrive with some reinforcements from Machine Forge." I explained while pointing at the holoscreen.


    I selected three Lamenter Battle Barges and fifteen Drop-cruisers while from the Lancefire fleet I highlighted two battleships, two battlecruisers and two carriers, plus fifteen Heavy cruisers, all with warp-less engines.


    The battleships were the real heavy hitters, the Apocalypse-class called Tranquility and the Retribution-class called Vigil for the Vanquished, formerly known as Macharius Vitrix.


    Looking at the battleships you could barely distinguish the original class, as they had three torpedo cells each, meaning 300 torpedoes, plus 200 Lance Batteries and extensive armor upgrades, layers of adamantium and blackstone covered with a dozen void shields plus a flare shield and an ion shield. And they also had a Nova Cannon, because those were awesome.


    The latest upgrade simply bolted 40 thousand Tarantula turrets on the battleship''s outer hull, with a mix of missiles, multilasers and lascannons weapons. Every possible angle had been covered, although the weapons would only be effective against small targets like starfighters and Ork fighta-bombas or Tyranid flying creatures. Maybe torpedoes and assault boats too, in some cases.


    Lacking dedicated escorts like frigates and destroyers or even light cruisers meant that heavy ships would be vulnerable, so I took measures. The cruisers also had some turrets applied on the hulls, but not in such large numbers, only a few hundreds.


    Of course, these applique turrets were not powered by the ship itself, instead using their own power source, which was more limited. Anyway, much better than nothing.


    Now I only had to test the ships in battle, for battle was the ultimate testing ground, when your enemies tried every trick and weapon they had to kill you.


    I doubted the logis-engines of the Tarantula would be effective against Chaos demon engines, but everything else should be good.


    The techmarines and their Guardian turrets would serve mostly as boarding guards, two aboard each ship and five on the battleships.


    We also had 20 Catachan Auxilia regiments and the Lancefire voidsmen, plus three armored regiments ready to land and support an assault.


    By the time the fleet was prepared and gathered, Dae arrived from Forge Machine with a million skitarii and our incipient Deus Ex Machina Titan Legion, composed of 30 Titans including one Emperor-class and seven Warlord-class.


    We had more Scout Titans, but we lacked pilots for them.


    It wasn''t a problem I ever expected to have, to be fair.


    But I did have 36 Lancefire Knights to support these Titans anyway, plus their own support Armsmen, 4000 Catachans piloting Armed Sentinels, and various light vehicles for skirmishing and recon.


    The Knights and Titans had also been plated with blackstone, because that material was fucking amazing, both in durability and resistance against Warp.


    Rose and Velayne decided to join me on this Crusade, something I was kinda glad for. Sometimes having a powerful psyker on your side was great.


    And they were pleasant company in bed anyway.

 Pandorax 146

    We arrived at Pythos right on time, finding the Black Legion and an Ork Waagh struggling to push through a Tyranid splinter fleet of over a million bioships, covering the entire star system with their Silence.


    Perfect cover for my ships, as psykers would be unlikely to detect us.


    For some reason, the Orks seemed willing to obey the Chaos Champion hurling their Roks and Kroozers in close melee with the Tyranids, giving Abaddon a clear path towards the planet.


    "Launch the corvettes and starfighters! Battlecruisers target the Orks only. Battleships engage the Chaos fleet from maximum range, and pick off the escorts first!" I ordered in a second, while sending engagements vectors for our Heavy Cruisers to fire their Nova Cannons at the largest blobs of Tyranid bioships.


    Our fleet gently separated into three elements engaging different targets.


    Soon enough, the Orks abandoned their march towards the planet and began turning, to engage the swift battlecruisers attacking them from behind.


    I tried not to use the tesseract yet, not until I learned what the Chaos fleet would do.


    Every minute, a couple of Chaos frigates or destroyers exploded under the barrage of lance batteries, while a couple of Chaos cruisers received a Vortex missile each, splitting their engines apart.


    However, Abaddon had brought six battleships and 38 cruisers, plus over 500 escorts, which made his fleet the most dangerous enemy. Tyranid flyers and bioships trying to attack the Chaos forces were brutally repelled and demolished, swarms of Hell fighters and bombers unleashing hell on the poor bugs and scoring thousands of kills with ease.


    With a new order, our cruisers changed target and primed the Nova Cannons for volume saturation.


    "I hope you won''t miss..." I whispered as 30 Nova shells detonated right in the midst of the Chaos fighter swarms, obliterating thousands of Demon engines and their Tyranid enemies as well.


    "Vox message from Chaos Fleet, Captain." the vox officer said in surprise.


    Heh, it wasn''t time to exchange stories, was it?


    "Teleportarium rooms, target any open vox channels with melta warheads." I demanded on a whim.


    Soon enough, a dozen capital ships had their bridges explode and burn, including a Chaos battleship.


    "We let our weapons speak, right?" I asked rhetorically as the Tyranids began turning to engage us as well.


    Now it was time to run. New vectors were sent to my fleet, and we switched course for a clearer path, while laying plasma and Nova mines in our wake.


    The Ork fleet conveniently intersected the Tyranid swarms chasing us, while Abaddon decided to ignore revenge for now and head towards Pythos</a>, the jungle planet.


    Our course will take us there as well, on a tangential vector. Couldn''t simply stay in place and duke it out with the Tyranids after all.


    Nor could I allow Abaddon to reach his objectives.


    Behind us, a series of apocalyptic explosions began as the Tyranids and Orks stumbled into our Nova Mine field, although I did cheat a bit to thin out the pursuit with a hundred extra Nova mines places expertly among the largest bio-blobs.


    "Stand and give us a gud fight!" the Ork Warboss demanded from his damaged Kill Kroozer.


    "Ork coward boss, you did not fight the spiky hummies, so you only get spiky bugs." I replied in a teasing voice.


    Always a pleasure, talking to Orks.


    "We not cowards...see? We''re going to fight them right now. And then we come for you too, funny hummie!" the Warboss proclaimed in anger, turning his fleet around once more and gunning for Abaddon.


    "...That was...did we just gained a thousand more ships to our side?" Velayne murmured in surprise.


    I just smirked inward while the crew of the Serenity grinned at the inside joke. It wasn''t the first time I had turned Orks against another enemy.


    Furthermore, if Abaddon had any big surprise, I wanted the Orks to spring the trap.


    Soon enough they did, as another Chaos fleet arrived in the system though a Warp Rift, with a motherfucking Glorianna-class battleship and 30 more cruisers and 500 more escorts.


    "That''s the Harbinger_of_Doom</a>...and it holds a traitor Titan Legion too." Rose explained with a cold voice, leaning on her Null Bone Staff for extra power.


    Well, the Orks were kinda fucked now, caught between the two Chaos fleets and every retreat route blocked by Tyranids.


    "Let''s help the Orks, I think. I see a hundred Kroozers there worth salvaging." I mused to myself, while directing the battleships to engage the Harbringer, while the corvettes split up in four groups, three as defense escorts and one as a torpedo dive force.


    Now the Harbringer was caught between us and the Orks, and my battleships proved themselves, focus-firing the Chaos-infested Glorianna battleship which was three times their size.


    Among the hundred of torpedoes were a couple of Vortex warheads, and those won us the battle, splitting the ancient warship in three burning fragments infested with demons.


    The corvettes fired their own torpedo barrage at the cruisers, and then ran away like any Lancefire ship was supposed to.


    "Spiky hummie tricked us! They never intended to give us free ships! Let''s take theirs!" The Warboss deduced and began sending his own ships to board the remaining Chaos escorts in the second fleet, resulting in a glorious melee that emptied their Kroozers of most boarding craft and troops.


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    I only had to wait, and wait.


    "Brother Semnai, prepare for boarding operations. We''ll steal the Ork Kroozers soon." I ordered on the tactical Manifold.


    Abaddon seemed content to wait as well, no doubt worried about my fleet, as he only had five battleships left operational, with one being left behind and engulfed in Tyranids right now.


    He shouldn''t have waited.


    As soon as the Chaos destroyers started being boarded by a gigantic Ork assault, lead by the Warboss himself, our own troops began teleporting onto the Ork Kroozers and taking them over.


    This time, my Lamenters did not let me down, not when clad in mighty power armor and wielding powerful guns, most of them archotech relics or combi-weapons.


    Second waves of techpriests and servitors followed to restore those ships into our control, and one by one the Ork Kroozers turned away and left the Ork fleet, forming yet another fleet on my side.


    In a couple of hours, my forces doubled in size, which wasn''t a bad result at all. The Ork ships were crappy right now, but they could be upgraded in a few decades.


    "I don''t even have words...no wonder you have such a big fleet, Lord Pef." Velayne said with an admiring voice, promising a lot of pleasure in the future.


    "Hey! Not fair! You stole my Kroozers which I stole from other hummies!" The Ork Warboss protested after his own conquest run was over.


    "There is still the spiky hummie, boss. He has big spiky battleships, and you want them, right?" I asked in a curious tone.


    "All right! But no backstaby again! We fight fair after we kill the spiky git." The Ork pleaded as his new fleet gathered around the remaining Roks and Ork escorts.


    "I bet I can board them first!" I teased the silly Ork.


    "Oh no! Meks! Make us move even faster! Bring the red button here!" The Ork yelled, forgetting the vox channel open.


    Was I being unfair? Eh, who cares!


    I was still wary of another trap from Abaddon, and thus only two Drop-cruisers entered low orbit to drop Tarantula turrets in defense of the Atika Hive City.


    That still meant 80 thousand autonomous turrets, which would stop any minor incursion from both Orks or Chaos, and even small Tyranid armies.


    Almost immediately, Abaddon moved his own fleet in place and began dropping his own pods, no doubt containing invasion armies of his own.


    And then our own attack began, Nova Cannons and squadrons of torpedo corvettes decimating the Chaos fleet while Orks assaulted from the other side with cheerful savagery and horrible losses.


    My battleships and battle barges took the brunt, each facing a Chaos battleship and unleashing our potent lance batteries and torpedoes.


    "Captain, the defenders are being overrun." my X.O. whispered pointing at a different holoscreen with pict images from our turrets.


    I sighed and admitted defeat. I would have to use the tesseract after all.


    A flick of my fingers dispersed a handful of Nova mines on top of the Chaos battleships, while the Titan Legion and the Knights appeared among the defenders in a flash-less teleport.


    "Three more Drop-cruisers, support the defenders!" I commanded as six techmarines and their Guardian walker turrets were teleported to the flank of the attacking Bloodthirsters and Forgefiends</a>.


    Immediately the tides turned, as the Chaos ground forces began receiving fiery judgment from the Knights and Titans.


    A single shot from the Emperor-class Titan obliterated the lead Khorne Beserkers, while our Warhound-class_Titan</a>s murdered entire packs of Forgefiends with their Mega Vulcan cannons, firing thousands of superheavy bolter rounds per minute.


    The Forgefiends fired back with their Ectoplasma_Cannon</a>s, pushing our lines back again.


    "Watch out! There are hundreds of Chaos Sorcerers on that Cruiser!" Rose shouted and pointed at a descending Chaos ship, heading directly for Atika at terminal velocity.


    Sadly, there was little that I could do, except teleport munitions in its path. Damn ship was enveloped in a potent Warp field that prevented my tesseract from grabbing onto it.


    A Vortex missile managed to deviate the ship and burn out its armored prow, making it crash some 50 kilometers off into the deep jungles.


    I let out a deep breath I forgot I was holding, that was too close and almost obliterated my Titans.


    Meanwhile, the Drop-cruisers continued launching drop-pods as did the Chaos fleet. Nobody was willing to back down from this fight.


    Then Ork Roks began crushing through the Chaos escorts and landed on the Death World as well, disgorging millions of heavily armed Boyz and Meks, while the Ork Escorts fought desperately, or maybe joyously with the Chaos escorts.


    Overall, it was kind of what I expected from this fight, and I only needed to let Abaddon make any mistake. Even a tiny one.


    Which is when just above the big fight, more ships began to appear. And then even more.


    Everyone was ignoring the damn Silence I worked so hard to produce.

 Loot 147

    Oh well, I knew there would be reinforcements coming to this party, I had just forgotten that warp-less engines had spread among the Imperium forces as well, and possibly even the warp-less transceivers, even if those were new.


    Battlefleet Demeter was formed around a fleet carrier with about 200 system-corvettes and thousands of Fury starfighters, an Emperor-class battleship and a dozen cruisers, which wasn''t bad at all.


    The Dark Angels had brought The_Rock</a> which served as fleet carrier for a dozen escort frigates and two battle barges, while the Grey Knights had a silver-painted cruiser of advanced design, looking like an Astartes Strike Cruiser on steroids.


    The history had changed, and quite radically. Commanding the Rock was not just Grand Master Azrael, but his Primarch, Lion El''Jonson</a> and a black-haired Inquisitor I remembered very well, Lady Ivixia.


    "Oi! The hummies have a bigger Rok! Let''s loot it!" the idiot Warboss yelled on the vox channel, having possibly forgot I was listening in.


    A plasma warhead on his bridge ended his glorious conquest dreams, then splintered his Waagh into a dozen warbands, each taking off in different directions, leaving their boarding troops stranded, as well as the landed Orks from the asteroid Roks in the jungles.


    I was hoping to get more use from the Orks, but they did sufficient damage anyway. Barely 200 Chaos escorts remained intact, while the void was filled with wrecks and derelicts from the Ork and Chaos fleets.


    I directed some corvettes and the Heavy cruisers to assist the Imperial Navy in cleaning up the easier targets, still maintaining full auspex quiet and restricting all vox comms to my command chair.


    The Imperial Navy had no such qualms, proudly declaring their undying allegiance to the Emperor and death to the traitors, which rapidly devolved into boarding actions against their fleet.


    I was almost ready to turn around and leave in disgust, but Abaddon might squeeze another win then. Not on my watch!


    "Incoming vox messages from all new ships, Captain. Multiple teleport actions detected!" the techmarine manning the auspex console announced in a single breath.


    Surely others could deduce the causal correlation between those two events, right?


    "Woo wooo?" Canis asked to make sure.


    "Yes Canis. They are idiots and give the enemy a way inside their ships." I explained politely and patted Canis on his wise head.


    Rafen snorted beside me, as more plasma warheads arrived inside the Chaos and Ork ships, pretty much as soon as a new warhead could be rolled on the teleport pads.


    Then a full salvo from a squadron of 50 Lancefire corvettes got through the defense flak and obliterated an entire Chaos battleship, giving my fleet an edge and allowing a Lamenter battle barge to focus fire the next capital ship, draining its void shields even faster. We lost 10 corvettes to retaliation before they could run away, but it was a good exchange anyway. We had 2000 corvettes and the enemy had 4 battleships left.


    I saved the crew anyway, because I cared about my people. Plus we only had to buy 10 new corvettes and the fleet wouldn''t even know anything was wrong.


    Soon enough, the Rock and the Dark Angel barges focused fire on another Chaos battleship, which diverted their commander''s attention enough to sneak a pair of starfighters in and fire two Vortex missiles, the battleship''s prow and engines getting trapped in small Warp rifts.


    I kept watch on the Grey Knights, as they were the most dangerous thing in the system right now, for good or bad.


    Probably the only Space Marines implanted with the Emperor''s own gene-seed, and none of them had ever turned traitor.


    But I doubted it was the genetics, instead suspecting Malcador''s own brand of mental indoctrination that created such psyker beasts, plus the total disregard for the Codex Astartes.


    Probably demonhost implants as well, if their successor Chapter the Exorcists were any clue.


    After thirty or so warheads striking the Vox casters as soon they they began transmitting, Primarch El''Johnson realized the connection and ordered his fleet to shut the hell up.


    It was a start, but with augury and auspex sensors still at maximum the teleporting boarders would keep coming. Not as easily, as the auspex sensor were placed on the hull, but the Chaos guys had smart people too.


    But as the concentration of firepower proved too much, and the fourth Chaos battleship buckled and broke apart, Abaddon decided it was time to run away.


    I was expecting this, because Abaddon''s battleship just sped away without even informing his allies of the new plan, leaving them to die to cover his retreat.


    Shouldn''t have turned your vulnerable back at my corvettes just below. Not that the other sides were not covered, I had enough corvettes, after all. A hundred torpedoes struck the battleship''s engines and blew them to bits, leaving the Chaos vessel drifting and burning like a candle.


    And then Abaddon tried to copy Horus, dropping the void shields of the Relentless Ire, his Desolator Class Battleship</a> and inviting boarders to battle him in a honorable duel.


    Got ya now idiot!


    A plasma warhead blew up his bridge, right after the traitor himself was trapped in my labyrinth, with all his precious artifacts. A dozen of his chaotic lieutenants joined Abaddon the Despoiler in my Chaos deck, arranged to stand one on top each other''s shoulders like a circus troupe, with the frozen Abaddon holding them all like a champion.


    "More vox messages from the Imperial ships, Captain!" the vox officer announced as expected.


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    "The battle is not over. They can congratulate me when we win, which is not yet." I muttered and directed a hundred corvettes to enter low orbit and bombard the invaders, while the rest of my ships were allowed to hunt in packs and demolish the remaining opposition.


    It took an entire day to hunt down and melt down the surviving Orks and traitors hulls, before my fleet regrouped back in orbit over Pythos.


    The Imperial Navy Admiral was dead, because he invited Chaos Terminators on board his Emperor-class battleship, the Revenge. And the Dark Angels and the Grey Knights had to battle hard to recover the ship.


    It didn''t matter anyway. Another well-connected officer will be promoted in his place, and nothing of importance was lost. Too bad about the Navy crew who saw the Grey Knights, as they will be killed to keep the secret.


    "Everyone leave the bridge. All ships cover your windows as for Warp. No point getting executed for seeing funny Imperials." I ordered and pointed to Canis as well. The Space Wolf threw me a pitiful glance and ran out.


    Rose waited until the bridge door closed, and then leaned over to kiss my cheek. "A magnificent victory, my love. But you know, that Primarch I sense on the Rock will take the glory."


    Didn''t bother me one bit. "I lost ten ships...it kinda hurts." I muttered instead.


    Velayne kissed my other cheek, and then sat in the vox officer seat. "Your Lady Ivixia seems eager to meet you, dear Pef." the Ordo Xenos Inquisitor explained while overriding the security controls and establishing a pict-link with the Rock.


    "This is Inquisitor Ramaeus. Identify yourself." the woman demanded in a stern voice.


    "This is Primarch El''Johnson. Explain why you blew up the last battleship." the man demanded in powerful voice.


    I tapped into the Vox channel as well. "Well met Primarch. I am Pef Lancefire, Chapter Master of the Lamenters Chapter and a Rogue Trader too. Any reason why any Astartes or Rogue Trader should not blow up Chaos warships?" I asked in a teasing voice.


    The Primarch glared at me for a few seconds. "... There were precious relics on board. Plus some traitors I wanted to be captured."


    I ignored his feeble excuse and smiled genially. "Of course, Lord El''Johnson. I do have some important prisoners and their artifacts. I''m certain we can trade and both obtain what we want. Lady Ivixia, always a pleasure to meet an Ordo Malleus Inquisitor that has not been corrupted, yet." I declared with a wry smirk, which didn''t please Ivixia too much, as she gritted her teeth with a red face.


    With a mental flick I closed the connection and began sending landers to recover my troops and Tarantula turrets. My job had been finished rather satisfactory, although eights Knights and three Titans were damaged, plus a third of the Tarantula turrets and Guardians had been destroyed. I intended to make the Imperium pay for my loses anyway.


    "Incoming transmission from the silver cruiser. Wanna chat with the Grey Knights?" Velayne asked in a professional tone.


    "They are merely mindless automatons, no point in talking with them." I answered with a level voice, while ordering my fleet to interpose aggressively and protect our lander craft.


    "Twenty more attempts at vox transmissions." Velayne muttered as my ships formed a barrier of armor and lance batteries around the stream of landers.


    "Just ignore them, and they''ll go away. Or perhaps shoot first, so I can blow them up in self-defense." I said in a careless voice.


    It wouldn''t come to that with a Primarch watching, but better make sure.


    "...And you wouldn''t even blink doing that, would you?" Rose asked curious.


    "Why would I blink, my dear? I have family on Pythos that I intend to protect and recover. Those demonhost space marines mean nothing to me. Mindless zombies all of them." I grumbled as I leaned into my command chair.


    A new communique arrived from the Rock, and that I allowed through. "Lord Lancefire...the Grey Knights demand that no locals be allowed on your landers. Vital to the security of the Imperium." Inquisitor Dannica announced holding out her Rosette to confirm the order.


    A pity then. Nearly 50 million people...well. If they were going to burn them anyway, I could pillage the place.


    I nodded at the holoscreen and closed my eyes. There were thousands of small settlements dotting the higher mountains, which became suddenly empty as their population was transferred into my tesseract labyrinth.


    Nearly 40 million people that never boarded a lander, as ordered. Couldn''t do anything for those poor souls in Hive City Atika, which would be closely monitored to prevent escapees, but I could steal a thousand tons of munitions and weapons from their sealed armories. The Imperium would pay for my losses double.


    "My duty here is over then." I announced with a calm voice, and turned off the Vox channel. The Tyranids would not wait after all, and were already massing for great meal on the jungle world.


    Without replying to more transmissions, I loaded the Titans and Knights back in the landing bays and urged my fleet away, clearing an escape path with our Nova Cannons and concentrated lance battery fire. The Imperial Navy didn''t stick around either, following my bigger fleet to safety.


    Just before we departed the gravity well of the sun, the jungle world Pythos was engulfed in the familiar flames of an Incendiary Exterminatus torpedo, only an hour after the Tyranids began landing their spore pods.


    A bit too soon in my opinion, but good enough. The lead Tyranid spore pods did contain the Broodlords and Tyrants, and losing them would weaken the Tyranid splinter Fleet greatly. This would also leave the bioships stranded here, hibernating to conserve energy while maintaining a thick Shadow in the Warp around the ruined Pythos.


    The Demon Cache under Atika would be sealed by molted lava and covered in Warp disrupting Silence, while the Chaos forces lost their best leader and much of the Black Legion fleet, probably more than half.


    Meanwhile my own collection grew, and I had things to trade now, valuable things.

 Steak 148

    The captured Ork Kroozers were either towed behind or left to journey on their own, 60 of them in better shape grouped in squads of three and sent towards 20 different Forge Worlds to be repaired and upgraded.


    As for the rest 35 Kroozers that had been damaged were towed behind my fleet back to Forge Machine, to be converted into more Drop-Cruisers.


    I had Forge Machine working on restoring the Teleport STC constructor and begin mass-producing drop-pods with teleport beacons, which would allow rapid recovery of our turrets in the future. It would take decades anyway, because research takes time, and much longer times with techpriests. And constructing the devices wouldn''t be fast either.


    After a week inside the Pharos, and scanning the nearby star systems attentively, I departed with the newly arrived Guard regiments and a million techpriests and acolytes to settle 50 more planets, using the Catachans to establish security and the techpriests to construct the infrastructure and defenses, plus mines and railroads and dozens of small cities on each world.


    This also meant some orbital forts and a warp-less transceiver network were needed, linking Forge Machine with the new domain real time.


    Advance Explorer fleets were sent to lay FTL communication routes to Forge Antax and Forge Triplex Phall, while streams of immigrants and Imperial regiments arrived monthly to be distributed into the colonies.


    It took five years until the network was complete, and by this time the first underground Hive Cities had begun being built as well, sponsored by increased promethium and coal mining industry on Natale, as well as the rich mineral deposits of Radium and Liberation.


    The Ultima Segmentum was eerily quiet in the meantime, if we except the loud Orks and occasional Necrons waking up.


    A trillion Orks were gathering to besiege Armageddon, riding on asteroids and Space Hulks and various captured ships.


    It wasn''t something a single Astartes Chapter could deal with, but the Imperium had three Primarchs now. Surely one of them could take care of the Orks.


    "What do I need?" I mused out loud, and glanced at Zarhulash for advice.


    "You need ships, Pef Lancefire. Much stronger ships too, if you want to fight the Tyranids." the C''tan said in a cold voice.


    "... I looked all over, Mighty Zarhulash. Unless I dive into the Maelstrom to fight Corsair and renegades, there''s only pirate destroyers and frigates, maybe a few light cruisers. Nothing really interesting." I replied with a pained sigh.


    Those targets were still good, and I had Lamenter snatching raids sent all over the Eastern Fringe to board pirate hideouts and recover more escorts, but even hundreds of destroyers wouldn''t be of real use, except as defense fleets for the Lancefire domain. The escorts were too small to carry powerful lance batteries, and they also needed Warp-drives which made them a liability for long deployments.


    "...There is the Warp Gate to the Expanse. And there are many Space Hulks not yet claimed. Plus, the Antian_Sector. </a>" The C''tan shard advised me with a curious voice.


    "What''s in that sector?" I wondered while searching the galactic map.


    "One of those Blackstone Fortresses, serving as a base for a Demon Prince. Also a thousand renegade Navy and pirate vessels, including a hundred cruisers and three battleships." Zarhulash explained with a knowing voice.


    Well, that was a tempting target indeed. Now that I had the activation artifacts from Abaddon, a Blackstone Fortress would be a powerful weapon. And the blackstone itself would not be corrupted by Chaos.


    I nodded gratefully, and retrieved two more Exterminatus torpedoes. One for Cocholos</a>, a Demon World beyond the Maelstrom that had not been in the Pharos range til now, and the newly awakened Necron World of Nagathar</a>, here in my backyard.


    Cyclonic torpedoes both, because I wanted to send a powerful message.


    Then I returned to my apartment, to enjoy my sweet blonde Amberley. Plus having sex on a floating mattress was special and annoyed Rafen as well.


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    "Just like that...yes, oh God!" Amberley shouted as we bounced off the ceiling.


    Perhaps I shouldn''t have given her Alpha-level powers...whatever. Hopefully this child will be another Blank.


    Lately the numbers of Blank children had grown per year, reaching 50. This probably matched some logarithmic chart somewhere keeping track of my growth in soul powers.


    Very possible, as even my children were having a substantial increase in Blank births, especially my daughters when paired with natural Blanks.


    This also annoyed their Catachan husbands, but it was their fault for not being Sly Marbo. That guy had everything right.


    "Lady Rose requests entry, my lord. Perhaps you should climb down?" my bodyguard advised me with a wry voice.


    "...Let her wait...I want more!" Amberley muttered holding me tight in her arms. I didn''t mind her love, but Rose had important news if she barged in uninvited.


    "Tomorrow, my love. Now go rest." I whispered in her neck, and squeezed her breasts as a reward.


    She vanished from under me and let me fall, just as Rose entered the room and caught the mattress with telekinesis.


    "That''s an interesting trick you had Amberley perform. Must work on the landing though." The raven-haired Inquisitor commented with a smirk, and gently set me down to be examined as meat market.


    "Wait outside Rafen." I sent him on the Manifold, just as Rose sat beside me and held a dataslate.


    "Infocyte Calixa sent word. There is Silent Vigil on Yllax</a>, with a thousand Silent Sisters...and their dependents." Rose explained as the galactic map opened to pinpoint a northern galactic world at the edge of the Imperium.


    "Let me guess, they use Rogue Traders for supplies." I deduced with my genius brain.


    "I''ll need a pair of Sisters and a battlecruiser to ''recruit'' that Rogue Trader and reach Yllax. I think Alana and Aleya would work best." the Inquisitor whispered while undressing herself for a final round.


    This was a great find indeed. Rose deserved a big reward, and Calixa as well when I caught up with her somewhere.


    I left Rose filled with liquid love and probably pregnant again, and went to check on my Titan Legion.


    Luckily, the Blessed Autocimulacra self-repair device worked just fine and the damaged Titans were restored to duty. Which was great, because they will be needed, just like my Knights and the Leviathans.


    Dae was round and rosy with our fourth child, overseeing the training of the Princeps and the Titan crews from her desk.


    "My beloved wife...you look radiant today." I murmured and stole a kiss.


    "And you stink of sex and other women. And not even those three new Princeps pilots that arrived from Lucius and Graia." my wife bit my lip in revenge and complained loudly.


    Uh, I should bed those three, before I left. More Titan pilots would be nice.


    "I wanted to let them feel at home first, dear Dae. But if you insist, I can make time in my busy schedule, for three more women." I explained teasingly and patted her round belly. A tiny kick hit my palm weakly, so not even the kid inside liked me right now.


    "... Busy schedule? A month spent in bed is busy schedule? When are you going on Crusade again, eh?" the Titan piloting wife chided me and poked my chest, sounding a bit annoyed.


    I kissed her for a long minute, then caressed her rosy face while Dae struggled to catch her breath.


    "Very soon, my love. Probably two weeks, if nothing goes wrong until then. I won''t take the Scout Titans though. They need atomantic reactors and shields to avoid another debacle, like on Phytos." I said in a level voice, and began walking out.


    "Don''t forget about the new girls!" Dae yelled after me, just before I walked out.


    Rafen grinned at me and patted my shoulder. "That''s a great wife you found, my lord. Urging you to bed other women...you are too lucky."


    I nodded wisely, and headed for the mess hall, and sat down to eat with the three new arrivals.


    "Lord Lancefire, is it our turn today?" A pixie cut lady with brown hair and a deep tan asked a bit hopeful, while poking at her grey slop of food with disgust.


    Sure, the Mechanicus food gave them everything their bodies needed, vitamins and aminoacids and all that. But it looked and smelled horribly.


    "I think, we first visit my ship and eat a real grox steak, drink some expensive Iax wine and chat a little. Nobody is forced to join my family, pretty ladies." I answered after scowling in disgust at the crappy food. It was worse than nutrigruel, and those were liquid combat rations.


    "You had me at real steak, my lord. Plus, you''re so cute!" another woman announced, tugging at her ponytail to let curly black hair fall on her shoulders, while she pushed her magnificent chest out, very proudly.


    Lady Sira Lu''ginni was certainly the most beautiful pilot I knew, and among top three of all my women. Right beside Rose and Serena. Proof of carefully selected genes, but I didn''t mind that at all.


    "He talked to me first!" the pixie girl muttered and glanced at me under her eyelashes, as if trying to provoke me.


    All right then, I''ll bed you first, pixie!


    "... I like real steak too." the third girl from Graia whispered shyly, while her cheeks became bright red with embarrassment. She had platinum hair cut in a bob, and green eyes, which worked perfectly with her white skin.


    Probably liked beefy muscles as well, if I was not mistaken.


    If it was really necessary, I had other tools to convince the Titan pilots to bear me Blank children, but so far it hasn''t been the case. Perhaps having Sanguinius genes and an angelic face was good for something today.


    I''ll have to visit Fabricator Gemmina soon and thank her very deeply for the new pilots, which were possibly not easy to obtain. She was only half-cyborg anyway, and her face was quite natural. As for the metal tentacles, one had to bear it and learn to ignore minor problems.

 Alliance 149

    "Trade is war; war is trade. Either way, the House of Ma''Kao profits."


    ¡ªLady Sun Lee


    Sun Lee sat on her light cruiser''s bridge, the Nihontu</a> while considering the news she had just received from her informants on Scintilla.


    "What do you say, Void-master</a> Shin? There is opportunity in war." the woman asked with a frown. All Rogue Traders had to be brave, and bold and most of all lucky.


    Perhaps not as lucky as the fabled Pef Lancefire, the Rogue Trader in the distant Fringe with his own Astartes Chapter, but they do needed luck to survive and prosper. And House Ma''Kao had a hundred thousand people depending on her to prosper.


    "There are rumours of Demon Princes, Captain. Names like Corruptis</a> and Lil''een''dow</a> have reached my ear, and I had to silence those fools before they spread the rumours even further. The Inquisition will surely be involved...and we don''t want them to visit us again." the man argued with a shiver.


    Chaos again! Why couldn''t it be Orks or Eldar? At least you could sell the loot for fortunes.


    Either way, standing aside was not profitable, in riches or reputation.


    "We make for Forge World Telios V then. I think I figured out how Lancefire does it, aiding Forge Worlds for free ships. Do we have enough voidsmen to capture a cruiser?" Sun Lee asked a bit hopeful.


    Her Master-at-Arms shook his head over the holotable. "A very small cruiser, perhaps. Best if we try for a frigate. And only if we use that toxic gas...which we promised to have destroyed." the man muttered in disgust, and scratched his bionic arm.


    The gas would kill everyone on board, that was true. And lose her half of the clean-up crew, as the gas would eat through void suits and flesh with equal hunger.


    Maybe not then. "If only we had teleporters." she whispered in defeat.


    "I''ll prepare the boarding boats and double the melta charges, Captain. We can send servitors with plaststeel shields first, and then our voidsmen and our House guards. Expected casualties are only at 48 percent for a pirate frigate and 27 percent for a destroyer." her Master-at-Arms provided after consulting the savant implant.


    Sun Lee glanced at their resident techpriest, a runaway renegade, but very useful anyway. "Archmagos Omnifax, any chance for another miracle weapon?"


    The guy was obviously not even a Magos, but she would use whatever name he gave without complaints.


    "I do, Captain. There are a dozen directional mines being prepared in the manufactorum. Place them against a solid shield, and the hallways in front will be filled with shrapnel and bouncing balls of steel. The servitors might not survive the recoil though."


    the heretek techpriest explained while holding a tentacle out and projecting a red hologram with his new weapon.


    "And for this?" she asked in a tired voice.


    "A dozen test subjects, and 50 thousand thrones. Surely the costs will be recovered swiftly once you conquer and sell a pirate vessel, right Captain?"


    Sun Lee examined the proposed weapon with a frown. It was simple and effective though. Perhaps...


    "We will need one hundred of these ''Claymore directional mines'' Archmagos Omnifax. A ship has many hallways, correct?" she asked in a stern tone. Not that it mattered with the Mechanicus.


    "... Then you will provide me a ton of agricultural fertilizer and 100 thousand thrones. Plus the steel. I promised not to chop away at the ship''s walls, anymore." the techpriest demanded and waved two tentacles for some obscure reason.


    Sun Lee nodded. "Agreed. Now start working on these weapons, and make sure they don''t explode prematurely, again!"


    "I''ll go and select the test subjects from the lower decks, Captain. And please give the Navigator his dose, he is clawing at the armored door already." Void-master Shin muttered and walked away to gather voidsmen for the perilous descent into the lower decks.


    Sun_Lee</a> sighed, and checked the snuff box. Only three doses were left, and after that...she will need a new Navigator, as the chances of finding a Stryxis</a> caravan were astronomical, more so when heading into a war zone.


    Betting everything on their next conquest was not something she liked, but there weren''t other choices. The Navigator was already a mess of tentacles and claws, and only the snuff drug kept him stable enough for another Warp jump.


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    "We really need a cruiser with warp-less drives..." her Master-at-Arms mused thoughtfully.


    "Like that Battlecruiser with the psyker Inquisitor? Right. Perhaps we should even take the offer from that blonde assassin." Sun Lee said in a dismissive voice.


    "An alliance wouldn''t be so bad, Captain. And you need a husband anyway..." the man murmured softly.


    "Get out! I make my own luck!" Sun Lee yelled and smashed the holotable for emphasis. Not too hard though, as the bloody thing was really expensive.


    Sure, a seat at the High Table on Terra for Rogue Traders was attractive, but it wasn''t worth losing her freedom. Plus...that Catachan Major scared her. Just looking at him made her want to smack his face, with a hammer most likely. Those dead eyes, and grim smile. Like burning into your soul, and seeing every secret.


    Soon enough, the Nihontu was prepared and jumped into the Warp, while the Navigator stopped screaming for a time. Three weeks at most.


    The three Cobra destroyers flanked the cruiser, although the third one will need a refit at the Forge World and possibly a new fusion generatorium, as this one was leaking badly and irradiating the crew.


    It never got the chance, as the nexus point was blockaded by a gigantic fort made black matter, surrounded by a thousand ships of every kind.


    "Emergency turn, dive and engage plasma engines to full!" she ordered as the third Cobra split in two and blew up in a cataclysmic explosion, that luckily caught 20 boarding shuttles and a dozen Chaos starfighters in the radius.


    The gunners started firing, plasma cannons and lance batteries striking a couple of bombers and clearing a path for the Forge World.


    They were still trapped, but surely the Fabricator will allow repairs in exchange for aid.


    "Captain, the Navigator is...purging quarters now!" her Void-master yelled and pointed at the holoscreen, where the pict-camera in the Navigator quarters caught the last moment before the creature bloomed into a flesh tree made of skulls and fangs.


    A thin spray of phase-iron dust hit the creature and made it retreat, while the explosive bolts blew out the armor panels and ejected the demon into space.


    "Focus fire on the skull tree." Sun Lee commanded, trying to ignore the strangeness of the order.


    A dozen cruiser-sized weapons hit the creature until it burst into purple fire and vanished.


    "We''re going to need a new Navigator..." She murmured in dismay. It didn''t matter if the whole bridge crew heard it, did it?


    "And a new Navigator deck..." the vox officer added smartly.


    Perhaps washing that deck a dozen times will teach the moron some respect. When combat was over, of course.


    "Sensors, any pursuit?" she asked anxiously.


    "No, Captain. These guys seem content to simply pillage whatever ships jump in. And the big thing is a Blackstone Fortress, Captain." the auspex girl said in a polite tone.


    There was a good officer in the making there. One day, the girl might become a Captain, if they lived that long.


    They were almost half-way to the Forge, when a new fleet jumped right beside them, bypassing the blockade.


    Sun Lee checked the identifying sigils three times. Bloody Pef Lancefire!


    "Captain Sun Lee, be so kind and turn off all active auspex and vox comms. It would be a shame if such a pretty lady gets butchered by teleporting traitors." a voice spoke in her head, seeming amused for some reason.


    She gritted her teeth and did as ordered. The man phrased it mildly, but there was real danger too.


    "Archmagos Omnifax, could the traitors ride back our auspex signals and teleport right here?" she asked the resident techpriest.


    The cyborg froze for a minute, possibly thinking very hard. "It sounds possible, if they have powerful cogitators or pyskers..."


    "And would a Chaos fleet with a thousand ships have all that?" Sun Lee asked ironically.


    "I''ll start working on restricting all active emissions, Captain. Visibility will decrease significantly..." the techpriest explained and began chanting at his Mechanicus console, then spraying oil and scented incense.


    "Helm, turn us around. We''ll cover Lord Lancefire while he battles..." she began saying when the sky exploded into thousands of gigantic explosions centered on that Black Fortress.


    A minute later, when the armored windows lost the black tint, barely a hundred burning wrecks remained, while Lancefire corvettes sped ahead to push the wrecks into the sun.


    "Nova Cannons are great, eh? And you need a new Navigator, Lady Sun Lee..." the smug voice of Pef Lancefire sounded from the vox caster.


    She slumped in her command chair, trying to make sense of what she saw.


    Sure, those Chaos guys were kinda clumped up around the jump nexus, and the Fortress was a target nobody could miss, but even so...it would take unbelievable luck to hit every shot. A thousand enemies, gone just like that!


    "He''s so cool! I wonder if we can visit his ship." the auspex girl murmured in a mesmerized voice.


    Sun Lee sighed and closed her eyes in defeat. Some people had all the luck.

 Sandbox 150

    While Forge World Telos V wasn''t a big Forge, they did have dockyards and repair facilities, so it was easy enough to include Lady Sun Lee in my deals with the Fabricator.


    As for Navigators, I did have a stock of them in my labyrinth, and even a few not outwardly corrupted.


    But my aid wasn''t free or cheap.


    "You ask too much, Lord Lancefire. If you need House Ma'' Kao votes, then yes. Me or my heirs will support your House for a High Lord seat, in perpetuity. Even a single Navigator would be worth it. Another one held in stasis as backup is a phenomenal luxury."


    Lady Sun Lee explained over the table.


    "I propose a test then. Lend me your Lieutenant Maya, the auspex officer. My son Tiberius needs a wife, for five years." I said in a calm voice.


    The Rogue Trader measured me with caution. "Why for five years, what happens afterward?"


    I shrugged and sipped the wine, which was quite good. "After that, Tiberius has to join the Lamenters, become a Space Marine. His new body will not allow marital relations."


    "And the children?" she asked brutally.


    "Blank boys will be sent to me, at the age of ten. Your House can keep the girls." I declared in a level voice.


    She nodded thoughtfully, considering various scenarios in her mind. "Blank girls would be valuable, perhaps more than boys. An entire dynasty could be born, immune to Chaos."


    I smiled genially. "Most of my daughters are ship Captains now. Being Blank almost guarantees the promotion, in my House."


    Sun Lee sighed and gulped her wine. "You must have a thousand concubines then."


    "My fleet will remain here to resupply for a week, before we depart on anti-piracy raids and then head for Footfall</a>. Might I tempt you to join me for the first part? You may also bring your House Guards, just in case there is boarding to be done." I proposed in a gentle voice.


    "Only me and the troops, huh? How will we get back?" the Rogue Trader asked with a frown.


    "I started with a light cruiser too, you know? Everything I have now, I took it with strength or guile. Sometimes using enemies to my own needs, like the Raid on Commorragh or the Pandorax Campaign, where I captured 105 Ork Kroozers for my Dynasty, while the stupid Orks were busy boarding Abaddon''s ships. Then we blew them all up and came home, much richer." I explained in a teasing voice.


    She sobbed and poured herself more wine. "Teleporting Astartes are cheats! I could do it too, if I had teleporters."


    "Prove it then, Lady Sun! There are 55 teleport rooms in my fleet. You may use 5 teleportariums and keep whatever pirate ship you conquer." I demanded while drinking more wine.


    "Damn lucky bastard...I can do it too." the woman muttered half-drunk.


    *****************


    Much later, I allowed Lady Sun to obtain a heavy cruiser for her House, even though it cost her half her troops. She would have failed, unless I vanished most of the opposition, but I did like her.


    And I captured two battleships and nineteen cruisers anyway. The new ships needed warp-less engines, so I sent them with a skeleton crew to Forge Lucius, which was the only big Forge in my list, in this Segmentum Obscurus</a>.


    I would keep a dozen cruisers and the battleships, and donate the rest to Forge Lucius for their work. Seemed a fair deal to me, and I even included Lady Sun in the deal.


    And that sealed our alliance, in my bed.


    "You''re too pretty and too lucky, damn you." Lady Sun murmured as she rested on my chest and calmed her breath.


    "I was injected with the blood of Sanguinius, my dear. At least you can be certain our children will be pretty too. Maybe even Blanks." I answered while fondling her tired body.


    "No more! I can''t do it again, not today." she complained and slapped my hand away.


    "There is one last ritual you''ll need to perform, Lady Sun. And is perfect that you''re already naked." I announced and moved her in my training room, with a dozen Orks and a chrono-sword stabbed into the floor.


    There was no such ritual, but she was a very good sword user. Took her less than a minute to chop down the confused Orks, and then reappear in the shower room.


    "What stupid ritual is this? Naked against a dozen Orks? And what was that sword?" she yelled from the shower while rinsing off the blood and gore.


    I waited until she emerged wet and angry from the hot shower. "My sons and I, we all train like this, clearing entire Space Hulks with only a sword and no armor."


    "Oh Pef." she whispered and sat down to hug me.


    "Never fight a Space Marine in melee, my love. You''re good, but a hundred years too slow. And many traitors are millennia old." I advised her while conquering her body again.


    By next month we parted ways, me and my fleet towards the Koronus_Expanse</a> and the big prize of the Light of Terra, while Lady Sun had people to bury and mourn. Even victory was bitter in 40k, although she gained much more than she knew.


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    And her promise of support in perpetuity? She will live to uphold it now.


    There are many words that can describe Footfall. A giant mountain sculpted in the form of the Emperor of Mankind, with field made of a thousand asteroids around it, all tied with chains and bridges.


    A port into the Expanse, home to many Rogue Traders or Free Captains, the unfortunate ones without a Warrant of Trade.


    A hive of scum and slavery, chaos cults and heretics of a thousand kinds, xenos and mutants, psykers and techpriests, many of them renegades.


    But in my eyes, it was perfect. An immense looting ground of exotic weapons, rare aliens and even STC patterns, and a sandbox for my labyrinth.


    They never knew what hit them, especially when Orks appeared in the millions in a surprise Waagh and ''forced'' me to restore order, using Armed Sentinels as foot soldiers, Knights and Leviathans and even a Reaver Titan for shock and awe.


    The Mechanicus Altar-Templum-Calixis-Ext-17 was looted by the marauding Orks of everything of value, especially extensive research into xenos weaponry and vaults of invaluable samples and Mechanicus relics, while the corrupt Administrator was defenestrated by an unknown party and splattered at the feet of the Emperor''s statue.


    A dozen Ministorum churches and Cathedrals were savagely looted as well and nearly thirty priceless relics were lost forever, while a thousand fat priests and bishops emptied their bellies, literally. Some even had silver throne coins mingled inside their dripping intestines.


    By the time my forces were able to restore order, 90 percent of the locals were dead, excluding the freed slaves and the manufactorums workers, plus the dockyard guys.


    I blamed the Dark Eldar for this debacle, although only a thousand were actually present. I made sure to produce ten times more, and had them burned on huge pyres along with all the other dead. It made the survivors very happy for some reason.


    The Dockyard''s Foreman was elected to rule the settlement by the time my Lamenters and Knights withdrew, although the occupation lasted two months, because my techpriests had to repair pretty much all the damaged buildings and gravity generators, plus install surveillance networks and train two of my Emperor''s Blades how to use it properly, plus the teleport pads took time to assemble.


    It wouldn''t last very long, the imposed order. I was quite aware of this.


    But newcomers will be easy enough to log and watch, their deals and ships monitored and reported to the appropriate Imperium''s organization.


    As for the ships already present on Footfall, I generously donated them to a couple of nearby Forge Worlds, only keeping a Grand Cruiser in nearly perfect condition, with a Warrant of Trade in the vault. It seemed the former owner was one Calligos_Winterscale</a>, now deceased. He named my daughter Finona as his heir for some strange reason, and she reluctantly accepted his dying wish.


    "Thank you daddy! Did I tell you how much I love you, lately? Even if you had me married to that ugly Winterscale, for an entire minute." Finona exclaimed as I handed her the Warrant and kissed my cheek very reluctantly.


    "Lady Winterscale, may I expect your support for the position of High Lord of Terra?" I asked instead.


    "You can bet a throne on that, Lord Lancefire. Now, I just need to get my ship some real engines and my own regiments. May I count on your aid, in this matter?" she demanded coyly.


    Couldn''t say no to my own beloved daughter, could I? Now, where should I send her?


    "I can only recommend you head towards Forge Shenlong. There are some presents in the ship vaults, plus the Fabricator is a good friend of mine. We fought together once and even killed a traitor Primarch." I answered after thinking for an entire minute.


    The new Rogue Trader nodded politely, and ran away to her Catachan husband waiting outside, while jumping over the corpse of her former husband.


    Rafen grinned at me as the armored door closed.


    "Always a pleasure to see you work, my lord. One day we will reach Terra itself." he admitted with a happy and hopeful voice.


    I just shook my head. "Not until Roboute takes the sword, my friend. The Hexarchy</a> is forming already, and I don''t want my family as their target."


    "I see. That would be a problem...especially the Ecclesiarchy." he mused wisely.


    "The Tyranids and the Necrons are still the bigger problems, Astartes. I need something powerful to stop them, relics from our ancestors. For starters, a Glorianna Battleship for my Chapter." I explained in a gentle voice.


    And then a big gun for that ship, something that could shatter worlds, just like Abaddon had.

 Chains 151

    Finding the former Imperial Navy Glorianna Battleship would have been quite hard without the aid of a certain C''tan, a cheater who cheats and can look through stable Warp Gates to observe a different part of the galaxy as if using a telescope.


    It was simply laying in orbit above a Maiden World named Dread Pearl, and inhabited by the descendants of the Navy crew, all kinda crazy and useless to me.


    I decided to simply deposit the former crew on the surface, hid the giant ship in my Tesseract, beside the Blackstone Fortress, and continued on my way, heading towards the Ork Worlds of Hundred, Undred Teeth.


    Left unchecked, these Orks would certainly become a dangerous pest, and they already had thousands of small ships and a couple bigger ones, for example a Space Hulk called Fist of Gork and a massive Battlekroozer named Da Wurldbraka.


    None of the humanity''s forces in the Expanse would be able to deal with them, and that left me.


    And here, without any witnesses I could cheat too.


    Entire Ork planets became empty while the system''s sun grew a bit brighter for a second. No doubt the Orks would spawn again, or appear from a Warp Rift, but not these. These Orks burned as sacrifice for the good Emperor of Mankind, Adam, First of his Name. It seems he really was that Adam too, since he was quite old.


    My tesseract captured the Ork ships, even Da Wurlbraka, but that Space Hulk was still too massive for my powers. We had to break it into 30 fragments, before the Tesseract was able to lock onto the shattered pieces and bring them in.


    Expensive use of torpedoes and Nova Shells, but just the metal alone could serve to construct a thousand battleships.


    I''ll have to inventory the contents later, as there was too much. An entire Astartes Chapter fleet, with full stores of Land Raider tanks and Thunderhawk gunships and power armor suits, but no sign of people aboard those 66 mangled ships. The Fire Hawks Chapter too.


    I didn''t really need all this, but if the Emperor wanted to give me gifts, I could only humbly accept them. I knew those guys were just fine at the side of the Emperor, in an undead-burning-immortal-angel kind of just fine.


    Unceasing Duty, in perpetuity for the Legion of the Damned.


    Was I too jaded? Perhaps, but the horrors of the 40k universe were starting to get to me.


    Even more so when my fleet stumbled onto a trading void-station filled with desecrated bodies and bloody marks of chaos rituals. I could only send the station into the sun, and vow to avenge their deaths.


    I did have Navigators after all, and a couple of them could track ''scents'' in the Immaterium.


    By next week, we found them, a Chaos group called the Saynay Clan, formed around a band of traitor Space Marines and a dozen Chaos cultists, dealing in slaughter and ritual sacrifice.


    Then even had a decent sized fleet, four battle barges and 30 cruisers plus 200 escorts, but that only fed the nearest sun with extra atoms to burn.


    The sooner I had enough Blanks to fill all the Astartes Chapters the better.


    Not that I wasn''t doing my fucking duty every single day, with seven women in a row, and the same for my children, and their children. We all worked hard to save the damn galaxy, and all I heard was that I was too lucky!


    It wasn''t luck that brought me here in the blasted Expanse, hunting down traitors and Orks.


    Anyway, it was time to head back, and steal one last battleship, the Majestic Light</a>. This might mean a hard fight with other Imperial factions or Chaos forces involved in the Antian_Sector</a>.


    ********


    My nurse, Catherine sensed my muscles tense, and resumed her massage, pouring more oil on my back and helping me relax with gentle fingers.


    "There''s going to be another battle, my lord?" she asked in a knowing voice.


    "Very likely, my dear Catherine. And I promise I won''t cheat, unless they cheat first." I answered in a joking tone.


    "It''s not cheating if the God-Emperor aids you in battle, Lord Lancefire. Now turn around, and let me help you relax." she demanded while pouring oil over her breasts.


    That did seem a great way to relax indeed.


    I enjoyed her special massage with a dreamy grin, until my spear raised for battle for the eight time today.


    "Oh? It looks like it''s my lucky day!" the former Adepta Sororitas quipped with a wide smile and eagerly impaled herself on my lance.


    I let her enjoy her hard-earned prize, because she''ll soon switch places with Helena and join my daughter Andrea and the infocyte on the recruiting job.


    Sadly, most of the Rogue Traders they''ve found were not interested in any alliance, too suspicious or corrupt or both. Even on Footfall, there were five Rogue Traders that barely escaped with their lives, mostly because they were too destitute to commit big crimes. But that Winterscale was really too much, praying on his fellow men with casual indifference and even selling convoy routes to pirates and Corsairs to kill off the competition, if he didn''t do it himself, hidden from prying eyes.


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    I didn''t mind them trading with xenos or using their weapons, as it was clearly in the mandate, and I did that myself very often. But too many such Dynasties dealt in slavery, piracy and drug trades, which meant selling Imperial citizens to aliens, even to be served as food. That was not okay, nor were sponsoring various heretic cults and deals with Chaos forces.


    On the way back, we made a stop at Lucin''s Breath, where the Winterscale Dynasty had a gigantic operation in mining nephium, a psycho-active drug extremely addictive and expensive.


    "Everyone on the surface, drop everything and evacuate the planet right now!" I demanded on the vox caster, while stealing all the weapons I could find, plus all the STC containers filled with processed nephium.


    Soon after, my fleet began opening fire with lances on the more distant mining pits and wells, forcing the workers to evacuate faster.


    In less than a day, a million workers embarked on transport ships and ran for Footfall, while the planet burned in their wake.


    The price of nephium would skyrocket soon enough, and then my surveillance girls will find the nephium traders very fast. And then kill them and steal their thrones.


    Then find the buyers and watch them and so on. A death cult was very useful for things like this, because death was their profession.


    We passed by Footfall and then the Jericho-Maw_Warp_Gate</a>, ignored Port Wander and its fabulous wonders and headed straight for the Corruptis Warp Rift in the Antian Sector.


    "Captain, there is a Demon World behind the rift. It''s called Braxas and...can''t look anymore. Horrible things there, as you can imagine." The Navigator spoke on the vox channel as my fleet held station some 40 thousand kilometers away from the huge purple rift.


    I couldn''t imagine what the Navigator saw, but I trusted him enough. If he said it was horrible, it was possibly much worse.


    So I glanced to the side, where Veteran Brother Semnai was clenching his left fist so hard that his glove was creaking.


    "Wanna lead a deep-strike and burn that place, Brother Semnai?" I asked a bit curious.


    The man turned to stare at me for a second. "If that''s how you decide to spend my life, Master Lancefire." he replied while his eyes began turning black. Maybe a tiny bit too angry?


    I nodded cheerfully. "It will be amazingly fun, and you get to launch an Exterminatus on a Demon World! What say you?"


    "I say...it better be the best fun in my life, my lord. I never had a lover though...too late for that, huh?" the Veteran Lamenter mused melancholically.


    "Meh, I don''t recommend Ogryns. Maybe a catgirl, we have catgirls, right?" I wondered a bit confused.


    "Felinids, my lord. Your wolf would be more acceptable." he answered with a nod at Canis, who tilted his head in confusion.


    "Not sure if cats or dogs are more acceptable for heretic relations. Better stick with Orgyns. Some of them are even smaller than you." I commented wisely.


    "Woof!" the Space Wolf agreed after measuring the Lamenter for height.


    "For the Emperor and the Primarch!" Semnai proclaimed and smacked his chest loudly.


    "Give them hell, Semnai!" I answered with a grin.


    In an hour, a sacrificial corvette with an Exterminatus warhead entered the rift, carrying Brother Semnai, while I struggled to follow him with the Sounding Board''s empathic tracker.


    "It''s a very long rift, my lord" he muttered while purple walls flashed by.


    "Keep your eyes opened for any ships. We always need more ships." I advised him seriously.


    "Seriously? You''re trying to loot more...I think that''s an Apocalypse-class battleship." Semnai muttered as the corvette passed the old relic.


    "Stop and touch it. With your hand." I demanded on a whim.


    "That''s insane! This is a Chaos Warp Rift! There might be a billion demons outside the hull." the Lamenter lamented in despair.


    "So? You have a Null Wand and your body can withstand the vacuum for hours." I answered without any worry.


    "The Emperor protects!" Semnai grumbled as he parked the corvette beside the battleship and opened a hangar door to the void.


    "This is fun, my friend. Now touch it!" I demanded again.


    "This is not fun! It''s freezing and my skin is stuck to the hull!" he yelled in my mind.


    "It''s only a flesh wound. Now...let''s see...twist, drag, no. Not working. Back to your original mission, Astartes! We''ll have to tractor the battleship out with chains." I said in a sad voice.


    "If I hadn''t lost my dermis for this, I''d be laughing, my lord. Haha. It is a bit fun!" the Astartes Veteran quipped at my misfortune.


    Damn tesseract couldn''t grab things from another dimension, which sucked though.


    Chains were so mundane!

 Bloodline 152

    Following Semnai, there were a hundred more corvettes, now equipped with void-steel chains that went missing from Footfall, and they pulled at the lost battleship like horses on a carriage.


    With billions of horse-power per engine, but pulling even so. There were other types of methods I could have used, from mind-controlled Narvhals bioships and mechanical gravity generators, but none of those were quite feasible inside a Warp Rift.


    Hours later, as the battleship began emerging from the Rift on our side, Semnai finally reached the Demon World and fired the torpedo manually.


    We did cover the weapon in blackstone armor and purity seals, so it should last long enough to reach...well.


    It was the damn domain of the Chaos Gods, after all.


    Merely a second after the detonation began, it froze in place, an entire continent of fleshy spires and lakes filled with worms and disease was kept in stasis, even while burning.


    "Who dares!" A powerful voice boomed while the Demon Prince himself appeared to confront Brother Semnai.


    "I dare! Captain Semnai, Lamenters'' Second Company." my brave Battle-Brother shouted and stepped out of his armored ship for a damn stupid duel.


    "Oh? The failed Founding? Join me, and you can have immortality and an eternity of pleasure and war, blessed by Father Nurgle! Join me feast on humanity, and your body will never die!" the Daemon Prince announced with a really compelling argument.


    "Well? Those green fangs full of puss and worms look very enticing. Go on, join Corruptis if you really need a lover." I advised Semnai in barely restrained mirth.


    "Hahaha! This is the best fun I ever had in my life! A Daemon Prince begging me to join him." Semnai yelled and jumped forward to battle, firing his combi-bolter too.


    With no effect, as expected. That thing could stop an Exterminatus torpedo in mid-explosion.


    "You won''t be laughing, very soon, Servant of the Corpse Emperor!" Corruptis promised, a bit irate his magnificent offer was refused.


    "Are you praying yet, Rafen?" I asked with my real voice.


    "Yes! Now shut up!" my bodyguard muttered harshly.


    Even clad in power armor, and wielding a chronoblade, my Captain stood little chance against a Daemon Prince, merely providing me advance recon data for our own overpowered Warp weapon.


    This new Angel was much stronger now, and so large it shouldn''t have fit inside my apartment with wings the size of an airplane. But reality was merely a suggestion for beings on this power.


    These dead eyes though. I would have to do something about them, one day. "Hello there! Lend us your sword, Mighty Angel! I promise I''ll visit you on Baal very soon." I spoke with a level tone, and poked the thing in its armored knee. Felt solid enough.


    The creature glanced at my left hand almost curious, then gently caressed Rafen and erased a nasty scar resulted from forgetting his helmet too many times.


    Then a flash of golden light, and he was gone. A streak of energy passed the Majestic Light in the opposite direction, making the corvettes and the chains glow golden for a minute, and then Semnai appeared beside me, cuts and tears in his armor healing with golden foam over it.


    "...That was...our Primarch?" my Brother asked after removing his helmet and puking his guts out on my carpet.


    I just shrugged and took out my Necron cleaning wand to erase the mess. Very useful tool, the xeno vacuum cleaner.


    "Anyway, I''m glad you agree it was a fun ride. Too bad your stomach is so weak, Brother." I answered instead.


    Semnai took out his glove to examine the glowing left hand, as his skin grew back with golden flakes on light.


    "How does it even work, I have a Null Wand on my hip..." the Lamenter Captain muttered in confusion.


    I just raised an eyebrow and held my own left hand out, thin golden veins still glowing from the Angel''s presence. "What blood flows through our veins, Brother?"


    Rafen touched his head, where the healed scar was also glowing. "We are truly Brothers, Semnai. But today, you are Sanguinius reborn. Did you get beat up badly?"


    Semnai snorted and glanced at his healing armor. "At least tell me when you''re summoning another miracle, my lord. I thought I was truly dead this time, and your damn jokes were not helping!" the Veteran muttered and punched my shoulder.


    I felt that even through my armor, so he might be a little pissed.


    "You won''t die of old age, Semnai. On the other hand, we have a new battleship and it seems almost intact. And now it''s gone, until we return home and get it upgraded." I explained in a cheerful voice, and walked out for the bridge.


    As we departed the Warp Rift, a flash of light emerged to illuminate the darkness in our wake, then the rift closed abruptly. I was quite confident of the success of our deep strike, as the daemon should have been easily defeated by our Angel, and the Exterminatus had resumed its explosion, with cleansing effects.


    I still had plenty of munitions left, and plenty of Chaos traitors to hunt down and burn, plus the usual pirates and Orks.


    Should keep my fleet busy for a few years, and who knows, there might be more Rogue Traders around to recruit into my alliance.


    **********


    Two months later, we had just demolished a Death Guard</a> fleet over the Fortress World of Komarek, and I even captured a certain Typhus</a>, the so called Herald of Nurgle.


    A case of content theft: this narrative is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation.I wasn''t sure what to do with him, since his body was a nest of plague insects, that were constantly trying to escape the tesseract labyrinth, even when surrounded by Tyranid bioships.


    He wouldn''t keep, so I just materialized him into Komarek''s sun, without his armor. The armor and his Manreaper</a> Daemon weapon would sell pretty well, if you knew certain collectors.


    Maybe another giant Space Hulk, spread among my friends in the Forges. Yeah, probably something like that.


    Decision made, I returned to my fucking duty, and continued pounding my current ally, a certain Rogue Trader Lady named Aspyce_Chorda</a>.


    She might be a ruthless Captain, but in bed all cats are black.


    It took me quite a few hours of hard work to break her willpower, but in the end the result was always the same.


    "Please, my lord. No more...I will break..." Aspyce whispered in bliss.


    "Is that what a slave would say, my dear?" I asked curious.


    "No more slaves...or drugs. I''ll hunt pirates or xenos, just let me rest." the woman pleaded with a pitiful voice.


    I turned her over, and massaged her heavy breasts while she swayed in a daze. "You could be so great, my dear. Your own kingdom and armies, fleets of warships and cargo vessels. Have Admirals beg for your help, even lead Crusades and conquer a hundred worlds."


    Her eyes opened in a suspicious stare, daze gone and ruthless trader back in charge.


    "And for this, what do I have to trade?" she asked in a level voice.


    "Blood. Your family and mine, mingled in marriages until you are all Blanks, immune to Chaos and mutation. Let''s say you visit Brycantia</a> in a few decades, with a hundred Blank men to trade to the Iron Knights. Your Blank women as Captains, your troops armed with Sentinels and gunships. And even that...it''s nothing to what the Blood Angels successors Chapters would be willing to trade, to be rid of their blood curse. The Flesh Tearers...for example. That name is not an euphemism, my dear." I said in a teasing voice, making the hard work ahead sound like paradise.


    Aspyce began riding me harder, eyes glazed with desire. "I will need to set my entire clan on this, pump out babies as fast as possible...starting with this one."


    "You''ll need to release your sisters from stasis, and convince them to contribute. I can spare two weeks to make sure you''re all with child." I proposed in a flat voice.


    The woman grunted and slammed into my lap harder. "Not what I imagined for them...but sure. You''re very convincing too, my lord. I''m sure between the two of us, we''ll form a tight bond."


    "And keep an ear for other possible allies. Free Captains that need a home, destitute Rogue Traders with a Warrant but no ships, rogue Navigators, and all those other cases of potential profit." I demanded in a serious voice.


    Lady Aspyce leaned closer to offer me her breasts, and signaled her acceptance.


    It wouldn''t be an easy alliance, but it will work in the end. All I needed was to pass two of my assassins as distant cousins and insert them inside her crew, and soon enough all potential obstacles will start having accidents and food poisoning troubles.


    By the third week, I had all five Chorda sisters in my bed, eager to carry my children and get rich for it.


    The Rogue Trader men would be much harder to ally, simply because they already had as many women they could want. Simply visiting some feudal world could provide him with a thousand beauties that worshiped him like a god, descending from the sky on wings of fire. Human lives were cheap in the galaxy, especially for those with spaceships and power.


    I could provide them with an upgraded Los Angeles-class destroyer, and that would cement an alliance for decades. Might do that anyway, just to spread new technologies everywhere.


    Ask for their daughters, perhaps? Marry them to my sons and grandsons?


    That might work, eventually. In the worst case, accidents could happen and that daughter would remain the sole heir.


    With a flick of my fingers, I sent the five women back on their ship, letting them sleep in their own beds.


    I sensed a certain Inquisitor arrive in the system, and had to clear my schedule for her.


    Soon enough, Rose arrived with Sister Alana and a new Silent Sister named Asurma.</a>


    A flurry of finger talk began, the woman demanding a million questions without stopping. I just gently took her hands and drew the untouchable woman into a hug.


    "You''re home now, Asurma. Keep silent if you want, but know I will always hear you." I spoke directly in her mind.


    The woman hugged me back, while tears filled her eyes. "I''m so glad..." she whispered back in my mind.


    "You must be hungry. Steak or nutrigruel?" I asked to make sure.


    Asurma kissed my neck in silence. "Just let me hold you a minute longer, Lord Pef. And then we can have that steak." she asked in my mind.

 Gloria Mundi 153

    As more and more Imperial forces were gathering in the Antian sector, I considered my duty here finished. I did accomplish most of my objectives here, from capturing a thousand more ships and burning a thousand Chaos vessels, then stealing a Blackstone Fortress and a Glorianna-class battleship, plus three others of small size.


    My current fleet of 2 battleships, 2 battlebarges and 40 cruisers paled in comparison with Battlefleet Gothic, which had 6 Battleships and 400 cruisers of all sizes. It took them a bit long to gather, but when they did that fleet was formidable.


    And then, there were a dozen Astartes Chapters, Sisters of Battle with flying Cathedriums just as large as battleships, Inquisition forces, Deathwatch forces, Adeptus Mechanicus and more.


    All lead by Lion El''Johnson, as the guy wanted to gather reputation and followers.


    I wasn''t a follower though. Plus I didn''t like burning innocent people that much. Couldn''t stop it, but I wasn''t going to participate either.


    My fleet sneaked away, most Lancefire ships heading for home with our legal loot via the Maw Warp Gate, while the two Lamenter battlebarges and the Inquisitorial Blackship battlecruiser set forth for Forge World Cypra Mundi, and then for Vigilus.


    I carried the illegal loot in my tesseracts, and resumed my regular schedule of STC repairs. I did recover a number of new STC templates during my looting of Footfall.


    And then there were the thousand new Silent Sisters recovered by Rose from their hidden planet, which will need to hep me produce even  more Blank children.


    There was no need to force them either. Once the plan was laid out, for the salvation of the human race with our Blank genes, there were hundreds of silent volunteers already.


    I was most interested in using the STC of the Ragnarok</a> tank hull, which had a simple but rugged drive train, and modern looking tracks. These machines could be mass-produced with ease, and replace most of my tanks in the Auxilia and even the proper Lamenter armored forces. Various patterns with flatter turrets and different types of guns and secondaries scrolled on my cogitator''s holoscreen.


    Magma Cannons, Volcano Lances, Siege Cannons and even Vulcan gatling guns, plus cheaper versions with twin lascannons and Vanquisher Cannons for anti-tank warfare.


    For the cost of a single Baneblade I could have 30 such tanks, and they''ll move faster and require less fuel.


    My Rose sat in my lap while I worked, sometimes providing insights into what to expect from various xenos or traitor units.


    "You seem to like these ugly tanks very much, my love." she mused and pointed at a low profile Ragnarok where I was trying to fit a twin-multilaser as a hull gun. Might need to turn the engine sideways...which would disrupt the balance.


    Nah. A single barrel multilaser then. There was another multilaser co-axial to the main gun anyway.


    The hull would be constructed from cheap plasteel, while the turret would need be cast of adamantium to withstand the shock and recoil. Cover it all in 20 centimeters of blackstone, and this baby would be more durable than a Baneblade.


    Only it would weigh 65 tons, not 300 tons. Perhaps make the tracks from adamantium as well? 70 tons now, but the tanks won''t be easily immobilized by mines or obstacles.


    "They are the future, Rose. Five times cheaper than a Leman Russ and thirty times cheaper than a Baneblade. Just as durable as a Baneblade if not more." I explained while relaxing in my armchair.


    "I''ve seen the Death Korps of Krieg use something like this, but they all burned up so fast..." the Inquisitor mused in a low voice.


    "It''s always a trade between numbers or quality. To have both, you need advanced science and immense production capacity. The Imperium''s technology is low, and thus we need numbers. The Forges have better technology and thus they can make higher quality products, but in small numbers. The Ragnarok is the middle ground. Any civilized world can make thousands of them, perhaps only armed with lascannons and siege guns, but those are still thousands of tanks they did not have before." I whispered in her neck while fondling her breasts for my own enjoyment.


    "... And in space, we''ll need those Nova Cannon cruisers instead of tanks. Plus corvettes to serve as infantry." the Inquisitor concluded as she turned to grope me back.


    "Exactly. Now, you want the bed or the ceiling?" I asked in a wry voice, and began suckling on those magnificent breasts.


    "...Both, I guess." Rose muttered in a breathy voice.


    Flying the bed to the ceiling was good training for her, as it increased her control over psyker power even during most arduous moments.


    Still, one day I should get her a Null Bone Necklace or something, as the big staff joining us in bed was a bit too much. It was mostly the grinning skulls. Not a big fan, although they were very common.


    Soon enough, a new trade deal was finalized with Forge World Cypra_Mundi</a>. Not as easily as everywhere else though, because this Forge was supplying most weapons and ships for the Eye of Terror defenses, and thus it was overseen directly by the Administratum.


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    The bulk of the Segmentum Obscurus fleet was based here, with thousands of ships, forts and naval bases for repair and supply.


    I promptly ignored all the Navy''s vox messages, letting Rose clear a path for us with Inquisition codes and setting me a meeting with the Fabricator Dominus, on my ship.


    "Lord Lancefire, I heard so much of you, sometimes it sounds as mere legends. Except, Inquisitor Atraneus had met you personally and didn''t seem too pleased with your conduct." the Fabricator explained while examining my gifts one at the time, a thousand STC templates going from basic industry to Warp-less engines and everything in between.


    "Really? I even named the light tank Weasel after him. Not the Lascannon variant, the one with a heavy flamer." I hummed unimpressed.


    "...And this was supposed to ''burn'' him, right? You sure have time to waste on petty rivalries, Chapter Master. So, what can my Forge do for your august Lamenters Chapter?" the techpriest asked directly.


    "I will need a million techpriests, with their servitors and acolytes to join me in the Fringe. With a Manufactorum ship, that contains technology to produce Nova Cannons and shells. Also, a small group of specialists in archeotech weapons and Warp phenomena." I demanded in a level voice.


    I could have asked for ships or troops, but means of productions were more valuable, in the long term.


    "It is a harsh demand, but worth it, of course. I expect they will be sent to the new Machine Forge in your Lancefire domain?" the Fabricator asked curious.


    "Probably not, or just a part of them. Most will be relocated to Forge Retribution to work on the Anti-Tyranid fleet. I have 200 old cruisers that will need to be upgraded with Nova Cannons and mine laying capability for Nova Mines. Hopefully they''ll be ready in 20 years, before the larger Tyranid fleets arrive." I explained in a gentle voice.


    The Fabricator froze for a second, before sighing. "Well then...I should get started on something like this myself. Do you happen to know a Blackstone planet that my Forge could mine?" he asked in a calm tone, while his mechadenrite tentacles spread incense around us, creating a haze of visible cyber engrams.


    I nodded wisely, and opened the galactic map on the cogitator. "There are two places nearby. One is on Vigilus, where I''m heading right now. The other is Sarkon</a>, a Necron World but rather harmless. Bombard them for a few weeks and then you can start mining." I answered pointing the place on the map.


    He considered my words for minute, then nodded. "I think I can send an Ark Mechanicus right away to Vigilus, and prospect the place for blackstone. As for the Necrons, they are rarely ''rather harmless''. I shall consult my Necron experts and send a few explorer teams first."


    I just shrugged as he was right to be cautious. "As you wish. Anyway, perhaps you have a Titan or two with female Princeps? We''re gathering the core of new Titan Legion there, called Deus Ex Machina. For now, only tentative prospects, but I expect to produce Warlord Titans there in a few decades."


    "Fertile female Princep, I suspect? Perhaps one could be sent, if my Forge obtains a blackstone mine too. Your battlebarges are covered in meters of it, and I can barely find small plates for Astartes power armor!" the techpriest complained and twirled a few tentacles in disgust.


    I raised an eyebrow and smiled. "As it happens, I do have a hangar filled with blackstone. Merely half a megatone, but if you needed it that badly...it''s a gift." I offered grandly. Then immediately filled an empty hangar with blackstone, from my own reserves.


    "Yes! I mean...thank you, Lord Lancefire. Now, what kind of vehicles could I gift you?" he asked and produced an impressive list.


    I searched through the list for a long minute. Most of the equipment would be useless to me, or I had better. "Nova Shells, five thousand. Exterminatus Cyclonic torpedoes, a hundred. Vortex torpedoes, fifty. And all Sentinels and Hydras. It''s only a few thousands anyway."


    The Fabricator hesitated for a minute, no doubt considering a thousand factors I had no idea of.


    "You will get the torpedoes in twenty years, Lord Lancefire. The Nova shells will be loaded on the promised XL Manufactorum. As for the light vehicles, it would take a week to load them on your ships." he answered in a heavy tone.


    Probably making sure he receives the blackstone at the same time. "Very well, Fabricator. Make sure to mark everything as donations to the Lamenters Chapter. I rather not pay taxes for killing xenos."


    "Of course, Lord Lancefire. A pleasure meeting a fellow man of culture." the techpriest quipped on his way out.


    Well, it went good enough then. Hydra anti-air tanks and Sentinel walkers were always in short supply, despite their ridiculous effectiveness per cost.


    All infantry regiments could gain an amazing boost in firepower and versatility, if only somebody updated the damn regiment charts.


    Two weeks later, we reached Hive World Vigilus, a place of immense importance in the future. Right now it was a mess of usual Imperial corruption, Chaos cults and gangs, starved laborers and pampered nobles.


    Too bad for them, right?

 Fear 154

    The already classic ''cause a problem, become the solution'' should work just fine.


    I even had a friendly Inquisitor and an Ark Mechanicus on my side, eager to help me repel the invading Orks.


    I think Rose glared at me for a second, when the alerts blared with warning of an impending Waagh. Sure, it was merely a fragment of a Space Hulk and a hundred ships plus hundreds of Roks, but their Ork Boss was determined to loot the force-fields, and his underlings obeyed without question.


    Mind-controlling the Ork Boss was kinda difficult, but a vague targeting direction could be given through the living rock wires in his brain, just like I did on Footfall. It was even the same Ork, because learning how to control another one would be tiresome.


    "We head for the cog-hummies! Waaaagh!" the boss yelled invigorating his frozen boyz.


    "Waaagh!"


    I leaned in my command chair as the vox messages for any help were typed and printed on the holoscreen. Radio silence was very useful for moments like this.


    "What say you, Lady Inquisitor? Should the defenders of humanity intervene, or do we wait for the Emperor''s Tarot to decide?" I asked in faint amusement.


    "... This is not as funny as you think it is, Lord Pef. There are over 100 billion, maybe 150 billion people on this world. The slightest disruptions in production would cause trillions of thrones in damage, not to mention famine and riots once services stop working."she explained in a grim tone.


    "Exterminatus then?" I proposed with a shrug.


    "This is not Pythos. And I''m sorry your efforts were wasted on that world. I''m certain you could have saved the planet and the locals...if you had a free hand." the Inquisitor murmured in a softer voice.


    You bet your bouncy ass I could have. I had already beaten Chaos and the Orks. But alas... the Grey Knights are morally grey.


    "Anyway. Permission to pacify this world, Inquisitor?" I asked in a somber voice.


    "...Try not to kill everyone." she murmured in a cold voice.


    "You heard that, Brother Semnai? As long as a single local survives, we''re good!" I shouted towards my Captain.


    "I''ll try to restrain myself, my lord. I''ll head down with the troops then." he replied in a level voice, and possibly not amused at all.


    I closed my eyes and began scouring the Hive World for secrets and loot, while Chaos cults were either peppered with grenades, flicked into the sun or onboard the Orks ships to give them something to do.


    Landers filled with my own tech-priests and servitors began landing at the major Hive Cities, and kept disgorging combat-servitors, supported by Armed Sentinels and recon drones.


    It was all a show anyway, as the lower Hive levels were already being flooded with narcoleptic gas bombs and even more servitors and tech-priests.


    Same for the crashing Roks, that didn''t hold thousands but millions of Orks, all eager to obtain the force-fields of the cog-hummies.


    Was I being a calculated bastard? Sure I was. But the STC force-fields found on Vigilus were kept secret, when they should have been shared with all the Forges at least, if not other Hive Worlds too, plus the Astartes.


    Magically, more and more Orks began bypassing the defenses of the local tech-priests, especially around Megaborealis and the Turingsbane Datahives, the two main centers of the Mechanicus on this world.


    In the chaos of the invasion, most of the ancient devices and cogitators vanished, while crude Ork bombs detonated among the invading Orks, spreading flammable gas and shrapnel.


    My Knights and Titans landed to defend the perimeters, along with my armored forces while the Lamenters Astartes bravely entered tunnels and conduits to exterminate the green scum.


    In other Hives, my tech-priests and servitors were already hard at work, processing the gangers and other criminal prisoners into more servitors with crude hypno-cants and lobotomic macroconversions.


    A single Ork Rok landed on the Pyroclastic Districts and detonated with the power of a dozen plasma torpedoes, incinerating the radical cultists lead by Vannadan</a>, the Firebrand. A proper death for such a hero, no doubt.


    More Roks landed onto the Dontoria Hivesprawl, the headquarters of the Ecclesiarcy. Mostly to keep the priests busy, as they had big armies around them, mostly fanatical PDF troops and Adepta Sororitas forces.


    "I thought the Cult was not allowed men under arms..." I mused as the holoscreen recorded thousands of armed men with armor and swords fighting to protect the holy Bishops and the coterie of priests and acolytes.


    "They are Crusader</a>s. But way too many for comfort, that''s true." Rose murmured with a frown.


    A nearby Ork Rok exploded with a melta torpedo charge, immolating most of the Crusaders and a hundred priests. Problem solved.


    "Huh. Not that many anymore now. The Emperor was possibly displeased." I said in a dismissive voice and switched focus on the Dirkden Hivesprawl and Hive Ankhar Tertius, where most of the genestealer infestation were focused.


    Kinda easy to find simply because the infected resisted narcoleptic gas, due to their xenos genes. Made it easy to fling them into the sun if millions of them were still standing while the normal humans were falling asleep.


    "Alana, take your sisters and breach the Warp Storm around the Voidclaw</a>. Drag it out a little." I sent mentally to my beloved Pariah.


    Moving the voidclaw weapon was very difficult, even with a thousand Pariahs to hold the storm at bay and a battlebarge pushing it out, but we eventually did it.


    I yanked the weapon inside the labyrinth and placed it beside the Light of Terra, the Glorianna-class Battleship. It was almost half as large, and I could bet it would take lots of work to mate those two ancient war devices together.


    But it would be worth it.


    A few days later, only sporadic fighting still happened, mostly around the priest areas which did not receive nor request support.


    "Governor Agamemnus, why do you not have troops defending the Hive Cities and the orbit over your planet? Surely you cannot lack men, or women." I asked the idiot noble over vox.


    "...Err. We have the Vigilant Guard</a>, but most of these PDF regiments are beholden to the Ecclesiarchy. As for other assets, we have no money..." he complained in a scared voice.


    "You will cease any payments to the disloyal regiments and send their roosters to me. Then you will raise 3000 new infantry regiments, 2000 for the Imperial Guard and 1000 as defense forces. If your world is overpopulated, the natural solution is to export manpower. The Mechanicus will provide them weapons, and enginseers, and you will provide an officer corps. No priests or at least no local priests. They can snatch priests wherever the Astra Militarum sends them." I commanded in a cold voice.


    "That''s...too overbearing. And we will lose production..." he muttered in a low voice.


    "There are a billion new servitors getting prepared by the techpriests right now, Governor. All former ganger and criminals, as proven by their tattoos. Also, there is the matter of payment for my losses. You will provide 10 million young women for my aid." I demanded in a stern voice.


    "Of course. Ten million is perfectly fine." the noble agreed gladly.


    "Ten million, every year for the next century, Governor. Forge World Cypra Mundi will provide transport, in exchange for mining rights for some dark stones they need. And then, I want you to setup a thousand orbital forts, using metal asteroids as a base. Next time you might not have a friendly fleet nearby to save you. And don''t forget the Eye of Terror next door. Perhaps negotiate with the Mechanicus to install a Gellar field over the planet, I''m sure they can also use manpower." I explained in a gentler voice.


    The Governor nodded in defeat, not that he had much choice. I only had Sanguinius and the Emperor as my direct commanders, and they were both slightly indisposed right now, with a terminal case of sword poisoning.


    Soon enough, the Ark Mechanicus had located their blackstone deposits and was glad to be given free exploitation rights, even if they''ll have to set up Forges and arm the forts and the new regiments.


    As for the Ecclesiarchy, I wasn''t going to step into that mess under my own name.


    I just recommended the converted and now unpaid regiments to be offered as trade to the Mechanicus or the Astra Militarum, or maybe split among them.


    I also must have received over a thousand vox calls from nearly everyone in any position of power, which I just ignored. Politics wasn''t really my strong suit, or even my medium suit.


    Rose spoke with some thirty people, and only killed one, which meant she was using huge restraint probably.


    "I think I need to visit Terra soon, my dear." she whispered the day before we were supposed to depart.


    "Close your eyes then, and think of the Emperor. Hold your hands out." I asked her while taking the staff away.


    "Oh! I have so much control now." she realized after being detached form the Null Staff.


    I brought the Shadowlight out for a second and then put it back in, as Rose began glowing with shades of gold and blue.


    "The Emperor, my dear." I sent into her mind.


    "I see his light so clearly now. I really have to go!" she exclaimed in a loud psyker tone, that pushed all furniture aside.


    Not so much control now, my dear new Alpha-level psyker. So, I dropped the staff back into her hands, cutting off the Warp and leaving only a small bloodline flaw.


    "Take Janice to the Golden Throne. And...tell him, the codeword is Adepta Tertia. He will surely remember." I advised my dear Inquisitor as her glow diminished and vanished under the Null Rod''s effect.


    "What...you''re serious?" Rose asked in a worried voice.


    "I''m sick of that Vow of Tranquility. If he wants my girls, he can simply speak. And give Janice her due." I demanded in a low tone, then sat in my armchair with a sad face.


    "He is the Emperor! You cannot demand things..." Rose whispered in a frightened tone, holding her hands in prayer.


    "I don''t need anything for myself, dear Rose. He needs my help, and he has to pay for it. The Throne is already failing, that''s why he''s calling you. You''ll see." I whispered in her mind, finding her mental defenses a hundred times stronger now.


    Rose just blinked and vanished in a blue flash, returning to her own battlecruiser.


    The genuine version of this novel can be found on another site. Support the author by reading it there.


    She wasn''t too happy with me right now, but I knew better.


    I was a Rogue Trader, and I feared nothing.


    I have helped Hive World Vigilus survive the worst now, especially by bringing a Forge World here to construct more weapons and defenses.


    And if the Governor listened and paid for a Reality Cage, he should be golden. Plus, I had been eradicating every cultist and genestealer I could find, and most of the criminals.


    Sure, new criminals will appear soon enough, but with more regiments being raised and sent off-world the population crisis will diminish, not that I haven''t already did my part for that, even importing 10 billion women away over the next century.


    As for loot, it was quite amazing, both hidden caches of weapons and gems, some noble House relics and art if nobody could spot the disappearance, Church relics, thousands of bolter guns from the Adepta Sororitas, and most importantly Mechanicus devices of a thousand kinds, including Dark Age of Technology devices and memory modules.


    It would be useless to let the Mechanicus worship them, when I could just ask Trazyn to decrypt everything and prepare a thousand new STC templates based on those advanced discoveries.


    As for the Voidclaw weapon, it fired Blackholes, bypassing any shield or armor. The best big gun any Captain could have on his ship. Of course, you would need a big ship to house and protect the weapon, that''s why a Glorianna Battleship was ideal.


    And you know who was most vulnerable to gravity weapons? The Tyranids, and their gravity drive.


    One couldn''t fight trillions of trillions of space bugs with mere cannons. There weren''t enough Nova Shells in the universe for that. Even a small fleet depleted my entire stores of torpedoes and Nova shells or mines.


    As for the Blackstone Fortress that will take the entire Machine Forge decades to clean up and make functional again. Maybe Zarhulash will be able to help with that.


    It could also serve as a potent mobile base, like the Phalanx. But the most important function of that Fortress was not size and armor, but the ability to fight off Warp Rifts, something that Trazyn had proven even before obtaining Psi-Titans.


    I wouldn''t mind having a big mobile base like the Dark Angels or the Iron Fists though. It would raise the status of my Chapter, and the Glorianna Battleship even more.


    I would need a grand name for the Fortress though. Black Lament, maybe? Or something more poetic like Melancholia?


    Not sure. And not important right now.


    I raised my eyes and measured the new Princeps pilot standing in my office. Zeta Rho Leti. Such a poetic name, the Mechanicus gave her.


    "It''s only you, and no Titan?" I asked with a frown.


    "...I haven''t actually driven a Titan either. The techpriests were mean to me." the girl complained in a weak voice.


    Then again, giving a 12-year-old a Titan was quite risky. She might throw a tantrum and stomp a thousand people.


    And how was this a fertile female princeps, except by mere marginal technicality?


    Damn Fabricator! No force-fields for you! Well, maybe in twenty years.


    "It''s okay. We do have a dozen Titans and no pilots for them." I said instead, watching Zeta glow wih joy.


    "Really? Even a Warhound would be great. I promised I won''t crash it!" she yelled and jumped to hug me.


    I just sighed inward. "There is still more training to be had, Zeta. Tactics, battlefield coordination, combined arms and so on."


    "I know, Lord Lancefire. It takes 30 years to train a Princeps. And then they sit in stasis until they are called for battle, for the glory of Omnissiah!" the girl exclaimed and sat in my lap.


    "What are you doing?" I asked curious.


    "I was told...you will have me make babies?" she asked cautiously.


    "Someday, maybe. When you have big breasts to feed the kids." I explained patiently.


    "Milk formula..." Zeta muttered in dismay.


    "I still want big breasts. Anyway, it doesn''t mean you won''t be given a Titan. It only means it will take time until you shoot people. Or xenos." I said and moved her back in the interview chair.


    "It''s okay then! I''ll learn and train, and then pew, I shoot bio-titans and Eldar titans or Ork Gargants!" The girl exclaimed and shot with her fingers to prove her aim.


    "Hopefully not Eldar Titans. One day, they''ll be our allies." I said with a wry smile.


    "...That''s...is that even possible?" Zeta asked in confusion, and scratched her mop of red hair.


    "It depends, who rules the Imperium and who rules the Eldar. I can bet a throne it will be Primarch Guilliman for the Imperium, though. He is rather famous and trusted." I answered with a giant smile.


    The girl nodded slowly, and measured me with new eyes. "You''re not as naive as the Fabricator said. He thinks you''re a hopeless idealist that will get eaten by Tyranids." Zeta whispered while looking around anxiously.


    I sighed inward and slumped in my chair. That Fabricator again!


    "Here, a dataslate with all my campaigns, from when I was 18 years old and became a ship captain, til now. Study and memorize it all. There will be tests!" I demanded and took out my personal log book.


    Perhaps I should make that my first gesture to all new encounters. Primarch Khan also studied my logs, and he seems to be doing well enough now. Only lost two battles in the south.


    For someone who doesn''t cheat, it''s pretty amazing, really.


    Then again, he has three Titan Legions in his Grand Khan army now, plus 20 Astartes Chapters. It would be hard to lose, once you get sufficient firepower on your side.


    I can''t even imagine so many troops.


    The other Primarchs are also gathering forces, mostly successor Chapters and unknown foundlings, plus whatever other troops and ships that gather to their banners, with Roboute way ahead by orders of magnitude.


    "Aren''t we heading for the Eastern Fringe?" the girl asked while checking the ship''s course.


    "We''re taking a shortcut through the Maw Warp Gate. Saves us 60 thousand light years of travel." I answered absently.


    "Isn''t it risky?" Zeta asked a bit cautious.


    "It''s a billion times safer than travelling through the Immaterium. Which we are not, with the new Warp-less drives." I said raising my eyes from my own datapad.


    "...Maybe one day, there will be Warp-gates at every Forge World. If only we could discover that STC. They must have been made by the ancestors, right?" the new princeps asked a bit too hopeful.


    "I''m certain a Magos Explorer is looking for it right now." I answered confidently.


    It won''t take much longer, if Gyron had already found the Speranza.


    ******


    By next month, I arrived at Forge Machine with the new princeps, and unveiled the Blackstone Fortress to the gathered techpriests.


    We had gathered millions of techpriests from dozens of Forge Worlds, and with their aid and the artifacts in my possession, namely theHand_of_Darkness</a>andEye of Night</a>, it should be quite possible to restore it to functionality.


    And then, there was a certain C''tan who wanted to see me, and a couple of Inquisitors.


    Now, LadyAshuria_Indris</a>was always welcome, but the new one, InquisitorKatarinya Greyfax</a>was unexpected.


    "Lord Trazyn, great work with cleaning up Warp Rifts and Storms all over the Segmentum. Almost like you''re preparing for something. Something involving Inquisitor Greyfax, perhaps?" I asked curious.


    "Ah, Lord Lancefire. It took me decades, but I did figure out your identity. And you even have a space wolf!" The Necron Overlord exclaimed in joy.


    "Well, I was busy hunting down various Chaos Champions and Princes. Perhaps you would like a memento? A famous blade named Manreaper?" I proposed and sent it over right away.


    It wasn''t of any use to me, but surely the Necron collector would like it.


    "It is a nice toy, Lord Lancefire. I have been reading about your life, it does seem rather extraordinary, perhaps more so after we started trading, correct?" Trazyn asked holding out a copy of my personal log book.


    I glanced at Zarhulash and he nodded slowly.


    So I stepped from the Pharos, right in front of the Necron, for a face to face meeting. Not quite equals, but I had a Blackstone Fortress too. And other presents.


    "I expected you to be taller." I said, blurting the first thing on my mind.


    "And still impossibly brave. Even in my own fortress." the Necron exclaimed in surprise, using his vox box to speak.


    "I have nothing to fear, Lord Trazyn. I expect you wanted me here for a reason?" I asked instead.


    "Indeed, I wanted that. Come, let''s visit my collection and trade for real this time. I feel you have so many nice things to offer." he proposed and gently gestured us to walk towards a green lit hallway.


    Even though I had quite a treasure of loot now, Trazin had me beat, as the guy had been collecting for millennia and from different timelines too.


    Sadly, unique items or people didn''t interest me that much, except for the Adeptus Custodes.


    I just stood in front of the frozen man, knowing the Emperor still saw me through the gold eyes. It wasn''t like distance or time were any obstacles for a being of that caliber. He possibly sent the Custodes here just to keep his eyes on what Trazyn was doing.


    "This weapon is calledDrach''nyen</a>. It is not really a weapon though, but something between a Greater Demon and an Empyrean One." I explained drawing out Abaddon''s sword, who changed shape into a lance in my hand.


    Not all that funny, you crazy demon, but I was named Lancefire here.


    "How are you not dead? The thing reeks of Warp and death!" Trazyn yelled and drew back.


    I twisted the weapon and drew a line on the green floor. Blackstone parted without effort, scratching a deep gouge on the floor and leaving a small tear in the stasis field.


    "Warp, you say? Is it good to eat?" I wondered a bit amused, and vanished the weapon back in the tesseract.


    Weapon test complete, and nobody saw it.


    Then I took off my glove, and held my left hand in front of the frozen Custodes, watching the golden veins start glowing.


    "What is that? I am positive you''re not a psyker!" Trazyn shouted and stepped back again.


    "My hand is special. But you see, there is nothing to fear, Lord Trazyn. Come, show me the orange monkeys now." I spoke in a gentle voice, holding my glowing left hand out towards him.


    I wasn''t sure if my eyes were glowing gold too, but the Necron was certainly impressed.


    "It''s true then. You have some kind of special blood. Uh, I had so many plans for you...gonna have to cancel them now." Trazyn muttered a bit dejected and poked a wall to reveal the Joakero rooms.


    Now this would be interesting. I wondered if they could speak, or be mind-controlled. I could use my personal Jokaero.

 Worm 155

    The Jokaero were sometimes used by the Ordo Xenos and the Deathwatch to upgrade their own equipment, often to degrees of lethality and miniaturization believed impossible.


    Trazyn had done the same, but gathering hundreds of Jokaero in his pens and having them mass-produce exotic devices with technology from a hundred xeno races, plus some human machines like that sleek Warlord Titan, which had possibly been a damaged Psi-Titan one day, and now looked like an anime dream. It was very possibly as transforming Titan as well, going by the thin rails for the head and weaponry.


    "That Titan looks familiar." I said pointing at the suspended walker where some thirty Jokaero were busy adding some kind of gravity wings.


    "It does, right? I was planning to have you as its pilot...but you''re not a real Pariah. No matter, I have found dozens of potential pilots anyway." Trazyn disclosed with a dissatisfied voice.


    Damn madman, you meant having me brain-wiped and slaved into the Titan''s command throne?


    "One day you will need to stop having designs on my person, Lord Trazyn. It would be a pity if your collection would just...explode." I quipped with a level voice, and then went over to the Null Wand workshop, where a couple of orange primates were painting flowers on the Warp-cancelling weapons.


    One of them examined me with curious eyes, which locked on my left glove in a second. Not giving you my Thanos glove, silly Jokaero!


    I had too much loot stored in those tesseracts, plus a C''tan shard. Way to risky.


    "Cilla found your tesseracts, eh? I did find a gigantic garden filled with flowers and butterflies in one of my tesseracts once. And all the Orks inside painted with flower tattoos as well." Trazyn admitted with a grumble.


    Pretty much what I expected. The Jokaero were whimsical, and drawn to construct things based on aesthetic more than efficiency. If a tank became ten times faster a result of the upgrade, it was incidental to the artist''s desire to make it prettier.


    "I don''t see the Halo Devices here." I answered instead, eager to get my hands on an uncorrupted one. I had one recovered from Footfall, but going by how distorted the original user was, I was better off keeping the things locked tight.


    "... I only have one left, Lord Lancefire. Currently undergoing calibration on Tyranids, like you have advised me. The other two were lost in...creative accidents." the Necron complained in a sad tone.


    "So you need a new one then? It might be expensive." I offered and took out the former xenos with the blob of wires and metal teeth devouring half of the poor creature already.


    Trazyn waved his staff, confining the experiment into a green forcefield and then had it vanish someplace.


    "Very valuable, indeed. You had been exploring the Expanse too, after all. Fought off Chaos Reavers, billions of Orks, Space Hulks and found yourself more ships and weapons, correct?" he asked in a knowing voice.


    "This one, it will cost you a Primarch, Lord Trazyn. Not yours, mine. I want Sanguinius revived, and back in command of the Blood Angels." I demanded in a stern voice, staring right into his green necrotic eyes.


    Trazyn tilted his head, considering my words. "The body would be easy enough to repair. But Primarchs are slightly different from other humans. Their souls..."


    "I know. I''ll deal with that part." I intervened curtly.


    "So, it is only a loaned artifact then. A test, to see if other dead people can be restored to life...you keep surprising me, Lord Lancefire. But I admit I am curious too." the Necron said in a strange voice, and we both appeared beside Fulgrim''s stasis cell.


    Not a tesseract transport, something different. Anyways, show no fear Pef!


    In a flash, I took out my athame dagger and sliced through the stasis field, disarming the frozen Fulgrim and grabbing his left arm.


    Then I turned and held out the bleeding hand as proof. "Here, Lord Trazyn. Primarch material for my Halo Device."


    "...What was that? I''m quite certain that stasis field is impenetrable..." The Necron grumbled as he grabbed the offered hand.


    I just shrugged and played it cool. "It''s a big galaxy out there. And some things are more impenetrable than others."


    "All right! Let''s return to my workshop and trade fairly. Not even Greyfax was this obstinate. Which is why I sent her to you, I heard you collect Inquisitors in your big harem." he admitted in a dejected voice, and we arrived in the familiar room where I almost always found Trazyn work on various schemes and devices.


    It took a whole day of using my best Rogue Trader skills to squeeze a deal out of Trazyn, always playing the indifference card.


    But I did have a big treasury of relics and rare xenos, including the Hand of Horus, the most powerful Power Claw in the galaxy. It was a historical artifact, and Trazyn had to have it, at any cost.


    In the end, I got five Jokaero and the lone Custodes, mainly because Trazyn wanted to get rid of him now. Possibly suspecting the same thing I did, after seeing me get recognition from the stasis-held man with golden eyes.


    Enslaver bone mindshackles, to be fused into the skull of the target and subject to empathic directions were great, as were a crate of more Null Wands to protect my precious people.


    Then a dozen more Titans including one more Emperor-class and three Warlords, fully upgraded to the best possible tech of the Machine Cult, and an ongoing deal for datamining the Mechanicus memory banks from Hive World Vigilus and producing more STC templates.


    As for the Halo Device, it would take a decade at least to be configured for Primarch use, and not mutate him into a gory abomination.


    "You have to visit me again, Lord Lancefire. You''re a bit scary but I sense no ill-intention from you, which is extremely rare for your kind." Trazyn declared as we shook hands to seal the deal.


    "Perhaps one day, my robotic friend. Now return me to Machine Forge, yesterday, a minute before I arrived here." I asked with a slim smile.


    "...That''s...damn it. So you knew about that. Makes sense now." Trazyn murmured as I found myself beside the new Inquisitor, while my older self was just asking Zarhulash for advice.


    The C''tan had seen me appear before I left, which meant I wasn''t in any danger.


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    "Lady Greyfax. You look absolutely ravishing, for an Inquisitor thought dead for centuries!" I proclaimed in a cheerful voice, and patting the woman''s power armor pauldron in a friendly gesture. Boob plates were awesome! She also had a hat, which brought me fond memories.


    She turned and almost shot me in surprise, before stopping herself and examining me with suspicion. "You must be this Pef Lancefire, who rules these stars. And you teleported beside me, with no Warp signature. Some kind of unholy xenos tech?" Lady Katarinya asked in a cold voice.


    "Careful there, my dear. You''re the one with Necron mindshackles in your skull. I managed to buy your freedom, but to free your mind we''ll need a complicated surgery." I explained with a careless tone, and offered her my elbow.


    It always works, even with Inquisitors.


    "... I shall need to see auspex scans of my brain first. Not that I don''t trust you, Lord Lancefire...but I don''t trust anyone." Katarinya muttered as she held on my arm, and we walked towards the Biologis ward elevator.


    Of course, we will do scans. The techpriests will need to know what to take out, after all.


    "The bionic eye...would you accept a Jokaero to look it over? Make it smaller and less intrusive, perhaps install some extra auspex functions and digital weapons into it?" I proposed as we neared the elevator.


    She tilted her head in a cute gesture, considering my offer. "What kind of extra functions?" she asked with a frown.


    "Genestealer detection, psyker power levels, Warp corruption, perhaps a few xeno signatures from Dark Eldar to Necron and even Tau. We have bulky sensors being built here already from STC fragments, but the Jokaero can make everything smaller." I explained as the elevator began descending at speed.


    The bio-labs were 100 kilometers underground, and we had to shift into a new elevator mid-way as we passed through the kilometer-thick blackstone geoplate separating the construction sections from the research ones.


    What? I like keeping things secure and separated, even though we weren''t doing virus research here. That I knew of.


    Velayne was keeping an eye out for renegade techpriests trying to abuse their freedoms here, but once in a while there would be attempts at radical heretek, like always. People were people, even in 40k.


    Maybe more so in 40k, due to the entire culture being so distorted.


    "An Omni-sense eye... It sounds useful, Lord Lancefire. Perhaps later, after I get used to all this novelty. I saw another Inquisitor around, and heard about more, visiting here quite often. Not quite what I expected from a Forge World." Lady Greyfax mused in a softer tone.


    "I do things differently, my lady. But, I also have absolute power here, legally and otherwise. We''re not in the Imperium, and thus I speak with the Emperor''s Voice. And I can enforce that, whenever I wish or have to." I whispered as if it was a big secret.


    The Ordo Hereticus Inquisitor turned to measure me again, mulling over my words.


    "And so it would seem, my lord. So, have you met any of the Primarchs yet?" she asked chaging the subject.


    "Primarch Khan, yes. We burned down Commorragh together. It was really fun." I answered as the bio-labs opened in front of us.


    The woman blinked and tried to see if I was joking. "Fun?"


    "Well, I did lose a corvette...so it wasn''t all just blasting away with Exterminatus and plasma batteries. But the Primarch gave me battlecruiser to replace my loss, so it the end it was worth it." I concluded as the Magi Biologis began setting up the operating table and suspended auspex scanners.


    "This way, Inquisitor Greyfax. We''ll need to remove all metal objects." Fabricator Gemmina asked in a gentle voice, and set up her aides to the task.


    "Aren''t you the Fabricator Dominus of this Forge?" Katarinya wondered as her power armor was swiftly dismantled.


    "And the best Archmagos Biologis in the Fringe, Lady Greyfax. Relax, and sit on the table. I''ve been dissecting humans for three millennia." the Fabricator explained in a rather unsetlling manner.


    "... This doesn''t feel me with more confidence, Fabricator. How many have you put back afterwards?" The Inquisitor asked while the Mechanicus sensors started flashing and peeling away her pretty red hair.


    Gemmina glanced at me and then stayed silent.


    "She''s joking, my dear. How do you think they are making Skitarii and other servitors? Doing it in reverse, it''s much easier." I said gently and took the woman''s hand for comfort.


    Soon enough, a holographic scan was projected above the medical table, with the Necron wires perfectly visible, even interfacing with the bionic eye.


    "Damn Necron, spying through my eye! Take it out!" the Inquisitor demanded in an angry voice.


    Gemmina took that as consent and sprayed her with a paralytic gas, then held a tentacle towards me. "Pass me a Null Wand, Lord Pef. She''s a psyker and we don''t want Warp interference, do we?"


    I took out a wand and handed it over. "Keep it, Lady Gemmina. I have found more."


    It was a rather sensible request after all, and I wanted Gemmina kept safe too.


    "Yes...I expect you have, like always. You want a full medical check-up, for her future children?" the Fabricator asked in a casual tone, and began peeling off the rest of the thermal sleeve from the sleeping Inquisitor.


    I was a bit hesitant, but after seeing that enticing body I gave in. "Sure. Plus vaccines and rejuvenant treatment. And install a Mind Impulse Unit, while the skull is open anyway."


    "Of course, my lord. We''ll take care of her." the Fabricator declared and pointed at the door.


    So, I took out the Nexus cube and simply moved myself next to Ashuria, a hundred kilometers away in another armored bunker.


    "Having fun?" I wondered as she observed some worm xenos getting dissected in the lab below.


    "Pef! You always find so many nice gifts for me. These Nagi</a> may hold the secret to a new Virus Bomb, but we''ll need more of them." the Inquisitor asked while hugging my side.


    "Sorry dear. Their homeplanet was struck with Exterminatus. Those twenty test-subject are all that''s left from their race." I explained patiently.


    There were probably a few more, maybe among the Tau, but in too small numbers to matter. What can I say, I didn''t like worms that much.

 Custodian 156

    I had a first project for the Joakero now, using the Condemnor Boltgun from Greyfax with a few other combi-weapons as a model, and a new bionic eye with examples of Mechanicus scanners.


    I also wanted hundreds of these bionic eyes but as pict-cameras, to be used for my Lamenters and Silent Sisters helmets and even for the Knights and Titans. So I provided a crate of basic bionic eyes and helmet lenses, and just let the orange primates have fun.


    This xeno lab was set up on an asteroid fort, with walls of blackstone and adamantium, although they won''t really hold the Jokaero if they wanted to escape. For that you only needed to provide fruits and sweets, and they''ll work happily as long as nobody abused them.


    "What is that monkey doing?" Ashuria asked outraged, while I observed the holoscreen with a curious eye.


    "Drawing eyelashes on the bionic eye." I said with an amused smirk.


    "Damn monkeys! Katarinya won''t like a painted eye." the Inquisitor muttered and leaned back in my arms, while I massaged her boobs for profit and pleasure.


    "For them everything is art, my dear. Things might get smaller and more efficient, but it''s a mere side-effect of their purpose, which is to be artwork, not weapons." I explained gently while enjoying her malleable body and floral scent.


    Her personal Biologis techpriest was a good perfume maker too, as strange as it may sound. And if my Rogue Trader senses tingled at the opportunity to sell priceless perfume to noble ladies, well...it was true.


    There were a billion nobles in the galaxy, and I had an exclusive product for most of them. Trillions of thrones in that market and millions of desperate noble women eager to buy a single drop of exquisite Angel Scent no 5.


    "I''ll need you to obtain a hundred perfume formulas from your Magos. Something my House can trade with nobles, and gain easy entry...perhaps set up stores on certain Hive Worlds, keep track of cultists and genestealers with hidden auspex sensors..." I proposed as Ashuria began panting harder at my deft massage.


    "Yes, whatever! Now make love to me already." she demanded in a needy voice.


    It will be my pleasure, sweet lady.


    And after I was done with fragrant Ashuria, it was the turn of Lady Dae and her thirty needy princeps friends.


    Perhaps next week, bed the new Inquisitor after she recovered from surgery? We shall see.


    I quite enjoy this part of my duty, bedding pretty women from all over the galaxy, sometimes making them pretty and young first, if they had valuable experience to bring in exchange.


    Just like Silentia Knight, the old Knight pilot I have recovered from Icnarus. Nearly five centuries old, but she now looked about 40 and her scars had vanished, leaving only a small tattoo instead. Rejuvenate treatment, healthy food and body training, plus a sword bout with a couple of Orks, and my new House Knight made a formidable teacher for Knight and Titan pilots alike. Even for the Lamenters and Silent Sisters piloting Leviathan Dreadknights.


    I also kept watch for other Freeblade pilots, locating the Obsidian_Knight</a> and his hidden base in the Fringe. Not hidden from the Pharos, even on that remote barren world. The old guy had a small school, with five students being trained to become his heirs. Or perhaps a single one, after a battle royale. He only had the one Knight suit, after all, and a small gun-cutter to transport it. I could take them all, if they swore themselves to my House.


    I didn''t manage to finish all this, because a new crisis arrived.


    The Salamander''s homeworld of Nocturne would be attacked soon, and forces would rally in Defense_of_Nocturne</a>.


    Time to make myself helpful, once again. I promised myself not to cheat much, so I didn''t bring any carriers. Three Battle Barges, three Battle Cruisers and 30 Cruisers, leaving the battleships behind to finish upgrades and defend my lands.


    Sweet Ashuria wasn''t interested in fighting Chaos marines, preferring to study more xenos and their tech, but Lady Greyfax was, very much.


    If Katarinya objected to the new upgrades to her armor and weapons, as well as her body, she didn''t say.


    But I know she loved the new relic power sword with a Null Wand in the handle.


    "I should thank you for this gift, Lord Lancefire. You might be a special type of Astartes, but you try your best even handicapped as you are." the woman said over our meal, and patted her sword.


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    I blinked in confusion. "Handicapped, my dear?"


    "You don''t have Astartes organs, so you need to use Mechanicus implants. As for your Blank genes...they are useful, I suppose." the Inquisitor explained in a casual tone.


    I smiled genially and extended my hand over to hold her hand. "It is because of my genes that I refused the organs, Lady Katarinya. I have duties both as a Rogue Trader and as a Noble Knight, which means I need to provide heirs and pilots, plus Blank sons for the Lamenter Chapter, and others."


    "If you weren''t so pretty. I don''t trust pretty men." she murmured while squeezing my hand softly.


    I sighed and moved her over in my lap, while mentally asking Canis and Rafen to leave the room.


    "I wasn''t like this, before I got angelic genes. This face, is Sanguinius showing off. Here, how I looked before that." I explained projecting a few pict-screens of my childhood and teenage years, stopping right after Estaban.


    "...You had a silly look, especially as a child. So serious." she exclaimed while examining my life story.


    "Well...I was raised by a techpriest, father was a Rogue Trader, busy conquering the Lancefire lands from feral humans and Orks. My mother...Justine was a Blank assassin for the Inquisition. She died, while killing Fulgrim on Estaban III. Then I killed Lorgar and began building my own forces, and didn''t stop since then. And here I am, rescuing beautiful damsels and liberating the Salamanders." I narrated in a half-melancholic voice.


    "Beautiful damsel, huh? I suppose I could give you a chance, Lord Pef. A few years, while I build up new connections in this strange new galaxy." Katarinya whispered and leaned into me.


    I kissed her cheek and held her in embrace, giving both of us time to adjust.


    "When we have children...I will keep most of them. Pilots and Captains and Space Marines. But you''ll have a Blank daughter soon enough, to raise and train. My daughter Janice is on Terra right now, in the Golden Throne room. I''m not sure what title she''ll get, but at least an Inquisitor, and a Blank one." I whispered as my hands began fondling her heavy breasts, and she squirmed in delicious embarrassment.


    "I never said anything about kids! But really, the Golden Throne?" she asked a bit confused.


    I took my left hand away and pointed at the corner, making an Adeptus Custodes appear. A real one too.


    "By the Emperor! Is that?" she exclaimed and jumped from my lap.


    "Yes, Inquisitor. I was held by the same Necron that captured you. Lord Lancefire managed to liberate me." the Custodes spoke in a cursive High Gothic, like he rarely spoke anything else.


    "Your name?" Inquisitor Greyfax demanded sternly.


    "I am Custodian Warden Tauramacchis_Ossian</a>. And from now on, I will watch over you Inquisitor Greyfax, as the Emperor commands." the man clad in golden Auramite</a> declared solemnly.


    This meant she was important in some way to the Imperium, but I knew that already.


    "And when he says watch, he means just looking, not helping at all. It''s what they do, these golden Brothers of mine. So don''t count on his aid, like all the others who died at his feet." I commented wryly, and sipped more wine.


    His eyes glowed golden for a second, as if consulting his boss. Probably so.


    "Some aid might be allowed, against demonic forces." the Custodian muttered with a rumbling voice.


    I shrugged, as I didn''t expect much from the guy anyway. "Join us for a meal, Brother. It''s not the usual nutrigruel, but I''m sure you can digest steak and vegetables just fine, maybe even white bread."


    Ossian smiled grimly and began wolfing down enough food to feed ten normal citizens.


    So I turned towards the amazed Inquisitor, and raised an eyebrow. "You were saying, my dear? Something about the Golden Throne?"


    "...Nevermind. I need a drink. In fact, I''ll take a bottle." Katarinya grumbled and gulped the wine to wash away her sorrow.


    "I''ll be in my room, enjoying the company of a Silent Sister." I announced proudly and walked out, patting Canis on his head as he received me at the door curious.


    An hour later, a slightly drunk Inquisitor burst into my room and climbed all over me, ignoring the three other women in my bed.


    "I would like that Blank daughter now!" she demanded with a stern voice.

 Salamander 157

    The forces I had brought with me were seemingly small, if you consider classic organization in the Imperium.


    Merely 5 Auxilia regiments, only one of them armored, plus 4 Astartes Companies and our pilot techmarines.


    But when the drop-pods began falling in the defense of my Salamanders Brothers, then kept coming and coming, and then still kept coming.


    I had 20 Drop-cruisers now, each able to launch 80 thousand small drop-pods containing mostly Tarantula turrets, but also light vehicles like Armed Sentinels and Guardian walkers.


    They also carried attack drones, fighter squadrons, and a bomber squadron, plus the normal capital ships weapons, mostly lance and plasma batteries.


    The Heavy Cruisers and the Battlecruisers provided the main long range fire, with both torpedoes and lances, while the Battle barges brought the slow rear with ground invasion forces, plus thousands of techpriests and millions of servitors for battlefield repairs or rapid conscription.


    Gone were the days when my ships'' lower decks were filled with malnourished indentured serfs, prone to revolts and chaos infiltration. Servitors could do the same jobs without complaints, and were very unlikely to revolt.


    In an anvil and hammer tactic, our faster cruisers struck from the flank while the battle barges took the brunt of the invasion fleet head on, while fighters and bombers struck at the more vulnerable escorts with missiles and bombs.


    It seemed these Chaos traitors lacked numbers and filled their ranks with xenos, mostly corrupted Kharateg</a> hunter-packs from the Maelstrom zone.


    Well then, ugly bastards, you made my shit list now and your small stellar kingdom will soon suffer nine deep-strike with nicely inscribed torpedoes in High Gothic.


    Yes, I admit I cheated a little at the end, when the last 5 ships of the traitors were about to escape in the Warp. Couldn''t chase after them, especially with warpless engines, could I?


    So, those ships didn''t enter Warp, but instead vanished into system''s sun, fueling the star with more atoms.


    Chapter Master</a> Tu''Shan</a> welcomed me with some suspicion, despite an Ordo Hereticus Inquisitor at my right side, a giant space wolf to my left, and a bodyguard of Blood Angels, Silent Sisters and even a lone White Scar Captain named Khan.


    "Hello Brother. You seem displeased at our timely rescue?" I asked in a teasing voice.


    "...There are a million drop-pods on my world, Master Lancefire, plus Knights and tanks and a legion of combat walkers. Makes me feel a bit anxious." the black-skinned man muttered while his red eyes measured Canis with some surprise.


    I shrugged and didn''t comment on that. It was true. "We''re inducting only Blanks now, so we have to compensate for low numbers of Battle Brothers with other types of troops. You have to admit the turrets are effective, right?"


    "...Only Blanks? And those Silent Sisters provide fresh recruits, I suspect?" the Master of the Salamanders wondered with a curious glance towards the Pariah women.


    I avoided the delicate subject, at least for now.


    "It is an effective solution for the constant traitor problem that plagues all Astartes Chapters. I''m also providing some Blank recruits to the Blood Angels and the Blood Ravens, as Blanks are immune to certain mutations." I explained patiently as I examined the big holomap of the star system.


    It seemed the Salamanders were constructing a warpless transceiver relay, as well as outfitting a battlebarge with warpless engines. I didn''t ask where they got the STC templates from, but Forge Angstrom was quite close as was Accatran.


    The man nodded slowly and gestured for another Space Marine to come closer. "This is Captain Jorn_Tanna</a>, from the Black Dragons." he introduced his ally.


    "Captain Tanna. I sense you have a problem?" I asked in a soft tone.


    The black-skinned man nodded politely and shook my hand, then and pointed at a side door. "If you have some spare time, Master Lancefire?"


    Sure enough, the Black Dragons had a small mutation problem and were willing to test a Company of Blank Dragons.


    "Helping your parent Chapter here, Captain?" I asked instead.


    "...my ships were in this area, and we simply did our duty, Lord Lancefire." he answered in a gruff tone. Fine, don''t admit it then.


    "Yours is a fleet based Chapter, correct?" I asked to make sure.


    "Just as your Lamenters." Captain Tanna answered curtly.


    "What I propose is this, Captain. Meet your boss, and have your Chapter travel to Machine Forge in the Fringe. Try to bring something to trade, derelict cruisers or large hulls that can hold warpless engines. We''ll outfit your ships with the best technology of the Mechanicus, including blackstone armor. Then, we''ll conduct a series of tests to find a suitable bloodline that accepts your gene-seed." I offered with a large smile.


    "So it''s a compatibility problem. Bloodlines?" the Black Dragon mused in deep thought.


    "Yes, not every Blank is an accepted recruit. Some get poisoned during implantation. Mostly wild Blanks, dragged from slums and lower decks. My own children are much more resilient, but there''s a hard limit of how many kids a Blank can have. Also, I do have a hundred Blank daughters training to become ship Captains. In time, they will also give birth to more Blanks." I said with a thin smile.


    The story has been taken without consent; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident.


    "I see. That''s why you remain a Neophyte, to produce more recruits. Makes your weaker personally, but straightens your Chapter over time. A harsh sacrifice to make." the Captain said in a pitiful tone.


    I think he misunderstood the situation, but sure. Call me a saint for my sacrifice if it helps.


    "I prefer to fight with my mind. I got Lorgar and Abaddon after all, plus I burned down Commorragh. Ah, let me introduce you to my new companion!" I announced in a cheerful voice, and moved Custodian Ossian next to me.


    "... Stop doing that, Lord Lancefire! I get dizzy!" the morose Adeptus Custodes protested in my mind and punched my shoulder, hard enough I felt it through my artificer power armor.


    "An Adeptus Custodes? And a Warden at that." the Captain observed in surprise and saluted his superior in golden power armor.


    "None of that, Brother. Inquisitor Greyfax and me will need to travel a bit, so we''ll borrow your Strike Cruiser til we reach Forge Ryza. If you agree, of course." the Custodian asked politely, but it was an order anyway.


    "It will be my honour, Warden. Travelling to Ryza is acceptable, as long as you keep the Lady Inquisitor off my back." The Captain muttered not too pleased.


    Introduction made, I moved the Custodian again, letting the Black Dragon think the Custodian had magic powers or something.


    "I can walk just fine!" Ossian shouted in my mind.


    "Yes, but it is more fun this way, golden Brother. Plus it enhances your stature to move anywhere at will." I explained patiently.


    "One day I will punch that angelic face of yours!" he promised in retribution.


    Again with punching my face. Nobody knew to have fun in this damned horror galaxy!


    "I can see you''ll be glad to escape from the Inquisitor and Custodian. He even left a dent on your pauldron." Captain Tanna pointed out with a wry voice.


    "He is a good guy, but eats too much. Luckily, I have a space wolf and the meat pellets were enough to feed them both." I answered with shrug.


    Ossian did eat the pellets too, damn his over-energetic stomach. At least he didn''t eat them from the same bowl.


    "Perhaps it is he who is glad to leave your company. Anyway, that Steel Rain strategy of yours...perhaps other Chapters can try it, once they have Drop-cruisers." he proposed in a curious tone.


    "I would prefer my children drop among a million of friendly turrets, especially amidst an Ork Waagh or some Tyranid swarm. Swords and pistols are rather feeble force multipliers. So if you want Blank Astartes of my bloodline, you will not spend them like bolter rounds." I retorted in a colder voice.


    Then I turned and left, leaving the Captain to sort things out in his mind.


    Soon after, I sat down with Master Tu''Shan to negotiate some technology and machinery transfer.


    "This dataslate...no wonder your Chapter has so many tanks and turrets. You make them yourselves?" the man asked curious.


    "Why would I do that? I have two Forge Worlds in the Eastern Fringe, producing armor and vehicles for my Chapter, my Auxilia regiments and my Trader Dynasty. Plus, I trade with thirty Forge Worlds for more regiments and ships. Burn a Necron World, locate blackstone deposits, trade it to a Forge. Chase after pirates, board their ships and return them to service after upgrades. I even found a Glorianna Battleship left derelict somewhere." I explained with a smug tone.


    "A Glorianna? What name?" he asked a bit wary.


    "It was called Light of Terra, a dozen millennia ago. Needs a new name, maybe Singularity. Yeah, it isn''t like anybody makes them anymore." I mused in a thoughtful voice.


    "You do have too much luck, Lord Lancefire! Our own Glorianna, the Flamewrought</a> has disappeared somewhere." The Salamanders'' Master muttered in dismay.


    "Well, I can offer you 10 Los Angeles destroyers and 40 Retribution-pattern Land Raiders, plus 3 Blank Captains for your battle barges. But in exchange, I want you to offer protection to several Hive Worlds nearby. Set up orbitals forts, clean the underhives of gangs and genstealers, and recruit a hundred Auxilia regiments. When the Tyranids arrive, a thousand Astartes will not be nearly enough. We''ll need trillions of soldiers, and millions of warships. We are the defenders of humanity, not of magma worlds." I demanded in a stern voice.


    "So that''s your big plan? Throw untrained guardsmen at space bugs until they drown in blood?" Tu''Shan exclaimed in outrage.


    "Guardsmen, PDF, turrets and Sentinels and every weapon we have. Or everyone will die, Master Tu''Shan. I do have plenty of destroyers now, and I''ll start spreading them to frontier Chapters as soon as they get modified to the stronger patterns. But they are only useful for defense. To attack, we need cruisers with Nova Cannons, and warpless engines. Carriers too, if you can capture say Ork Kroozers or Terror Ships and have them refitted to carry corvettes and starfighters." I concluded and sat up from the plastel dais.


    "...Looting the Orks. Where has the Imperium fell?" he grumbled in displeasure.


    I completely agreed, but reality was like that. Harsh and unpleasant. I will do my part, and help other do theirs, even if they didn''t like it.


    We''re still going to get eaten by Tyranids, most likely.

 Force 158

    Anyways, because I mentioned the Orks, I had another target in mind, the Industrial World known as Bork</a>, to the north of my kingdom in the Fringe.


    Massive numbers Orks were gathering there and preparing another huge Waagh, and the locals weren''t quite able to resist.


    So, as soon as the troops and drop-pods were recovered, I departed towards Forge Antax to drop off the new recruits for the Blood Angels, 200 young Blank men still dutifully pumping babies into our Catachan Auxilia, in between training and more lessons. Mixing business and pleasure, but pregnant women were generously given three year leave from military service, and thus it was quite acceptable for them too. Raising a kid was rather less stressful than battling Chaos worshipers after all.


    If the Catachan female soldiers were lucky, they''ll escape another round of service with the next batch of Blank recruits, and so on. Reach 10 kids, they could retire on a colony world or receive a military promotion for exemplary service.


    However, the great success were the new generations of Catachans in the colonies, a healthy stock of hardy people that received five classes of schooling for free and five more for a minimal tax that actually covered the salaries for scribes and acolytes.


    Couldn''t do too much at once, but these educated citizens would form the foundation of my real power in the Fringe, in a slight copycat system of the Tau Fire Caste. They would all be soldier-citizens with sufficient technical expertise to operate machines and weapons, while the brightest of them would be promoted higher in administration or as techpriests.


    The clans formed around my daughters and their Blank children held the reins of power on those worlds, supported by local regiments and the techpriest class.


    As for the Ecclesiarchy, sadly I couldn''t be rid of them, only bend them towards a more female oriented priesthood, with the Adepta Sororitas performing any important role.


    It worked somewhat, although pounding on the altar with a bolter gun and singing hymns of praise to the Emperor to the congregation was not really my intent. I still had them monitored and under surveillance, just like I did everyone else.


    Fanatics were always dangerous, and they could always be turned against you.


    Anyways, soon enough I was offered tea and cake by the Fabricator of Antax, who seemed rather happy to see me.


    "Lord Lancefire, so rare to see you, lately. I can only gather rumours and astropathic transcripts of your exploits from my sources." he began and patted my head in a familiar gesture.


    "I sure hope so. Been fighting my way from one end of the galaxy to the other. Got the bastard Abaddon too." I replied in a gentle voice.


    "Yes, I heard about Pythos. Shame it had to be burned." the Archmagos muttered politely and spread some incense for the lost souls.


    "There was a big demon Warp rift under the Hive City. I suspect the Grey Knights did not want to take any chance." I explained in a sad tone, and drank more tea.


    "See? It''s information like this that makes you so valuable, Lord Pef! Plus all those STC templates." the Fabricator said with a cant praising the Omnissiah.


    I sighed and slumped in my chair. "How is Faithful?" I asked instead.


    "...Anathema-class mnemonic erasure. He still lives, but that''s it. I take it you had a part in his adventure?" the techpriest asked sternly.


    "He chose that by himself, Fabricator. And you don''t want to know why. What about Magos Gyron?" I wondered curious.


    "Yes. Gyron, your mentor. He is inside with my best cogi-experts, slowly awakening the Holy Machine, one datastack after another. The delegation from Mars is pushing for a faster resolution though. It will destroy Palomar for sure, when the ancient Spirit awakens." he explained in a Manifold transmission.


    "Claim an imminent invasion and evacuate them. And use the damn Blank interfaces and Gellar fields, plus construct warpless engines. The Speranza must never enter the Warp." I advised him while scrolling his trading list.


    Antax has grown greatly since I last been here, both in fleet power and manufacturing capacity. Billions of the new infantry Hellguns were already in stock, plus a million new light vehicles. Everything from cheap Weasels and Rapiers, to Chimeras and Hydras and Manticores, plus Basilisks and Armed Sentinels. Not that many heavy tanks, but instead they made attack drones and cheap Interceptors, millions of Tarantula turrets and even Guardian walkers.


    Pretty much copying the production list of Forge Retribution, and magnified by 100.


    Stolen from its rightful author, this tale is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.


    "So what happens on the World Engine? I''ve seen Forges that don''t even have blackstone plates for Astartes armor." I asked while doting my requisition list.


    I could raise a thousand new regiments easily, if I had the manpower. But the Fabricator had surely thought of that too.


    "Mars again, Lord Lancefire. They want everything cataloged and researched carefully. My Forge was first on the scene, and we got away with a gigatonne of samples, although the xenos technology of the Necrons is highly puzzling and accidents are frequent. Perhaps you can aid us in this matter?" the Fabricator asked cautiously.


    I nodded and took out a datastack, then connected it to my implant, downloading a list with a hundred known Necron devices and their basic functions, plus marking a dozen as extremely dangerous, my eyes only.


    If they found transdimensional devices, I didn''t want them playing at science with them.


    "My Ordo Xenos friends also research many xeno samples. I gave you what is known, and what is proven dangerous. If you find anything on the red list, I can trade them further for archeotech and Dark Age devices. Or you can blow up the sun by accident and spare me the trouble." I claimed in a soft voice.


    The techpriest read the datastack and crushed it a minute later. "Dangerous knowledge indeed, Lord Pef. We have a silver runic cube like you pointed out. It gives out strange dimensional signatures, and we thought it to be a teleportarium node. But obviously is not, or much more. And I heard you also have one, and can even use it?"


    I sighed and nodded. "It is a tactical weapon, able of planetary scale effects. Including teleportation. Inquisitor Ramaeus has another, so never cross her. Consider it an Alpha-level psyker, without knowledge of using the powers, pressing cogitator keys at random."


    "Tactical...so it''s a mere low level device. And an Alpha psyker without control, always turns into a Warp portal and then a Demon World." The Fabricator mused in a slow daze.


    "Fabricator, the Old Ones fought the Necrons and they lost, despite creating races like the Orks, the Jokaero and the Eldar to fight for them. The C''tan betrayed the Necrons after the war, and then they were vanquished as well. We''re lucky they are waking up disorganized and with memories scrambled by millions of years of stasis damage. For if they were sane...we''d have to flee the galaxy, even through the swarm of Tyranids that comes our way." I whispered in a warning tone.


    "Makes sense, a race of Abominable Intelligences just like our ancestors fought in the past. Your notes will help us make more sense of their technology. The Orks are bad enough, hearing what''s going on at Armageddon." he answered in a small voice, seeming tired and defeated.


    "Yes...the Orks. Heavy nerve gas will help for now. Send a Manufactorum ship with me to Bhorc Prime, and start a new Forge there. Light weapons and vehicles and nerve gas, for now. We''ll raise a thousand PDF regiments and crush the Orks, clean up the place and make it profitable. I bet we''ll find plenty of hulls in orbit, maybe even Space Hulks." I advised the Magos with a wry smile.


    "Sure. There are some Rogue Traders in that area, maybe a new domain can be formed, and we''ll get another link in the chain. So what STC templates have you found lately, Lord Pef?" he asked with a level voice.


    I just took out my newest work, including the Vigilus force-fields and the Ragnarok tanks, plus a few Tau based patterns.


    "Very nice discoveries, Lord Pef. The Bastion fields seem familiar, and the Ragnaroks are easy enough to produce, depending on the main weapon. However, these plasma fusil patterns are much more advanced and will take decades to establish the proper rites of awakening. Maybe Ryza or Metalica can make them right now." the man replied in an interested tone, then glanced at me for confirmation.


    "Good. I''m certain similar patterns will appear on various derelicts all over the galaxy soon. If the Forges still do not share, there are other forces that can do it for them, breaking up Space Hulks to release the knowledge locked inside. I''m not sure they''ll be the same, but most parameters will be there. Probably better than the fragments I recovered so far." I announced in a knowing tone, then offered my hand for a handshake.


    The Fabricator grabbed me a bit wary. "I knew it was you! Somehow, you are doing Omnissiah''s work, even against all odds."


    "It''s not just me, my friend. Anyway, we need to accelerate the exodus to the Fringe. At least a hundred billion in twenty years, and a trillion in a century. Mostly young women, if possible." I demanded while turning way to leave.


    The Fabricator stared after me in silence, cyborgs arms clenching his tentacles as if afraid.


    I did show my hand though, and it must have unsettled him.

 Diplomacy 159

    I have been struggling to keep cheating at a minimum, mainly to allow my crew and troops to experience real combat. I wouldn''t always be there to babysit them, and experience was as important as better weapons.


    The Orks made easy opponents anyway, when you had correct tactical information and orbital superiority. Take that away, like on Armageddon, where the giant Space Hulk in low orbit was denying the Imperium orbital support, while the thick air pollution and metal dust forced the troops to engage Orks in melee, even their Meks and Gargants, and it quickly became a clusterfuck.


    I was in two minds about interfering there, because the entire galaxy was watching, and showing my hand too soon will not result in praise but sanctions and accusations.


    On the other hand, it would be a giant battlefield filled with amazing loot and profit opportunity...no!


    Bad Pef! We don''t want our children burned alive. Stick to the plan, and avoid the Solar Segmentum until Guilliam clears the way.


    Anyways, by setting up a Forge here at Bhorc Prime, the place will become rich and attractive in a short time, while the local criminals and gangs provided human resources for servitors and forced labour.


    Antax will need to import a few billion immigrants to develop the place properly, but a wealth of metal from the Space Hulk fragments we ''found'' in the system will keep the Forges and the dockyards busy for a millennium without much other imports.


    And as usual, we picked a moon to set up the chemical and radioactive industry, while the planet itself would still be able to produce food for itself, without getting overwhelmed by pollution and toxic chemicals.


    From Bhorc we ranged a small expedition to expand the domain to 50 planets nearby, and reach Jonol</a>, a feral world that housed the Honoured Sons Chapter.


    It was a pathetic place, truly. Luckily for them, I was in a good mood, so I offered them 10 torpedo destroyers and a light cruiser with drop-pods, plus another Company of Blank recruits and Captains for their ships.


    Their Chapter Master Seneca was rather suspicious, especially when I handed him another power sword with a Null Wand inside.


    "This relic blocks the Warp, Brother. It gives me no pleasure to hunt down corrupted Space Marines, like the late Chapter Master of the Blood Ravens and Huron of the Astral Claws. We were meant to defeat any foes, including demons." I explained patiently while Canis grinned at the Honoured Son with teeth the size of combat knives. Perhaps the wolf found the traitor bones crunchy?


    "And in exchange? I know this isn''t free!" the man exclaimed with a wary glance at my wolf.


    I mentally urged Canis to walk away, as his teeth were not helping right now.


    "There are worlds nearby that need your protection, Master Seneca. Places like Exotia</a> and Formund</a>, where an array of orbital forts and a patrol fleet will defend humanity, especially if you raise a hundred Auxilia regiments and clean up cults and corruption. And train a thousand techmarines to pilot your tanks and gunships, for Emperor''s sake!" I demanded in a low growl, mirrored by my wolf.


    "...I''ll have to speak with my Captains and Librarians, Lord Lancefire. But sending a thousand neophytes to Mars for training, is too much!" he claimed in an outraged voice.


    "Who said anything about Mars? Forge Megyre and Triplex Phall are much closer. Have your barges and cruisers fitted with warpless engines and Nova Cannons, requisition a thousand Sentinels for each regiment, and even infantry Auxilia can defend against small invasions. The Imperium hamstrings the Imperial Guard with their minimal use of vehicles, but we''re not so limited, are we Brother?" I asked rhetorically and offered my hand.


    He was hesitant in taking my hand, knowing already it wouldn''t be all that easy.


    "You act like a Primarch, damn you! You even have Sanguinius''s face." he murmured in a not too pleased tone.


    "I do? I don''t recall giving out orders and writing a Codex." I answered cheerfully and turned away, walking towards the landing bay.


    "And yet, it is exactly what you did, strange Lamenter." Master Seneca murmured at my back, although I pretended not to hear him.


    He was right, of course. I was setting up objectives and achievement targets, while inserting my own Blank sons into his command structure. Helping too, with ships and advice, just like any good Primarch would.


    I just didn''t expect the man to be so perceptive. Then again, Astartes did have better minds than most people, and a Chapter Master was not picked for his painting skills.


    From here, my fleet to Coralax</a>, the homeworld of the Knights of the Raven</a>, where pretty much the same deal took place. I tasked them to watch over Newseam and the growing stellar domain of my daughter Andrea, now an independent Rogue Trader with her own Warrant.


    The narrative has been taken without permission. Report any sightings.


    However, the Chapter Master was a psyker, and unwilling to be separated from his ''gift'', so I gave the power sword to his second-in-command, and tasked him with keeping constant watch over his boss, in case he fell too. I almost got stabbed for that, until I reminded him of Gabriel Angelos and his fight with his own Chapter Master.


    Captain Gurion just glared at me and took the sword with disgust. "This not a honorable task, Lord Lancefire."


    "The Great Enemy is not honorable, Brother. Psykers are always exposed to the Warp, and the voices they hear are rarely good. My own Primarch died at his corrupted brother''s hand, and millions of traitor marines plague the galaxy. As for the sword,you were not lucky enough to be born a Blank, but with this sword you can still do your duty, even when faced with a Daemon Prince. Just like Captain Semnai from my Second Company did. He helped kill Corruptis, and even lived to have a laugh about it." I answered with a wry voice, and offered my hand.


    "Naming the sword ''Duty'' was too much. Now I can never put it down!" the man complained as he examined the power sword with competent eyes.


    I just smiled and patted his armored shoulder. "It is very light though. You won''t even feel its weight." I explained in fake naivety, then walked away and scratched Canis as a reward for keeping me safe.


    "...Why does it feel so heavy though?" the Astartes Captain murmured softly, while testing a few sword moves at lightning-fast speed.


    A week later, we arrived at Sternac</a> to trade with the Iron Lords Space Marines, gifting them maimed soldiers as new recruits, and more torpedo destroyers and another light cruiser with drop-pods.


    Plus the now familiar Null Sword, Blank Captains from my many daughters who wanted a capital ship, and a hangar filled with blackstone to protect their armor and vehicles from Warp and weapon damage.


    Unlike other Chapters though, these guys were really grateful for my help, especially knowing of my deeds on Estaban personally, many of them having been there along with their Iron Hands founding Chapter, and knew of my mother''s sacrifice to kill Fulgrim.


    And since Fulgrim killed their Primarch, Ferrus Manus...well, it was a big debt for them.


    So I offered them a standing invite to Forge Machine for repairs and supplies and free training for a thousand techmarines, and their Ruling Council immediately agreed. It was a bit strange to deal with a rather democratic leadership, but such was their way, and it worked for them. It also helped that all of their Iron Captains had Mind Impulse Units, creating another bond between us.


    As for their task, I charged them with protecting Hive World Agrellan</a> and the nearby planets exposed to the Tau Empire''s expansion, where their technical expertise would be needed to combat the advanced technology of the Tau.


    In fact, they promised to adopt my operational procedure entirely, as long they could receive walkers and drop-pods and every other type of equipment.


    "Brothers, Forge Machine is not an unlimited supply depot. You will have to send diplomatic ships to other Forges, like Estaban and Tigrus, and requisition material for this task, plus more ships. Or have them provide Manufactorum ships to set up a new Forge in the Agrellan system, and produce everything locally, while you raise and train Auxilia regiments. A Hive World can support a thousand regiments without worry, especially after you clean up the underhives and increase production." I told their Council in a sterner voice.


    "...You''re right, Lord Lancefire. If we want a miracle, we have to work for it. But with a thousand Auxilia regiments...we should be able to retake the lost human worlds from those Farsight_Enclaves</a>. It will take a decade or two, but we will do it!" their Lord Captain promised ceremoniously.


    "Hear, hear! For the blood of Ferrus Manus." the other Iron Captains chanted in an eerie chorus.


    "The Tau use missiles and railguns in large numbers, so you''ll need Flare Shields for armor, and lots of aircraft to engage their rapid grav-tanks and mobile suits. And never engage if you lack orbital superiority. Consider the Tau are all techpriests, and you''ll have a better estimation of their real strength." I explained in a gentle voice.


    Their enthusiasm halted at once, and they became more sober. "We''ll need more techmarines then. But there have to be millions of maimed guardsmen everywhere. And many of them enroll at even at 14 or 15 years old."


    Sadly it was true. With life span on feral and feudal worlds rarely passing 40 years of age, and even Hive World rarely reaching 50, people started duty at a younger age, not that they had school to occupy their days anyway.


    Work, pray, sleep, often 10 people in a 20-meter room. Child labour was so common it was nearly the norm, while injuries and disease were almost never treated among the masses, crime was rampant and corruption ubiquitous.


    The Imperium of 40k was a hellhole, and humanity has lost its meaning. There was little humane left in humans, and nothing humane in our enemies. For in the grim dark future, there was only war.

 Negotiators 160

    By the time I returned at Machine Forge, after a short diplomatic voyage to show the flag and uphold several Astartes Chapters with infusions of ships, manpower and advice, two years have passed and more progress had been made.


    Children were born, ships repaired, even the Blackstone Fortress had been cleaned up of Chaos vestiges and sanctified by the Cult Mechanicus with their own magi-tech rituals.


    I would have to start my fucking job again, not that I didn''t enjoy most of this duty.


    Only Lady Velayne was around this time, still keeping a watchful eye on the new Forge and preventing more outrageous Mechanicus experiments from going too far.


    The techpriests sent to the Fringe weren''t the most loyal and stable after all, and their various inner cults had quite dubious agenda sometimes.


    There were also three new ships in the system, one being a derelict Great Cruiser missing half its prow, very likely the gift from Trazyn the Infinite, one was an Ark Mechanicus with marking of Mars, and one was a Dark Angels strike cruiser, containing only two Astartes and the serf crew.


    Well, I had avoided the big wigs on Mars for far too long. They probably wanted a share of the loot too. Probably all of it, if they had their way.


    "What does Mars want from us?" I asked Gemmina directly in her mind.


    "Pef? They want to inspect all our facilities, make sure there is no heretek work done here. And...they want to inspect your Chapter''s gene-seed and the Blank Astartes. I also suspect they want clones." she whispered back, all while escorting the Mars delegation through-out the labs.


    Yeah, we''re not going to do that.


    Anyway, that could wait. I will first meet the Dark Angels and see what the Lion Primarch wanted from me.


    "Names?" I asked as they entered my hangar bay.


    "I am Brother Apharan</a> and this is Lexicanum Merlith</a>. Have you heard of the Battle_of_the_Caliban_System</a> ?" he replied in a monotonous voice, with the Lexicanum Astartes recording every word beside him.


    "I was busy." I answered curtly and eyed the Lexicanum guy with suspicion. Psykers were always bad news.


    "Well...we managed to defeat the traitors and even captured some of them. Your name was cursed many times during interrogations. They seem to think it was your fault, for their defeat. Which is rather curious, since we are quite sure you were never at Caliban, in your entire life." Brother Apharan explained while measuring my space wolf for a steak, while Canis did the same, only medium rare.


    "What can I say? Ask them more details. I have been burning traitors left, right and center for 50 years at least." I answered in a casual tone, and stepped closer to the Lexicanum, making the guy back off a few steps.


    "We know, Lord Lancefire. I was on the Rock at Pythos." the man muttered while gesturing to Merlith to stand his ground.


    So I got even closer, patting the Lexicanum psyker on his shoulder. "Astartes fear nothing, Brother Merlith. And yet...here you are shivering and sweating, while Warp voices howl in your head with murderous cries. Where is your courage, Dark Angel?" I wondered in a friendly voice, making the man flinch from a gentle pat on his hood.


    "Anathema! You are a Blacksoul!" he growled back, stepping back once more and holding his staff to ward me away.


    Rather cute, if he wasn''t a fucking Astartes!


    "You are an idiot, Merlith. Blanks are psykers too, only immune to Warp. Only I don''t have shields or invisibility powers like the Silent Sisters, nor can I reverse Waagh fields and banish demons like the Pariah. Instead, other psykers like yourself have hunted out Blanks all over the galaxy, just to gain more secular power. Inquisitors, Navigators, Astropaths and Cardinals, even Librarians...all corrupt to their very soul by the Warp. And you dare call me Anathema? How many of your Chapter have fallen to Chaos? 40 thousand? That''s 40 thousands reasons you should kiss my feet, because I will never fall. Get the fuck out of my ship, and never enter my presence again. Or I will burn your corrupt soul to ash!" I shouted and kicked him away, Sparta style.


    I did wear power armor, so it worked too, sending the psyker skidding along the metal floor for 20 meters.


    Canis chased the exiled Lexicanum to his dropship, carrying his staff in the mouth, like a small bone.


    "I''m...sorry for my Brother, Lord Lancefire. Psykers are sometimes sensitive to Blanks...and the superstitions do not help either." the Warned of the Rock said in a peaceful tone.


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    "Go back to burning Imperium''s worlds, brave defender of humanity. Your fanatic Chapter is not welcomed here." I answered in an angry tone, and pointed at his dropship.


    He turned and walked away, possibly trying to figure out when the negotiations went wrong.


    Did I snub a big Astartes Chapter by this? I sure hope I did. Some things were not okay, and knowing and seeing were very different.


    I kinda hoped they will all become Fallen, so I would have a reason to burn their zealot corpses into a sun.


    Not really. They would be useful enough stirring trouble and fighting traitors in other places. I couldn''t be everywhere, and they even had a Primarch now.


    An hour later, I met with the Mars delegation, led by some high-ranking Magi that were supposed to make me feel impressed.


    "What do you want, Mars Forge?" I asked them directly.


    "It has come to our attention that you''ve acquired many exotic and even xeno artifacts...that shall be turned over to the Forge. And you also need to offer us access to the Lamenter gene-seed and the Blank Astartes, for detailed examination." the tallest Magos demanded from 1 meter above me.


    "Of course. As soon as Mars shares all the technology it has. Unless you have brought the complete database, you have one hour to leave my system or be destroyed. 59 minutes now." I answered with a genial smile.


    "You cannot do this! The Imperium..." the other Magos tried to argue in near panic.


    "We are not in the Imperium here. 58 minutes." I continued with a softer voice.


    "Are you really going to rebel, Lord Lancefire?" the first Magos asked with surprise.


    "There is nothing to rebel from. You have no authority here, and I do. Bring out every STC template you have, and share it with my Forge. Then, we can trade. Until then, you are trespassers trying to steal from me, and we burn criminals to the stake here. 57 minutes." I continued as my bodyguard raised their weapons and began advancing, as ordered.


    The two Magi exchanged a glance and walked away towards their Mechanicus dropship.


    It seemed today was a terrible day for negotiations.


    The Ark Mechanicus exchanged a hundred engramatic messages with Machine Forge til the time was up, then turned away and fled as my own ships formed up for an assault. Not that I would destroy a priceless ship like theirs.


    They were idiots anyway, trying to force my hand like this. It wasn''t like I would let them call a Punitive Expedition on my House.


    The Ark Mechanicus opened a Warp window and vanished, and ended up in my tesseract beside all the other loot. Yet another ship lost in the Warp, like millions ships before it.


    Even if they didn''t have the best technology of Mars on that ship, it would be more advanced than Forge Retribution had.


    Perhaps just enough technology to repair the Glorianna and make it great again.


    A week later, during my regular visit at Retribution, an intact but empty Ark Mechanicus appeared in the system and was quickly taken over by my Fabricator Dominus and his cogispriests, eager to examine the lost relic and its amazing technology.


    Nearby, a huge zero-G dockyard made from asteroids and metal scaffolds housed the Singularity Battleship and its singularity weapon, the Voidclaw being slightly repaired and configured by a few Joakero artisans, while new warpless engines and powerful plasma reactors were being assembled for the crown of my fleet.


    The regular battleships were less important and could be repaired and upgraded at Triplex Phall and Metalica, as well as Forge Lucius for those captured in the Expanse campaign. It would be slower, but at least I wouldn''t have to worry about Chaos or infiltrators here. Only my Dynasty had access to Retribution, and few Inquisitors even knew its location.


    The big shipyards and factories of Machine Forge could not be hidden, and indeed were not meant to be hidden, with techpriests drawn from thirty Forge Worlds and a big Blackstone Fortress right in the middle.


    As long as the Pharos was still operational, attacks will keep coming, and what better defense than a giant fleet, a thousand forts, a giant battlestation and the interest of thirty Forge Worlds to keep their investment safe?


    Already Fabricator Gemmina wanted to open a new Forge on a different moon, due to the influx of new acolytes that needed to be trained into more techpriests. Immigrants kept coming, and will keep coming as long as there were jobs here.


    Beside my Lamenter Chapter and the Lancefire Dynasty, even the Inquisition would be interested in keeping the C''tan safe for constant interrogation, without knowing the true purpose of the prison.


    All except Rose, and her nebulous call to visit Terra and meet the Emperor.


    I was quite curious what came of that.

 Baal 161

    I had a decade of relative peace left to my knowledge, so I dedicated it to the prosperity of my Dynasty and the buildup of more Blanks for various tasks and ranks that required that genetic trait.


    From ship Captains and security officers, to Governors and Astartes, to the less Silent Sisters and Blank Sisters of Battle, which I aimed to unite in a single force one day.


    Borrowing from both their traditions and equipment to create a female fighting force that could support Blank Astartes in the field, or defend our worlds in case of invasion seemed rather sensible to me.


    And if I also provided the girls access to the hypno-training normally only available to Astartes and techmarines?


    Well, I could do whatever I wanted, and I did. Knowledge of weapons and tactics would do my girls no harm, after all.


    The women might not have giant muscles and steely sinew, but power armor and mind impulse units were a great force multiplier, as were the Silent Leviathan Dreadknights, which weren''t all that silent but I had to make a distinction from the Lamenter Leviathans.


    I had hopes to reach a full Company of Astartes Leviathans and perhaps 400 Silent Leviathans in this decade, plus I aimed to increase the number of Imperial Knights to a full House of 100 suits, and also field a demi-legion of Titans to break the teeth of any entrenched defense.


    Trades with various Forges had produced 100 more Baneblades, which will need dismantling and rebuilding into my preferred Doomhammers, which will allow me to raise five more armor regiments.


    Sentinels and Hydras were getting upgrades as well, transforming into Retribution-pattern Armed Sentinels and Multi-laser Hydras, while the light Weasels and Chimeras were being refitted to mount a logis-engine Tarantula turret instead of the manned turret, thus increasing their versatility and firepower a couple of times.


    Chimeras had enough storage space to allow munitions for a twin-heavy bolter and lascannon turret, plus the usual multilaser in the hull. Cover them with 10 centimeters of blackstone armor, and they would be quite durable, even against Chaos marines or Tau railguns.


    I had plans for an infantry troop transport based on the Ragnarok chassis anyway, just because the tracks and the drive system were so normal and easy to construct. Low to the ground too, which meant less exposure to enemy fire, since the best defense is to not get hit. The shape of the hull mattered as well, since angled plates would sometimes deflect incoming rounds, or at least force them to traverse a longer path. That saved on weight a little, and offered more protection overall.


    When I had my regiments fully equipped, I planned to donate most of the Ragnarok production to Krieg, and give their regiments a longer lifespan, to their probable despair.


    Even 3000 Ragnarok tanks would mean 100 more armor regiments for Krieg, which would mean hundreds of worlds conquered faster and with fewer losses. Not that the Death Korps of Krieg didn''t welcome losses, damn brainwashed fanatics.


    ********


    Times passes so fast when you''re having fun, making babies and colonizing the galaxy, burning xenos and providing the Tau with more demon portals to devour the Fire Caste bases. Hurry up and invent anti-warp tech, you dumb blueberries!


    Well, they were quite busy fending off a dozen Ork Waaghs sent their way by the grace of the Ordo Xenos, plus losing allies one by one to rampant Necron raids. It was a bad century to be a Tau, and so close to my domains. Well, not that close but put your finger on the galactic map and it would cover us, Tau and Ultramar with plenty space to spare.


    The third battleship and the fifth battlecruiser were returning to Machine Forge for a final refit and upgrade, our fourth battlebarge was conducting training exercises in the outer system, and the first Fortress sector on the Black Lament has just become operational, a kilometer of adamantium and blackstone armor covering a dozen Nova Cannons and their munition bunkers, plus torpedo tubes and 200 lance batteries.


    When it was complete, the Blackstone Fortress would have six sectors, three for weapons and three for carrier operations, plus the big gun installed by its original creators. Three more sectors were being transformed into extra engines and shield generators,


    because such a gigantic platform was also heavy and hard to move, both inside a system and for longer travels.


    The carriers sectors were left for last, because guns were the main priority, plus the engines.


    Two Jokaeros were aiding probably, fiddling with some Fortress systems to increase the speed and energy generation, while the last one was playing with various Astartes portable weapons, turning regular bolters into powerful combi-weapons or making digi-weapons for Sisters and Inquisitors, if they brought the ape something good to eat.


    I wasn''t sure how long the apes lived, but I planned to make them live very long. Too damn useful, the orange monkeys.


    It was at this moment that Roboute Guilliman decided to take the helm of the Imperium, and began gathering ships capable of warpless travel into a giant fleet.


    And somehow, he knew that I had 300 such ships, so I got called in.


    But it has also been more than a decade since I last traded with Trazyn, and I didn''t plan to be Guilliman''s follower. I had my own Primarch, even if he was a bit dead at the moment.


    Only in this universe, death was rarely final, as numerous demons and Saints proved every year somewhere. As did the Eldar Phoenix Lords and other beings able to transfer souls or change bodies or just respawn, like the Perpetuals.


    "I am ready to try resurrecting Sanguinius, Lord Trazyn. I hope my device is ready and operational by now?" I asked with a bit of hope.


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    "Ah, Pef Lancefire. You have been too quiet for a decade or so. But now events seem to bloom yet again, and here you are. Going to Terra, I suspect?" the Necron wondered in a teasing voice.


    "Eventually, yes. But I need my Primarch, just to not get roasted alive by the Imperial Ecclesiarchy, or any other of my potential enemies." I explained patiently.


    The Necron Overlord nodded wisely. "I see, internal conflict. We Necrons have similar differences, as you know. Try not to die, then. I have too few friends among my race, or any other." Trazyn the Infinite murmured and produced a twin-pronged device that wasn''t in any way resembling a Halo Artifact. "I cloned and resurrected a new Fulgrim with it, but he died soon after. You will need to reconnect the soul, and that won''t be easy at all." he continued dropping the device through the Pharos into my hand.


    "Stab the body with it?" I asked to make sure.


    "Yes, anywhere would work, but it works faster in the chest or neck." he replied with a glint in his green eyes.


    "Exposure period?" I asked while storing the device in my tesseract.


    "That depends. A minute or one hour, maybe even a day. Fresh bodies recover sooner, of course." Trazyn concluded in a wry voice.


    "And the new technologies?" I continued in a casual tone.


    "Yes, those. I have a slightly smaller engine that would fit Strike Cruisers and light cruisers, and even a new reactor type more potent and less radioactive. Plus the STCs for new Bastion force fields and even anti-gravity engines for tanks and dropships. Perhaps similar to the Tau, but better and easier to construct. And the next generation of warpless engines for capital ships, twice as fast." the Necron teased me while holding a dataslate in his hand.


    Everything there sounded amazing. "I do have C''tan shard with encrypted Necron controls. Powerful too." I proposed with a smile.


    "... Enticing, but I want more." he damanded cruely.


    "A thousand Astartes, Astral Claws from the Badab War." I proposed, raising the stakes higher.


    "Much better. Historical value too. What about that transforming lance?" he asked in a slimy voice.


    "That''s not a tradable item, Lord Trazyn. It looks like a weapon but it''s not. It''s a nascent Chaos God. If you were a Blank, I could let you safekeep it, but you''re not." I replied in my best stern voice.


    "It''s a pity then. What if I had my Pariah Warrior hold it?" Trazyn insisted.


    I cursed the obsessed Necron and my stupidity for showing him the weapon.


    "No. There is the obsidian athame, if you want it. The weapon that turned Horus and poisoned Guilliman. Still dangerous, but perhaps less than the materialized demon." I offered as a last resort.


    There were more of them, after all.


    "Ah, the weapon that can cut stasis fields. It has historical value too...very well. I won''t take your only C''tan, but I''ll take the Astral Claws and the fabled athame." Trazyn requested as if doing me a favor.


    Well then. There would be no real use for the C''tan shard, unless...yes. Sacrificing a god to resurrect another was something too familiar.


    An hour later, I gathered a small escort and stepped on Baal, right inside the Holy Sepulchre housing the Golden_Sarcophagus</a> where Sanguinius lay dead, and in stasis.


    In a few seconds, a giant Librarian teleported near us, holding the Spear of Tiesto and glowing with blue Warp aura.


    "Sergeant Rafen, and those Brothers in the Fourth Company? Why are you disturbing this place?" the man demanded in a warped voice of near rage.


    I stepped in front of him, and snatched his spear with a tesseract trick. "Stand near the coffin Mephiston</a>, and let me work. Hold this toy, Rafen!" I demanded after playing with the relic spear for a second.


    "Is it my turn to be Sanguinius Reborn, Lord Pef?" Rafen asked in a joking voice, making the psyker Librarian glow with anger.


    "Nah. I have another person in mind today. Start praying Brothers!" I commanded while bringing the Sounding Board out and stepping close to the glowing coffin.


    "...You better not desecrate our Primarch, Pef Lancefire!" Mephiston warned me while gathering his Alpha-level powers in a cold aura around him.


    "Shut up and watch, Librarian. But stay quiet." I murmured while focusing my attention on the stasis field.


    A gentle shift, and the Primarch body moved on top, bleeding from the damned sword wound caused by Horus. I stabbed the convenient wound with my fork, and hoped for the best.


    In a few seconds, the bleeding stopped and flowed in reverse, while the corpse began regaining vital signs. "Now Angel! Give him back the power he lent you." I demanded as the body began breathing on its own.


    "What? That''s not possible..." the Librarian muttered in a confusion tone, touching Sanguinius with reverence.


    A flutter of wings, and the other Angel appeared, immense white wings filling the mausoleum and illuminating everything with exceedinly bright golden light.


    The blue eyes opened, while the giant Angel was pouring his soul back into his living vessel.


    I stepped back to let the events unfold, feeling my own genes becoming stronger every second, almost like getting revitalized by Sanguinius himself.


    Hundreds of more Blood Angels rushed toward the light show, including 300 of my sons and grandsons.


    And then Sanguinius stood up and drew out the tuning fork, and held it out for me. I snatched it with a trick and shook his hand instead. "You look like hell, Primarch." I remarked noting his pale face and gaunt appeareance.


    "Being dead sucks." he confirmed in a angelic voice.

 Supper 162

    Walking past me, the Primarch grabbed the spear from Rafen and used it as a walking stick, entering the crowd of adoring fans that knelt in respect.


    I wasn''t feeling like kneeling though, so I vanished with my Nexus to check on the loot, in this case Fabius Bile held in phase-iron chains and watched over by two Blank Blood Angels.


    "Hey, busy day right?" I quipped while looking over the prisoner curious.


    "Dad! You can''t be here!" Jonas exclaimed looking at the corner where a bunch of auspex sensor monitored the room.


    "Sanguinius is back though. Big commotion among your Blood Angels too." I said in a casual tone, while stabbing the Chaos Sorcerer with a Necron control spike.


    "...Oh. I guess it would be your style. So you brought the Angel here and what, put him inside the body?" Jonas asked in a rather indifferent voice.


    "Exactly. My kids are so smart, right Fabius?" I asked the traitor.


    "Mind-control? It won''t work on me." the guy claimed rather bravely.


    "Everyone says that, in the first minute. Now be so kind and download all your research on this datastack." I commanded with an override thought, while connecting the dataport in his skull with my device.


    "....grrrr. Never...my mind..." his voice muttered while the transfer already began.


    "Dad is so cool! A dozen Librarians failed to break the traitor, and he just downloads everything in a minute." my son Vincent exclaimed in praise.


    I waited for the download to finish, leaving the mad scientist a gibbering wreck.


    "This guy cloned Horus, you know? Came out mutated, but still held his memories. Also, there''s a genestealer infiltration on this world." I commented wryly while retracting the datastack and the Necron wires.


    "You''re cheating again, dad! But you''re worse than Victor!" Jonas muttered and pointed at me accusingly.


    "I am, and so what! Catch me if you can." I quipped and vanished again.


    Time to visit the armory and borrow some rare and exotic Blood Angel weapons while everyone was occupied. My Lamenters could use them one day, after I obtain STC designs for them.


    When I returned, I found an empty seat at the Captain table, where Sanguinius was wolfing down more food than a Custodes. And those guys could eat.


    "Food! And you even saved me a seat. I almost feel welcome here." I exclaimed in a joyous tone and sat beside the Primarch, then pushed his elbow a little to grab some food for myself.


    A dozen Blood Angels glared at me as I ate without a care, and ignored everyone.


    Sanguinius gulped a liter of ice water and kept eating, probably busy repairing his mangled body or something.


    "Primarch, Lord Lancefire has threatened to burn a recruit world for every Blank recruit that dies during training. That''s unacceptable!" The Lord Commander Dante told on his Primarch, while pointing with his finger accusingly, right at me.


    He was even right. It was possibly not enough.


    "Is it too few? I can make it two worlds, Lord Dante. There is a single kind of Astartes who can never fall to Chaos, and that is my Blank sons. The Eye of Terror is filled with failed Space Marines, even Brothers of ours. Even his Brothers." I grumbled with a glance at the silent Primarch.


    "Why don''t you have the organs installed yet, Pef?" Sanguinius asked softly, pointing out the difference between me and my sons.


    "I don''t really trust them. Plus, I don''t need them really. I can defeat everyone on this planet, at once. Including the genestealers and the chaos cultists." I explained politely, throwing a bone over my shoulder and having Canis appear and snatch it in mid-air.


    The Primarch sighed and kept eating, while his Angels stared at me like I had two heads. It was just Canis, eyeing the full table with hungry eyes.


    "Saves on food, I guess." Sanguinius muttered after eating an entire grox leg, even the tendons. More calcium, perhaps. Then he threw the bone to my famished wolf, who caught but waited for my agreement.


    "Anyways. Roboute wants to march on Terra, and clean up the corruption. Only the High Lords won''t take it laying down. We''ll have to go and break some heads. A billion at least." I muttered while pouring myself some expensive wine.


    "I remember some things, Pef. Not very clearly, being dead and all. Was the blonde woman...?" he asked gently.


    "My mother, yes. She is only light now." I answered after gulping my wine.


    "I never had a mother...but I''m sorry for your loss, my friend. We''ll make things right somehow, even for Blanks." my Primarch said with compassion and patted my hand.


    "Yes, we will. But first, we have to fix your father. I brought a small fleet to make things simpler." I said while releasing the Lamenter capital ships from the labyrinth, not quite above the planet to avoid friendly fire.


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    Sanguinius glanced at the sky, his psyker powers sensing the new fleet just as soon as Mephiston did. "Your other sons...the Lamenters. And where are we going, Pef Lancefire?"


    "There is an artifact called the Shariax</a>, on the world of Occludus</a>, in the Eastern Fringe. The Emperor sent an Astartes Chapter there to guard it, until it was time to be used." I explained while feeding Canis lots of expensive food.


    Sanguinius will rule an empire soon, he could afford it.


    "I don''t know of it. But then again... I have the small excuse of being out of touch. It will take me some time to adjust to this new Imperium. The Emperor worshiped as a god, priests ruling the masses, sisters of battle...it''s a bloody mess." the Primarch said in sad voice, perhaps not too happy with how things were.


    "Faith helps right now. Keeps people compliant, and even wards demons away. Same with the techpriests and their machine rituals, which kinda do work. There is immense corruption, of course. Priests get rich and fat, taxing the masses and burning dissenters. The sisters are mostly alright. We''ll need to unite them with the Silent ones, give them proper military training and take them away from the Imperial Cult. By the way, the High Lords disbanded the Silent Sisters and execute Blanks on sight now. I wonder why." I commented wryly while Sanguinius took mental notes, and probably exchanged a dozen messages with his psyker buddies in the Librarium.


    "The Navigators...Ecclesiarchy...the Administratum. Is there anyone still loyal in this bloody Imperium?" Sanguinius shouted and stood up in anger.


    "Not really, no. It''s everyone for himself, and thousands of cults and cabals form every day, Noble Houses and Governors try to get richer, renegade techpriests and Inquisitors experiment on whole worlds. Meanwhile Chaos forces mass for another Black Crusade, the Tyranids are swarming in tendrils of trillions, and the ancient Necrons are awaking and flaying every living thing. Well, the Dark Eldar are mostly gone though. Paid them a visit and burned most of Commorragh." I answered mixing the bad with a little good.


    "All right, Pef Lancefire. We''ll leave next week, I just need to digest everything." the Primarch said in a kinder voice. "Dante, be nice!" he continued with a glare at his Chapter Master.


    Then he stepped away and vanished, and Mephiston followed a second later.


    I could still see him in a gilded room, as he just stared at a painting of the Emperor in silence, while Mephiston began bringing out cogitators and holoscreens.


    All right, he had much to catch up with.


    Meanwhile, I could clean this place up, exterminate the cults and the genestealers, and bring over millions of ice comets and metal asteroids for later use. Given how expensive ice water was, those comets could possibly buy me an entire moon.


    With some difficulty I could scoop out irradiated dust and throw it into the sun, and did that around inhabited places. It was just too much to clean up a planet and two moons right now.


    This blasted place called Baal, had been the site of many wars, some carried out with atomic weapons. It wasn''t really a place worth living, but most Astartes homeworlds were like this.


    Instead of defending humanity, they protected magma worlds or irradiated planets, or ice deserts and feral worlds. It made no sense to me, but such was the sad reality of this galaxy.


    Nothing made much sense, not even me.


    Lord Dante still glared at me from over the table, while I was busy fixing his star system and preparing the place for war.


    "Something on my face, Brother?" I asked curious.


    "You show no respect to anyone, Lord Lancefire. Not even your own Primarch." he muttered in an angry voice.


    "Your trainers were trying to murder my sons, loading real munitions in the training dummies. Your Apothecary brought Fabius Bile here, to corrupt your gene-seed and desecrate your Primarch. And you defend a burned world, instead of something important. As for Sanguinius, he can speak for himself now. I think he said you be nice?" I asked naively.


    "Maybe it''s the Blank aura. Makes people uncomfortable." Dante said in a more peaceful tone.


    "Very likely it is the Blank aura, but I don''t care. Blanks are the future of humanity. Everyone who doesn''t like them, does not get my protection. Everyone who hurts them, will die. If I have to exterminate trillions of rabid zealots, I can and I will." I said with a kind smile.


    In the end, everyone else is expendable. I had my own cabal to look after.

 Guilty verdict 163

    By the next week, my techpriests had finished powering up the first orbital fort, aided by 400 techmarines and most of the fleet''s servitors, plus my amazing ability to arrange Lego blocks into the desired shape, even if they were malformed space rocks.


    I named it Tertius, in honor of my dead brother Veryon, and because Baal''s moons were called Primus and Secundus. Anchored above the North Pole, the asteroid fort was a rugged installation of power reactors, torpedo tubes, lance batteries and defense turrets, most of them quad flak autocannons left behind from retrofitting my Hydras to longer range and instant triple-barreled multi-lasers. Tertius was the size of small moon, just because kilometers of metal asteroids plus layers of blackstone armor were rather bulky, as were most Imperial reactors and shield generators at battleship strength.


    When Sanguinius arrived on board the Serenity, he just stared from the bridge''s window at the newly built fort with some amazement, then looked at the wealth of ice and metal deposited in neat blocks for other space builders and traders.


    "It must have been tiring, displacing so many objects from all over the star system." he mused turning to measure me with worry.


    "I''ve got some practice, Primarch. But yes, it is mentally taxing." I admitted with a casual voice.


    "And your Chapter is still below the accepted limits, only 600 Battle-Brothers and 400 techmarines. Using only Blanks it not feasible, not with such low numbers of Blanks." Sanguinius claimed with a frown.


    I sighed and waved him closer. "You did hear about the Imperium hunting down Blanks, right? Growing the numbers takes time, at least until we can get Mars to clone Blanks for us. As for techmarines, there is no limit legally, to their numbers. I can have 4 billion, and be technically still under limit."


    "...But they won''t be Blanks, and defections would endanger humanity. Even a million traitors cause immense problems. Make that a billion..." the Primarch commented while we walked towards the armories.


    "Obviously. There are means of conditioning and mind-control, plus warp-blocking devices, but they cannot be produced in large quantities. You''ve looked over the STC patterns I have left for you?" I asked as we reached the walker deck.


    Rows after rows of Guardians, Armed Sentinels, Leviathans, Knights and Titans filled the huge hangar bay, going for kilometers in length, while the hangar was itself a kilometer wide and half a kilometer tall. The Imperium liked its big wide spaces, even inside a warship.


    And the battlebarge wasn''t the largest ship made by the Imperium, merely battlecruiser in size, if armored like a battleship. My Serenity was even more armored, because I valued my life and those of my sons and crew.


    "... There''s 40 thousand walking turrets here! Controlled by those techmarines?" the angel Primarch asked with surprise.


    "Yes. Each of them commands a company of 100 Guardians, via Mind Impulse Units. Quite similarly to the battle-automata of the Mechanicus and their Ordo Reductor. Not quite as flexible and potent like the legions of old, but firepower has a quality of its own. As for the Dreadknights, I don''t need to wait for my sons to get maimed to offer them a combat walker. A meter of armor and the shields make up for our smaller numbers." I explained patiently.


    Sanguinius flew up to observe my army deck from above. Then he flashed at speed to reach the Titans, and stood face-to-face with the giant head of an Imperator Titan, observing the changes to its chassis and weaponry, possibly comparing it with his own knowledge of the Mechanicus Godmachines.


    My Titans all had power fists now, to provide them some melee ability, with the large annihilator cannons strapped to their forearms, while even larger guns had been mounted on the giant shoulders, plus the usual array of carapace mounted secondary and tertiary batteries.


    "A thousand of these Imperators at every Forge World, and we''ll never have to worry about losing Forges to invasion." I proposed after displacing myself on the Titan''s head, and patting the big machine like a loyal attack dog.


    "Perhaps ten of them, for now. They cost too much." Sanguinius mused in deep thought.


    Sadly, the Primarch was right. Outfitting these two Emperor-class Titans with cutting-edge technology had been rather taxing for the Machine Forge, and they had not needed to construct them from scratch.


    We would need the Speranza</a> to become operational and use its STC constructors to make this possible. And of course, not send that giant Forge ship on its own to explore, like they did last time. Fucking lack of common sense, Mechanicus!


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    And when that happened, all hell would break loose. Our enemies would not wait to be stomped in the ground by our advanced warmachines and rediscovered technology.


    "By the time we return, your Red Tear</a> the Gloriana Class Battleship</a> should be able of warpless travel. I have brought the required reactor and engines with me, and they only need to be installed." I offered with a smile.


    The ship had been repaired by the Blood Angels, but it was merely a shadow of its former glory. It would need the add-on blackstone plates bolted on, plus extra lance batteries and point-defense turrets, just like the Light of Terra had now.


    Well, my battleship wasn''t nearly ready for combat either, because there was also the Voidclaw to be considered, the giant space cannon that fired blackholes...because that made sense.


    "All right, we can go then. Whatever that Shariax is, it better be worth it!" Sanguinius muttered and floated down.


    "We can depart now, Lady Velayne. Keep an eye on the bridge." I sent to the old but pretty Inquisitor guarding the bridge.


    "I want some bed time too, lover." she sent back while I displaced myself in my own rooms to enjoy a couple of other Inquisitors.


    Sure, it might sound like sticking my spear into a bear trap, but trust me, it was so worth it!


    *******


    Much later, Amberley Vail and Lady Hyboran</a> rested on my chest, faces glowing and their ragged breaths calming down.


    And where did the other Inquisitor come from? Not sure, she just arrived with Amberley and demanded her rights to Blank children and immunity from the Warp. Perhaps a boost to her meager psyker powers too.


    Which is why she was right now in my bed, after all.


    "I had doubts before, when I first heard about you Pef Lancefire. Even with Amberley here, vouching for you." Lucille whispered in a tired voice, while her hand measured my Astartes body again.


    "That''s natural, my dear. I am quite the exception to the normal rules, am I not?" I inquired in a proud voice.


    "...and your resemblance to your Primarch is a bit uncanny. Even if you lack wings and a meter in height." Amberley added in a wry tone, then lowered herself to service my lance, something I was very glad for.


    "Thank you, Lady Vail. That makes me very proud." I quipped while fondling Lucille Hyboran and enjoying the massage.


    Sadly, not even a minute later Lady Ramaeus intruded brusquely into my exotic dreams. "Out! Both of you. I need to interrogate the prisoner myself. Amberley, you watch the bridge. Lucille, wipe the slutty grin from your face."


    The lower ranked Inquisitors ran outside while giggling like school girls, while their boss examined her prey with greedy eyes.


    "See something you like, Lady Velayne?" I wondered with a knowing smirk.


    "Turning Inquisitors into your personal sluts. How do you plead, you rogue?" the stern woman asked while discarding her armor and climbing on top of me.


    I didn''t answer with words, instead turning myself to trap her under me, and stuck my spear into her bear trap.


    "...We''ll have to...resume interrogation at a later time." she mumbled while I pounded my defense argument very strongly.


    Several hours later, I ended my plea in the shower, until the verdict of "Guilty" fluttered in the wind, yet hidden by the cleansing torrent of hot water and sweaty steam.


    Whatever the Angel''s resurrection had caused in my genes, it had given me extra muscle energy and mental strength, and also some minute control over my Blank aura.


    Like an extra hand, made of negative-warp. Possibly the same ability that every Silent Sister had, which will need lots of training to make use of.


    There were Navigators who could cover their entire ship in a Blank field, or Pariahs that could stop lascannon fire with a Null Shield, but I wasn''t even close. Merely dimming the lights in the room, for now.


    But it was something, at least.


    My theory about Nulls being psykers of a different type was confirmed, just like Power Nullifiers in other stories were still mutants or parahumans.


    It also explained why strong psykers were able to breach the Blank immunity in some cases, or why combinations of Nulls and psykers were even possible.


    Now, I only had to find a catalyst that could turn psykers into Pariahs, like the Grey Knights did. It had to be related to that poisoning suffered by natural Blanks implanted with gene-seeds.


    Hopefully, it didn''t require a demonhost, which would suck greatly. I would do it, but I wouldn''t like it one bit.

 Glass 164

    We arrived at Occludus</a> rather easily, because we were not travelling through the Warp.


    Even the gloom of the Ghoul Stars</a> didn''t bother us.


    In the system there was little in the form of a naval presence, merely four Strike Cruisers and nine frigates, so I suspected the main forces of the Death_Spectres</a> were out on patrol, or refitting their capitals ships at the nearby Forge Gulgorahd</a>.


    Possibly both of those options at once.


    However, there was a transport ship unloading supplies and human resources, young women in particular.


    This tingled my senses, as this could only mean a specialized breeding program took place here.


    "The Nostramo Sector is interdicted to any Imperial vessels! Explain your presence here!" A Librarian demanded over vox, seeming quite upset to see Blood Angel and Lamenter ships entering their system.


    "I can sense it now, Lord Lancefire. Right where their fortress-monastery is." Sanguinius spoke softly.


    I looked over the entourage and selected only Mephiston and Inquisitor Ramaeus to join us. Between the four of us, we could demolish any opposition without even being in danger.


    Then we moved beside the outraged Librarian, in a flash-less teleport, by the grace of my tesseract.


    "There is something here that might help my father, Librarian. As for the High Lords of Terra, I''m certain they won''t mind, at all." The Primarch announced in an angelic voice while flooding the command center with a golden glow.


    It took the poor Death Spectre Librarian a few seconds to comprehend what he saw, while the neophytes and techmarines in the control room were floored by the psyker aura and could only kneel in submission.


    "The Cadash has arrived! Our Megir would be so glad! By the Emperor!" the stunned Librarian exclaimed in awe, then measured me and the Inquisitor with more suspicion.


    "Your Chapter Master? I can sense him, deep underground. You will take us to him." Sanguinius demanded while refolding his white wings and restraining his psyker aura.


    "Just a moment, Primarch. Our First Captain will arrive momentarily." the man demanded while staring at me too intently.


    I removed my helmet now, since the possibility of friendly fire and outraged punches had dropped by half.


    "What do you see, Brother?" I asked curious. I was looking rather normal, blonde hair and blue eyes like my mother if a bit too angelic, while he was bald and albino, which didn''t fill me with confidence about their gene-seed.


    "You have died before, Astartes. Bathed in the Black River and came out alive, but a Blacksoul. Can you sense the tides of fate yet?" the Librarian asked with a pointed stare. So he wasn''t looking at my face, but underneath.


    "... Sometimes. Images of the past and future, like words and picts, in a book." I answered rather truthfully.


    I did read plenty about this universe, after all. However, I think he meant my near-death to that demon poison, but I guess it just wasn''t the right poison. I had no extra powers from that, unless you counted the Necron artifacts.


    "You just need to die again, Lamenter. Everything would become clear then, and the skein of time would open to you as well. I would be honored to grant you death, if you chose so. All of you have passed through death, Primarch Sanguinius quite recently I presume." The strange Librarian declared to the amazement of his brethren, who all gazed at the four of us with adoration.


    I looked curious at Velayne, who seemed rather embarrassed to be exposed like this. I guess she had her secrets too.


    "We make quite a team then! The Black River, huh?" Sanguinius commented in a slightly amused voice, and patted Mephiston on his psychic hood, like one would congratulate a baby for his first steps.


    "It wasn''t fun at all, Primarch." the Blood Angel muttered with a gruff voice.


    I guess the poor Mephiston died twice, going from what I knew about him. He certainly did have many powers.


    "Details! It will be nice to compare notes with my father though." the Primarch mused thoughtfully, and turned towards the door just before an armored Astartes with Captain markings entered and stopped to stare.


    "The Megir will see you now. And you, no stealing!" The Death Spectre Captain announced while pointing straight at me.


    Damn precogs able to read timelines. I wasn''t planning to steal anything, yet!


    Just for that, I selected a dozen blonde beauties from the transport ship and whisked them away. This will be a long trip after all, and space was cold. Better warm my bed with something blonde and fertile.


    After a long elevator trip, we arrived in the Temple of Voices, deep beneath the planet''s surface, and directly underneath the Chapter''s fortress-monastery of Logopol.


    I had a feeling the stone statues decorating this temple were too real, and might be the former users of the Throne of Glass, or the Shariax.


    The Chapter Master was albino was well, and looking rather tired for someone always sitting down.


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    "A Culexus Assassin? No, or at least not yet." The Megir rambled in some distorted Low Gothic, and opened his white eyes to stare at our group.


    "You know me, Megir?" Sanguinius asked in a slightly different dialect.


    I guess Primarchs were bullshit like that, learning new languages in mere minutes.


    "You''re early, Primarch. Then again...you''ve slept long enough. Came to take the Shariax to Terra then?" the Death Specter asked in a heaving breath.


    Sanguinius turned towards me, as if asking for advice.


    "We''ll need to test it here first. You can step down Megir, and let Sanguinius have a look." I proposed with a shrug, while searching the planet for anything useful.


    The poor guys kinda lacked heavy weapons and armor though, the armories nearly empty and the medicae bay filled with crippled marines and chapter serfs.


    I''ll have to supply them some stuff, instead of looting. Luckily I was quite rich now.


    The Chapter Master creaked as he walked slowly next to me, and examined my face too deeply.


    "Yes, Lamenter. We are quite poor, but we still do our duty however we can."


    "I understand, Brother. Secrecy is great and all, until you fail your primary duty. Defending humanity, from outside and within. I''ll offer you some ships and equipment, if you promise to raise a hundred Auxilia regiments on Memlock</a>, and use human resources properly. Where are your thousands of techmarines? Where are the mighty Astartes fleets? Your Dreadknights and Baneblades? Thousands of strike fighters and Sentinel walkers, millions of Tarantula sentry turrets? Has your brain been petrified too?" I asked in a slightly disappointed voice, while his gifted ships appeared in orbit above Occludus.


    Only the usual 10 torpedo destroyers, plus an early light cruiser with drop-pods, fully loaded and missing only crew. I could afford spreading the captured destroyers around, in exchange for propping up a failing Chapter with less Astartes than mine.


    The armory received 20 Land Raiders and 200 Hydras and Sentinels, pretty much doubling his armor forces. Same for air power, with 500 servitor attack drones and 100 Aquila Interceptors.


    The man slumped and looked down, probably not used to being castigated by anyone. His Primarch Corvus Corax</a> was a poor example of critical thinking too, roaming the Eye of Terror and killing demons one by one. For ten thousand years.


    Sanguinius started glowing on the glass throne, possibly scanning the entire sector with his psyker powers. Maybe even reading timelines, if my guess was correct.


    "We are needed here, Lord Lancefire. There is a fleet of Black Templars nearby, purging the xenos in the Ghoul Stars. With our help, there will be fewer losses and the fight will be over in months instead of a decade." the Primarch demanded as his glowing eyes opened to stare at me.


    I sighed inward at his bleeding heart, now also painted on my shoulder, like all Lamenters had.


    "All right. Mephiston, you take the chair and keep watch. Inquisitor Ramaeus, you wait here and investigate." I ordered with a flat voice, then grabbed my Primarch and returned to my ship.


    "Take the helm, my lord. You know where we''re going, after all." I muttered and pointed at the Captain''s Chair.


    Sanguinius snorted and sat down, fingers blurring on the holoscreen while setting up our course to intercept the Crusade.


    With another flicker, the Deathwatch of Lady Velayne appeared around her, then a dozen of my techpriests and a pair of Silent Sisters with a particular set of orders. Just making sure no foul play could happen, until we returned.


    And if those techpriests were rather adept at technology espionage and biological experiments, only a coincidence.


    A week later, I had finished impregnating those blonde women donated so generously by the Death Specters, and was enjoying my favorite pastime with Amberley and Lucille, when we dropped from void-speed to normal engines, and my labyrinth vision filled with crystal ships battling the Black Templars while a few planets and moons were being assaulted by a thousand Astartes and 10 million serfs some of them even piloting Sentinels and light tanks. Weasels in particular.


    Made me very proud to see my work used to exterminate Cythor Fiends, their distorted bodies resembling a preying mantis. Heavy flamers worked great on them, but then there were few creatures able to withstand heavy flamers.


    Heavy bolters also worked, because they were made to kill xenos by design.


    "Ladies, you''re both with child now, so I don''t recommend you land. I promise I''ll save some test subjects for your labs." I muttered in between suckling on Amberley''s twin peaks.


    Lucille suckled my spear harder, probably not that pleased with my cavalier attitude.


    Amberley just hugged my head to her chest. "We do have to send reports back to our Conclave, my dear. We''ll wait till the heavy fighting is over though, and wear the helmets. The smell of burned corpses is not good for the baby." the Inquisitor explained while enjoying my ministrations.


    "Switch places?" I proposed in a smirk, and drew Lucille up to be suckled and pampered.


    The blonde Inquisitor smiled coyly and began licking my chevallier''s symbol, her eyes promising a long session of torture and interrogation.


    Like I said, very dangerous, but so worth it!

 Learning curve 165

    Well, I guess Sanguinius needed to be seen and accepted too, just like the other Primarchs.


    Which is why he took command of this Crusade, with knowledge gleaned from the glass throne and practically blitzed the Fiends with dozens of brutal attacks at key points, intercepting fleeing ships and exterminating nearly every single last one of the xenos, except for a thousand Fiends saved in my labyrinth for collection purposes and biologic experiments. Much the same for the technology, an entire civilization spanning 50 stars vanished without a single trace.


    I collected some crystal ships and lots of exotic weapons, in the hope of getting them reverse-engineered by techpriests or a certain Necron.


    They seem to work on lateral scientific principles though, much like Eldar or Joakero tech did. Fringe science, eh?


    Still, our losses would have been quite large without my hidden support. It will take some time until Sanguinius realized that available Imperial forces were not the same now.


    The millennia of neglect and corruption had eroded the Imperium greatly, and most advanced machines were simply locked away or forgotten, wars reduced to grinding attrition of billions of poorly armed guardsmen and Astartes Chapters often lacking enough power armor to suit all their Space Marines. Tanks and fighters lacked parts for repair, or people who knew to repair them.


    As for spaceships, it was even worse. Most of the Imperial Navy had been reduced to using artillery macrocannons and flak autocannons, lacking even proper guidance for torpedoes or the knowledge to operate lance batteries.


    The Astartes ships were somewhat worse still, because the proud idiots refused to let the Mechanicus perform repairs, but they still didn''t train thousands of techmarines to cover that part.


    Reactors leaked radiation, Gellar fields were malfunctioning frequently, and they never really used their heads when planning a campaign, just diving straight in with horrible loses.


    Exceptions like the Iron Hands and their successor Chapters were too rare to make a difference.


    As for the Black Templars, well. At least they didn''t use psykers, at all. So they had pretty much zero defections to Chaos, which was something at least.


    However, the Blood Angels did, and quite many of them. Add to that their mad Brothers rampaging on the battlefield in a haze of Black Rage or Red Thirst, or both...it wasn''t pretty.


    I don''t think Sanguinius minded too much to see them go. I sure did not.


    "I''m going to need more Blank recruits." the Primarch grumbled while examining the deformed corpses of his sons in the Apothecary.


    "Right away, Primarch. About 30 thousands, for all the successor Chapters too. I''ll return to my bedroom immediately." I quipped while flicking the useless bodies into the sun.


    His eyes tracked the burning corpses and he sighed. "This Culexus Assassinorum temple. They can clone Pariahs and make more recruits, correct?"


    I nodded in agreement. "They do. Some Mechanicus technology, although is very flawed and produces more monsters than viable clones. The Grey Knights can turn psykers into Pariahs as well. Which trick, is possibly what we need in the short term. Pariahs have different abilities from normal psykers, but are especially potent against demons and psyker xenos anyway. They can even reverse Waagh fields and turn psyker spells around on the caster, turn themselves invisible and produce nullification fields the size of a spaceship."


    Sanguinius held his hand out, forming a globe of blue energy, which then turned into a shimmering aura around him.


    "You can still see me?" he asked to make sure.


    "Yes, my lord. The big white wings give you away, even if you hide behind your hand." I answered with a smirk.


    "Wiseass! You''re not helping at all." the big hawk boy complained and sobbed fakely.


    "You want to see the Tyranids next?" I wondered instead.


    "Yes. I could only sense a dark blob of nothingness heading towards Orask</a>. I heard Warp-engines fail in this Shadow in the Warp. But these new Macharius-pattern drives do not. I want to test that." Sanguinius demanded in a sterner voice.


    Of course he does. Learning everything about the galaxy once more, but much faster than any human or even Astartes.


    "By your command, Primarch! We can intercept them and try a few strategies. If you lose a single ship, I''ll be very disappointed." I muttered and vanished, returning to my beloved bedroom and the next batch of Silent Sisters awaiting holy impregnation.


    I didn''t mind Sister Helena teaching them the Sisters of Battle lore and hymns, but a personality cult wasn''t in my plans.


    I kinda felt the pain Sanguinius and other Primarchs felt for being adulated as Holy Messengers now. Sure, it was convenient and sometimes useful, but also irritating.


    By the next week, I felt the pain of watching a military commander re-learn the basics of fleet command, and getting overwhelmed by billions small critters that detonated our torpedoes and missiles before reaching the target, attempting to board Tyranid bioships, almost getting my battlebarge eaten by a Hive Ship, and losing a hundred fighters and bombers to gargoyles and other winged creatures that could fly in vacuum.


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    Slowly he got the hang of it, and when the Black Templars and the Death Specters fleets arrived from behind the Tyranid fleet, and then forming a pincer formation, he even managed to win.


    As per usual, I only recovered the crew of the lost spacecraft and the boarding teams, since they were not at fault for their leader''s learning curve.


    Soon enough we returned to Occludus slightly battered but more experienced, with a Crusade of Black Templars trailing us. Well, they were a fleet based Chapter, so they didn''t need to be anywhere, and their Crusade ended much too soon.


    Surely, the Reborn Primarch will provide them with more opportunity to massacre the enemies of the humanity.


    Lady Velayene did manage to ''procure'' the procedure used to kill the Death Specters recruits, a special type of poison in a psyker-charged chalice, which I kept in order to feed it to my own poisoned recruits back on Illevar.


    If a few survived...well. That would be great. Having precogs on my side might prove useful, just like the Grey Knights had their Grey_Knights_Prognosticar</a>.


    Sanguinius and Mephiston dealt with extracting the glass throne from its petrified roots, making the stone flow apart and the roots retract into the throne, quite similarly to how living stone worked for the Necrons.


    Only not the same, because this stuff was charged psycho-active glass, while the living stone was the reverse.


    As the glowing artifact was floating in mid-air, I snatched it and replaced it with a Tyranid Zoanthrope</a>, curious to see what these Alpha-level psyker could really do.


    "Left!" the Primarch commanded at once, making Mephiston blur at speed and strike with his Force Sword to the left, while Sanguinius used his Force Spear to slice downwards at the floating monster bug.


    A pysker scream pushed both of them back, and made them lose focus, then a pair of warp-lightning struck them at once, sending them tumbling to my feet.


    Powerful bugger, this bug. "Try something else. Zoanthropes are made with Eldar genes." I advised them both in a wry voice.


    "Pef! You brought this creature here?" Sanguinius yelled while rushing to heal his son and formed a shield around them.


    "These organisms are the artillery of the Tyranid ground forces. Hundreds like it in a single army. And facing them, are PDF regiments with lasguns and heavy stubbers. Bayonets and autoguns too." I explained patiently while walking past them and approaching the psyker beast.


    It was rather small and pitiful for a Tyranid, and lacking any armor or claws. Merely a floating brain with psyker powers.


    As I approached, the thing bombarded me with screams and magic spells, doing nothing. So I simply moved myself, straddling the creature like a flying pony. Of course, I had power armor on, and the weight caused us to descend rapidly and reach the floor, where I kept the thing trapped between my thighs, then twisted an eye or something to make it obey.


    "Damn cheater! How are you even..." Mephiston grumbled as he approached us cautiously.


    "Why did you attack a psyker xenos with a sword, Librarian? Obviously, you have that bolt pistol at your hip. Anti-psyker rounds? Maybe a psych-out grenade?" I demanded in a curious tone, then stepped away and made the Zoanthrope vanish into its holding pen.


    The mighty Librarian patted his hip, while I produced a bolter magazine with phase-iron tips.


    He took it hesitantly and checked the rounds, frowning deeply just as the Primarch stepped beside him and checked the ammo clip as well.


    "Phase iron. I will have to implement this too. And those grenades you mentioned." he demanded holding his hand out.


    I obliged of course. It had been the point of this lesson, after all. I handed him another ammo clip and a couple of psych-out grenades then took off my helmet to stare into his blue eyes. "This is why they hunt Blanks. Boil them in molten iron, you get phase-iron, imbued with a Null''s aura. Grind their bones to dust, and you get psych-out grenades for the Inquisition, or other branches of the government. And there are worse things too."


    The Primarch glanced at his Blood Angel and he nodded slowly. "Ordo Malleus in particular. Most are quite insane, even by our standards." Mephiston answered the silent question.


    "You want revenge, Lord Lancefire?" Sanguinius asked in a gentle voice, while weighing the weapons in his giant hand.


    "I''m too powerful for that already, my lord. Justice will suffice." I replied with a careless shrug.


    Mephiston eyed me warily, while the big angel just sighed. "An Angel of Justice, huh? That''s a bit scary."


    "We need to go, Primarch. Tell the Black Templars to meet us at Forge Hydra_Cordatus</a>. With some luck, we''ll catch the traitors between our fleets, and have the Iron Fists owe you their allegiance." I proposed and immediatly moved us onto the bridge of the Serenity.


    "Set course for Baal! I want my own ship already." the Primarch ordered with an annoyed glare at me, and soon enough the fleet departed its moorings, leaving behind a very different Death Spectres Chapter, devoid of their original purpose and tasked with a new one. Or possibly the reverse.

 Play 166

    There was a giant celebration on Baal as we returned, a dozen battlebarges from different successor Chapters having gathered as the news of their Primarch''s return spread like wildfire.


    Angels Encarmine</a>, Angels Excelsis</a>, Angels Glorious</a>, Angels Numinous</a>, Angels of Light</a>, Angels Sanguine</a>, and even the solitary Angels Vermillion</a> had arrived with a company or two, possibly only those available to be sent immediately.


    Given the angelic nature of their Primarch, it wasn''t so strange to have been given such names. There was also a Company of Angels Resplendent, which I had thought long gone, but apparently not.


    "So many of my sons..." Sanguinius murmured a bit overwhelmed.


    "Primarch! We missed youuuuuu." Chapter Master Varzival shouted and threw himself at the Primarch''s feet, not really caring about being resplendent right now.


    "I know, my son. I was a bit indisposed, but I got better now. I expect you all to behave properly though. Stand tall Astartes!" Sanguinius proclaimed with skilled oratory, ending the circus before I started slapping people.


    "Is it true it was the Blank Lamenter Master that healed you?" another Chapter Master asked while eying me suspiciously.


    I decided to stop the gossip here. "Quiet! The Primarch was always here, in his Spirit form. I only helped a little, waking the wounded body and allowing the Spirit to return. You can say Sanguinius healed himself, first by making me an Astartes at Estaban, and later by reintegrating into his body, at my incessant urging. I''m not sure he likes me too much, for that."


    A thousand heads nodded in unison, as that made more sense than other rumours.


    Sanguinius patted my head from high above and just smiled. "Lord Lancefire has been a great help, no doubt. He might be a bit abrasive and sarcastic, but that''s only his grief. At Estaban, his Blank mother sacrificed her life to help me kill the traitor Fulgrim. And he later killed the traitors Lorgar and Abaddon, and helped humanity in a dozen wars. He might be a Blank, but he is now my son just like the rest of you. The Emperor had thousands of Blanks like him, guarding the Eternity Gate before the corrupt High Lords disbanded the Silent Sisters and forced those women to flee into exile. And for that, I will have justice!"


    Well, that was pretty much what I wanted him to say. I waved a bit shyly at the gathered warriors and drew back, letting the Primarch take the spotlight and went back to my ship, to prepare for war.


    A quick check with my techpriests confirmed the Red Tear was mostly fight-capable now, at least against smaller ships and starfighters. I had to sacrifice 40 thousand Tarantula turrets to provide the giant warship with enough close-defense weapons, especially as destroyers and frigates would not be able to escort the battleship.


    Plating it over with blackstone armor would help as well, although little would be able to penetrate those gigantic shields.


    Otherwise, some improvement to augury and auspex sensors, plus anti-teleport features should protect the Primarch against the most obvious dangers.


    There were thousands of other avenues of attack though, from toxic agents of a million kinds to Culexus Assassins and a myriad of xeno weapons.


    But Sanguinius was a potent psyker anyway and could take care of himself.


    As long as the Captain of the ship was a Blank, everything should be fine. The Heresy era commanding officer Athene DuCade</a>, was driven mad by the Chaos</a> presence, then killed her bridge crew and destroyed the nav controls which caused the ship to crash-land on a planet.


    I''ve given my daughter Teresa this job, because who wouldn''t want to captain a god-damned Glorianna with a Primarch on board. Plus my girl knew the tricks of a Rogue Trader, which were probably even more important than whatever the Codex Astartes claimed to be optimal engagement factors. She also had her brothers Jonas and Vincent keep guard over the bridge, because tactical dreadnoughts were rather beastly in close quarters, should it ever come to that.


    By next week we were already en route to head off another Forge World invasion, which by coincidence held a ''secret'' stash of Imperial Fists gene-seed. Not exactly secret, especially not for Chaos.


    Then again, technically a Forge World was the best defended place in the galaxy, except Terra and Cadia. But with Warp fuckery, most defenses did prove rather penetrable, and even Terra had a fair share of invasions.


    Lady Inquisitor Hyboran had stepped off at Baal, after confirming the kid inside her was indeed a Blank girl, and promised to visit me again, one sunny day.


    She was 300 years younger too, which possibly made her a tiny bit more horny than a regular Inquisitor crone.


    I blamed her transformation on Sanguinius, and pointed at Velayne as proof, and it kinda held up a little. I mean, few people regrew eyes and arms, even in this magic universe.


    Reverting age was far more common, and quite possible for potent psykers with biokinetic powers.


    Amberley and Velayne stayed, possibly more for my connection with the Primarch and opportunity for career advancement, or some other more esoteric reasons.


    Enjoying the story? Show your support by reading it on the official site.It was a pleasant trip anyway, and I believe a hundred Blank babies were created this year, merely by the miracle of my genetic awakening.


    As for the new Blank powers...well. They still sucked. I was able to hide in shadows a little better, perhaps deepen the shadow a little too.


    Things that the Silent Sisters learned as little girls. Yeah. I felt the same way too.


    Anyways, the fun part should begin right about now.


    War, war never changes.


    The warriors and weapons might be different, you may ride on horse back or on an 8-kilometer-long battlebarge able to melt a continent to slag, but once you get there, you still had to put on your armor, grab your weapons and kill your enemy.


    And, also try to avoid dying, too soon.


    Which is why cheating and luck play such a big part in historical battles.


    A dozen Black Templar destroyers managed to arrive before us, landed their Astartes Company and some Auxilia forces, and suicidally charged at the Chaos traitors, delaying them just enough.


    I mean the Iron Warriors, not led by Perturabo unfortunately for me, had brought millions of cultists and traitor guardsmen, plus heavy tanks, Demon Engines and fucking Chaos Titans.


    You don''t charge at something like that, unless you have superior numbers or some kind of hidden ace.


    But, by the time the Chaos marines breached the Gene-seed vaults, it was too late. Everything supposed to be there was gone, and instead a hundred Guardians opened fire and liquidated the first rushing cretins.


    More and more armored traitors poured in, until our walkers were finally destroyed. They did amazingly well though, for their small comparative cost.


    The techmarine found himself on the teleportarium pad, blinking in disbelief at his unlikely rescue.


    "You scored 19 kills and 6 wounded. Do better next time!" I send him via the Manifold circuit while the Drop-cruisers began their drop run, landing Tarantula turrets to contain the invasion and protect our heavy landers.


    I think a desperate voice yelled a pathetic "Noooo!" from inside the vault. Most likely the Iron Warrior''s Warmaster.


    At the adamantium gates, the Legio Mortis</a> Imperator Titan</a> Dies Irae</a>, fallen to Chaos a dozen millennia ago was knocking rather insistently, trying to get in.


    And when a Titan knocks, the planet itself feels it.


    The Forge World had provided a couple of Legio_Ignatum</a> Warlord Titans to defend this sector, but they didn''t stand much of a chance against an Imperator-class.


    It was time for a Deus Ex Machina intervention, in this case literally. My own Titan Legion was named Deus Ex Machina, for those right moments when stars aligned and everything went right.


    My wife Dae had always wanted to pilot an Imperator Titan, so I got her one as a wedding present.


    "Eat sunfire, Chaos scum!" she yelled the second her Titan landed some 10 kilometers away, which in Titan terms is like 50 meters.


    Yeah, radio silence, I know. I told Dae a dozen times, but her training took place in the nice warm days of the real Imperium, when techpriests served you fine meals and gave you red wine after.


    Anyway, her weapons'' fire reached the target faster than sound, the shoulder-mounted Heavy Annihilators simply disintegrating the enemy''s void shields in a single salvo. And then came the arm cannons, the first blast vaporizing the heavy armor plates and the second punching through and left a hole 50 meters wide. Groaning from the excessive damage the Chaos Titan fell, and the planet shook in joy.


    Just like Trazyn promised, if you didn''t miss, the new weapons would kill any other Titan in a single salvo. The Dies Irae Titan''s days of wrath had ended.


    From here onwards, I took the backstage, to allow Sanguinius his well-deserved glory as he led his Blood Angels and successors in a masterful campaign of strikes and feints, rescuing guardsmen and techpriests, healing the wounded with powerful psychic waves of golden light, and pretty much turning the tide with mere charisma and skill.


    I guarded the high orbit with my fleet, while the other Chapter Masters rushed to gain fame and reputation by slaying a dozen enemies in melee or dousing them in promethium in celebratory pyres.


    Sitting beside me, Inquisitor Velayne glanced at me and then back at the holoscreen.


    "What did you do, exactly?" she wondered while holding her silver cube and deftly tuning Necron engrams for better resolution.


    "Saved the day?" I wondered in a hesitant voice.


    "Yes. I know you did. I sense the changes, I just don''t know what they mean." The Inquisitor muttered a bit upset.


    "Deus Ex Machina. It means the God from the Machine. One day, you will have your own, my dear. But until then, it is a tiny secret I need to keep." I said in a wry voice, which earned me a glare.


    "If you want to reach Terra before Primarch Guilliman, we have to leave right now." Lady Valeyne explained, abandoning the previous quest.


    "Oh? That''s not my destination at all, Inqusitor. Hive Fleet Leviathan</a> has began attacking the Imperium from the south and below. It''s a thousand times larger than Hive Fleet Behemoth. The smaller tendrils are the size of Behemoth." I said cheerfully.


    "...But, Terra?" she asked in confusion.


    "Sanguinius will go and do his job. He is good at politics and ruling. While me, I have already my duty, defend humanity." I said in a naive voice. A flash of disappointment crossed the Inquisitor''s face, but I was busy with the space battle and ignored it.


    At this exact moment the rest of the Black Templars arrived, just in time to catch the ending of the play.

 Power 167

    The fleeing Chaos ships crashed into a hail of previously invisible metal asteroids and Space Hulk fragments, and had to battle a small army of Orks and Tyranids that invaded their corrupted ships, while my fleet and the Black Templars massacred the immobilized Chaos hulls. Well, it took some work.


    "Ranged fire only, Brothers! It''s not like we need to salvage these corrupted hulls." I demanded as the idiots were preparing to board and engage in glorious melee.


    "... Not again! It''s the weird Lamenter." I could hear some Templars complain over the vox. I sent them a live grox, right onto their bridge to make my point. It could have been a dozen Chaos Terminators or an atomic warhead all the same.


    Grox</a> are like pigs, but larger and smellier when alive and also taste a much better when grilled. I still missed pork chop, but that species was long extinct, along with most species from Terra.


    "And keep vox silence while there are enemies who can board your ships, by riding the vox beams right back onto your bridge." I ordered while sending an FTL transmit with deployment vectors to their command battlebarge.


    Only their Marshall Helbrecht had an FTL transceiver installed on his flagship, but it will do for now. Until he used his ship to ram something for another glorious boarding action.


    The Black Templars were a bit retarded, but I would take them all, in exchange for smart Dark Angels too likely to backstab you and his own Brothers on a mere whim or vision.


    Luckily for everyone, the Dark Angels and their successors were now battling Orks, at Piscina and Armageddon and a dozen other places.


    They could purge Orks for the next millennium for all I cared.


    A dozen Nova Shells struck the last remaining Chaos battleship, breaking it into a hundred small burning fragments and exterminating all life aboard, including the cultists, the Orks, the Tyranid gaunts and a million materialized demons.


    It was the epitome of stupidity to board such a ship for absolutely no gain, but brains were never the strong forte of the Templars.


    Fortunately, there was a Forge World right here to replenish my munitions and provide the various Astartes forces with equipment for their Auxilia forces, because I was getting tired of paying for that from my own large pockets.


    Soon enough, I landed at the Fabricator''s spire to conclude the deal, and castigated the Archmagos for his poor protection of the gene-seed stock.


    It wasn''t ill intent, just the normal lack of common sense of the Mechanicus. In fact, Titan Legio Ignatus was so trusted they had Titans guarding the Eternity Gate on Terra itself. Pretty much rock solid on that front.


    "Here, a hundred STC fragments I have recovered during my travels and Space Hulks cleansing. They may need a bit of work to repair and make use of, but Hydra Cordatus surely has millions of archeotechnologists and Technicus Magi." I offered after the Farbricator slumped like a castigated child.


    The man took the dataslate and gingerly scanned the contents, all while spouting praise to Omnissiah and gushing machine oil all over his quarters. Nothing I haven''t seen before, but perhaps too exagerated.


    "Bastion Forcefields, anti-gravity tanks...so many lost discoveries. Even a small warpless engine! This engine might fit onto Astartes Strike Cruisers too...like those 30 such ships in orbit right now." The Fabricator exclaimed in a real machine joy, and hugged my armor in exulted friendship.


    "The Primarch has recovered the gene-seed and has it on board his Red Tear now, until your Forge can prepare a secure location for it. Like a deep underground shaft, lined with blackstone and Gellar fields. And then guarded by a million skitarii and battle-automata. You can''t expect a single Imperial Guard regiment to protect such a valuable target, Fabricator! What were you thinking!" I accused loudly and poked his head with a singer finger.


    "... I understand Lord Lancefire. I will do my best to make sure the gene-seed of Dorn is kept safe. Primarch Sanguinius was more delicate, but he also said much the same." the techpriest grumbled and tried to offer me wine.


    "I don''t need wine, Magos. Nova Shells, torpedoes and replacements for my losses. You heard about the new Tyranid Hive Fleet?" I asked in a gentler voice.


    "Some news, yes. Mostly panicked reports from a thousand Imperial star systems, that went silent soon after." he said while powering up the galactic map to pinpoint the red dots of known enemy presence.


    Pretty much what I expected. But I also knew some of the future.


    "I''ll head to Gryphonne_IV</a> then. That Forge World must not fall, so I''ll need everything you can offer for deep space battle and Exterminatus options. Vortex warheads for the big Hive Ships and Atmospheric Incinerators for infested worlds. As for my Astartes Brothers, the Ragnarok tanks seem quite easy to manufacture. In fact, there are factories on Krieg that mass-produce them in the thousands." I proposed while I examined his trade list.


    Stolen from its rightful place, this narrative is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.


    Some good things too, especially the plasma guns.


    "...Yes. But to provide them with blackstone armor won''t be that easy. Unless you have knowledge of a mining world nearby?" the Fabricator asked sneakily.


    I nodded and poked at Sangua_Terra</a>. "Here, but you will need to construct plenty of defenses and a planetary Gellar field. Too close to the Eye of Terror for the Great Enemy not to notice. I also have a megatonne of blackstone aboard my vessels, which is a gift. And that Space Hulk that arrived here seems to contain a gigatonne of free metal. Quite lucky for it to have emerged right on time, to block that Chaos Battleship from escaping."


    The bionic eyes blinked twice at me, as he switched the map to his star system and examined the debris with long range auguries." There are a thousand new asteroids too! Some contain titanium and iridium, even platinum. The Space Hulk will need to be towed and processed in our orbital smelters, reforging the adamantium and plasteel... by the Might of the Omnissiah! This week has been only a miracle after another, from the return of Sanguinius, to saving the gene-seed stock, discovering STC patterns and now abundant metal for my Forge!"


    I turned to stare into his optical sensors. "The Emperor knows you try your best, Fabricator. Your Legio Titans guard his Golden Throne, and I am his son. Well, grandson technically. The big winged guy is his son."


    "... I see. Hard service is sometimes rewarded, with even more work. But my Forge never backed away from work. As for the new Deus Ex Machina demi-legion...you seem to have made good friends with the Machine Forge in the Eastern Fringe. Not that I ever seen this type of Imperator-class Titan before. Another lost pattern?" the Magos wondered with no ulterior purpose.


    "I wouldn''t know about Titans. They are attached to my fleet, but autonomous under their techpriests and Princeps. House Lancefire has Knights though, and for a small price I''m willing to share our STC patterns. Even the secrets of the Lamenters'' Leviathan Dreadnoughts." I offered with a giant smile.


    By the next month, while repairs and supplies exchanged places, a new deal had been made. A billion young women per decade, drawn from nearby Hive Worlds, a new Manufactorum ship loaded with techpriests and Forges for my distant kingdom, and a promise to construct a million system-corvettes and Drop-cruisers by the hundreds. Not just for me, of course. I only wanted a dozen heavy cruisers with Nova Cannons. The rest could go to the Imperium and the other Astartes.


    It would take the Fabricator a decade to begin mass-production, but every little bit helped. I grabbed the available Sentinels and Hydras, even some Chimeras and Tarantula turrets, which will need to be refitted by my own techpriests and techmarines on board my fleet. It wasn''t ideal but I had to get going and start thinning out the Tyranids before they devoured too much biomass.


    As for my Primarch, I think Sanguinius was relieved to see me go fight the Tyranids, since he couldn''t quite control me as easily as he had his other sons. Plus being constantly reminded how stupidly he had died in a sword fight and how many mistakes he made during this training trip must have been taxing, even for someone as kind and compassionate like him.


    Sanguinius did gain a lot from this too, learning his limits and those of his Astartes, and absorbing entire libraries of historical and technical data. Plus he had Inquisitor Valeyne at his side now, with her own secrets and exotic powers.


    Just as I suspected, my dear lover followed the scent of power, choosing to insert herself into the inner circle of the future Regent of the Imperium, and thus gain influence over galactic affairs, rather than a mere obscure Rogue Trader with a bit too many secrets.


    I still had Amberley, possibly tasked with documenting my exploits and the anti-tyranid campaign, but I didn''t mind at all.


    The woman was amazing, in bed and outside it. Smart, witty, knowledgeable and a rather potent ally with her Null Rod Bone and the Alpha-level powers.


    On the way to Gryphonne, the fleet stopped to engage a dozen small splinter fleets and three Ork Waaghs, not wasting much ammunition for that either. Orks were simply ''collected'' as disposable ground armies, their ships stored for later refit, the Tyranids burned alive into nearby suns, with some exemplars stored for biologis research or a xeno-based Eversor</a>.


    Better even, since dropping a mind-controlled Tyranid Tyrant or Broodlord in the midst of a corrupted cult or treasonous House was likely as effective if not more effective than a twirling drug-addict with deadly power swords and toxic gloves.

 Ace 168

    No words can really describe the horror of Hive Fleet Leviathan. I will try and fail, just to give you a glimpse.


    Imagine a mountain, majestic and imposing, durable rock and sharp peaks jutting out.


    Now, imagine the pebbles, flaking off the abrupt slopes clinking away into a valley. And now, imagine that pebble is formed of millions maybe billions of molecules, viruses and parasites, unholy creatures with tentacles and claws and teeth.


    And now, imagine each and every one of those molecules is the size of a spaceship, kilometers long and filled with attack vectors made of bioplasma and more claws.


    After a month of burning through a dozen such pebbles, each formed from a dozen billion Tyranid bio-ships and their xeno cargo, my fleet barely made to it to Forge World Gryphonne IV, to lick its wounds and rearm.


    Our spacefighters were just gone, the weapons barrels worn out and distorted from too much firing, torpedoes expended, and missiles critically low.


    The cruisers had long scratches and gouges into their armor, the protective side-panels had been eaten away by acid bombs and all of our teleport room were out of atomic warheads and spare parts to repair the platforms.


    In a single year, my mighty fleet had been reduced to near refugee status, and the gigantic, humongous mountain that made the giant beast rising from beneath the galaxy with spinal thorns made of Tyranids Hive Fleets...it was actually larger.


    Devouring thousands of worlds, Imperial, or Ork and Eldar and dozens of other xenos.


    Not even the Necrons were able to withstand such onslaught, many robots just fleeing on board their Tomb Ships with barely any resistance, while the Tomb Worlds were being devoured for whatever traces of biomass or useful minerals the Tyranids needed.


    Of course, Necron Ships were quite valuable trade goods, so whenever possible I captured the ships and evicted the crew back into the bellies of the largest Tyranid Hive Ships, to give them a small indigestion.


    Quite the same with Orks and Eldar Corsairs, confiscating a thousand ships and allowing the xenos to battle other xenos inside the hungry belly of the flying beasts.


    They wanted adventure, and raids, or a gud fight? Well, I was glad to help out.


    Whenever possible, entire human planets were simple evacuated inside my tesseract, kept in stasis for a late release back in the Fringe. I was kinda picky though, and didn''t grab everyone.


    First because every human world had dregs and scum and criminals, plus the priesthood and the most nobles weren''t on my gift list. They could negotiate with the gangers for their lives, while waiting for the Tyranids to land, and then get eaten anyway.


    On the other hand, a slim and tiny woman named Ignacia_Horstein</a> requested my help, as the Rogue Trader was also evacuating some miners. Possibly stealing everything of value as well too, but her cargo holds could barely store enough gold bars and uranium rods to recover her investment in time and risk.


    By the time her ship arrived along us to my destination, we had become good friends. Sadly no sex, but an alliance was still made for a High Lord seat and some Dynasty marriages, plus covering the repairs and a warpless engine on her light cruiser.


    In the end, Ignacia confessed to having psyker powers and being slightly horrified of me and my soulless Blank retinue.


    "You''re being silly, my dear. Nulls are psykers too. Every living thing has a soul, it just looks different for Blanks. Psykers can also turn into Pariahs by inverting the nature of their soul, gaining nega-psyker powers instead. Banishing demons and all that."


    I whispered while squeezing her hand gently.


    "How...? Nevermind. I don''t really want to know, Lord Lancefire. It''s just a gut feeling that yells at me to punch your face and run away screaming." the woman murmured in an embarassed voice.


    Must be my amplified Blank aura then. Did not have quite this problem til now.


    "I understand. Still, you''ve met Stela, my ace pilot daughter? She''ll be 18 this year and piloted her Fury starfighter against the bugs for a year, scoring a thousand kills. And she even came back alive. I don''t have a Captain seat for her yet, but your cruiser could do well with a Blank Captain that will never fall to Chaos." I offered while drawing back a little to restore her calm.


    "The red-headed one, right? She''ll have to start as a junior officer on my ship. Work her way up and learn the tricks of trade for a decade. Just Stela?" Lady Ignacia asked while chilling her wine casually with a warp spell.


    Unlawfully taken from Royal Road, this story should be reported if seen on Amazon.


    "Stela has a small puppy as a pet, and eleven Catachan bodyguards. All women." I replied with a careless shrug.


    "Women won''t be a problem, since the crew will love them for sure. As for the puppy, your girl will need to clean after it. All right, Lord Lancefire! My ship will refit and hastily depart this war zone, possibly towards the peaceful Segmentum Pacificus. And if those five STC templates sell well to the Forges, you will have a loyal ally in me. Although, I''m pretty sure your Primarch can simply name you whatever rank you want." the Rogue Trader declared with a small grin.


    "If I gave you a Glorianna Battleship, my dear...how long could you keep it?" I asked instead, and raised an eyebrow ironically.


    "... Until someone stronger came around and took the ship, a cardinal or techpriest or Astartes... Perhaps you are right. When you gather enough strength, you can simply take whatever you want. Without strength..." the woman mused and struggled herself to come closer and shake my hand.


    "There will always be a place for you beside me, dear Ignacia. Head to Forge Graia first, and outfit your ship with a grenadier regiment and an armor battalion. Teleporting pads too, for bombs or boarders as needed." I advised her and made her wine glass vanish.


    A minor trick, but it should warn her off, from dubious paths.


    "My glass...you really are a psyker too? I didn''t feel any warp signature!" she exclaimed in awe.


    I held my hand up and made the lights dim visibly. "Very minor powers. I can''t become invisible or close Warp rifts, but that''s why I have Silent Sisters around me. One day they''ll have back their place beside the Emperor, like before. Before traitors took over the High Seats and corrupted the Imperium."


    "I wish you good luck then. I prefer staying outside the Imperium, for the usual reasons." Ignacia said politely and walked away, taking care to avoid Canis outside bite range.


    I envisioned a lot of surprise when that puppy in Stela''s arms grew just as large.


    Plus that red hair? Inherited from Elixa, just as her infocyte skills. Stela did not actually need a bodyguard. She was the bodyguard for Ignacia and her entire House.


    Soon after, I met with the Fabricator of Forge Gryphonne to arrange coordinating the defenses. A hail of pebbles were heading this way, and it was inevitable that some will get through the fleets and land.


    My armor and walkers were deposited at key locations, and fortifications were started for the infantry, while in orbit a giant network of asteroid forts and weapons batteries were being assembled in a titanic effort.


    Nova Cannons and shells became the main priority for production, then the new Ragnarok tanks in various configurations, from Conqueror and Exterminator variants, to AAA platforms.


    I mostly stayed in the system to help with ''procuring'' asteroids and Space Hulk fragments, while the cruisers ranged back and forth to bombard the approaching tendril with gigantic barrages of Nova Cannon bombardment and laying down Nova mine fields.


    Troops and reinforcements poured in from all over the sector, refugees as well, who were gladly accepted as workforce and troops.


    Forge Gryphonne tripled its population and production during a couple of frantic years, while millions of new Skitarii and thousands of battle-automata were converted from the more undesirable elements.


    And just as the Shadow in the Warp started covering the system, a Reality Cage sprang out around the planet, preventing the usual mass panic and rebellions associated with the influence of the Hive Mind.


    After this, the tendril split up to avoid the mine fields and devour the outer barren planets, which somehow had sprouted millions of Orks, out of nowhere.


    The landing spores were not intercepted, and billions of critters emerged to devour the Orks, who were a bit confused but glad to fight anyone on principle.


    Only they never finished eating, as somebody launched Exterminatus on those worlds, destroying half of the Hive Fleet''s feeder elements, in thirty separate events on different moons and planets.


    Nova Cannons finished off the low orbiting bioships, vaporizing thousands of them with each shot, and wounding even more of these gigantic critters, whom were forced to crash-land into seas of flame and boiling lava.


    Then lastly, just as a Vortex torpedo struck the humongous Hive Ship and broke it in two, everything got worse. Because, it can always get worse.


    The Warp rift expanded, pulled apart by a pair of giant hands, and a Great Demon emerged, followed by trillions of demons, thousands of Chaos warships and a trio of Glorianna Battleships, including the Planet Killer.


    I have tried to change history, and it seemed I had succeeded. I still had my hidden ace, and I will have to use it now.

 Lancefire 169

    "Incoming Vox transmission, the green Glorianna with the giant mouth." my techmarine manning the vox console announced with a snicker, and turned towards me with a knowing grin.


    Perhaps I won''t need to use my ace after all. A perfectly reasonable explanation just presented itself, since Mortarion</a> was brand-new to the amazing reality brought by my presence in the galaxy.


    No doubt, he had heard of his Brothers coming back, and somehow connected the dots to me, but that had been all the extent of his research.


    However, he did bring a giant demon with him, very likely Ku''Gath</a> The Plaguefather, which meant that regular munitions would be stopped without much problem.


    But I had more than regular munitions on me.


    First thing, my psych-out grenades detonated their phase-iron casings on board all three Glorianna Battleships, spreading Pariah bone ash and depowering the generals of the Chaos army, Ahriman and Perturabo included for completion¡¯s sake.


    And then, I just yanked the three idiots and their depowered retinue into my labyrinth, just as a Vortex grenade burst just behind the Greater Demon''s head and prevented more Warp fuckery from interfering with my plans.


    The fleet was already firing Nova Cannons at the incoming enemy, illuminating the void with brilliant blooms of sunfire, pretty much masking all augury sensors.


    I added some Nova Mines of my own to thin out the numerous escorts and then ordered a general cease-fire, to let the traitors duke it out with the Tyranids for us.


    Far to our left, outside their weapons range, I produced my captured Eldar fleet, this time without holding the crew at gunpoint to fire their weapons. There were trillions of Tyranids all around, plus Chaos forces and demons in front. It was death ground, and they would have to fight or die. "This is the price of freedom, Farseer. Organize your people and fight our common enemy." I spoke in her mind, while over 5000 Eldar warships were getting filled with Eldar recovered from Commorragh and other places, millions of them.


    It was a move I had planned for Cadia or something on that scale, but the Battle at Gryphonne surely qualified too.


    While the Eldar were getting themselves in a semblance of order, I flooded the Chaos ships with Orks and tyranids to keep the traitors busy, and most importantly, stationary.


    The Tyranid swarm was still reeling from the synaptic shock of their Hive Ships destruction, but nonetheless their Silence was still working and pushing on the Warp Rift, forcing it to close ever so slowly.


    As for the Greater Demon, it was still floating there, while missing its head. Well, the demon wasn''t actually a living creature that needed a brain to live.


    I wasn''t certain how to kill a Greater Demon either, unless using a Vortex torpedo to send it back into the Warp. But that would mean it got away, and will come back with even more vengeance.


    Plus the very likely probability of a Warp Storm forming, from too many Warp rifts merging together.


    "Resume firing, battlecruisers flank right and target the Warp rift, the rest fire on larger pockets of Tyranids." I demanded while leaning back in the command chair to direct our corvettes in a protective formation.


    For now, our back was defended by the orbital forts and our right by the Mechanicus fleet and the various ramshackle of merchant ships, mineral barges armed with mining lasers, Rogue Trader frigates and cruisers, Navy couriers and armed transport vessels, plus the Black Templars''s Crusade fleet and a dozen squadrons of Imperial Navy destroyers.


    I have tried my best to upgrade the refugee ships with as many lascannons and defense turrets as mechanically possible, and trained their officers into a minor semblance of naval coordination, so at least they wouldn''t shout over vox or shoot at each other by accident. Well, pretty much everyone flying on a spaceship in the galaxy was by default a mildly experienced veteran, or they wouldn''t survive at all.


    The techpriests had some really advanced guns on their Ark Mechanicus cruisers, even a grav-lance on their largest ship, and that surely did good damage on the larger Tyranid bioships, that were crushed under their own increased mass and compacted into leaking balls of bone and teeth, which then burst into a rain of mist and blood.


    If we had a thousand ships like that, I could take on Hive Fleets with little care, but alas, a single ship did not a miracle make. Or at least not that ship.


    On a whim, I sent a hundred Ork Roks right at the Warp rift, and urged that mind-controlled Warboss to massacre the demons on the other side. And then I added a dozen Tyranid ships and sent them towards the rift to follow, at a decent distance away.


    I wasn''t sure what they might find on the other side, but demons and lots of melee combat was close to statistical unity.


    "My lord, the Great Demon is regenerating his head." Rafen whispered in a wary voice.


    Yeah...I didn''t quite have a definitive solution for that. I urged the Serenity''s Machine Spirit to fire the Nova Cannon straight at him, but a clawed hand caught the shell and stopped the detonation with barely any damage.


    The tale has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the violation.Like I said, conventional weapons were rather useless.


    Throw Tyranids at him and keep him busy I guess. There were plenty Tyranids around, rather too many.


    I was quite certain the Greater Daemon could butcher them all eventually, but it would take a long time and the butchering would include myself and my allies, just for sport.


    Not that the damn daemon would wait that long. With a psychic scream, the thousands of poor Tyranids bioships I threw at the green-winged monster were halted, then decayed into dried husks and rotting flesh.


    More Tyranids then. Maybe he could get tired?


    I piled up millions upon millions of Tyranids next to him, and even added some Dark Eldar Pain Engines for a combined assault, which only seemed to amuse the big demon, as he ripped them to shreds of distorted organs and metal limbs.


    Fucking sakes, Greater Demons were truly bullshit!


    Oh well, I could only keep going and wait for the Warp rift to close. More Tyranids!


    A giant ball of Tyranids'' bioships was grabbed and displaced around the creature, while millions more were flung at the Warp Rift, and I even added a couple psych-out grenades near both targets.


    "Funny tricks human!" a distorted voice resounded in my mind, and the Greater Demon began hulking his way towards my ships, simply tearing through Tyranids like they were made of foam.


    More Tyranids, and lance batteries!


    The Eldar surely saw the impending doom and struck at the demon as well, searing his wings and boiling off the skin, but that was all they could do. It was rather a desperate situation, confronted with something like this.


    So I stood up and mounted my helmet, then loaded the stormbolter on my shoulder with a phase-iron magazine.


    I would have to deal with the daemon myself.


    "Lord Pef! Are you really?" Amberley asked a bit confused, as I turned my visor towards her.


    "You''re coming too, Inquisitor. Your pretty ass might get flat, if you only sit and don''t stretch your legs at little." I commented wryly, making the bridge crew snicker until an Inquisitorial glare silenced the room.


    "So you think my ass is pretty, my lord?" Lady Vail wondered while standing up and examining her behind in a teasing move.


    She couldn''t see my face as I grinned under the visor. This will hurt later, but it had been worthy.


    Rafen gestured a thumb up for my manliness, and my daughter Pauline at the engine console slapped her forehead dramatically.


    Yes, the mood had become cheerful again, which was rather the point. "Helmet on, Inquisitor. Harsh vacuum and chaos plagues might damage your gorgeous face, and we wouldn''t want that." I retorted with a small snort, as the thermal auto-senses noted a slight increase in temperature around her cheeks.


    Compliments work as well as any miracle.


    Then I gathered a dozen Silent Sisters with stronger Null auras and stepped out, right as the green hulk beast arrived in front of the battlebarge.


    Amberley pointed her staff and did something warpey that slowed the Chaos daemon, and Sister Letitia slashed at a flailing tentacle turning it into dreams again.


    "I''m going to drain the marrow from your bones!" the creature proposed amicably, and immediately tried some warp spell that splashed over the combined null shields like a green vapor.


    It was going to be a stupid melee fight after all, but that didn''t mean I lacked protection.


    I also kinda liked my bones as they were. "A trillion cretins dreamed you into existence, demon. But you have come to the right place, to die!" I replied in a casual voice, and took out a certain lance and just stabbed him into the gory stomach.


    The demon-lance  weapon extended  to impale its enemy, and drain its essence.


    With a slurping sound, the lance began sucking his marrow into itself, while Chaos runes lit up along the elongated shaft of the lance, making it be covered in Warpfire and red energy. It must have looked fabulous from the distance.


    In a minute, the Greater Demon was gone, and the lance retracted by itself to digest the meal. It also practically purred in my hand, seeming quite energized by this event. We wanted more, a lot more! A trillion souls to feed our hunger!


    "Lancefire! What is that thing?" Amberley yelled at me, shaking me awake.


    Damn it. Almost got me, sneaky lance!


    The demon weapon vanished back into its Nexus slot, kept separate from anything else inside a kilometer thick blackstone tomb.


    I took out the Necron wand and cleaned everyone like a traffic security agent in a spaceport, before returning them at their posts.


    When only Amberley was left, I touched our helmets in a clumsy embrace. "That my dear, is a dangerous weapon that only a Lancefire can use. It was once held by the Emperor himself." I explained in a serious tone, and not even lying.


    Made it sound as something else, but even if she asked the Emperor one day, it would still be true.


    The Emperor did hold Drach''nyen</a> once, while extracting it from his stomach.


    Anyways, I had my true Lancefire now and the weapon test was complete.

 Pebble 170

    A minute later, I returned in my command chair, to check on my loot and continue my current mission, the defense of Forge Gryphonne.


    I was only interested in the Planet_Killer</a> battleship modified by Abaddon with that giant Dark age of Technology beam cannon, which was exactly the kind of weaponry humanity needed to defend itself.


    This type of cannon could be probably constructed by most Forges once an STC pattern was provided, and even a single barrel beam instead of eight would transform a light cruiser into a potent battlecruiser when talking about sheer firepower.


    Of course, Trazyn wasn''t the sort to work for free, but perhaps I could trade Ahriman for that. The guy should be historical enough for a museum piece.


    So I checked the tesseract, opening the sorcerer''s armor for...and he was not inside! Damn future reader had vanished, and left me a damn Rubric marine in his place!


    I immediately began scanning the Chaos fleet once more, then the whole star system, even checking Eldar ships and my own. Absolutely nothing.


    "I think Ahriman escaped, somehow..." I muttered in slight disappointment.


    Amberley glanced at me curious, then back at the holoscreen. "The Sorcerer? I doubt he was that important." she answered in a casual voice.


    Perhaps, perhaps not. The traitor Librarian was only second to Magnus in psyker powers, and Magnus was only second to the Emperor. Someone like that...could cause a lot of damage, even to people or places considered protected by Blank auras.


    All psykers were inherently dangerous anyways, but Alpha level psykers were orders of magnitude more capable. Add to that a space marine''s enhanced mind, and a dozen millennia of experience with warp spells...Ahriman could prove a thorn in my side.


    A problem for another time anyways. I had Mortarion and Perturabo locked into blackstone cells inside the bad labyrinth, still covered in phase-iron dust and Pariah ash. Line the walls with Tyranid bioships and their Silence, and they shouldn''t cause much problems for a while. Killing them would require the cursed weapon, or they''ll just reform back into the Warp and return for blood. My blood.


    Meanwhile, the Orks had managed to gain some control over the Chaos battleships and started firing their weapons in all directions, so I urged their Warboss to concentrate on the Tyranids.


    I even helped with that, sacrificing a couple of Tyranid Narvhals to tractor the battleships towards the main Hive splinter, and getting the critters blasted to bits by Orks and eaten by the other Tyranids who didn''t quite tolerate traitors to the race.


    As soon as they entered weapons range, the battleships suffered a couple of plasma warheads right beside the main engine conduits, leaving them adrift but still able to fire.


    All right then, the trap was laid and the Tyranids would have to eat their way through 25 kilometers of adamantium armor and the millions of Orks and cultists on board, right inside the optimal range of our Nova Cannons.


    A perfect shooting gallery, for all three fleets holding the line above the Forge World.


    The Eldar proved increasingly better shots as time passed on and their new crews got organized better, while my own fleet didn''t quite need to aim perfectly. A single Nova Shell had a kill radius measured in dozens of kilometers of area damage.


    Sadly, my poor allies on the right flank fared the worst, no matter how valiantly they fought. Improvised or outdated weapons couldn''t hope to stop trillions of tyranids, and they were forced to retreat slowly behind the line of orbital forts.


    The Eldar sped away on the left, trying to maintain a safe range to engage their enemy. I still had Ork Roks to throw as bait, and I did, while rapidly cycling through the tesseract to grab bioships and deposit them into the sun.


    With such a convenient disposal method, I was certain to win in the end, unless I got too tired or the numbers overwhelmed me.


    "Bring me a liter of recaf." I asked without turning, focused on the battle and safeguarding my ships and my allies.


    At least the Chaos and the Ork forces proved a great distraction, allowing us to destroy billions upon billions of bugs with near impunity.


    Even the smaller demons helped, especially with the smaller size Tyranids like flyers and spores, which proved easy prey for the winged demons.


    A case of theft: this story is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation.


    Many of them also tried to make their way to their original target, meaning me. But I could always block their advance with more Tyranids. There were always more Tyranids.


    However, by the next day I was falling asleep in my chair and more and more Tyranids got through, even managing to land on the Forge World and engage the defenders with billions of creatures, pushing through despite my best cheating tactics.


    There were just too many...coming from every angle, from every side.


    So I started releasing Dark Eldar ships manned by more Orks, even sacrificing two dozens priceless battleships for this task. The darklight lances of those ships were even more powerful than Eldar beams, plus whatever improvisations the Orks tried


    which rarely resulted in more dakka, but instead catastrophic failures and even an engine detonation that shattered a nearby moon and killed billions of Tyranids with shrapnel the size of battleships.


    Finding myself at the limit, I also released some Necron ships right in the middle of the swarm, masking their appearance with a firework display of Nova mines.


    "These be the besties guns in the galaxy! Let''s loot the biggest teeth from the teeth bugs! Look how many teeth we can grab! Waagh!" The next Warboss proclaimed all over the system as gauss beams and soon hundreds of more exotic weapons demolished the Tyranid advance.


    I saw a Necron Scythe Ship blur and rush straight at the largest tendril, somehow mincing its way through a trillion tyranids before exploding in a green forcewave, ending the mental connection with that Ork boss.


    "Fall back behind the forts!" I demanded with my last effort at staying conscious.


    And then I fell asleep, and found myself in a flame lit cave. Beside me, a sleeping beast opened a red eye to watch me in hunger.


    "Weak mortal. Even with all those tricks of yours, you still failed. Use me if you want to live." the beast claimed in an enticing tone.


    Yes, we could rip that Hive Fleet to shreds...just let go. Become the Lancefire.


    I held my hand out, and the beast morphed into a burning lance, lit up with distorted runes that seemed alive.


    A rush of energy coursed through me, filling my mind with dreams of glory and conquest.


    No. I had absolutely no need for glory. Glory was dangerous.


    As for conquest...I squeezed my hand tight and made the weapon cry in pain while a black shadow gathered around me.


    "You will learn your place demon. You now serve me, or else!" I shouted in a silent voice, while my black aura crushed the beast and made it bleed and scream in agony.


    Damn demon weapon will learn to obey, or it will die. After all, I was the main hero of my story, and it, it was just a myth from superstitious humans.


    "Stop! It hurts...you can make me feel pain!" the beast pleaded and resumed its original shape, a giant mouth of teeth and spiky limbs, tail clenched under my armored fingers.


    "...It''s decent start. Now, fuel the fire and let me sleep. Maybe one day you might feed again, if you behave." I grumbled and fell asleep again...entering the familiar desert where the Red Thirst had plagued me, and maybe killed me.


    There was only Ludvaius here, giant hammer in his hands while sitting on a pile of white rocks.


    "This place is rather boring now, Captain. No heat, no thirst...only white bones." he admitted and turned his head towards me, bionic eye replaced with the same red eye from before.


    "Yes. It''s how the final victory looks like, my friend. We will make a desert and call it peace." I mused thoughtfully, scanning over the bleached desert of dried bones and skulls.


    "And you have never lost a battle, nor do you ever plan to, right Pef Lancefire? On the path you have walked...there are no more enemies left, because you only move forward. A trillion trillion enemies, they mean nothing in the end. Only ash and bones." Ludvaius claimed as his eye began glowing gold, pushing me away and back into my captain chair.


    I shook my head in confusion, and struggled to unclench my right hand from the armored arm rest.


    Visions sucked!


    That was not Ludvaius, only something or someone using his form to connect to me.


    Probably Ahriman, if he was this skilled. Most likely he was.


    Anyways, a short nap wasn''t bad. I felt energized and ready to take on a fleet. Maybe even a Hive Fleet.

 Purge 171

    Checking the time with the Machine Spirit, I found a gap of 13 seconds between my subjective memories and the objective timeline as recorded.


    Chronal incontinence, they call it, when the present changes without anyone noticing it.


    "There is a Blackstone Fortress to our right, Pef. It wasn''t there before." Amberley remarked in a calm voice, although I could see her hand clench on the Null Bone Rod.


    I checked with my eyes and the tesseract, to find the Black Lament had arrived during my power nap, or perhaps because of it.


    Captain Chyron guarded the Mechanicus Throne, while a Blank pilot sat in the chair, right hand inserted into the control holofield and directing the mighty weapons.


    Nova Cannons, lance batteries and a dozen other weapon systems battered the Tyranids back, but the main weapon was a black beam of death, leaving only dead corpses on its wake.


    "Much better than a mere battlecruiser, right dad?" Janice spoke in my mind, while her face lit up in a naughty grin.


    The Fortress still lacked the carrier bays, but at least the three sectors that housed the weapon batteries were already operational and keyed to the command chair.


    Well, Janice would be the most qualified person to sit in that chair, in the entire galaxy. For now.


    "You''ll have to teach Aeneas how to do that. Can''t have an Adepta Tertia do such low work, after all." I commented with a mild voice, while observing my daughter for changes. Meeting the Emperor rarely left someone unchanged, especially this Emperor.


    Beside the new silver hair, she seemed much more mature and perhaps even in pain. Deep lines of rictus and beads of sweat covered her forehead, possibly from battling the Machine Spirit of the ancient weapon, or simply enduring the backlash of that Immaterium beam.


    "...Yeah. Maybe later. I can''t stay long here. By tomorrow we need to depart for Ophelia. Not your Eldar friends though." Janice muttered with a frown.


    We? I scanned the Blackstone Fortress to find a squad of Adeptus Custodes and more Silent Sisters guarding the most vital installations, such as the Gellar generators and the main reactor, plus the black beam''s focusing crystal.


    And they were not Sisters that I''ve met before, still using the old style armor and the ugly face masks. Most likely from the Luna garrison then, known as the Somnus_Citadel</a>.


    None on the command bridge, but Janice was by now well-beyond the need of having bodyguards. She was the strongest being around, for thousands of light-years at least.


    Even Chyron in his powerful Dreadnought chassis was possibly only allowed in recognition for my Chapter''s ownership of the ancient fortress.


    "You shouldn''t be here, Captain. I left you on Illevar, to keep watch over the Starfort and the recruits." I spoke to my disobedient subordinate.


    "...Unavoidable circumstances, my lord. Lady Janice had Emperor''s House codes, and his Custodes to enforce them. Your son Victor has moved on the fort for now, with his Blank retinue, as per your own contingency protocols." Captain Chyron explained unfazed.


    Contingency in case of a major invasion or Imperial interference. Well, this qualified to some extent. It wasn''t an Inquisition purge, or some Mechanicus punishment fleet, but the wording was left vague exactly because some Imperial forces were hard to define.


    Anyways, the Hive Fleet melted under the assault of the Black Lament, while my six thousand corvettes and the Legio Gryphonicus</a> bombarded the Tyranid ground forces with Titan scale weaponry, aided a billion other troops, combat servitors, Skitarii, PDF regiments, Lamenters Auxilia and the techmarine guard, plus Knights and the Leviathans Dreadknights supported by the Deus Ex Machina demi-legion.


    The Black Templars Astartes got to enjoy melee combat with Tyranids like they hoped for, because despite our combined firepower, from orbit, air and ground the Tyranids kept coming, jumping over mountains of corpses to reach our defense lines.


    They didn''t have flail tanks and autonomous turrets like my forces had, so the Templars suffered great loses in the melee, not that they seemed to care at all.


    Then again, the Templars always had thousands of neophytes already waiting on their Crusade fleet for the chance to become full Battle-Brothers and die gloriously in battle.


    And even flail tanks, no matter how awesome they seemed, even them couldn''t always mince through millions of enemies, flails breaking or jamming from bone shards and too much blood.


    Knights and Leviathans had to intervene with Power Weapons to rescue encircled formations or drag back damaged tanks.


    By the time Janice and the rest of the fleet finished annihilating the Tyranid tendril in the void, I had lost over a hundred Lamenters and half of my Auxilia forces, while the Templars were left with less than a dozen wounded Astartes and nearly no more serfs or armored vehicles.


    Our duty had been discharged, for a terrible price. Forge Gryphonne IV had been saved with the loss of most of their combat forces, and most of the surface installations. Only the deeply protected Manufactoriums and Titan Forges were left, while the planet was scoured of any sign of life, millions of burning craters and a trillion bleached skulls, still glowing from radiation.


    Even the Eldar had lost half of their ships, because Tyranid claws and teeth cared little for holographic defense fields. Fake projections were no defense when mountain-sized mouths snacked on your wraithbone ship, after all.


    The tale has been illicitly lifted; should you spot it on Amazon, report the violation.


    "A thousand battles like this one will be needed, Farseer. Return to your people and tell them what you saw here." I spoke in her mind.


    "...I will, Astartes. And I will also tell them you have a Talisman of Vaul." The Eldar woman replied with scorn. A monkey with a spacegun in her eyes, most likely.


    "That Fortress is now the Lamenters'' base. Such a wonderful artifact deserves to be my home, right? But who knows, maybe if the Eldar do their part, I will allow them to obtain the last one, when it appears at Cadia. Knowledge of the future is such a wonderful gift." I mused in a light voice.


    The Farseer did not reply, instead ordering her fleet to run away towards a Warpgate, eager to return to her Craftworld.


    I was curious what will come of this, as Eldar were rarely sane enough to carry out negotiations and trade.


    Or worse, when they did try to negotiate they only caused more misfortune for themselves, or causing the very disaster they were trying to prevent.


    Soon after, I transferred my headquarters on the Black Lament, bringing aboard all my space marines and Auxilia regiments. There was enough space inside for a dozen more Chapters, because the damn thing was big.


    Then, I just crashed into a sleepless dream, while my fleet travelled to Ophelia_VII</a>, where Janice had been tasked with a mission by the Emperor.


    What mission? Yeah...it was not to sing praises to the Sisters of Battle.


    We arrived just in time to engage another Chaos fleet, led by a Greater Demon called the Tyrant_of_Blueflame</a> and a certain Chaos sorcerer.


    The crazy psyker was busy looting a monastery when my tesseract located him, and I snatched his Black_Staff</a> first, before trying to depower him with another psych-out grenade detonated at the back of his head.


    Yet again, there was only an empty armor inside my tesseract, much like Trazyn only obtained empty armors when trying to collect an Eldar Avatar.


    The Force Staff was the real thing though, so at least I had a valuable item to trade now.


    As for the Tyrant, it tried to escape into a Warp Rift once the tides turned, only for Janice to appear in front of him and slap the Warp portal away with a careless gesture. "You don''t look so strong, blue bird." the Blank Psyker commented with a grin, and held her own Force Staff towards the creature, twisting it in mid-air.


    "Please Lord Pef! Let me eat him." my own demon pleaded in my mind.


    With a light step, I appeared beside Janice and considered the next course of action. Should I give her this burden though?


    Yeah, no. I have lost enough children already.


    "Let me kill him for good, Janice. Otherwise, it will just reform in the Warp." I proposed with a gentle voice, and speared the creature on the unholy lance.


    In a minute, the blue Greater Demon had its essence drained away, and the fire on the lance seemed even brighter.


    All over the planet, the Adepta Sororitas awoke from their nightmares and began fighting back with songs and flamers, purging demons and heretics, while Penitent Engines and arco-flagellants were released upon the unbelievers, like a horde of tiny Eversors, pumped full of combat drugs and hypno-prayers.


    My own troops helped where needed, protecting valuable libraries and the Convent_Sanctorum</a>, while I dealt with the more messy part of the purging, expelling cultists, Chaos marines and cardinals alike into the sun.


    By next day, only loyal servants of the Emperor remained on Ophelia, and unfortunately some more visible bishops and priests who didn''t cower inside their altars.


    Oh well. They could be burned publically then. The purge had arrived and with it the displeasure of the Emperor.


    "Sisters, you have been deceived long enough. The Emperor has tasked me with reforming the Adepta Sororitas, and you will all obey." Janice explained to the leaders of the Sisters, while flanked by Adeptus Custodes in auramite armor and Silent Sisters with grim outlook.


    "You''re a witch!" a devout Sister shouted, outraged at the insolence.


    I sighed inward. Another one for the pyre then. "Your agreement is not requested nor required, traitor. You will all obey or just die. It''s all the same to me." Janice answered with a kind smile, while the traitor burned alive in warpfire.


    "The Holy Synod is the ruler of the Orders. You cannot command us, no matter what powers you have." A cannonness from Orders Dialogous</a> interjected in a legal argument.


    "The Synod is gone, Sister. Primarch Guilliam, the Imperium''s Lord Commander, has executed all those traitors three months ago, using the Emperor''s Sword. Primarch Sanguinius is the new Ecclesiarch and the Regent of Terra. And I am Adepta Tertia, in charge of you, and the Silent Sisters as well. Isn''t it wonderful?" Janice asked in an angelic voice, spreading golden wings of light behind her.


    I vanished back on my Fortress, leaving Janice to show off her powers.


    Damn it, Adam! You stole my daughter and gave her a ton of work. The Adepta Sororitas were everywhere, on every Imperial world, and even outside the Imperium.


    I had hoped for an Inquisitorial Rosette, maybe a Lord Inquisitor rank...not a trillion nuns with guns.

 Phaeton 172

    All over the galaxy, Tyranid and Chaos attacks had begun to spread with rampant violence and bloodshed, and astropaths were being flooded with requests for aid from thousands of worlds.


    Well, only hundreds of such pleas in the Ultima Segmentum, mostly because I had massacred the enemies of humanity in that part of the galaxy for a century, stomping on the largest threats and burning down all the enemy worlds that tingled my memory for their part in hosting attacks against humanity. Primarch Guilliman had also helped strengthen the armed forces of the segmentum, raising a million new Imperial Guard regiments and establishing new Sentinel Worlds.


    Still, the Forge Worlds were the lynchpin of any effective defense, beside the mighty fleets of the Imperial Navy. I wasn''t too worried about the Forges in my backyard, since I had been providing them all they needed to withstand anything but a full Tyranid Fleet or Black Crusade. From better STC patterns, then extra minerals and advice on defense measures and up to Reality Cages and Bastion forcefields.


    But in other sectors of the galaxy things were not going so well, despite the efforts of Primarch Khan to save the Forsarr_Sector</a> or Primarch El''Johnson''s brilliant stratagems at Armageddon.


    The numbers of the Tyranids were too great, and the constant defections of Navy ships and Imperial regiments or Governors to the Chaos did not help at all.


    Hopefully, with Primarch Sanguinius on Terra and Primarch Guilliman''s new anti-corruptions measures the Imperium could be reformed.


    Plus other measures like the Adepta Tertia could enact now, using the Adepta Sororitas to enforce Imperial Law wherever they had reach. And the Sisters had conclaves and priories everywhere, and only needed a coherent strategy and direction.


    After cleansing the Cardinal World and its star system of any signs of invaders, my fleet departed for Forge World Phaeton</a> to conduct a new trade deal and emergency repairs and resupply.


    Before I departed from Ophelia, I had given Janice a course in common sense measures and a library of STC patterns to implement among the Sisters, plus half of the Silent Sisters aboard my fleet, those pregnant or nursing a young baby.


    Janice would have liked all of them, mainly as enforcers and army commanders, but that will have to wait. The numbers of Blanks were still too small, and placing all eggs in one basket was risky.


    Defeating the Tyranids had been costly, as my army was reduced from 10 armored and 50 regiments of heavy infantry to less than half, plus the near-total loss of our Tarantula and Guardian turrets.


    Even Knights and Titans had been lost or damaged, although the pilots were transported out and remains of the walkers had been recovered for repair.


    The only good thing that had arisen from that giant debacle was the implantation of new recruits with the gene-seed of fallen Lamenters, which was proven to grant a measure of Warp resistance to the new techmarines and no sign of Black Rage.


    The Red Thirst would still be a constant problem, since the genetic flaw was present in the gene-seed itself. However, I did steal some Imperial Fists gene stock at Hydra Cordatus, enough to fill the ranks with 500 new techmarines.


    At Phaeton, I found a Rogue Trader Lady named Yassilli_Sulymanya</a> with a slight heresy problem. She was planning to travel to Terra and lay her claims in front of the new Regent of the Imperium. And as it happens, that Regent was exactly my Primarch.


    I was mildly amused, and filled the woman with confidence and a healthy dose of my own gene-seed. I guess Yassilli was quite desperate to accept my offer.


    Later, as she rested her exhausted body in my bed, I drew her curvaceous body close and gently raised her chin, so she would stare into my eyes. "There are many kinds of truths, my dear. But you have to remember that truth itself is mutable. As for the Emperor being a god or not, you need to investigate the nature of godhood itself. A simple farm girl from a Feudal World might raise to become a Living Saint, flying on wings of light and battling Greater Demons on equal terms, while singing praise to the God-Emperor of Mankind. Meanwhile, even an Astartes Primarch might fall and become a tool of the Ruinous Powers. The truth had changed, and it did so by the intervention of a higher power. "


    "You''re saying the truth is subjective?" Lady Yassilli grumbled in displeasure.


    "Reality itself is mutable, my lady. Willpower and psyker powers have been proven to distort reality, from Warp Storms and materialized demons to the Eye of Terror itself. When the Eldar civilization fell into debauchery and senseless pleasure, most of them all died and were subsumed into an Immaterium entity given sentience. We call Slaanesh, the Lord of Excess or the fourth Chaos God, but its nature is more akin to an Abominable Intelligence gone rampant. The remaining Eldar use the Craftworlds'' Infinity Circuits to resist it, or the World Spirits of the Exodite Worlds to recycle their souls back into the new generations. And those Eldar psychic machines are very similar to our own Machine Spirits, only a billion times stronger." I explained in a gentle voice, while my fingers traced old scars on her soft skin.


    "...And now, those humans that die truly rejoin the Emperor in afterlife?" she wondered with a deep frown.


    "Well, you''d have to discuss the nature of afterlife with Sanguinius. He had been roaming the galaxy and the Immaterium for millennia in Angel form, until he returned to his old body. However, the Emperor is now a trillion times stronger or even more. His dreams on the Golden Throne are empowered by the daily prayers of quadrillions of fervent believers, all over the Imperium and beyond. Acts of valor and sacrifice are often rewarded with miracles, and those of his bloodline can often call on his aid and receive it. Primarchs and Astartes foremost, but others as well. He was once a Hastati</a>, a soldier in the Legions of Roman Empire of Terra...about 42 millennia ago. And the lines of Hastati infantry were supported by the better armored Principes</a>. And, what do we have now? Lines of Astartes infantry supported by Titan Princeps in their mighty armored walkers." I said in a thoughtful voice.


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    Not to mention that Astarte</a> was a goddess of war worshiped all over the lands touched by the Mediterranean Sea.


    "The Roman Empire, huh? Nothing is known now about them. Those ancient lands have long been devastated by atomic warfare, and then plated over with giant Hive Cities and Administratum palaces. But the words written in the Lectitio_Divinitatus</a> show that many worshiped the Emperor even before the Horus Heresy. It even begins with Lorgar''s own claim. Rejoice, for I bring glorious news. God walks among us." the woman whispered in a soft voice.


    I chuckled amused. "I killed Lorgar once, you know? He is probably back to life now, but his words were false then. A god has no need to walk. The ancients had a famous proverb on the nature of godhood. Why would a god need a spaceship? See the irony here?"


    Lady Yassilli sighed and slapped my chest. "I can''t even tell what''s true from your words. Are all Primarchs able to come back to life? Is that proverb a real thing?"


    I smiled genially and answered a simple "Yes"


    "You''re impossible!" the Rogue Trader exclaimed in fake outrage, and I decided to take her for another tumble.


    Repairs to my fleet would take time, as would replenishing the turrets and waiting for thirty Catachan regiments to arrive at Phaeton. Might as well enjoy the downtime.


    Even better, Forge World Phaeton had a buried STC constructor under their main spire, which would take some time to unlock and provide the Forge with all its amazing patterns. Also, the constructor provided a convenient method to insert a hundred Tau-source technologies into the STC data librarium, plus a thousand various templates of my own or Trazyn-enhanced design.


    That took a bit of work, as even my Astartes fleet, the Inquisitorial Rosette and my bountiful gifts of STC patterns and megatonnes of blackstone were barely sufficient to allow me to access the priceless and holy Altar Mechanicum.


    But once I was inside the scented shrine, connecting to the STC constructor was proven laughably easy. I did have Inquisitor-grade Clavis</a> overrides that worked on nearly all Imperium technology, and I was not afraid to use them.


    Working with a constructor was amazingly simple, very possible by design. They were created exactly to allow colonists easy manufacture for defense machinery on new worlds, and thus required minimal expertise in computer systems.


    Even techpriests had few problems selecting and confirming the printing requests, although it took them days of prayers and rituals to sanctify and appease the holy machine.


    In less than a year, I had my Auxilia forces upgraded with the best possible equipment, from new tanks, gunships and fighters to Armed Sentinels and turrets. We did consume most of the Forge''s stores of precious alloys and rare minerals, but I considered it a fair trade for everything I had offered them. Minerals could be purchased or mined, but knowledge was not so easily obtained.


    Even their Fabricator agreed, and thanked me a hundred times for the giant help I provided.


    "You can thank me by building ships and weapons for humanity, esteemed Fabricator. Focus on Strike and Drop-cruisers, plus tanks and dropships. The Adepta Sororitas will need everything you can build for them, as they get reformed back into proper Imperium''s armed forces instead of the Adeptus Ministorum lackies. Their Pariah Sisters will need Leviathan Dreadknights by the thousands, while the regular Battle Sisters will need omni-sense auguries and plasma fusils for their Armed Sentinels.


    Billions of Sentinels, plus ships and dropships to transport them into battle." I demanded while making it sound like a profitable contract.


    "...The Adepta Sororitas? Well...they are the richest client in the galaxy." The Fabricator mused thoughtfully as the galactic map lit up with known Sororitas strongholds. At least a million of them, and those were only the known ones.


    "Indeed they are, with donations from all the devout believers filling their coffers . You will need their help to reclaim the blackstone mines from Trantis</a>, although I recommend you bring at least 30 torpedo destroyers and a dozen Drop-cruisers. The Necrons will not be easy to cleanse." I offered while pointing at the mentioned Necron World on the holomap. Might as well have him work for those blackstone minerals, and foster cooperation with Janice''s new organization in the proper Imperial way, righteous fury, bloodshed and fire.


    The Fabricator stared at me for a moment. "This feels like I was given an order, Lord Lancefire." He muttered not too pleased.


    I poked the Aquila on my chest in response. "These two heads here, they represent the Emperor and the Forge. We are the Imperium, Fabricator! Right now, I have to head to Forge Agripinaa and save that Forge from another invasion. That is my duty, and this is yours. You make the tools and I use them to crush heads and purge xenos. And the Sisters enjoy a good purge too."


    The Magos chuckled and poked the Aquila with a metal tentacle. "Yes, duty. At least you do your part, Pef Lancefire. I will do mine too, with my hammer and anvil."


    I shook his limb in agreement. "Any experiments with Necron technology, use a lifeless star system and disposable techpriests. Exploding suns and machine-eating viruses should not impede production of this Forge."


    Then as a final example, I took out my Necron Silver cube and vanished from his quarters, appearing on top of the thousand kilometers-tall spire.


    It made a great view, but I should have worn my helmet first. Vacuum was harsh on the skin.

 Headache 173

    Travelling out of Warp had many advantages, but the most important right now was the ability to stop at every interesting place on our way, for example rich asteroid fields or Ork infested systems, where I could loot everything of value.


    And since our course towards Agripinaa took us right by Forge World Voss, it was a great opportunity for more trade, the Lancefire variant. STC templates and blackstone, plus Ork ships filled with precious minerals and xeno weapons.


    I even met another Rogue Trader named Saorise_Romalla</a> here, and arranged a new alliance. For her I had a different task, exploring the Tau space and the newly reverted worlds of the Hadex Anomaly.


    She would need Blanks and armed forces to conquer that sector and the thousands of livable planets it was certain to have.


    And as it happened, I did have enough pull with the Voss Forge_World</a> to arrange for a dozen Catachan regiments and their transport spaceships to be ''permanently detached'' to Trader Romalla and her new exploration mission in the Eastern Fringe.


    The rest of the Favor, I traded it for more Tarantula turrets, thousands of light vehicles and nearly all their stock of ammunition. From bolter rounds to grenades and missiles to more Nova Shells and torpedoes of every kind.


    Lady Saorise would need to stay and upgrade the troops to Lancefire standards, meaning improved Ragnarok tanks and Armed Sentinel walkers, plus warpless engines and a Nova Cannon for her cruiser.


    With two armor regiments and ten of heavy infantry, my new ally should have a good chance at pacifying most of that sector. Plus, it would be the nearby Machine Forge to supply and repair there for free.


    More Rogue Traders will be needed there, as the closing of the Anomaly had unintended consequences, allow xeno empires to expand into the rich and unexplored region, including the Tau and the Demiurg.


    A billion new stars were now available for conquest as the star lanes cleared, and I wanted all of them for humanity.


    Sure, you could stand on any planet in the galaxy and look at the sky, and see the Imperium of Man spread all over the galaxy. But that reality was also false. The Imperium was thin beyond belief, and Ork Worlds and Necron Tomb Worlds outnumbered the human worlds ten to one.


    Unexplored worlds outnumbered known worlds a thousand to one, with most of those ''known'' worlds being hidden from the Imperium by Navigator Houses, rapacious Rogue Traders or Astra Telepathica relays and support stations, plus Mechanicus research and mining worlds. I know, because I was hiding thousands of worlds myself, after all.


    Even the Solar Segmentum itself was poorly colonized and explored, billions of star systems still awaiting discovery due to turbulent Warp currents and Warp Storms.


    It wasn''t yet time for a concerted human galactic conquest, but that time will come.


    Primarch Guilliman was already calling for an ''Indomitus Crusade'', meant to unite the Imperium again and re-conquer all the lost worlds.


    Merely tens of thousand of worlds and it was already a gigantic effort, even for a galactic-scale empire.


    A month later, my fleet arrived at Forge World Agripinaa</a> ready for battle. However, the system was oddly quiet. Not even a hint of a Chaos incursion, which was great but also worrisome.


    I was certain I recalled an attack by the World Eaters should happen about now, and I hoped to arrive by surprise and demolish that invasion.


    Nevermind then. This Forge had STC patterns for a special type of tank cannon mounted on the Leman_Russ_Eradicator</a> variant. A miniature Nova Cannon, firing miniature Nova Shells.


    I wanted that cannon for my forces, and thus began a long trading session with a suspicious Fabricator and his Conclave Cohort, a dozen high-ranking techpriests with different specializations.


    Luckily, I had Inquisitor Vail on my side, to help smooth out various legal problems and religious conflicts.


    Plus I did bring megatonnes of gifts, and plenty of work contracts.


    It took us three months to finalize the technology transfer deal, in the shape of a hundred Leman Russ turrets with the Eradicator cannon mounted on a Ragnarok chassis, plus a complete copy of the original STC template.


    Of course, a better tank cannon was good in itself, even if the effective range was quite small, but that wasn''t my purpose here.


    If a battleship-grade cannon could be miniaturized into a mere tank gun, then further miniaturization would be easy enough for a certain kind of orange primates.


    Can you imagine bolt pistols firing tiny Nova Shells? Or rotary bolter guns firing thousands of them per minute?


    I wanted that for my troops, to replace the regular bolter rounds with something a dozen times stronger, that would simply disintegrate any enemy armored infantry in a single shot. For example Chaos marines or Tau armor suits, not to mention Necron Warriors or Tyranid organisms.


    My own Jokaero smith was busy with the Dark Eldar blaster pistol, also known as the Chekhov Gun. Trying to integrate it with a ''regular'' Hellgun pistol of Imperium tech, for ease of maintenance and recharge, plus the obvious advantage of looking nearly harmless and shooting battleship-grade darklight beams.


    My forces had been completely resupplied and trained by this point, and I was starting to search for another destination when the Warp split open to reveal the invaders.


    Only it wasn''t merely a Chaos Fleet of World Eaters. Night Lords</a>, Black Legion</a>, Thousand Sons</a> and Death Guard</a> plus a trillion demons and a couple of corrupted Glorianna Battleships the Conqueror</a> and the Nightfall</a>, going by the Machine Spirit''s identification codes. And beside them, a horde of Dark Mechanicus ships and Daemon Engines.


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    Sadly no Primarchs this time, nor a certain Ahriman.


    "Fleet wide, all sensors on autistic mode. Agripinaa, power up all Gellar fields now!" I commanded, as I sunk into my seat and the Tesseract vision.


    A good part of the Chaos Fleet was somehow protected against teleport and dimensional displacement, including all the Dark Forge Temporia</a>''s capital ships. A veil of purple shields covered those ships in impenetrable dimensional fields, as were the Gloriannas and a dozen Chaos barges and battleships.


    Very clever on their part, somehow figuring out a way to protect themselves from my cheating weapon.


    Then again, Dark Mechanicus had no compulsion from inventing new devices, and nobody to investigate them for heresy.


    We would have to slug it out with the bigger ships, not that it worried me in the least.


    The Black Lament unleashed the initial Nova Cannons salvo among the thousand of escort ships, and I displaced a dozen more Nova mines at key locations, exterminating nearly all Hell Talon starfighters and billions of flying demons.


    "Contact above, Captain. Eldar fleet!" my daughter Pauline exclaimed in surprise.


    I saw them a second before, as the Necron tesseract did not need to receive gravimetric sensor readings.


    "Ignore them for now. All fighters and corvettes disperse in Beta pattern. Cruisers flank left and protect the planet. Battlecruisers and barges form on the right, battleships advance beside the Fortress." I ordered out loud, while sending the exact vectors to my fleet.


    They were flying nearly blind now, so every course correction and decelerating maneuver would have to depend on my second sight for accuracy.


    Unlike Tyranids, the Chaos traitors would have advanced Machine Spirits and auspex sensors as well, even inhabited by demons.


    As expected, the capital Chaos ships kept on course, heading relentlessly towards the Forge World and firing their capital grade weaponry towards the planet. And since a planet could not change trajectory and speed on its fixed orbit, it might as well be a stationary target.


    Macrocannon shells, plasma bolts and lances and torpedoes streaked across the void to impact the planet''s surface, causing a thousand new craters on the already pockmarked world. Forge Agripinaa was close to the Eye of Terror, and had been attacked many times in the past, and thus it was also known as the Orb of a Thousand Scars. Two thousands scars now, but who''s counting?


    Assault shuttles and heavy landers followed, filled to the brim with cultists, traitor marines and distorted tanks and corrupted Titans. A textbook planetary invasion, which might have worked except for a tiny out of context problem. Me.


    The cruisers fired their own Nova Cannons at the invading army, and I added my own store of Nova mines and the expensive invasion force was destroyed before it could enter the polluted atmosphere.


    It was likely this wasn''t all their landing forces, but they wouldn''t have that many shuttles and landers remaining now.


    A planetary invasion depended on three factors for success. Orbital superiority or at least contested space in orbit. Secondly, space and air cover for the landing troops usually achieved by heavy fighter escort and orbital bombardment of air defenses.


    And thirdly, a constant stream of landers and shuttles to provide troops and logistic supplies on the ground.


    Tyranids and Chaos had a distinct advantage with winged space fliers, but landers were a different issue. I must have killed three thousand Chaos marines just from this minute long engagement, and I had enough Nova Shells to fight a Tyranid Fleet.


    "Carrier Icarus is being hit by some kind...and it''s gone." my XO muttered in disbelief.


    I narrowed my eyes in near anger. Sure, a converted mass-conveyor wasn''t a real warship, and void shields were little defense against gravity lances, but that strike was too sudden. I only managed to grab the bridge crew before the entire carrier crumpled like a paper bag.


    "Let''s return the favor then." I muttered in a cold voice and inserted my right hand into the Blackstone Fortress''s command holofield.


    The Machine Spirit parsed my demand at the speed of thought, and opened the controls of the Immaterium beam.


    ''Target that Ark Mechanicus!'' I urged the Spirit, and willed it to fire.


    Whatever defense the Dark Mechanicus had on their battleship could not withstand the Blackstone Fortress for more than a few seconds, and then the death beam just sliced through, killing everything on board, from heretek techpriests to infested logis-engines and demonic cogitators.


    I felt my own stomach try to explode out through my throat, and fought that impulse for a long minute.


    Meanwhile, the battle continued without my supervision, corvettes firing torpedoes and capital ships pounding at each other with all their batteries.


    Hordes of demons were being mowed and splattered by our point-defense turrets, while the Aquila interceptors and Fury starfighters engaged bombers and enemy torpedoes.


    "What''s wrong, Lord Pef?" I heard Amberley ask in a concerned voice to my side.


    "The backlash of that Immaterium weapon is very strong. I guess we won''t be using that again." I grumbled as I tried to clear my head.


    "... At least that heretek ship is dead in space now." the blonde Inquisitor whispered to herself, just as my Black Lament fired the Nova Cannons again.


    I fired everything at the two Gloriannas, blowing out the prow of the first and the superstructure of the second. Tough old bastards, both of them.


    "Torpedo impact in two seconds! One...and the Conqueror is gone too." Pauline exclaimed from the augury station, sounding proud.


    I sighed inward and leaned back in my chair. A hundred more capital ships to kill, plus a trillion demons. A long day ahead, and my headache was getting worse.

 Demon 174

    Slowly but surely, the Humanity''s fleet reduced the numbers of demons and Chaos ships, until only the bastions of the Dark Mechanicum remained and a core of Chaos battleships protected by dimensional shields of unknown origin.


    I suspected a long-lost STC variant of a Void Shield, possibly amplified with demonic rituals.


    However, the truth remained that I couldn''t directly affect those ships, and our loses were climbing with every minute.


    The traitors had also changed strategy, using teleports to reach the surface and kidnap menials and other lower caste serfs, then trying to massacre them in hasty summoning rituals.


    Didn''t work that well for them, as I could intercept most teleporting groups and expel into the sun before they could cause much damage. Plus, there was a Reality Cage enveloping the planet now, which also reduced the effectiveness of any psyker.


    They noticed that as well, and soon the Chaos fleet began firing directly towards the planet''s surface, most likely attempting to breach the Void Shield defenses over the geomagnetic pit where the device had been installed.


    "Corvettes spread out in squadrons and target all the cruisers now!" I commanded over the secure vox channel.


    A sensible order which would either force the Chaos ships to change target, or get destroyed.


    "Teleport beam detected. Redirecting. Redirecting failed." my techpriest muttered as current began flowing back from his shield console and frying his circuits.


    ''Intrusion! Scrap code in the vox console box. Rites of hermetical seal engaged. Purge the heretic!'' the Machine Spirit proclaimed directly into my mind, just as the Vox console sputtered and blew up in a shower of green sparks.


    Damn it. Even with all my precautions, the Dark Mechanicus had still found a way to intrude into my command and control network, targeting exactly the vox channel I used to command the fleet.


    Even worse, a group of Black-robed techpriests and hundreds of their Daemon Engines were running loose on board the Black Lament, avoiding the security turrets or simply destroying them with machine precision and speed.


    My fist clenched as I grabbed the intruders and exiled them in the sun. "Decks 43 to 95, begin purification and find out what the intruders tried to do." I commanded on the Manifold circuit, sending a task force of techpriests and a Company of Lamenters to escort them.


    My Blackstone Fortress was great, but also too big. Enormous, even compared to large Imperial ships like battleships. The Void Shields and the Gellar fields could not cover the entire thing, not yet.


    Janice had halted the upgrade process before the battlestation was ready, eager to grab the fortress and complete her own mission. Possibly a good idea at that time, but it also gave me more headaches.


    "Draw strength from me, Lord Pef." Amberley whispered, holding a warm hand on my cheek.


    I sighed inward, knowing this will hurt her greatly. But needs must, and she could help by using an accidental discovery from bed play.


    Just as I could darken a room by draining electricity from lamps, I could drain a psyker of magic power, and fortify myself. All Pariah did this automatically, but I disliked things happening outside my control.


    I trained over the past year to exert this pull at will, although my training had killed a dozen Tyranid Zoanthropes and an Ork Warphead.


    Gently, I allowed Amberley''s light to enter me in a thin trickle, just enough to refresh my mind and empower my soul.


    "Don''t worry. I can bear this for an hour." the blonde Inquisitor continued while grimacing in pain.


    "Good. This might take less than an hour now." I replied in a calm voice, my eyes closed as I needed to use the Tesseract for vision, and the Sounding Board inside for mental communication with my fleet.


    For as long as I could maintain control of the fleet like this, I had thousands of fingers to play a giant 3D simulation, a semblance of a Hive Mind and just as effective.


    Trajectories and focused attacks on certain ships, dispersing other squadrons or grouping them for better point-defense cover. I doubted the Necrons had ever used the Sounding Board like this, since the empathic link required a close connection with the target mind. Someone like a friend or family member, and as it happened I did have my family as Captains and XOs on every single Lamenter or Lancefire ship.


    The Navy ships from Battlefleet Agripinaa</a> and the Mechanicus fleets of the Basilikon Astra</a> were not included in this mental network, but then again I didn''t really need them. They could hold a defense orbit and protect the Forge World while my ships advanced and neutralized the threat.


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    And so we did, using a displaced Warp vortex missile to breach that dimensional shield before converging a dozen corvettes to launch their payload of 200 plasma torpedoes and then speed away.


    Three waves later, the second Glorianna broke up under the tremendous damage, just in time. The last Dark Mechanicus ship turned away and started running away, much too fast for any normal pursuit to stop it.


    But I wasn''t willing to let it run. Their attack of Agripinaa would have certainly succeeded without my presence here, and they could share their knowledge with the other hereteks in the Eye of Terror.


    "Lord Lancefire. We have found blood sigils and purple ichor crypto-glyphs painted by the traitors on inner walls and conduits. Gellar field strength in the vicinity of the cursed inscriptions is reduced by 50 percent. And some of them seem to spread by themselves. Purging ineffective." the lead techpriest reported from deck 66.


    Switching my attention on the infected decks, I moved some available Silent Sisters to assist, and hoped their Pariah powers could suppress the magic spells.


    Those Dark Mechanicus had a lot to pay for. Clever bastards, but luckily I had a cure for their madness.


    Out of nowhere, a pack of Tyranid bioships appeared in the path of the fleeing heretek battleship and grappled it with hungry mouths and claws.


    The heretek priests fought back with dozens of exotic weapons, some effective, some not. The ship even managed to open a Warp Rift to escape. In the end it didn''t matter. The dimensional field was breached and I had them in my grasp.


    Millions of smaller Tyranids appeared inside the runaway ship and began devouring any biomass. Cultists, acolytes, fleshy Daemon Engines and corrupted techpriests were eaten greedily and hungrily, while I primed a few gifts inside the emptier hangars and cargo bays.


    With a wink, the Dark Mechanicus battleship vanished from reality and returned to the Warp, carrying a payload of ticking bombs and hordes of hungry Tyranids.


    Amberley withdrew her hand as the last ship and its grappling escorts vanished from the holomap. "This was a close call. And now I need a long bath and a week of sleep. Perhaps in the reverse order." she muttered in a tired voice.


    I nodded towards Captain Chyron and he escorted the Inquisitor to her rooms, both for her protection and ours. An Alpha psyker was always dangerous, but most of all any psyker was dangerous when reaching the limit.


    A psyker could turn into a Warp portal in a moment of weakness, and that wouldn''t be pretty.


    The remaining demons flying about were turning into strips of purple light and vanishing back into the Warp as well, helped along on the way by constant lance and point-defense fire from all the defense ships.


    The Imperial Navy had lost 2 cruisers and 1 battleship to invader demons and teleporting saboteurs, as well as a dozen of escort destroyers. The Mechanicus fleet look lighter loses, mainly from their system corvettes and starfighters.


    Meanwhile, I had lost a precious carrier and 300 corvettes, plus most of my starfighters. Almost 10 percent loses to a Chaos fleet for which I had thought us prepared.


    This costly victory had pointed a number of weak points in my fleet, especially in command and control, as well as physical and spiritual defense.


    But the sad thing? All those ships we destroyed? The corrupted space marines and techpriests? They were once Imperial assets, turned against humanity.


    And soon enough, more defectors will join the Chaos cause, like they always did.


    It was a losing battle, as with every ship and Astartes made, a portion will turn traitor and need to be destroyed. The more troops humanity made, the more troops it gave the Enemy to use against us one day.


    Loyalty was the hardest currency to maintain in this doomed universe, and soon it will culminate in a huge push, towards Cadia and then Terra.


    It was inevitable, and humanity would lose greatly even if they won. For they carried the seed of their destruction inside their souls.


    I mused on this for a long time, fighting against sleep and tiredness. I also carried a demon, and my demon was too waiting for a moment of weakness.


    Every victory and every kill I gave it, the stronger it would become.

 Brink 175

    Repairs took weeks to complete, as the battle had strained most ships'' systems to their limit.


    Reactors needed refueling, weapons needed cleaning and spare parts, not to mention replenishing missiles and torpedoes, plus the Nova Shells and drop pods.


    It was much easier this time, due to the very Forge World we had been defending. Their techpriests worked arduously side-by-side with my own, not just to repay the unspoken debt but also to have a chance to examine new machines and analyze their battle effectiveness in comparison with their own.


    The Deus Ex Machina demi-legion received extra care, since their advanced weaponry and systems put to shame the god-machines of the Legio Praesidium Vortex</a>, since every single one of them had atomantic reactors and shields, self-repair devices and long-forgotten weapons of cataclysmic power. And then, there were Knights and Dreadknights, armed with fearsome weapons as well, plus new devices like Logic Shields and blackstone armor covering the battle carapace.


    However, unlike other Space Marine Chapters who guarded their secrets jealously, my Lamenters not only allowed the Mechanicus examination but welcomed it, adding their advice and expertise from wielding these mighty walkers in combat.


    Luckily the ground combat had been sparse, mostly due to my own personal efforts to keep the orbit safe and destroy most invaders before they could reach the surface.


    A month later, just as I was filtering through thousands of pleas for aid and support from other places under attack, a single transmission sparked my attention.


    There was a Cardinal World called Shadowbrink</a> which normally I would have gladly ignored, leaving the rabid Ministorum priests to their fate.


    But, as Sanguinius took over the Imperial Cult and Janice had leadership over the Adepta Sororitas, I had a different view on the matter now.


    Plus, I smelled precious loot on the horizon, and a chance to exterminate another Hive Fleet tendril. Multiple reasons to go there.


    And I still had to finish dealing with the leader of Agripinaa.


    "Fabricator, I expect your Forge World to expand a hundred times over the next century. Import eight billion people from nearby Hive Worlds, and in doing that clean up their underhives of gangs and criminals for extra servitors. Set up more Planetary Gellar fields and Bastion forcefields over Hive Cities, and orbital defense forts. Plus, don''t forget you owe me a fleet carrier." I demanded from the Archmagos, who nodded slowly.


    "Suggestion acceptable, +welcomed. Statistical certainty of increased attacks on the Imperium, from Tyranids and Chaos both. Acquisition of lost STC patterns, +++welcomed. Fleet carrier pattern-Icarus will be provided to your Dynasty." the techpriest replied in a monotone voice.


    I smiled inward at his antics, as there was no need to speak in techno-lingua, but he reverted to it due to familiarity.


    "Your aid in repairing my ships is welcomed as well, Magos. As for blackstone deposits, I can suggest mining it from the world of Zapennec</a>, although you''ll need to clear out the Necrons dormant under the surface. And lastly...the Eldar. They were helpful this time, correct?" I asked rhetorically.


    "This time, Lord Lancefire. But they will inevitably betray the trust and attack humanity again, when we feel safe. Over the millennia, this simple fact had been proven beyond doubt." the techpriest argued with a logical tone.


    "Perhaps it is so. But I have a glimpse into their reasoning, Fabricator. As a society, they are all psykers and led by even stronger psykers, their Farseers and Phoenix Lords. They receive visions of threats and impending doom in a certain place, or from a certain person. And then they act on that vision, causing the very disaster they were trying to prevent. For example, they would see a certain traitor Primarch destroying dozens of their Exodite Worlds. And what do they do? They would seek the guy out, and try to negotiate and appease the traitor with gifts and threats. You can imagine the rest quite well, using simple logic." I explained in a slightly amused voice.


    The old Magos chuckled as well. "A fallacy of reasoning indeed. They would invite retaliation on themselves, by trying to act mighty and knowledgeable with a demented and corrupted Daemon Prince. I can extrapolate their conduct now, Lord Lancefire. This precious data will be forever inscribed into the noosphere, and used to anticipate and defuse further incidents from the Eldar. Any other such advice?" he asked curious.


    "The Necrons are split into enemy Dynasties right now, and we should take care to keep it that way, much like we do with Orks. The Tyranids revert to feral state once their controlling organisms are killed. Also, the Narvhals bioships have to be targeted with priority to prevent them using gravity propulsion, and slow them down a thousand times. And keep in mind they adapt by ingestion of biomass, so every time they eat a new world, they gain new traits and abilities. And for Chaos...Gellar fields everywhere, then many more Null Rods and Blanks. Converting humanity entirely into Blanks would solve that problem, one day." I said and raised myself to depart.


    I could see the cogs spinning inside the techpriest''s mind, as his logic processors analyzed my words and calculated thousands of possible variations.


    "When it is possible, I shall send a Manufactorum ship to your Machine Forge World in the Eastern Fringe, Lord Lancefire. All crew formed from female techpriests and enginseers, to provide your Blank sons with more wombs. Genetic Blanks are very rare though. Chance of success for this proposal, less than one a billion." he estimated after a minute.


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    "More than that, my friend. My own Blank descendants number in the thousands now. And they have children and their children have children. It has only been four generations since I''ve started but I estimate six more generations at most, until everyone under my rule will have Blank genes. A billion becomes ten then a hundred, and then a trillion. Our galaxy has fewer stars than that." I replied with a soft voice, and vanished.


    Time to depart for Shadowbrink, and en route enjoy the Blank harem and my blonde Inquisitor. It was my duty after all, and this duty was always very pleasant.


    And if both parties enjoyed the experience, even better.


    By the time we reached the besieged world, I had 200 new pregnant women settling in the nursery ward, detached from combat duties and resuming a teacher role for the Lancefire kids, plus their own lessons.


    There was no reason to deny the Blank women a full education and technical expertise, and every reason for it. With their prolonged lifespan and immunity to the Warp, I could gain a new force of loyal tech and combat experts as there was always more to learn. From machine systems to melee tactics and grand strategy, I had filled the neural chairs with millions of data-stack libraries.


    The Lamenters had their own stores of knowledge, from herbs and drugs to weapon maintenance rites and observed enemy patterns and counters.


    For my own project to work, I needed to integrate both forces into one. Possibly expanding the ranks of Apothecaries and techmarines with Blank female recruits, using MIU implants instead of gene-seed to enhance their abilities.


    There was no rule about preventing women as medicae and tech support in a Space Marine chapter, and not even the harshest examination could claim I was overstepping my bounds with hidden Battle-Brothers.


    And lastly, this was a way to prevent the disconnection from humanity that most Astartes experienced by living among only their Brothers and the Chapter serfs. A woman''s touch was often more delicate and gentle, both when repairing a machine or body or even a damaged psyche. What better way to make my Astartes sons feel at home on this black and dour battlestation, than by living among their own family?


    As the fleet entered the star system, we began blasting away at the incoming Tyranids, and launching our corvettes and starfighters for extra defense screens.


    The planet itself had only a modicum of defenses, three defense platforms and a squadron of old Cobra destroyers.


    But they also had a small garrison of Grey Knights, which will make my endeavor a little more complicated. The armed gangs called the Frateris_Militia</a> would be of little use, and quite a flagrant violation of the Decree Passive forbidding the Imperial Cult to have men under arms. I could see millions of men with arms quite clearly, led by Confessors and Preachers, digging trenches and chanting praise to the God Emperor.


    Stupid attempt at defenses too. Trenches were quite useless against swarms of hungry insects. It wouldn''t protect them one bit against sharp claws and teeth, nor against psychic storms and fear auras of the Tyranid Zoantropes and Broodlords.


    My drop-cruisers rushed towards the planet to provide increased defenses, just as heavy landers departed filled with my regiments and heavy walkers.


    Land combat was a certainty with the impending Tyranid invasion, while the Grey Knights presence guarding the Dark Age of Technology relics was another worry.


    Soon enough, servitors and Armed Sentinels began digging rock and unloading it into steel-wire cages, one meter on all sides when unfolded.


    A cheap and effective way to construct field fortifications that could actually protect troops and create overlapping fields of fire for our Tarantula turrets and Hyperios missile launcher</a>s.


    The Hive City of Rossov was under direct command of the Grey Knights, and they seemed reluctant to allow my troops and techpriests to provide extra defenses, so we established improvised forts on nearby hills and on the slopes of a moutain range some 30 kilometers away. A bit too far, but still in range of our heavy artillery.


    The far side of the Hive City to the east was left unprotected, except for flanking fire from the nearest bastions to the north and south. With only weeks to spare, Void Shields, Gellar fields and Bastion forcefields were emplaced to protect our troops,


    while munitions and troops debarked and prepared to receive the invaders.


    Millions of civilians fled into the Western perimeter, because few were allowed inside the capital. Mainly Nobles and high ranking priests and their retinues.


    This meant a larger logistic strain on my forces, as the civilians had to be housed and fed, while also preventing them from going nuts and fighting my troops or each other.


    Generally, I wouldn''t be worried about the safety of my troops when faced with civilians, but millions of people panicking and rioting would cause me extra headaches.


    So I sent my contingent of Sisters to oversee the civil defense, while Armed Sentinels and Knights served as construction machines for improvised shelters. Squat walls of wire and rocks, plated over with blackstone plates, meant as replecement armor sideskirts for my corvettes. Durable and Warp resistant too, blackstone plates would serve great for this temporary post.


    We also had to chase away every Militia contingent, because rable rousers were not welcomed. Not even their Preachers were allowed in, since my troops were not allowed in the Hive City.


    Plus they would serve as a great distraction when the Tyranid landed.


    For the other celestial bodies in the system, I prepared about 50 Ork Bands to attract Tyranid splinters away from the human planet, a strategy that should allow me to defeat each splinter in detail, much like I tried at Forge Gryphonne.


    I crossed my fingers and hoped for the best.

 Rich 176

    The one constant in 40k? It can always get worse. And it will.


    Fending off the Tyranid assault should have worked, even when hamstrung by the very people we were trying to defend.


    The fleet did its job, massacring Tyranids by the billion, while the ground troops fought valiantly to protect the Western Perimeter, the area found between the capital and the nearest mountains.


    We had stone walls ten meters high, with Titans and Knights firing in support, then attack drones and Interceptors in the air, plus corvettes and Drop-cruisers proving low orbit fire support.


    In places, the wall was ten meter thick as well, to allow tanks to provide heavy weapon fire in support of the artillery. Armed Sentinels and Tarantula turrets, even the less-impressive maned Sabre_Gun_Platform</a>s added torrents of medium grade lascannon and autocannon towards those Tyranid organisms that managed to reach the surface of Cardinal World.


    But those damned Grey Knights! It was almost like they wanted to be the cause of the Fall_of_Shadowbrink</a>.


    The poor Hive City had one exposed flank, and not enough firepower to halt the Tyranids at the gates. Millions of lesser organisms, supported by Zoanthropes and Maleceptor</a>s smashed their way inside the Hive City, and began feasting on the locals, despite feeble attempts by the Grey Knights to resist.


    So I ordered ten corvettes on a sacrificial run, and crash-landed them, to form a wall of armor and firepower on the east side of Rossov. Their iridium-tungsten armored hulls were taller than the defense walls, and the broadsides of lascannons and point-defense turrets were able to fire on both sides, halting the progress of the Tyranids and creating a wall of fire to support the misguided locals.


    And then, the inevitable fuck up began, as one of those ancient relics called the Maelstrom Cradle, began to activate by itself and opened a portal into the Warp, right underneath the Hive City.


    The cretins did not bother with Gellar fields and soon the city was infested with both Tyranids and demons.


    "Lord Pef, we detect a major Chaos incursion to the east, where the Hive City is. We do not have defenses covering that sector. The perimeter is compromised!" General Regina announced in a wary voice.


    I cursed inward, while focusing on an alternate solution.


    "Acknowledged, General. Stand by for extraction." I replied on the Vox channel, and instantly did that.


    Three billion people vanished from the face of the planet, including everything of value that I could grab. My troops and equipment, including the modular rock walls, their tanks and Titans and everything else recoverable.


    Even a pair of Grey Knight Dreadknights</a> and all their squads, dead or alive, were stored into the tesseract as well.


    And then I began retrieving animals and tools, weapons and munitions, while also stealing away all the relics and machinery from the planet, ancient and new.


    In a minute, the deserted planet was fought on only by demons and Tyranids, while I deposited the last million bioships right on the ground, around the fallen capital. The space was clear and my ships returned to their carriers, while the fleet moved away, followed by the last Cobra destroyers of the defenders.


    And then, I sat up from my command chair and returned the leader of the Grey Knights right on my bridge. "Name and rank, Astartes." I demanded in a cold voice.


    The silver-armored Librarian looked around, to find a dozen Blank Lamenters staring at him with angry eyes, and a blonde Inquisitor playing with a ball of arcane lightning, flipping it in the air with one hand.


    "I am Brother-Librarian</a> Cadulon. This is your Blackstone Fortress, Lamenter?" he replied with his own question.


    "He appears to be sentient, Lord Pef. I thought you said the Grey Knights are mindless robots." Amberley commented with a wry voice.


    I smiled widely at her, then turned towards the idiot psyker, all wrapped in purity sigils and sanctity runes.


    "And before that, Librarian? What name were you born with? On what world, and what year?" I asked in a gentler voice.


    "...That''s...irrelevant. I am now Cadulon, the hammer of the Emperor!" the psyker declared, sounding proud.


    "What you mean, is that your identity has been erased. What is your chain of command, Astartes?" I continued in a soft voice, while holding a palm flat towards to floor.


    My sons lowered their weapons, as ordered.


    The Librarian glanced around with suspicion, finding only Blanks around him and his psyker powers ineffective should it come to blows.


    "My Grand Master, and above him the Ordo Malleus of the Holy Inquisition. Above that, the Supreme Grand Master of the Chapter and finally the Emperor of Mankind himself." the man claimed, looking around for some way to escape.


    "I see. So there is basically nobody to punish you for doing what you did. Or so you think, Librarian Cadulon. You will be taken to Terra to answer for your crimes, and if you''re lucky you''ll be burned on the Astronomican. If that''s not possible, I''ll request you be turned into a Pariah instead. Very useful gift that one, right?" I asked rhetorically while turning around towards the holoscreen.


    "Inquisitor Vail, it appears Shadowbrink has been infested with demons and Tyranids. I propose Exterminatus." I spoke in a level voice. More and more Tyranids and demons emerged from their bioships and Warp portal, battling each other in a massive concert of claws and wings and psyker spells.


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    She stepped beside me to observe the magnified images. "Indeed, Lord Pef. It appears our efforts to save this Imperial planet had been obstructed by this...Librarian. Having his soul fuel the Astronomican should be the appropriate penance." Amberley mused in a thoughtful tone.


    Cadulon let out a grunt, while watching the same scene. "This is what I tried to prevent! But the seals overloaded during the Tyranid assault."


    "Of course. I am not claiming you''re a traitor, Grey Knight. I am saying my troops could have protected the Hive City just fine, and yet you refused. Not only that, but you failed to protect the Hive City, letting the Tyranids breach its walls and massacre millions of civilians, thereby activating that Cradle relic with their deaths and blood. But the good news is Primarch Sanguinius has returned, and now rules the Imperium of Man as its Regent. You''ll have the chance to explain yourself to him, before he decides your fate." I answered in a casual voice.


    Worlds were lost to the Imperium every day, and at least this time I had managed to recover most of the locals. Sure, there were still plenty of fanatic Militia and Preachers on the surface, all of them in fact.


    They kept the enemy distracted, and even killed some of them.


    "Something big is coming through, Lord Pef. One, two, three, four Greater Demons!" the Inquisitor proclaimed with a deep frown, the grainy pict-images from our landed corvettes distorting even more, once the big demons crossed into realspace.


    "I doubt they''ll be effective against the Tyranids, not while the Shadow in the Warp suppresses their powers." I commented in a lighter tone, like watching a sports event.


    The Grey Knight Librarian was not amused at all, falling to his knees in prayer, and mumbling to himself something about the dreaded Quadrifold Abominatum</a>.


    "I almost think you want them to win, just so you can kill them yourself with your fancy lance." Amberley grumbled while sitting down to watch the match.


    Zoantropes and Maleceptors bombarded the Greater Demons with psychic spells, while Tyrannofexes</a> and Trygons</a> advanced to battle them in melee. It was a battle of titans, and I almost felt the urge to jump into my Knight and join the fight.


    Almost. One on one, with Pariah shields supporting me was one thing. I was nearly certain to defeat a single Greater Demon, with my own. But a giant melee of billions of enemies would be hard to navigate, even with all my abilities and cheats.


    All I could do was watch and learn what my enemies could do, and deposit more and more Tyranids on the ground.


    Despite their terrific powers as Great Demons, when faced with the Tyranid Silence and their own psychic spellcasters, the demons weren''t faring that great, and sneaky plasma torpedoes demolishing their demonic supporters didn''t help either.


    One of the Greater Demons, a bluish bird, decided to retreat towards the Cradle but I wasn''t keen on letting that happen. Forty Tyranid Zoantropes teleported right in front of it, while a pair of Trygon bio-titans fell right on top of the cowardly Greater Demon.


    A howl of despair followed, and then the Greater Demon blew up under the concentrated assault. The other three Greater Demons fought on, butchering millions of Tyranids with plagues and blunt force alike.


    But the thing about Tyranids? They adapt to whatever enemy they face. Stronger bio-titans appeared, with larger claws and bone swords, ignoring the green vapors of plague and disease, and chopping and slicing at the demons with impunity.


    I wanted those adapted Tyranids for my own ''special army'' and for extensive Biologis techpriests examinations. New vaccines could be prepared by studying what the Hive Mind did to adapt, and one day humanity would have those kinds of immunities as well.


    As for those Grey Knights weapons, like a Gatling psilencer</a>, or a Heavy psycannon</a>? Well, surely Trazyn would be amenable to reverse-engineer them for me. And I bet he did not have a Grey Knight in his collection either.


    Humanity might have lost this world, but I will make sure we came ahead for it. The Grey Knights foolishly kept their anti-chaos weapons as a tight secret, when all the Imperium could use them and withstand Chaos with some degree of success.


    Even if only the Forge Worlds and the Astartes Chapters had psycannons it would be great, but the Adepta Sororitas had a million times more available troops.


    Soon enough, the last Greater Demon was shredded and sent back to Warp in tiny pieces by the Tyranids, and I got to burn yet another world. Not before I collected the Tyranid bio-titans I wanted, plus my well-deserved share of metallic asteroids and everything of value I could steal.


    My stores of torpedoes and Nova Shells were empty once again, and I had billions of people to resettle or convert into productive servitors for my own Forge Worlds.


    And even better, this Cardinal World had nine trillion thrones in its treasure vaults, a sum so immense it would be hard to spend.


    Nobody could sell me nine thousand torpedo destroyers or several battleships. Oh well. I guess I could increase the children suport program in my empire, plus purchase anything nice. I was rich!

 Pair 177

    Two weeks later, we returned to Machine Forge to some well-needed rest and repair.


    My ships were battered and scoured with craters and scars, the crew had seen more combat than an entire Segmentum Battlefleet and our regiments were on the brink of mental and physical exhaustion.


    I would have to rotate the troops, and send these people back on their colony worlds. Injured Auxilia troopers would need bionic limbs and organs, and all of their equipment would need an entire year to refurbish and upgrade.


    However, there were some good news too, as more Mechanicus ships had arrived with Manufactorum ships, even the promised one from Forge Cypra Mundi with the Nova Cannon experts.


    The coven of Ordo Xenos Inquisitors was back in force, a dozen new women escorting the six ladies I had close ties with.


    I could guess what they wanted, simply by noting their eyes measuring my body like a piece of prime meat.


    "My ladies, and honored guests. I hope you have found the Machine Forge to your liking." I offered as I gestured towards the full table.


    I was rich now, and could afford to offer any and all delicacies available on the market.


    "We have found this place very welcoming, Lord Lancefire. But generous table aside, we need your aid to complete our duties. Protection from psykers and Chaos corruption, elite troops as bodyguards and enforcers, and advanced weapons and scanners to combat xenos with same level of firepower and ability." A middle-aged woman explained with a level voice.


    I measured the woman with curious eyes. She wore a revealing dress which emphasized a generous bust and a belt filled with exotic weaponry and other devices.


    "I see you have quite the arsenal already, Lady Inquisitor. Eldar weapons, digital weapons, conversion shield and psych-out grenades...I suppose some power armor could help though." I replied demurely.


    The woman grit her teeth at my fake idiocy. "I once had to marry the scumbag Governor of Hive World Necromunda, just to reach his inner circle to investigate. Not the most pleasant job I had." she grumbled while pushing her breasts even higher. "Don''t make me beg to join your bed, Rogue Trader." she continued in a dignified voice.


    The other women blushed and looked at me under long eyelashes, while Amberley snorted in amusement. "The news spread fast, Pef. It would seem your body is a high-prized commodity in certain circles." she commented in a wry tone.


    "I see. I don''t mind a few more lovers, esteemed ladies. I can indeed help you all greatly, with knowledge and artifacts and troop support, plus access to my personal intelligence agency and various Mechanicus projects that investigate xenos species and weapons. Even your own Blank children and Null Rods to aid you against psykers or demons. However...there is the reverse of the coin to consider." I replied in a stern tone, while my eyes turned cold.


    Lady Adrielle nodded gently at my words. "I already explained that, Pef. You do not tolerate traitors, no matter their station. Especially Inquisitors."


    I chewed on the crispy grox meat as my eyes focused on each of the new women. Then I sipped some wine to clear my throat. "As long as we''re clear. I have killed Greater Demons and Inquisitors alike, plus corrupted priests and techpriests, Chaos space marines and traitor Primarchs. Plots and cabals formed inside the Imperium''s leaders have caused more damage than any xeno invasion. But here in the Eastern Fringe, I have complete power over everyone. We may lack the light of the Astronomican, but I can still reach anyone that disobeys me and crush them."


    "Can I study the C''tan?" a thin red-haired Inquisitor asked in a soft voice.


    I locked on her with a glare. "Learn from him, you mean. The C''tan are billions of years old, and they are much stronger than any creature we can imagine. Their knowledge of the universe and technology is quite near the limit of everything possible, and it doesn''t involve the Warp at all. And unlike the Necrons, their memories are not lost due to stasis and age." I explained in a warning voice, then sipped more wine.


    "As you say, Lord Lancefire. It would seem you hold the C''tan in great respect." she replied with a wry tone.


    "The Mighty Zarhulash inside the Pharos is a mere shard, a broken C''tan, not even a thousandth of his full power. But even so, if free, Zarhulash could lay waste to a galactic sector with ease. Even I am not yet his equal, and that should tell you everything, my lady." I said with a pained sigh, and continued my meal in silence.


    The woman glanced at Adrielle for confirmation, at which the brunette Inquisitor replied with a shrug. "If Pef says it is so, it is probably worse. He tends to classify all enemies into killable right now or killable later. And you read his kill list already, a list which is very likely not complete."


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    I grinned genially and brought Canis beside me to treat him some expensive meat. "And what list would that be, Lady Adrielle? Someone is writing my life''s achievements in a diary?" I asked at random, while petting the Space Wolf on its curious snout.


    Beside me, Amberley chocked on her wine by accident.


    "Woof! Woooo?" Canis inquired with a discerning gaze over my new harem.


    "Yes, my loyal friend. These bitches want more puppies, and you''ll get to play with the kids too. Maybe you can take them out on a jungle world, to train?" I mused in a thoughtful tone.


    Canis snatched an entire bird from the table and masticated with gusto. "....Grrrr. Mwooo. Woof!" he replied after a minute.


    "Fine! You''ll get more fried birds. Now run along and visit your own lady friends." I commanded with a gesture towards the door.


    In a flash, the Fenrisian wolf turned and sped away, faster than a race car.


    "My name is Inquisitor Jena_Orechiel</a>, Lord Lancefire. I hope we can become friends too, one day." the first black-haired woman proposed while holding her crystal glass high.


    I smiled politely and raised my glass as well. "Yes, Lady Jena. I believe we will."


    Some time later, I got the busty woman to beg for me to stop, eyes glazed with lust and ecstasy.


    "Tired already, sweet Jena? It has only been two hours." I asked in fake naivety as I turned and let the woman rest on my chest.


    "...It was great, but I''m not so young anymore. Would you be interested in meeting my daughter, Merelda? She is aboard my spaceship now, but I''m training her to become an Inquisitor as well." Jena murmured in a soft voice.


    A mother/daughter pair, in my bed? Now this would be interesting indeed.


    "I suppose I can sacrifice myself and accept your daughter too, my dear. But you better stay and provide maternal support. I''m on a tight schedule and cannot waste time on romancing girls, as sad as it sounds." I demanded in a generous voice.


    "...Let me take a shower and talk it over with her." Lady Jena asked in a less cheerful voice.


    Probably not expecting my shameless demand, but I really didn''t have time for a prolonged romance. This was a fucking duty, and they''ll probably depart as soon as they had what they came for.


    Only I didn''t mind too much, as a threesome would do wonders for my spirit.


    An hour later, Jena returned with a shy Merelda while I took my own shower and replenished lost fluids.


    "Lord Lancefire...I''m...willing to..." the girl stammered while avoiding my eyes.


    "Cheer up, my dear. This will be actually pleasant and your mother is here to keep you safe. Just close your eyes, and follow my voice." I whispered as I drew away the bedsheet.


    Unlike her mother, Merelda was not experienced in bed, but we made it work anyway. A couple of hours later, I had the pair moaning under me, as they embraced each other with sweaty skin and dreaming eyes.


    They were spent and exhausted though, so I sent them to sleep in a nearby room. We''ll resume the duty tomorrow, as I had more women to enjoy.


    I paired one old and one new lovers together, starting with Adrielle and the red-haired Inquisitor called Dolores. Despite their tremendous willpower, I managed to lay them low a few hours later and we fell asleep in a sweet haze of endorphins and sated lust.


    Then next day, I woke up to find my wife Dae and Zeta, the young Titan Princeps in my room, examining the scene with curios eyes.


    "Lord Pef! Look, I''m all grown up now, and my breasts are big too!" Zeta proclaimed and opened her robes to prove her statement.


    The girl had grown nicely indeed, having transformed into a busty beauty with the passage of time and healthy eating. More than a decade had passed since I last saw her, and she was now a promising woman and a decent Titan pilot.


    Probably scheduled to pilot the other Emperor-class in the Titan Legion, given that my wife had escorted her to my bed.


    "My lord husband, you like what a delicious morsel I''ve found for you?" Lady Dae asked in a wry voice, while also disrobing herself.


    I nodded kindly. "You''re the best, my dear wife. How should I reward you?" I replied in a teasing voice, as my spear sprang up for battle.


    She told me and I grinned in victory. Dae was a great wife indeed.

 Disappointment 178

    On Illevar, most of the current locals have never seen me, new generations replacing the old and only my extended family benefiting from life extension gifts.


    Even so, the use of the rare chronophage blades was restricted to Blanks and Pariahs. The rich nobles and merchant had sufficient fortunes to prolong their lives with rejuvenate treatments, while my soldiers and scribes supporting the Lancefire Dynasty received better food and medication, which gave them a fairly long service time of about a century.


    Construction of new Hive Cities had progressed quite nicely, with three new cities dug underground and the Zero Hive formed of Blanks had grown to encompass the whole valley, with suburbs sprawling outward already.


    Granted, every single Blank man had a large harem of his own, with hundreds of concubines pumping babies out as fast as humanly possible.


    It was time for phase two, unleashing most of these Blank men into the colonies and mixing the genes with the Catachans once more. Most of them were rather useless to the Astartes training, since only my bloodline had a fair chance of surviving the gene-seed implantation.


    Instead, I could provide them with administrative and commanding positions in the local governments, especially in Hive Cities of Illevar and Natale, and on Salvation my own Cardinal World.


    A million such men, and I could be fairly sure there will be no Warp corruption and a rather more skilled leadership, since the Zero Hive had a formidable schooling system.


    The influx of immigrants had continued as well, the vast majority being young women imported as reparations and tithes for my ships and troops actions to rescue their home worlds, or as indentured servants bartered by various Forge Worlds in exchange for STC templates and again military aid.


    The rest of the immigrants were PDF and Guard regiments, or skilled technicians and scribes provided as colonization support.


    Veteran troops made the best colonists, because this has always worked, since the days of the Roman Empire.


    Catachan regiments were ever better, but I was reaching the limit of possible requisition there, after stealing away more than half of that planet''s trading stock. But Cadian and Valhallan regiments weren''t that bad either, and the dangers of a new colony were sometimes equal with those of a battlefield. From predators and hostile natives, to harsh environments and poor infrastructure, colonizing and exploiting a new world was never easy.


    It sounds far fetched, but even the Catachans sometimes had problems with Titan-sized saurians and swarms of flesh-eating locusts.


    I had to visit a dozen of problem causing worlds and help out, either by eradicating certain species or using them as target practice for the Lamenters and the techmarines.


    As the year had passed, a whole new army had been recruited and trained, 20 armor regiments, 10 artillery and air support and 70 heavy infantry, with a couple of special Auxilia regiments with better gear to provide screening for our Knights and Titans.


    Less than 1 percent of the original troops had stayed as non-coms and officers, while the former troops were given large areas of land and a dozen women each as reward for their service.


    In 100 years I could expect to raise five times more troops without affecting the productivity, simply due to population growth and better education.


    Already, scouting expeditions were mapping out the nearby stars for the next expansion sphere, the one which would take us from a mere 400-planet kingdom to a 4000-world star empire.


    By the third phase in 400 years time, there should be a sizable power in this area, over 40 thousand worlds home to a quadrillion people. And by the next phase...well. We shall see if we reach that far.


    First I had to make sure the Imperium of Man stayed safe (somewhat) and kept the attention of the galactic enemies onto itself, mainly by defending the Forge Worlds and cleaning up more Hive Worlds.


    That part already seemed to work fine, as the Primarchs were all glory hounds and genetically predisposed to stir trouble for themselves wherever they went.


    Thousands of cults and cabals were forming against them, gathering xenos and traitors into giant conspiracies aimed at placing them in power, restoring the status quo or destroy the Imperium or other combinations.


    Everything and everyone, from rogue psykers, disgruntled Navigators, heretek techpriests and genestealer cults, to crazy Eldar and Dark Eldar elements, bloodthirsty Necrons and demons, failed Inquisitors and corrupted priests and bishops, renegade Guard officers and space marines, pirates and corsairs, slavers and mutants, up to entire Navy Fleets and Sector Governors, all opposed the Angel Reborn and the Indomitus Crusade of his Brother Guilliman.


    Much less so wherever I had reach, with my Obsidian Auguries and the network of Rogue Traders, Ordo Xenos and the Pharos itself.


    I spent an entire month in the Pharos, scanning the Ultima Segmentum for new opponents and deploying various types of countermeasures, from homemade Tyranid Eversors to plasma warheads and various canisters of nerve gas or glass-transmuting viruses.


    The Tau received another dose of 40k ugly truth, a dozen Sept Worlds being invaded by demons via new Warp Rifts, while a couple of new allied xenos worlds burst into Exterminatus flames.


    That invasion was the last drop, since a couple of Tau Septs deployed new weapons against demons, from suppressive forcefields of the Earth caste, similar to the Bastion psychic fields I recovered from Vigilus, to blue-flame pyroweapons by the Fire caste, probably some type of enhanced promethium like the Sisters of Battle used. Some Tau battlesuits even had energy blades, crackling with electric arcs as they fought the demonic invaders.


    They were starting to develop working strategies against this new enemy, but it was far from what I needed. Give them a decade or two and try again.


    The Tau had also began expanding vertically, both by enlarging their cities and by exploring towards the upper side of the galaxy, trying to maintain a small print on the planar map while still growing in volume.


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    Smart play, and one I could allow for now, except when heading towards human planets. They had settled a couple of Necron Tomb Worlds though, which should provide them plenty of high level technology to study, if they survived.


    As for the Tyranids, the Segmentum was mostly clear right now, except for two: Hive Fleet Kronos</a> advancing from south-east and Hive Fleet Ouroboros</a> in the north-east.


    Splinters and small Hive fleets still roamed at random, and Hive Fleet Tiamet</a> stood watch in the Eastern Fringe over the seven lush worlds of the Tiamet system, without devouring them. I would have to deal with them soon, before the Hive Mind changed its stance.


    And after that, I would have to head to Fenris and acquire my last piece of the puzzle.


    Decision made, I gathered my ships and troops at Forge Machine and sent an astropathic call to a couple of important women to meet me at Fenris in a few months.


    However, things rarely go as planned. The Tyranid Hive at Tiamet was a strange breed, able to use massive psychic waves and resist most Imperial weapons, including lasers and bolters due to a diamond-hard chitin covering both their ground troops and the bioships. It took me two months of hard work using the Blackstone Fortress and the Immaterium beam to reduce the Hive fleet and collect their corpses for later use.


    On the other hand, their Bio-Titans that I managed to capture and mind-control were amazingly durable, and their bone claws so sharp they could slice tank armor without any difficulty.


    Tens of thousands of tech-priests and enginseers aboard the Black Lament began the painstaking work of repurposing that unique chitin into extra armor for my units, using Power Weapons and their cutting fields as impromptu tools.


    Luckily I did have a giant store of such weapons in my tesseract, since I had been collecting relics for a century.


    However, by the time my fleet arrived at Fenris it was almost too late. A giant fleet of Dark Angels and other Chapters, aided by the Imperial Navy and also Knights and Titans were preparing the Siege_of_the_Fenris_System</a>, and the eradication of the Space Wolves Astartes Chapter.


    "Hello there!" I spoke on the Vox caster, not really impressed by the Rock and all the potential enemies.


    They had a giant fortress, but so did I. They had a giant Glorianna Battleship, but so did I. Knights and Titans, warships and army regiments, I had all of them as well.


    "Lord Lancefire, have you come to help us rid the Imperium of these mutated marines?" a familiar voice asked in return. The Lion Primarch himself, and not wearing the Null Rod I gifted him.


    Even worse, his Vox officer was a demon in disguise, the Changeling</a>. Any warning I would try to give him over Vox would arrive subtly distorted.


    "Of course, Primarch. I will arrive on the Rock momentarily." I replied and immediately teleported along the vox beam inside the bridge.


    Say whatever about the man, but damn he was big. He made even normal Astartes look small, and I wasn''t yet at that size anyway. Still growing, but very slow.


    "I imagined you''d be taller, Lamenter." the Lion uttered with faint amusement.


    I just smiled kindly, and placed a Null Wand in the hand he offered. "And I imagined you''d be smarter, Lion. Since you are handicapped by a lack of Blank genes, it should be obvious to protect yourself and your Captains with Warp-resistant artifacts. Case in point, this demon right here, influencing you and your crew with lies and deceit." I explained pointing at the disguised demon and firing a single phase-iron bolt into its knee from my shoulder bolter.


    The creature distorted and screamed in agony, as the disguise fell apart and a creature of Warp and nightmare appeared instead, beaks and wings fluttering about as it tried to flee.


    In a flash, the Primarch swung his Wolf_Blade</a> and sliced the demon into a dozen bits, which then began to evaporate back into the Warp. But I wasn''t going to let the Changeling escape.


    My own weapon struck without having to display any dueling talent, the Demon Lance meandering about to impale and drain each fragment of the enemy, then reverted back to its normal shape and vanished back into its tesseract prison.


    "Handicapped, you say?" Lion El''Johnson muttered while holding the Null Wand like a poisonous toothpick.


    "I do remember gifting you a Null Rod as well. No doubt lying unsed in Armory 7 along with those STC templates. Then again, you never learned how to read, did you?" I grumbled in disappointment as I retrived the unsed gifts from the same armory, and held them in my hands as proof.


    His Dark Angels growled in response to my insults, standing around their Primarch like guard dogs.


    "...I did read the schematics for those devices, Lord Lancefire. There just hasn''t been any time to make use of them, with constant battles everywhere. I don''t have a private Forge World either." the Lion said in a softer voice, possibly a bit sad to lose those gifts.


    I shrugged and scanned the Rock for more hidden treasures. The Dark Angels were certainly rich, if they afforded to keep a dozen vaults under lock, filled with amazing archeotech relics. They will need them soon enough.


    "Magnus will arrive soon, with his thousands of sons. Stop murdering Imperial citizens and focus on the real enemy, Primarch. My patience is limited, unlike my authority." I said and vanished from his home without any sign of Warp teleport.


    Time to deal with the Space Wolves and their Canis Helix</a> problem. And perhaps find some she-wolves mates for Canis.

 Fenris 179

    I arrived at the Fang, the gigantic fortress spire on Fenris with a wolf at my side, and gave a toothy grin to the Space Wolf Scouts guarding the armored door.


    "Do they smell tasty, Canis?" I asked my loyal companion.


    Canis advanced and smelled the startled Space Wolves, and their wolfish companions, and grinned back at me. "Woo?"


    "Yes Canis, they all have the Canis Helix gene, just like you do. But sure, you can have fun with the grey bitch if you want. This meeting will take some time." I explained patiently.


    My wolf didn''t need to be told twice, as he rapidly mounted and subdued a Fenrisian wolf female, to the amusement of the guards.


    "A Lamenter with a wolf at his side. Yes, there is only one of you in the entire galaxy I suspect, Lord Lancefire." The guarding Scout said after examining me for a long minute.


    "And such a good friend as well, my loyal Canis. So, who is around for a friendly chat? Ulrik</a>, most likely?" I asked rhetorically.


    The Scout glanced upwards at the spire then back at me. "You are expected, Lord Lancefire. The Wolf Priest has also promised not to bite you, this time." he replied with a wolfish grin that showed elongated canines.


    Well, Ulrik was a potent psyker, possibly even Beta level.


    I stepped forward and arrived in the reception room, laden with wolf furs and bones. It seemed a bit creepy, to use the remains of past companions like this, but Space Wolves were a different breed of Space Marines anyway.


    Treat them like dogs instead of men, and they''ll even like you for it.


    "I hope you have food, Ulrik. Even wolf meat will do." I began while holding my arms apart for a hug.


    The priest laughed and stepped to embrace me like a long-lost brother. A small brother. "Yes. You need to grow up faster, Lamenter. Perhaps help us bring back Russ, one day too."


    Soon enough, a table was set up and more Space Wolves arrived, including Harald_Deathwolf</a>, the man who gifted me Canis on Forge Ryza.


    "So you dealt with the Lion Primarch, Rogue Trader?" the giant man asked me with a smirk and a knowing glance at the ceiling.


    "...Not really, no. There was a demon on board the Rock, urging the Dark Angels to murder you all, in revenge for the death of their Brothers. Plus, by attacking you they would have weakened your defenses, enough to allow a major Chaos incursion in the system. I''ve dealt with that demon." I explained in a grave tone.


    The Space Wolves looked at each other with some worry. "A Chaos incursion...we could use your help, Lamenter. You are all Blanks, right? Immune to Warp."


    I nodded in reply, and held my hand out to unfold a fistful of Null Wands for those present. "These nullification devices should help against direct psyker attacks by Sorcerers and Daemon Princes. Still, Gellar fields and blackstone armor would be needed to keep everyone safe, if that''s even possible. I''ll try to defend Hive World Midgardia, if you''ll let me."


    Ulrik frowned visibly at the Null Wands, possibly annoyed with their very existence. "I notice some doubt in your explanation, Lord Lancefire. Are these small Null Rods less potent?"


    I took out the classic Null Rod that I recovered from the Rock and held it out to Wolf Lord Deathwolf.


    A quick test revealed that the Null Wands made by Joakero were twice as strong, resisting anything the Wolf Priest could conjure as a psyker assault, unlike the Null Rod made by the Mechanicus.


    "I think I''ll take the small rod, if that''s okay. I rather not have my beard singed if a Chaos Sorcerer throws Warp Lightning at me." the bearded Space Wolf muttered as he exchanged the device and fit the Null Wand into his belt.


    "These devices are still external aids, Brothers. What works against a Beta-level psyker or demon is not enough against Alpha-levels. And if Magnus himself arrives...well. Not even genetic Blanks will be safe then. Alpha-plus powers can only be countered by negative-Omega Pariahs. A rare breed such potent people, and hunted by everyone in the galaxy." I disclosed with a sad voice.


    Ulrik measured me with wise eyes, and then glanced at the sky, searching among the Lamenter fleet for such a rare person. As if I would reveal my trump cards to everyone, by allowing Ordela</a> and Dessima</a> to travel outside the labyrinth.


    My few Omega-level Pariahs would terrify the astropaths in the entire star system, and alert every single psyker to their presence.


    "You have Silent Sisters on board every single ship in your fleet, plus Blank Captains and bridge crew. Thousands of Blanks and hundreds of Sisters." The Wolf Priest spoke to everyone, letting them know I''ve come prepared.


    I smiled gently at him, and nodded. "The Sanguinius gene-seed gives rise to mutations as well, going from growing claws and fangs, to immense bouts of rage and a thirst for blood. But, there is a nice side-effect for having Blank genes. Since mutations are Warp based, the Blank recruits are immune. Even the Black Rage syndrome has vanished. The thirst for blood still lingers though, but we hadn''t had a need for a Death Company anymore."


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    Wolf Lord Harald glared at me for a second, echoed in tandem by his Icetooth companion wolf. "So this is about the Wulfen</a>, after all."


    I shrugged in a casual gesture. "Your Chapter and your problem, Brother. I could be convinced to allow a hundred of my Blank sons to join you, and prove themselves as a valid stock for incorruptible Space Wolves. Perhaps after the battle, once you need more recruits and your Chapter Master returns as well."


    The officers present glanced at each other in silence.


    "I believe it is time to awaken our Dreadnoughts then. Harald, you and your Company join the Lamenters on Midgardia. If the Thousands Sons come, a Hive World would be the prime target for their foul rituals." Ulrik the Slayer commanded in a rough voice,


    with subtle undertones of violence and mayhem in the low timbre.


    I did not have wolf genes, but I have heard Canis use the same type of warning sometimes. Especially when I petted his puppies. Or my own children, if left in his care.


    By next week, my techpriests were hard at work installing Bastion fields and Gellar generators on Midgardia</a>, although the defenses were greatly simplified by the Hive Cities being buried deep underground.


    Thousands of new PDF regiments were being hastily raised and trained, then given defensive bunkers and sealed gates to protect.


    Ferrocrete and blackstone plates were being assembled into new fortifications, both on the toxic surface and the access ways into the Hive Cities, while millions of new servitors were being converted from the local criminal gangs.


    Meanwhile, I abused the tesseract to increase orbital presence with more defense forts and armed asteroids, mounting some Tarantula turrets for point-defense as well, although their Gellar fields and the hidden torpedo tubes drilled into the asteroids would be quite sufficient.


    Expecting another debacle like at Agripinaa may seem paranoid, but nevertheless I ordered my fleet carriers to retreat a couple of light-years away in deep space, once their payload of corvettes and starfighters have been launched. The carriers were still in range of our FTL transcievers, in case I needed to recall them urgently.


    I''m not sure what Primarch El''Johnson thought of my moves, but I really didn''t care much.


    I was more interested in the world of Fenris itself, and its strange inhabitants. From giant mammoths to oversized white bears and Fenrisian wolves, feral elks and badgers, up to real dragons flying on thermal currents, then spaceship-size Kraken monsters inhabiting the deep oceans, and lastly the Cavern Cities and their mutated Nightgangers, worshiping Chaos Gods and using Archeotech artifacts as maces and axes.


    I extracted thousands of specimens of these amazing animals, keeping a balance as to not cause a famine by kidnapping too many elks and not enough bears. I could populate some Fringe worlds with these beasts and provide my Lamenters with a constant source of training and protein.


    However, a dozen plasma warheads arrived inside the largest Krakens, burning them alive from inside out. I kinda suspected those were feral Tyranid bio-titans that were left behind by some failed invasion.


    I took a couple of smaller specimens to give the Biologis Magi something to investigate, and by next day they all agreed. The crazy Space Wolves cohabited their planet with giant Tyranids and didn''t even know it.


    Sure, the Space Wolves hunted the Krakens for their diamond-like claws and teeth, but never in a concentrated effort to eradicate them. But should a Tyranid Hive Fleet arrive in this system the Space Wolves would have a major problem, being assaulted by kilometers long organisms rising from their own oceans at the command of the Hive Mind.


    As for the Nightgangers, they visited the Wolf''s Eye for a short second, before being burned into space dust by the system''s sun. The Cavern Cities had been constructed from the remains of the first colonization ships, and were filled with ancient devices, some mundane and other rather priceless. The ship''s bridge was quite intact, and filled with a treasure trove of logic-vaults and datastacks, everything from maps and weapon schematics to movies and songs and poetry.


    I''ll have to copy everything and distribute it among my techpriests and family, although the broken ship reactor and the immersive radiation had damaged most storage devices. But even fragmentary data was better than nothing, and I suspected some of the devices in the Fang were also extracted from these old caverns. But now they were locked tight and forgotten, of course.


    Perhaps only the old dreadnoughts recalled their existence now. Bjorn had been a contemporary of Leman Russ and had led the Space Wolves after the Primarch departed for the Eye of Terror, on some kind of penitent crusade.


    I wasn''t sure why all the Primarch had chosen to abandon their duties, since they certainly haven''t managed to find and kill their traitor Brothers in the depths of the Warp Rift.


    I had an inkling the silly Primarchs were all captured and made to fight in a giant arena for the amusement of Khorne. It would be his style, after all.


    And speaking of Khorne, flashes of purple and violet clouds began forming in the Fenris system, just as I was torching some Chaos altar in the depths of the Cavern Cities.It appeared my prediction was correct once more. The Chaos was coming out to play.

 Balance 180

    I hate it when I''m right.


    I mean, it''s great to be able to predict the future and outmaneuver your enemies with better positioning and prepared defenses.


    But the Chaos forces had their own gods and seers on their side. They came here to win, and came prepared as well.


    Even as my fleet began firing on the emerging Warp portals, and closing some of them with cataclysmic levels of firepower, the space above Fenris distorted and gigantic Demon Engines called Silver_Tower_of_Tzeentch</a> began to emerge, shielded from nearly every weapon we could fire at them.


    "Wolves, have every ship docked at the Fang depart right now and hold Vox silence." I commanded just as my fleet turned all sensors to autistic mode.


    I have tried to instruct the Wolves how to maintain information security and provided them with advice and technical specifications for switching off active auspex sensors, but maintaining comm discipline wasn''t something that came naturally to humans.


    We are a gregarious species after all, eager to shout insults and threats at our enemies and friends alike.


    Plus the Space Wolves were all Alpha predators, and resisted any order by default, and sheer stubbornness.


    "Don''t teach me how to suck eggs, you....intruders!" a Space Wolves Captain replied right back at me.


    I sighed inward and ejected his corrupted intruders into the sun before they could damage the battlebarge too much.


    At least a dozen of those Silver Tower constructs were dimensionally shielded, which pretty much ensured that Fenris would suffer greatly until I managed to destroy the things with overwhelming firepower.


    A hundred more Silver Towers were not so well shielded though, and I began inserting plasma warheads right in, torching the Chaos wizards hidden inside as magic artillery, before hurling the things into the sun.


    At the same time, I extracted the feral locals from the surface of Fenris into the labyrinth, to prevent their bodies and souls being used as fuel for Chaos sorcery. The Fang itself was heavily protected with armor, shields and defense batteries so it could take care of itself quite well. The defense lasers targeted the shielded Silver Towers with battleship strength beams, even managing to core one of them with the aid of their defense fleet and orbital forts.


    But the worst was yet to come. The moon of Fenris called Valdrmani held an astropathic relay filled with psykers, and that was the main target of the invasion.


    A Greater Demon emerged from a Warp Rift and batted aside the volley of lance batteries and the hail of Nova shells with contempt, before crushing his way inside the astropath station.


    I managed to grab most astropaths but not all of them. At least a dozen were left behind as a psychic howl transformed into a Warp shield around the base, preventing the tesseract from interacting with that region of space.


    Damn it! Why couldn''t the invaders be Orks! Orks were so much simpler.


    I say that, but high level Orks were just as dangerous, once they began creating Battle Moons and Warp highways. And I suspected their Waagh field held even more potent weapons from the Old Ones arsenal.


    "We are not attacking?" Amberley asked in a soft voice, watching the invasion unfold with trepidation.


    "There is more to come, Inquisitor. If a Greater Demon can emerge, other guests should be able to enter the Materium, soon." I muttered with my eyes closed, as I leaned into the command chair.


    It didn''t take long either, just as the Dark Angels and their fleet began firing at the Silver Towers and some of their Battle-Brothers descended on Valdrmani to engage that Bloodthirster demon, a hundred more Warp Rifts opened in the system.


    An entire Chaos armada poured through, from trillions of demons and billions of armed cultists, mutants, xenos of a dozen races, traitor marines and heretek techpriests, corrupted Titans and Knights and worse.


    Fallen Primarch Lorgar himself, on board a Glorianna battleship, with his Word Bearers and a cohort of traitor warbands and Chaos Lords, millions of Daemon engines and even a handful of Daemon Princes. Heading directly for me and ignoring the juicier targets in the system.


    The Dark Angel''s Rock and the Lion Primarch were engaged by another Chaos fleet, led by Primarch Angron and his World Eaters, plus another giant wave of demons and assorted followers.


    And lastly, Magnus the Red leading his Thousands Sons, escorted by Ahriman and his Rubicae and Scarab marines descended upon Fenris with furious Warp spells and a Blackstone Fortress of their own.


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    "Now this is a target-rich environment indeed." I whispered in amazement. It was also quite a bit more than I expected. An Emperor-damned Black Crusade, right on top of me and my sons.


    "Focus, Lord Pef! These invaders must be what you were waiting for, right?" Inquisitor Vail demanded in a harsh voice, while the bridge crew snickered at my words.


    "Quite so, my dear Inquisitor. Our reinforcements should arrive as well, but I''ll hold the line until then." I explained in calm voice.


    With a mental push, the Black Lament began charging its Immaterium beam, dialed at half-strength.


    Meanwhile, the Singularity battleship sped down and away, preparing for a blackhole shot. Even with Jokaero adjustments, the energy drain on its systems will only allow a single shot before the capacitors needed to regenerate, so best make the most use of it.


    "Go for a triple shot when you can, Larrisa." I whispered in my daughter''s mind, while indicating the wanted targets.


    "I''m not that lucky, dad! Settle for two and hope I don''t miss." Larrisa grumbled back, and I slumped in defeat. Perhaps a triple shot was wishful thinking.


    So, I marked the two Glorianna battleships as the main targets and unleashed my Tyranid army on Magnus and his Thousands Sons.


    It wasn''t like Fenris would emerge intact from this adventure anyway. Already volcanoes were erupting and the seas were boiling under the corrupted Primarch''s assault on the Space Wolves'' homeworld.


    Two hundred cruiser-sized Tyranid bioships crashed on top of the Fenris attackers, and disgorged their billions of hungry biologic war engines, including nearly a thousand of Tyranid bio-titans. That should keep Magnus busy for some time, even with all his Alpha-plus psyker powers.


    "Lancefire, I''ve come for your head!" a giant howl emerged from the grotesque form of Lorgar, as the idiot climbed on top of his warship to brandish a black sword at my battlestation.


    I mean, he was safe inside the dimensional shield of his battleship, so why come out? Was he urging his Navigators to drive closer, so he could hit me with his sword? Very likely.


    Then again, logical reasoning was a rare quality among the denizens of this dark future, Imperial or Chaotic alike.


    I clenched my left fist, and the cretin joined the labyrinth prison beside his brothers, Mortarion and Perturabo.


    A second later, a pinprick of concentrated gravity fired from the Voidclaw on board the Singularity, crushing Lorgar''s battleship, his fleet and surrounding demons, and all of his corrupted marines into space dust, before continuing onwards and doing the same to Angron''s fleet and followers.


    Amazingly though, half of the second Glorianna remained mostly intact, possibly because the Voidclaw had expended most energy by breaching the dimensional field around Lorgar''s battleship.


    Didn''t matter all that much though, since half a ship would not protect the insane Primarch from my reach. Angron vanished into the tesseract as well, appearing into a straight-jacket made of phase-iron and Tyranid chitin.


    ''Clever play, Lamenter. I see you are just as tricky as Ahriman has told me.'' Magnus the Red spoke directly into my mind, despite me holding the Empathic Null Staff in my left hand.


    I would have become a vegetable without it, most likely. Damn psykers and their cheat codes!


    In response, I fired the Black Lament''s beam at the other Blackstone Fortress, the black Immaterium beam snuffing out all the souls in its path, demons and cultists alike, and reducing the valued artifact to a flying coffin filled with dead corpses.


    Sadly, it was still surrounded by a Dark Mechanicus dimensional field, but now nobody could enter the Will of Eternity anymore. Without a living crew to lower the shield, not even Magnus could make use of the Fortress.


    And right after this, the cavalry arrived.


    First, an Eldar fleet led by an Avatar of Khaine, keeping a safe distance from human ships and forts while blasting away at demons and Chaos traitors from thousands of energy guns and bright lances. Advanced torpedoes and missiles, spacefighters and bombers unleashed fury on the Chaos forces, and the Avatar himself powering a giant golden beam to strike at the Chaos Silver Towers.


    Then, the rest of the Space Wolves fleet arrived, led by their Great Wolf himself, Logan Grimnar</a> and escorted by a Grey Knights cruiser. I wasn''t expecting much from them anyway, but any help was welcome right now.


    And lastly, Janice and her Adepta Sororitas arrived with a legion of Sisters of Battle, plus her Silent Sisters, a fleet of Mechanicus warships and a dozen Rogue Traders allied to my House.


    Now the balance of power was restored, and I felt confident to begin the next phase.

 Smell 181

    While empathically directing my fleet to protect Midgaria and coordinating the defenses of the Hive World, I kept an eye for more surprises.


    Surely the invaders couldn''t have gambled everything here, with so few forces. Sure, they had brought thousands of ships and billions of troops plus untold numbers of demons, but the Chaos defeat was certain now.


    My fleet had already changed their focus on the Dark Mechanicus ships, our corvettes and fighters engaging the less-shielded escorts while my cruisers and battleships fired the Nova Cannons at the larger heretek ships.


    Even a corrupted Ark Mechanicus could only take so much punishment after all, and a hundred Nova Shells were its maximum limit. Its durability was almost as strong as my own upgraded Singularity battleship, so not bad at all.


    The other Rogue Traders split off to defend the other celestial bodies, Frostheim</a> and its moon Svellgard</a>, both ice worlds with little population or technology. Space Wolves liked their recruits to be feral and barbaric, it seemed.


    Meanwhile, Janice plowed ahead on board a gigantic Cathedrium battleship, literally a flying cathedral in space, but the size of Mount Everest. The Adepta Sororitas also loved flamer weapons, as huge torrents of burning promethium splashed over demons flying about and incinerated them in sanctified fuel.


    Was it ridiculous to use giant flamers on a spaceship? Certainly so!


    But, it was also strangely effective, so perhaps it wasn''t completely stupid.


    Jets of oxygen fueled the streams of holy fire, keeping the promethium burning. I kinda suspected it still shouldn''t have worked, except by some miracle.


    Yet, miracles were the trade and business of the Sisters, aided by the Emperor himself as he probably had fits of giggles on his Golden Throne.


    Then an Aquilla-shaped turret turned towards a Silver Tower and fired a bright golden beam, exploding the Demon Engine and purging everyone inside.


    "I think that was a ship-sized psylance." Amberley observed with astonishment.


    I nodded in agreement while observing the device in my tesseract view. A hundred Silent Sisters were linked into that weapon as controllers, while a thousand psykers were used and drained as (possibly unwilling) power batteries. Hard to say with those neural cables driven deep into the psykers'' skulls. The setting was strangely familiar though, and I recalled Trazyn had a weapon array looking similar to this one, on his own Blackstone Fortress.


    So this is what the Emperor has given my daughter. The schematics for a Psi-battleship weapon, just in case she had to blast apart something stronger than Greater Demon.


    The psylance fired again a minute later, burning out a hundred more psykers and obliterating another Silver Tower.


    Not too shabby, this improvised Anima Sinistrum.


    Magnus turned towards Ahriman with one eye glowing red. "You didn''t predict this, did you?" he asked in a furious voice.


    "...It is only one ship, my lord. I''m more worried what Lancefire might produce next." the Rubric Sorcerer answered in a dignified tone, while dodging a Tyranid claw without even looking behind him. Then a blast of Warpfire immolated the poor Tyranid creature.


    "Leave now! I''ll deal with the nuisance myself." the psyker Primarch commanded while holding his hands upwards and unleashing a torrent of lightning at the encroaching Tyranids.


    A dozen Psych-out grenades detonated around the two of them, suppressing their psyker powers with phase-iron shrapnel and Pariah ash.


    "I''m getting aggravated!" Magnus shouted while pushing a Warp shield around himself to block my sneak attack.


    I countered with a firing squad of Zoanthropes and Maleceptors, while releasing a dozen Broodlords among the Thousand Sons. The lesser Chaos Marines stood no chance against the hungry bio-titans and hundreds of his precious sons were ripped to shreds before Magnus could recover from fighting the Zoanthropes and crush the Broodlords into meat paste.


    "Aghhh! I''m going to rip your skull out, damn cheater!" the traitor Primarch howled enraged.


    More Tyranids then!


    Keep the idiot busy, while Janice reduced the Silver Towers to burning confetti.


    But sadly, this was 40k and things would always get worse.


    Ahriman vanished somewhere, and more Warp Rifts opened above Midgardia, revealing a trio of green Greater Demons and trillions of lesser demons descending on the poor planet.


    I countered with more Tyranids on one side of their landing area and Orks on the other, filling the surface of Midgardia with extra combatants to keep the demons busy.


    If you find this story on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the infringement.Plasma torpedoes and Nova Mines helped counter the demons a little, killing millions for every warhead, but my stores of munitions were not infinite like the demons were.


    Again, I had to shift the focus of my fleet to target the Warp portals, a trio of battleships and a hundred cruisers for each of them.


    But if this was the fallback plan, a trio of Nurgle Great Demons...it was not enough.


    The population of the Hive World vanished into my labyrinth, denying Chaos its victory, as they appeared to try some kind of plague attack and sacrifice the humans to their gods.


    I had enough room to resettle these people someplace else in the Eastern Fringe, and I doubted the locals would mind surviving the demon attack.


    Regiment by regiment I began extracting my troops from Midgardia as well, as the situation became untenable.


    But I left the Titans a chance to prove themselves, and each of the Emperor-class fired their Annihilator Cannons at the Greater Demons, blowing up one and wounding another.


    Good enough, for now. And extracted!


    The automated turrets continued firing, while Orks and Tyranids fought the hostile wildlife and the demons among clouds of toxic gas and blazing fires caused by plasma munitions and our orbital fire support.


    A deadly plague began spreading over the battlefield of Midgardia, but it did not affect the battle in the slightest. In fact, with local lifeforms dying the Tyranids were free to target more demons.


    "The Tyranids seem quite effective against demons. And the same for these Orks with Necron weapons." my Inquisitor companion remarked in a wry voice as we observed the results of the battle on the hololith screen.


    I smiled and began charging the Immaterium beam again. Quarter strength this time, Machine Spirit. No point draining myself too much, not when I still had to deal with Magnus somehow.


    "My reserves of xeno auxiliaries are almost depleted, Lady Vail. I hope I can find a decent number of Orks or Tyranids somewhere, and replenish them." I answered in a coy voice.


    Captain Semnai snorted and sat beside me to observe the combat from my viewpoint. "I hope you get lucky and find some Tyranids somewhere, my lord. Like there aren''t trillions of them everywhere!"


    "Yes, yes. But those Tyranids aren''t here, are they? Now I have to use my hidden cards, and I detest showing my hand too soon." I grumbled back and brought the two Pariah Sisters behind me.


    "Is it time, Lord Pef?" Dessima asked with a composed voice, ignoring the gasping Inquisitor.


    "We''ll hunt the Greater Demons first and close the portals. Don''t unleash your full strength if possible." I ordered as I moved the two minus-Omega Pariah next to their targets.


    Sister Dessima landed beside the Bloodthirster on Valdrmani, and simply kicked the Greater Demon in the back before the monster could react. As the demon howled in pain with a meter wide hole going from back to front, the Dark Angels and Space Wolves nearby took advantage and battered the weakened demon with relic maces and Power Swords, while the Silent Sister held the demon in her nullification range and blocked its powers.


    At the same time, Sister Ordela fell sword first on top of the Nurgulite Greater Demon on Midgardia, while her left arm psilancer fired a stream of nega-psi bolts at the other wounded demon.


    A couple of sword slashes later, both women vanished from their former location and began appearing near the Warp portals all over the Fenris system, their very presence forcing the rifts to close in a second.


    Just then, I fired the Immaterium beam at Magnus and his traitor sons.


    Everything alive for a dozen kilometers fell dead, even the animated armors lost their souls and crumbled to the ground, beside millions of Tyranids and cultists.


    Only Magnus the Red survived, and just barely. He was desperately trying to hold a psychic shield around himself, while down on his knees and wailing in pain.


    Probably for the best I didn''t use half-strength on the beam then. It seemed the Tyranids had exhausted him, and his reserves were at an end.


    A minute later, I arrived beside the traitor escorted by my two Pariah amazons and a certain blonde Inquisitor.


    "He looks pathetic. Mutated and distorted, while crying in defeat." Amberley observed while Dessima and Ordela kept their armored boots on their prey''s shoulders.


    A second later, Janice teleported beside me, still floating a palm over the ground as to not dirty her silk shoes.


    She wore a long silver dress and seemed immune to the presence of the Pariah or Magnus, the long white-silver hair framing a young looking face with violet glowing eyes.


    "So what''s the plan now, dad? Kill the traitor or what?" Janice asked in careless voice.


    I laughed out and patted her hair. "Why would I kill the idiot, my dear? Who will stand on the Golden Throne then?" I asked rhetorically and kicked Magnus in his red eye.


    The Warp eye burst into smelly ichor and yet it smelled like victory.

 Terra - Ch 182

    By the next day, my fleet was heading for Terra escorted by my new allies: Rogue Traders cruisers, Adepta Sororitas cathedriums, some Adeptus Mechanicus ships, and a token force of Space Wolves.


    On board the Black Lament, in an isolation chamber lined with blackstone and phase-iron lay the prize of my latest operation, Magnus the Red. He was arguably the strongest psyker in the galaxy beside the Emperor himself, and thus forty Silent Sisters kept constant watch over him, just in case.


    Sadly, his Chief Librarian turned Sorcerer, namely Ahriman, had escaped yet again, most likely by displacing himself in time or space or both. Unlike his idiot Primarch, Ahriman knew his limits very well and would not stand and fight to the last breath, instead preferring to retreat and try again.


    I admit I was quite annoyed with the corrupted Librarian, but things were going as planned anyway.


    I already had most of the fallen Primarchs in custody, although nobody knew about the ones I kept frozen inside the tesseract labyrinth.


    Fulgrim was kept by Overlord Trazyn, while Konrad_Curze</a> was presumed dead following his assassination by the Officio Assassinorum. I had my doubts about that still being true, since things rarely stayed dead in this universe. Too many spiritual or technological methods for reversing death were available, going from cloning to soul summoning and even temporal reversal.


    Alpharion and Omegon or the vice versa were still dead or missing, and nobody knew anything certain about their fate. Nobody alive and well, I mean.


    But even I and my cheats had a limit, and this was it. My out of context knowledge had reached its limit, and fragments of lore I''ve read once were not revealing anything about the missing Primarchs.


    Even so, there were powers in this universe with access to this knowledge, but all of them were beyond my reach, all except one. The big E.


    Now, the Emperor was pretty much dead and getting worse on his Golden Throne by this point, and I hoped to remedy that problem somehow. A good part of my activity in the past century had been focused on acquiring the necessary parts needed to try and restore the Emperor back to life and hopefully sanity.


    Janice had been sworn to secrecy on the matter of the Throne, which didn''t help me at all, yet I was confident things will work out.


    For I had secret weapons of my own, each of them rather powerful by themselves. And when combined, the synergy of their powers should be more than enough to restore the dead Emperor and reverse the decline of the Imperium of Man.


    And if they didn''t...well. I had other plans in that case, mostly involving packing my things and running away.


    Two weeks later, my fleet and the escorting allies arrived at Holy Terra to encounter the largest gathering of forces and firepower available to the Imperium.


    There were thousands of Navy warships and defense platforms, gigantic orbital forts and extensive minefields, plus more exotic defenses from the Mechanicus and other Adeptus Terra organizations and armed groups, including the Adeptus Custodes and Adepta Astra Telepathica, plus the Inquisition, the Grey Knights and more esoteric and hidden temples. Impressive, yet not really enough.


    "How do you find the defenses of the Solar System?" Janice asked me in a proud voice, as I examined the gigantic array of defenses in the tesseract view.


    "Decent enough, against someone not me." I answered truthfully and then I frowned, a bit aggravated and annoyed with the huge influx of hostile datastreams from my command chair.


    I even had to fight with the Blackstone Fortress'' Machine Spirit to keep it from retaliating vigorously, to constant attempts at subversion and infiltration by numerous psychic wards and datasphere firewalls.


    The incipient sentience of the central cogitator had advert reactions to intrusion and security protocols, especially those that were attempting to modify its primary loyalty subroutines. For the Black Lament was foremost the Lamenters home, and only after it was an armed battlestation belonging to the Imperium of Man.


    Inquisition''s subversion Clavus engrams bounced off the fortress noosphere inner firewalls, while psychoactive wards and psyker tendrils originating from Titan were deflected away, but this took a big toll on the Machine Spirit. And it didn''t like it one bit.


    "Pef Lancefire, your unannounced visit has all the Terran security up in arms. I even hear we might not be able to stop your fleet, in case you prove hostile." a woman''s voice spoke from the Vox caster, making Janice light up in joy.


    If you encounter this tale on Amazon, note that it''s taken without the author''s consent. Report it.


    "Mom! Tell them to cease the mental attacks on the Black Lament. Or Terra might need to rebuild its defenses." Janice explained with a wary look towards me and my scowl.


    A minute of silence followed. "There is a large psyker signature on board the Blackstone Fortress, my dear. Some big brains here even compare it to a Primarch." my Rose replied in a cautious voice.


    "Oh that...It''s only Magnus. Dad has him in chains...and blind." Janice answered in a careless voice.


    A long sigh was heard in response. "I''ll go find Sanguinius then."


    Janice smiled at me with a childish grin, even showing off a pair of dimples. "Mom is a High Lord of Terra now. For the Inquisition."


    I blinked once to show I''ve heard her, and continued examining the myriad treasures of Terra. Unexpectedly, there were a dozen areas covered with dimensional shielding, on Terra, Mars and Titan plus a couple of strange objects of alien origin orbiting the Sun.


    Terra itself was beyond overpopulated, a humongous dirty ecumenopolis numbering over a quadrillion people and thousands of Chaos cults, genestealers, Eldar cabals and various other potential enemies, from hundreds Navis Nobilitae quarters filled with mutants and deformed psykers to Mechanicus bases, labs and forges of immense size.


    The Imperial Fists'' station, the Phalanx kept station at Jupiter, and a dozen other Astartes Chapters were keeping their fleets in a defensive posture in that orbit.


    Luckily, I knew both Rose and Sanguinius well enough to locate them among the maze of overlapped buildings, tunnels, hallways and bunkers which filled the surface of Holy Terra.


    "Lord Sanguinius, my Pef has arrived with Magnus in tow. And I suspect it''s not everything he has brought us." I heard Rose explain to a busy Primarch who kept signing papers like a robot. Ruling the Imperium was tiring on the wrist for sure, even for a Primarch.


    Beside him, Roboute glanced at his brother for confirmation. "Is it possible?"


    The Angel glanced upwards and sighed. "Your Pef, Lady Rosalia? I would think he''s my Pef first."


    The Inquisitor nodded politely. "Of course, Lord Regent. Anyway, he won''t wait too long at the perimeter''s limit. Nor can our defenses stop him, if he keeps advancing."


    Sanguinius signed one last scroll and glanced up again. "Park the fleet at Jupiter, Lord Lancefire. It''s not like you actually need ships." he spoke looking straight towards me.


    Yeah, he would know I was able to see him, even from my distant location at the edge of the system. And he was also right. I didn''t need really ships, once inside a star system. I could move myself onto any planet I wanted, or move everyone elsewhere.


    Or at least those who weren''t covered in dimensional shields.


    So I took a step and arrived in front of the Regent and the Lord Commander and waved politely at a couple of Adeptus Custodes and Blood Angels who kept guard over the leaders of the Imperium.


    "Hey guys! I brought gifts." I explained with a genial grin.


    Rose walked towards me and examined me for a long minute. "You''ve grown stronger." she decided after the exam was over.


    Indeed, I felt nearly nothing from her psyker probe, although in the past she could always touch my mind a little.


    "This place is a mess." I answered instead, my eyes encompassing the entire room.


    "Try to behave yourself, Pef. I heard you visited Fenris?" Sanguinius asked while raising from his gilded chair and walking next to me. I was much too small for this universe, as the Primarch towered five heads over me.


    I offered my hand for shake, just as a tall techpriest with a big Power Axe entered the golden room like he belonged.


    "Yes, Fenris. Between four Primarchs, some Greater Demons and the Grey Knights, there wasn''t much to salvage from the system. I think one moon survived intact." I commented while watching the techpriest approach at a relaxed pace.


    A minute later, the tall cyborg arrived beside us and towered over me as well.


    "I am Archmagos Belisarius Cowl. And you must be Pef Lancefire. I heard much about you." the techpriest declared in a mechanical voice.


    Roboute Guilliman walked in front of me as well, staring down on me like I was being judged. "And I, remember your voice now. The one who healed and woke me from stasis. I thought you''d be taller." the Ultramarines'' Primarch muttered in a gentle voice.


    "I''m still growing!" I proclaimed in an embarrassed voice.

 Upgrades - Ch 183

    A giant hand patted my head. "Magos Cowl can increase your size with ease. The Primaris marines are all rather tall." Guilliam spoke with a friendly voice and nodded towards the inventive techpriest.


    I sighed inward and outward in tandem. "I''m not really interested in heights, Lord Commander. Two major issues had brought me here, the Emperor and the status of Blanks."


    Roboute Guilliam nodded slowly while considering my words carefully. "Your record for restoring dead people back to life is indeed the best in Imperium, Lord Lancefire. But, I doubt it would be as simple with my father. He was not preserved in stasis..." he spoke in warning.


    I took out another hexagrammatic pendant from my inventory, covered with a bronze eagle cast, and held it up. "This artifact will repel the Chaos poison inflicted by Horus. Its pair worked well-enough for you, Primarch. We''ll start with this. And after that...we''ll need the sword." I explained with a knowing glance towards his hip, where the Emperor''s Sword was sheathed.


    Archmagos Cowl snatched the ancient relic and began studying it with a dozen instruments, ignoring everyone in his quest for knowledge.


    Meanwhile, Sanguinius just shook his head and returned to his desk. "You want to turn Magnus and place him on the new Golden Throne." he declared in a flat voice while staring at me with his angelic blue eyes.


    "That is his purpose, after all." I answered with a shrug and held my hand out to the Lady Inquisitor.


    Rose took my hand with an amused smile. "You better not punch anyone, while on Terra." she told me in a warning tone, and held a finger up.


    A psyker glow emanated from her free hand, and a pair of Adeptus Custodes left their posts at the side of the door and approached us at a fast walk. "The Lamenter wants to enter, through the Eternity Gate." one of them said in a surprised voice and measured me from head to toe for a long minute.


    I held my tongue, while the Custodes transmitted the request higher up the chain. I could step right next to door right now, but crossing the threshold was a different thing. Less than a dozen outsiders had entered the Golden Throne room in a dozen millennia, and most of those had been women. Women which turned into silver-haired holy warriors during the visit, Janice the latest of them.


    Finally, another Custodes arrived in the Regency room, golden armor decorated with a violet toga.


    "Come with me, Pef Lancefire." the new Custodes demanded in a level voice.


    I smiled in approval and held my hand out towards the inconsiderate techpriest, mimicking a psyker as I retrieved the hexagrammic pendant before Belisarius Cowl managed to dismantle the protective covering.


    "The techpriest should come as well." I asked while displacing myself beside the new Custodes.


    The man removed his helmet and stared into my eyes with his own glowing eyes. "You''re too certain about your survival, Lamenter. Your small tricks will not help you at all, inside the throne room." the Custodes declared in a confident tone.


    A second later, our party arrived at the foot of the giant stairs leading to the adamantium mountain which served as an entrance into the Golden Throne. No point walking two hundred kilometers of hallways and barricades under the Himalayas, when we could arrive in a second.


    "...Dimensional displacement." I heard the techpriest mutter in surprise.


    Well, Cowl was quite an expert on every kind of technology, both Imperial and not. I remembered him taking command over the old Necron defenses at Cadia, with few problems in fact.


    But I ignored him right now, while studying the alien Eternity_Gate</a> hidden behind the adamantium walls of the Imperial Palace. So, that''s how he did it.


    The Golden Throne itself was located in a different dimension, behind a dimensional portal. No wonder I couldn''t find the Emperor anywhere on Terra. Because he wasn''t actually here.


    An impressive array of defenses and guardians were emplaced in and around the Eternity Gate, from small numbers of Grey Knights and Titans to thousands of Adeptus Custodes and even a squad of Silent Sisters.


    Sisters that I haven''t met yet, mind. I approached the Pariahs and smiled kindly at them. "Well met, Sisters. Boring job, guarding the door, right?" I asked with a faint smile.


    Only cold eyes replied at my joke. Devout zealots then. Oh well, maybe they''ll get more friendly later.


    The Custodes signaled something, and the Titans stopped targeting our party with their primary weapons.


    If you stumble upon this narrative on Amazon, it''s taken without the author''s consent. Report it."There are protocols for entering the Eternity Gate, Pef Lancefire. Stop trying to get yourself killed, before you meet the Emperor." the golden armored custodian warned me in a rather annoyed voice.


    I nodded wisely. "Of course, Custodian. Which is why we arrived here and not directly inside." I replied with fake confidence.


    I don''t think he really bought my lie, but he didn''t say anything else.


    Another pair of Custodians, both rather beaten up and burned, descended the stairs and examined me and my party. "Archmagos Cowl is not cleared for entry. Nor is the Inquisitor." one of them proclaimed in a stern voice, and pointed at an alcove to side.


    Surprisingly, my Rose didn''t object and just walked inside the alcove to wait. The techpriest measured the gigantic door with a yearning look in his last human eye, before nodding and joining Rose in the same alcove.


    A long hour of climbing steps later, I arrived at the slowly opening gate. It only opened minutely, but it was already some 10 meters wide portal leading into the next dimension. I might have gulped some saliva, just to clear my voice.


    Oh well. Time to meet the Emperor.


    I took one last step and vanished from this universe, and arrived into the next one.


    More Adeptus Custodes, the Companions received me with suspicious faces and weapons at ready.


    Behind them, wide stairs led upwards towards an exotic and certainly not Imperial giant device, made of alien machinery and more familiar tubes and pipes leaking oil and greasing fluids.


    Hundreds of techpriests were chanting holy repair canticles and sanctification rituals at various defective parts, with little effect.


    The entire cavern smelled of death and decay, and you couldn''t be sure if the smell originated from the nearly dead Custodians guarding the last steps in burned armors or the skeleton on the Throne itself.


    I was gigantically disappointed in this sad display, and sighed inward.


    ''Come closer, my son.'' a voice spoke in my head, and I nearly lost my balance.


    It felt almost like a Greater Demon, but a thousand times stronger and unmistakably of Warp origin.


    The defending Custodians drew aside like puppets on strings, at some unheard command.


    I shrugged and moved myself beside the decaying corpse on the Golden Throne, and patted the skeletal hand clenched on the armrest. "I am here, Adam. Hold still for a moment, while I dispel the poison. Be warned though, it might hurt a little."


    I explained in my best doctor voice, while placing the pendant on his cyborg chest.


    Nutrition tubes and burbling fluids flowed under the pendant once again, while a small stream of black ichor seeped away, trying to flee from the anti-chaos pendant, and corroding the machinery while dripping on metal with acid-like drops.


    Nasty poison indeed.


    With a flick of my left hand, I collected the corrosive liquid and stored it away in my labyrinth, before it ruined what was left of the life-support machinery.


    ''Much better'' the Emperor muttered in my mind, seemingly ignoring the pain.


    Well, I wasn''t done yet.


    The Halo tuning fork appeared in my left hand and I stabbed him in the neck with it, for extra effectiveness.


    "Don''t connect to the other side, Adam. The Halo Devices are not actually healing ports, but memetic conversion devices." I advised the Emperor as his eyes began glowing once more to life.


    A sputter of outraged techno-lingua curses resounded from the maintenance techpriests, but I wasn''t in the mood to care about their objections.


    A slow blink in the once again living eyes told me the Emperor had received my warning.


    "It hurts, quite a bit more than a little." a clearer voice sounded in my head.


    I shrugged and patted his hand again. Medicine usually hurts, true fact.


    I waited for an hour, while the Emperor''s body slowly rebuilt itself, draining the nutrition tubes at an accelerated pace.


    Meanwhile, a golden giant appeared at my side, observing the transformation with discerning eyes.


    "A decent effort, Lord Lancefire. But it is not enough." Trajann_Valoris</a> said in a sad voice. The Emperor was still dead, even if his corpse was in a better state now.


    I nodded in agreement. "Not yet. We''ll have to unplug him from the Throne. Have the Astra Telepathica bring a dozen sanctioned Beta psykers, to maintain the seal."


    The Captain-General turned towards me and measured me with a long stare. "They would last ten minutes at most. Even an Alpha-level psyker would barely last an hour."


    "They can be upgraded, Custodian. Unlike others before me, I came prepared for this task." I explained while pointing with my chin at the ignorant techpriests at the base of the throne.

 Menace - Ch 184

    While we waited for those sacrificial psykers to arrive, I focused my efforts on rooting the Shariax replacement throne at the base of the Golden Throne, not that I actually had to break my back doing anything.


    Reality inside the Golden Throne was rather ... flexible.


    Glass roots of the Shariax device meshed flawlessly with the tubulature connecting the Throne with the Astronomican beacon, while I stood on the new glass throne watching the scene with amazement.


    The whole device was a Warp amplifier, which did nothing for me. My meager psyker powers were working in reverse, not that the Emperor seemed to care about my Blankness at all.


    Then again, he was the one to engineer the Silent Sisters, after all. Their natural genetic resistance to the Warp had been amplified from Blank to Pariah status, and the recessive genes turned dominant via biokinesis magic.


    The Companions observed me with doubtful or hopeful eyes, but none of them beside their Captain even tried to speak with me. Busy guarding the place, no doubt.


    Adam certainly liked his historical references, as there were 300 such Companions, just like the 300 Spartans at Thermopylae, while the name itself was copied from the loyal bodyguards of Alexander the Great, who were also called the Companions.


    Hours later, a sorry group of blind psykers was escorted inside the Golden Throne room, all bearing stigmatas and purity seals, while looking around with white-cloths over their missing eyes. I guess one didn''t actually need eyes to see in the Warp.


    "Come forward and hold your hands in front." I demanded while raising from the replacement throne and walking beside the psyker group.


    However, one psyker woman seemed familiar, which was quite a coincidence in such a large galaxy. I searched my memories until I matched faces. "Griselda. It seems your fate was generous indeed."


    The woman nodded and turned towards the Emperor. "I was a silly girl when we first met, Lord Lancefire. Trying to worm my way into your household for an easy life. But now, I stand in the presence of the Emperor, and my soul will join him soon in the Afterlife. There is no better fate I could hope for." she declared in a proud voice.


    "We''re trying to heal him, so you''ll need to hold the burden in his place, for as long as you can." I explained in a gentle tone while retrieving the Shadowlight device and touching her hand with the black stone.


    Griselda began shinning with warplight as her powers grew by orders of magnitude, and kept growing. A few seconds of exposure to the Shadowlight would have been sufficient to raise her to Alpha-levels, but I wanted to test the limits of the alien device.


    So I kept waiting, as the woman crossed into the Alpha-plus psyker level and kept climbing. A minute later, the glow stabilized and reached a plateau. "Thank you, my lord. Like this, I can lift mountains with ease." she whispered in my mind and teleported directly on the glass throne. Holding the light of the galaxy lit might be a tad harder than lifting mountains, but I expected Griselda to last at least a dozen hours now, maybe even an entire day.


    "Continue the procedure, Captain Valoris. I believe we have a week of treatment available now." I said with a knowing smile towards the Captain-General of the Custodes.


    The giant man smiled back and began disconnecting the ports and tubes from the Emperor''s body. Then he stopped, just before lifting the body in his arms.


    "The Emperor wants a hot bath and new clothes. And a wheelchair." the Custodes said confused, just I was walking towards the exit portal.


    Of course he would. Nobody had bothered to wash him in a dozen millennia.


    Damn idiots!


    As soon as I walked out the Eternity Gate, thousands of hopeful eyes turned towards me in an unspoken question. "The Emperor is fine. Still needs a long treatment to recover though." I explained like a magic doctor.


    A second later, I vanished and reappeared beside Rose and the new Techpriest.


    "You''re still alive, Pef Lancefire. That''s...surprising." Cowl commented in a dour tone, while Rose just smiled sweetly.


    I tilted my head to the side and blinked naively at the surprised techpriest. "Why would I not be, Magos Cowl? Now, tell me you have a way to clone Blank Astartes." I asked with a curious voice.


    The techpriest hummed in deep thought for a minute. "I don''t, not yet. The cloning facilities on Mars were moved elsewhere, outside the Imperium, I think. And the Culexus Temple is not forthcoming with information, not even to Lord Guilliman."


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    Well, technically those cloning facilities for Pariah agents were supposed to be destroyed, at the behest of the High Lords of Terra, so it made sense for the Culexus Assassins to try to remain hidden, and innocent of breaking the Imperial law. There were no laws outside the Imperium, after all. I did the same thing in my small corner too.


    I flicked my hand, and moved our party in Jupiter''s orbit, on board the Singularity battleship.


    "You have a few hours to examine the Voidclaw weapon, Magos Cowl. Lady Rosalia and I have a few decades to catch up." I offered with a finger pointing towards the armored cradle holding the blackhole gun.


    The man was already walking towards the prize, metallic claws clacking in anticipation.


    A second later, I arrived in my rooms with Rose in my arms, tongues deep in battle already. We had a lot to discuss, but first there were other concerns to settle.


    "Rosalia, huh?" I asked with an amused voice, while watching her ''death and duty'' bounce up and down in mesmerizing ways, while my lover was riding me in unrestrained ecstasy.


    "Shut up!" she yelled and drew my head closer to suckle those magnificent peaks.


    Okay then. I could use my mouth to please the Lady Inquisitor with something other than silly questions.


    Serendipity, or unlikely coincidences were rather norm than the exception in this universe, so me nearly guessing her real name wasn''t that big, in the grander scheme.


    A few hours later, Rose crashed on top of me, sated and fulfilled.


    "Guilliman has sent Lady Ramaeus to negotiate with an Eldar called Yvraine, the leader of the Ynnari</a>. Your name has come up quite a lot in the preparations for her departure." the Inquisitor disclosed while breathing a bit raggedly.


    I nodded inward, while tracing circles on her back. Some events would always stay the same, history restoring itself despite my interference.


    "So you lead the Inquisition now?" I asked a bit amazed.


    "...Nobody really leads the Inquisition, my dear. Too many conflicting agendas. But your women all have friends too, and with the Emperor''s blessing to support me, I managed to gather a semblance of order. Very tenuous and subject to heavy resistance even so." Rose explained with a heavy sigh.


    "There''s less than ten Ordo Xenos Inquisitors on Terra. A hundred Ordo Malleus and a thousand Ordo Hereticus, plus some from Minor Orders. So...Adrastia and Greyfax?" I wondered with a thin smile while counting the Inquisitors I could find in the tesseract view.


    "Mostly Lady Greyfax, to be fair. She does have a Custodian at her side...which matters greatly for some. And her Blank daughter matters for others...like me." Rose whispered in a low growl, and bit my shoulder for some reason.


    "The Emperor called me his son...so my daughters are his granddaughters. It should matter, I think. Now...we''ll need to visit Titan and obtain a sacrifice ritual from the Grey Knights. Something that can kill a god." I mused softly while fondling her supple body and enjoying that great feeling.


    A long minute of silence followed, while the Inquisitor mulled over my demand. "...And which god do you plan to sacrifice, and why?" she demanded in a cold voice.


    "His name is the Crimson God. A C''tan stargod that I obtained during my long travels and trade deals with some powerful beings. As for why...It''s the nature of the universe, my dear. Equivalent exchange." I answered in a level tone.


    Rose sighed and stood up, measuring me with violet glowing eyes. "A life for a life, and a soul for a soul." she proclaimed in an uneasy voice.


    "There''s a dormant C''tan deep under the surface of Mars, my beloved Rose. The Void Dragon</a>, devourer of suns and souls. When the Emperor fought him dozens of millennia ago, the cataclysm ruined most of Africa and turned the northern parts to glass and sand. We have myths of that battle, Saint George defeating the Dragon, but C''tan are not so easily killed. The Dragon fled to Mars to heal himself, and his dreams fuel the techpriests of Mars with blueprints of advanced technology. But, if this healed and intact C''tan would awaken once more, at the heart of the Imperium, while the Emperor is incapacitated..." I offered with a powerless shrug.


    As expected, the threat of an alien menace convinced the Ordo Xenos Inquisitor more than other rational explanations.


    "This better work, Pef Lancefire!" she warned me with a suspicious glare.


    I smiled and crossed my fingers. "What could go wrong?"

 Worse - Ch 185

    Was is bad luck? Fate?


    Mere coincidence?


    We''ll never know, anyway.


    But the 40k universe was certainly ironic and vindictive. And the enemies of humanity numerous and overpowered as well.


    I had barely landed at the The_Citadel_of_Titan</a>, the fortress of the Grey Knights on Titan, using a shuttle to pass through the various defenses, which included void and dimensional shields, plus numerous psychic and data wards and firewalls.


    And then, the Solar System came under attack, simultaneous demon strikes at the Webway Gate leading into the Imperial portion of the Webway, Necron Scythe ships breaching the Khthonic Gate defenses at Pluto and heading directly for Mars, Chaos ships supported by Dark Mechanicus engines emerging almost near Elysian Gate at Uranus.


    Meanwhile auspex long range sensors detected an emergence of Eldar ships pouring though a hidden Webgate far in the comet cloud. Far for human ships, that is. I expected the Eldar to arrive at Mars just as fast as the Necrons.


    "Probably not a coincidence." I mused to myself while Rose lost all color to her face.


    "The Golden Throne...it was breached." she reported in near panic.


    I nodded slowly while taking stock of the attackers. Alpha Legion ships, led by Omegon himself, like they boasted on every Vox chanel? Too good to be true, I suspected.


    Perhaps possible, if the Necrons were not present as well. But now, it seemed more likely this was another scheme by Mephet''ran</a> the Deceiver, as that C''tan was fond of making his enemies kill each other while he laughed.


    As for the Eldar...the presence of Dark Eldar ships among the fleet pointed to the Ynnari, not that I could be certain yet. I was being blocked by the Grey Knights shields around me, and the similar shields on the leading Eldar battleships.


    As the crisis was being managed, a Grey Knight Ferryman approached me and began scanning me for corruption. Kinda late for that, since I had already met the Emperor.


    "You have seen the Black River, Pef Lancefire?" the Grey Knight asked ignoring all the alerts and the defense batteries firing bursts of white-hot plasma and entropic curses at the advancing enemies.


    "So I''ve been told, Brother. Your demon blade looks nice too." I answered with a grin, pointing at the corrupted weapon at his hip.


    The Grey Knight waved off my concern with barely a shrug. "It''s only a tool, Lamenter. And quite effective at killing demons, permanently."


    I nodded in acceptance, since I used something of a similar nature for the task. "There''s a massive Chaos incursion on Terra via the Webway, supported by trillions of cultists and traitors attacking the Imperial Palace from outside. You''re lucky I was around to lend a hand." I explained politely and began heading towards my shuttle once more.


    The man ran after me and entered the shuttle at my side. "There is no luck, Lamenter. There''s a woman on the Throne now, and you placed her there while removing the Emperor. The Great Enemy had to strike now." he spoke as the shuttle sped higher into the methane skies of Titan.


    "A woman?" Rose asked in a cold voice.


    "Griselda. A native of Illevar and a new Alpha level psyker. Possibly not the best choice, in hindsight." I muttered as we passed through the dimensional field over the fortress and the tesseract view filled with the horrible reality of the Solar System once more.


    "Not trained to hold that post, indeed. Strength is no substitute for skill." Rose whispered as her eyes flashed blue with psyker spells, most likely receiving psychic updates from various informers and Inquisitors on Terra.


    The Chaos fleet had another Glorianna leading the way, and a dozen smaller battleships acting as escorts, plus actual Daemon cruisers and destroyers to act as screen elements. For only a minute.


    The smaller corrupted warships didn''t have dimensional shields, and were quickly dispatched into the Sun, while I ordered the Black Fortress to head straight for Mars and the Singularity to engage the Chaos fleet with the Voidclaw.


    With a black beam of superheavy gravity, the Singularity fired upon the Alpha Legion fleet, crushing a dozen battleships despite their potent shields.


    However, the Glorianna was not damaged too much, except for a brief flicker of its dimensional shields. Multiple shields at that, and even stronger than what I''ve seen the Dark Mechanicus use in the past.


    Still, I managed to peek a millisecond inside the ship, and the fake Omegon on the bridge was definitely not a human nor Primarch.


    Unauthorized duplication: this tale has been taken without consent. Report sightings.


    The same second, lance batteries and more exotic Mechanicus weapons on the corrupted Glorianna turned and fired directly at my shuttle. Sorry Mona Lisa, but here is we last see each other. I chose to sacrifice my old shuttle to give myself time, and try to intercept the Necrons.


    My party arrived on the Black Lament''s bridge just as my fortress fired on the lead Necron ship heading for Mars. "Minimal damage to target, Captain. We need to increase realspace speed and reload the Nova Cannons for another shot!" I heard my daughter Clara speak out loud. Well, Necron capital ships were hard to destroy even at the best odds, and these ships seemed also protected against tesseracts. Clever enemies weren''t as fun.


    Janice looked back from her command chair and smiled sweetly at her parents. "Hey mom and dad! Trying to make another sibling, for me?" she asked in a cheerful tone.


    Rose coughed a bit embarrassed. "Not the time for jokes, girl. What are the Necrons doing here?"


    I linked with the Machine Spirit and projected the fleet situation on the hololith screen, while transmitting vectors for the other Lamenters and Lancefire ships, as the Blackstone Fortress accelerated in pursuit of the xenos.


    Drop Cruisers were split in two squadrons, one directed at Mars and one at Terra to provide cover and fire support for the defenders, and our troops later.


    The Heavy Cruisers with Nova Cannons were spread apart to cover a larger volume, while the battlebarges and battleships were directed to hold a defensive orbit around Luna. And likely provide heavy orbital fire support if the invasion proceeded as I suspected.


    My four remaining carriers disgorged their corvettes and starfighters to support the fleet against smaller sized targets, following the bigger ships as screens and escorts.


    Just in time, as the Minotaurs Chapter fleet holding station next to Forge World Jupiter decided it was just the right moment to support the hopeless Hexarchy coup against Sanguinius and Guilliman, by blowing up my carriers in a surprise attack. They only managed to fire once at the last carrier, catching a few hundred corvettes before they could launch. I rescued the crews and the other carriers with the Labyrinth while cursing the stupid idiots in my mind.


    Their moment of glory didn''t last long anyway, as the Imperial Fists, the Ultramarines and the Space Wolves began boarding and pacifying the Minotaurs ships and barges the next minute, with some aid from my Lamenters and well-placed grenades by yours truly.


    And because things can always get worse, another Webway opened near Venus to unleash a powerful Dark Eldar raiding fleet, while small Warp portals opened all over the Sol System to allow Ork Bikers to cross into realspace at high-speed, shooting pistols and waving axes from their saddles.


    Sounds silly, but when these bikes could ride on water, methane or ice without problems, and even climb the side of buildings it made things quite hilarious. For me.


    Probably not that funny for their victims though, so I had to stop and collect a billion greenskins and their bikes for later use.


    While I was doing that, the Black Lament fired again and managed to blow up a Necron ship, with four remaining and speeding up themselves while choosing different vectors to approach Mars from different angles.


    I admit, I was rather curious what these Necrons were trying to achieve with this suicide run, but considering the sleeping C''tan on Mars, I had a valid suspicion anyway.


    The Dark Eldar were stealing people from Venus, now transformed into a large industrial world filled with workers, servants and serfs, as well as PDF regiments, Imperial Guards and a couple of Legio Cybernetica Skitarii maniples.


    As expected, humans with lasguns stood no chance against fast moving and advanced vehicles of the crazy elves, only the Skitarii with their cybernetic enhancements and Volkite weapons managing to hold the lines somewhat.


    I deployed my Knights and Dreadknights to support the Venus defenders, while in orbit I launched a hundred Nova Mines at knife range with the spiky ships of the spiky Eldar.


    Still, I was getting overwhelmed by the cacophony of various attackers, which was possibly quite the point of all these distractions.


    On Luna, a Warp Portal was opened to allow Ahriman and other Sorcerers to come through, once more supported by demons and daemon engines, and some ethereal corrupted marines called a Warp_Talon</a>.


    In the tunnels and catacombs of the Selenite clades and PDF bunkers, the Chaos Sorcerers had a field day, while the Warp Talons were able to phase in and out with reality and attack their targets with impunity.


    It was a damned mess, and I had a niggling feeling the worse was yet to come.

 Occam -Ch 186

    "Brother Semnai, you and five Lamenters Companies will deploy at the Eternity Gate and protect the glass throne inside. Janice, you and your girls go and help as well." I decided after a minute of consideration. While the Sisters of Battle weren''t quite the supersoldiers of Astartes level, they had armor and weapons far ahead of regular troops, plus the mental fortitude to resist demons and psyker spells.


    The veteran Astartes slammed his chest with an armed fist. "It will be our honor, my Lord!"


    Well, honor for sure. Probably a glorious death as well. But no Astartes has died of old age, and I trusted my Blank sons a million times more than any other force in the Imperium.


    With a flick of my gloved hand, half of the troops aboard the Black Lament vanished, to reappear inside the Imperial Palace on Terra.


    "Princeps Dae, your Titan legion and the techmarines will deploy around the Palace and engage the traitors. Captain Chyron, you''ll have local command on the ground." I ordered while splitting off the big guns, and deploying them to support the besieged Adeptus Custodes.


    It helped that Terra had the greatest array of defenses known to man, not only ships and orbital forts but also a million Imperial Guard and PDF regiments, all eager to die for the Emperor. And die they did, as barracks and garrisons were being overwhelmed by crazed cultists and corrupted forces, entire traitor regiments and some Astartes Chapters supporting the coup, while minor Navy squadrons and Aeronautica fighters were strafing their positions with megatonnes of ordnance and laser batteries.


    But stolen tanks and lasguns wouldn''t fare that well against Titans and Guardian turrets, especially as each Titan was deployed with its support units, anti-air tanks, Armed Sentinels for close support and reconnaissance Weasels and Manticores loaded with krak missiles for suppressive fire.


    There were other forces remaining in the reserve, the Auxilia regiments and the Silent Sisters, and those I began deploying regiment by regiment and squad by squad on Luna and Mars, trying to cover as many eventualities as possible.


    Fighting inside the regolith tunnels on Luna was fairly similar to ship boarding, and the Rapiers and Sentinels of the Catachan heavy infantry could inflict much damage on the attackers. Traps and psychic protection would prevent my troops from being overrun with Chaos curses and illusions, while spaceports and large manufactorums on the surface of Mars could be defended by enclosed armored units and portable Bastion forcefields on Ragnarok tank chassis.


    Mars itself had gigantic orbital defenses, from a ring of armored pylons supporting the orbital docks, to a large fleet of Mechanicus cruisers and battleships in high orbit, plus a billion Skitarii and battle-automata manning the defense bunkers and security portals into the lower levels under the red planet. But Necrons were mechanical as well, so I decided to send humans there to help with defenses instead of techmarines, since the Necrons might have cogito-viruses or other exotic means of subverting the cyborgs and the robots of the Mechanicus.


    And indeed, less than an hour later my predictions came true, as the Necron ships crossed the minefields around Mars unimpeded, and lost a single ship to the Martian fleet, before crash-landing on the surface.


    Waves and bubbles of EMP and engrammatic streams flooded the robotic defenders, shutting down a good portion of the Skitarii and the battle-automata in Valles Marineris sector, allowing the invaders to reach kilometers deep and breach the underhives with anti-gravity platforms and a large invasion force of Warriors and Scarabs.


    Here, my armored regiments proved their worth, as their Volcano Lances and Plasma cannons matched the Necron weaponry in firepower, while their blackstone armor and Ion shields served as a bulwark against the terror of skin-flaying gauss beams and other energy weapons.


    Meanwhile, the corrupted Glorianna battleship forced its way into Jupiter''s defenses, laying waste to dockyards and orbital factories, and glassing the surface of Ganymede for some reason.


    The Phalanx and the Singularity were the only human vessels able to confront it on equal terms, but the Phalanx Fortress was lacking repairs and maintenance, while the Singularity was unable to break the dimensional shields of the enemy battleship with its primary weapon, nor was it feasible to fire it too close to an inhabited world, so a hundred Nova Cannon cruisers were diverted to help.


    Fighting continued all over the system, xenos, demons and traitors trying to crush the heart of humanity and nearly succeeding.


    Without my fortuitous presence, they might have. Perhaps not just by myself.


    Anyways, drop-pods with Tarantula turrets started falling from the skies on Terra and Mars, providing even more firepower to support the defenders, and the attacks on Venus were repelled with minimal losses. I started redeploying the Imperial Knights and the Leviathan Dreadknights to increase the weight of firepower on Luna and Mars, using the gigantic walkers as shields and breaching rams for my other troops.


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    "My lord, there are Harlequins here! Coming through the Webgate!" Semnai alerted me via a messenger from the Golden Throne room.


    I stopped for a moment to consider this. Harlequins were special forces, not front line units. What could they want?


    "Ignore them and focus on demons as per regular protocols." I replied a second later. The Emperor wasn''t there anyway, so the Golden Throne was less of a priority than it would have been normally.


    I could see the Custodes Captain with the Emperor in his floating wheelchair, and Sanguinus and Guilliman discussing something above a large holomap of the Sol System, my ships and troops highlighted in yellow, while traitors and xenos all appeared in red.


    Why was I yellow? Weren''t we on the same side?


    My brain was heating up already, with the influx of information and the strain of moving troops around from crisis to crisis.


    And the Machine Spirit of the Black Lament was trying to explode my mind as well, screaming for blood and vengeance.


    I took out the Sounding Board and placed it right behind my command chair, while my left hand rested on my wolf''s head at my side.


    "What do you think, Canis? What is really going on here?" I mused to myself, while Clara glanced at me from her station with a confused look.


    "Woo? Wooof!" the loyal wolf answered after analyzing the system map with wise eyes.


    "Yes. Distractions all around. But that Glorianna battleship is the linchpin indeed. What else?" I hummed in a low voice.


    "It''s you, dad. You, the Blackstone Fortress and what we have on board." Clara said with a clear voice.


    I turned my head to look at Rose, question unasked but nevertheless still asked.


    The Inquisitor looked at me with her violet glowing eyes, then down at Canis. "It''s possible. Trying to make you leave the Fortress, and capture it or destroy it. Janice is already away..." Rose commented with a logical tone.


    The Deceiver then. He was possibly the only behind the destruction of the other Blackstone Fortresses, since their Immaterium beam was capable of killing Greater Demons or C''tan alike.


    Canis nosed my glove as a hint. Yes, I suppose I could use the tesseract that way.


    The next second, I had two Primarchs and the Emperor on board, plus Captain Valoris.


    "Janice, I need you back on the fortress. With the glass throne." I sent via the Sounding Board. The device was multidimensional so it could reach her mind even inside the Golden Throne room.


    "Pef, you better have a good reason for abducting us." Sanguinius growled at me in a low voice, while Guilliman clenched his hand on the pommel of his sword.


    "There are demons and Harlequins inside the Golden Throne room. There''s a C''tan leading that Chaos battleship laying waste at Jupiter, disguised as Omegon. Another C''tan is sleeping on Mars, with Necron troops filling the tunnels and trying to awaken him. Ahriman and other Chaos forces are looting Luna and the gene-banks of the Selenites, while a Hexarchy coup is taking place trying to depose you, Lord Regent. And there were Dark Eldar and Orks around as well, but I dealt with those already." I explained in calm voice.


    Roboute Guilliman walked beside my chair to observe the real-time positions of my troops and their current activities. "The defenses of the Imperial Palace will hold, no matter how many traitors throw themselves at the walls. As for Mars...they haven''t really used their better weapons yet. We need to go to Jupiter." the Primarch decided in a command tone.


    The next second, the Blackstone Fortress vanished and reappeared beside the Phalanx at Jupiter, blocking a battery salvo from the enemy Glorianna with our hull.


    "That''s the Hydra, the flagship of Alpha Legion. And these multiple attacks, paired with human traitors and xenos...it certainly looks like Alpharius''s work." the Primarch mused in a thoughtful voice.


    "The strategy was indeed a multi-pronged attack, but the creature on the bridge is not a human. And I''ll prove it." I declared confidently, while searching with the Sounding Board for a specific person.


    "Brother Occam</a>, you were fooled. Omegon is dead, and that thing wearing his face is only a sneaky C''tan called the Deceiver. The Emperor himself is beside me, here on the bridge of the Black Lament. But you have to act now, lower the shields and strike the xenos!" I spoke directly into his mind.


    Occam was one of those Chaos traitors who were still loyal, in their mind. Sure, they attacked and pillaged humans without mercy, but they call it a test from the Emperor. Well, I had a true test, right here.


    I could even call it the Occam''s Razor.

 Dark -Ch 187

    It is said, no plan survives the contact with the enemy.


    That is always true. Best laid plans will fail in the face of the unknown and the unpredictable.


    The trick, of course, is for yourself to become that imprevisible enemy.


    The mind is always weaker, and the C''tan might have impressed and tricked the Alpha Legion and some Dark Mechanicus adepts to follow him on false pretense, but hate is much stronger.


    The fallen Occam, might have been the loyal servant of the Emperor and a Chaos traitor too, but he still hated all xenos. It was something deeply ingrained in the subconscious of all humans in this galaxy, for aliens were always worse.


    "What are you doing?" Omegon yelled at his subordinate, watching with dismay as the shield''s console flips and tabs were pressed in rapid succession.


    "Testing a theory." Occam answered calmly, with a tinge of hate and anger in his voice.


    The dimensional fields fell, followed a second later by the void shields of the Hydra.


    "Turn the shields back online! We are exposed now!" Omegon yelled and pointed at the console.


    A shower of krak grenades filled the bridge of the Glorianna battleship, shredding machinery and bones with equal ease. My gift, that is.


    Only Occam and Omegon remained standing, the Chaos marine protected by ceramite armor and his helmet, while Omegon was flayed alive and lost its human-looking skin, revealing a silvery alloy of obvious xeno origin.


    "You are a C''tan, after all. Time to die, xeno scum!" Occam shouted and shot his bolter at the alien, who just laughed and ignored the .75 caliber rounds with a grin much too wide.


    "I wonder, what gave me away? I''m certain the disguise was perfect." the C''tan asked in a confused voice, as a white sheet formed around him, creating a flowing toga around his metal body.


    Then his smile froze, as a slim girl with white-silver hair and silk shoes appeared in the room, floating above the rivulets of blood and guts left behind by the deceased crew.


    "A machine soul. Now this is a fascinating gift from my father. Demons are boring after a while." The girl said in a childish voice, and turned her violet glowing eyes towards Occam.


    "What are you?" the Chaos marine asked, stepping back in fear.


    "Adepta Tertia is my rank, sweetie. You did a great job for the Emperor today. I bet he''ll be glad for your extraordinary service." Janice answered with a dimpled smile.


    With a twist of the tesseract, I brought the three new guests inside the Blackstone Fortress, right in front of the Emperor and his Primarchs.


    "He''s fighting back...rather valiantly. I believe he''ll break free from stasis, in about 3 minutes." Janice advised me with a pained voice, while her staff kept pointing at the C''tan shard and Warp strings twisted around the captive to hold him tight and secure.


    Well, 3 minutes was quite a long time.


    "So this is a C''tan? I thought they were much bigger and glowing green." Sanguinius hummed to himself, examining the captive with his exotic senses.


    "They can be. Especially transcendant or intact C''tan, they are quite powerful. As for this one...Mephet''ran the Deceiver is only a shard. He will serve us well as a test, if the Emperor wills it." I replied with a serious voice, while turning towards the Custodes Captain.


    Trajann Valoris glared at me for a second, before touching the Emperor''s shoulder with a hesitant hand. Immediately, his eyes glowed golden and focused on Occam. "The Emperor sees you and your actions today, Occam the Untrue. Swear yourself and you may return to His service."


    I coughed and waved a hand to interrupt the ceremony. "Yes, yes. But we have a more urgent matter."


    The glowing eyes turned towards me, and then towards Canis. Really? The attention span of the Emperor was shorter than a child''s.


    "He doesn''t mind to try, Pef Lancefire. Turning the C''tan shard into a loyal dog might be useful." the Custodes answered my question on a strange tangent.


    Just devour his soul or whatever psykers do!


    I sighed inward and waved the Ferryman Grey Knight closer. "You''re the expert on soul sacrifice here, Brother Phlegyras</a>. You have two minutes."


    The bald guy nodded slowly and walked beside the captured C''tan, while the temperature on the bridge fell to glacial levels around him. "I can create a conduit...and guide the xeno Machine Spirit into the Black River. After that...it''s out of my hands." the mystical Astartes muttered while spreading his hands in an arch, and almost physically drawing the C''tan spirit out of its metal body.


    "I''ll help once the body is empty." Janice announced with gritted teeth.


    "Adam, you better eat everything, even if it tastes bad. You need the vitamins and minerals to get back on your feet!" I urged the Emperor via the Sounding Board. Luckily, it was all a mental and empathic transmission, so I wasn''t blasted by some enraged Inquisitor.


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    "Very funny, Blank son." Emperor''s voice answered in my head, while his body started glowing, first his normal golden aura then tendrils of white, blue and violet appeared and arched towards the C''tan and began sucking that machine soul out.


    In a minute, a metal statue remained in place of the Deceiver, while the Emperor seemed a bit rosier in his cheeks. And still a bit dead.


    "He wants more." the Custodes asked with a surprised voice.


    I nodded and produced the Crimson God I had prepared for this occasion, just like he was, still bound with living rock chains by Trazyn. "This C''tan was quite expensive to procure. They don''t grow on trees, you know." I explained in a serious voice, as Rose walked beside me to observe the ceremony a bit closer.


    Captain Valoris turned once again towards me, eyes glowing golden from communion. "Are you trying to barter with the Emperor, again?" the Custodes demanded in slight outrage.


    I sighed inward. "Not right now, Captain. Just pointing out the reality." I answered in a level voice then turned towards Janice.


    "Go bring Magnus here, while I set up his glass throne." I spoke mentally and vanished, reappearing at the base of the Eternity Gate''s stairs.


    Fighting was still going on relentlessly, Titans and Custodes battling hordes of demons and demon engines, psyker spells, laser beams and weapon rounds flying about in a rainbow of colors and sound effects.


    Of course, I proceeded to ignore the distraction and stepped once more with my Nexus at the base of the gate. Semnai and a Company of my Lamenters kept watch outside, sniping demons and providing Blank aura cover for the handicapped Adeptus Custodes.


    "Good job, boys. Keep them busy." I commented casually, as I crossed into the next dimension.


    I think Semnai cursed something at my back, but I was rather busy at the moment.


    Inside the Golden Throne there was another pandemonium, with fewer troops and enemies but even more colored. Harlequins loved their patched clothes made of different colors, and jumping around for no reason.


    Beyond the breached Webway, more fighting was going on, Sisters of Battle and various Eldar forces battled demons and Chaos marines, and losing quite rapidly to a pair of gigantic Bloodthirsters that seemed immune to bolters and flamers.


    The first Lamenter company in Terminator armors and using heavy grav weapons were still holding the line, but the rules of reality fell apart rapidly, with every meter deeper into the Webway.


    If they weren''t Blanks...the battle would have been lost already.


    And then, just as I was preparing to step in and kill the Greater Demons before they defeated our forces, a woman in black leathers appeared from behind the Chaos forces, spinning and twirling while a hurricane of Warp lightning swept aside all enemies.


    At her side, a Harlequin dressed somberly in patches of black and silver walked fearlessly and ignored the Warp spells like he was on a casual stroll.


    A Solitaire Harlequin?


    Well, I knew they existed, but I haven''t met one before. The Eldar backed away from his path, while the silver-haired woman crushed the two Greater Demons with amazing grace and ease.


    In the pair''s wake, there was nothing. No more enemies. These two had obliterated the entire Chaos incursion by themselves.


    Sister Helena ran to my side a moment later, and pointed at the approaching pair. "That''s the Demonifuge, formerly known as Sister Ephrael_Stern</a>. She''s suspected of heresy, after coming back to life three times."


    Well, that was quite an achievement, for a normal mortal.


    The Solitare remained silent, while Sister Stern approached me, after glancing at the Blank Lamenters with curious eyes. "I was told the Emperor was in danger. And yet, the Golden Throne is empty." she remarked in a cold voice.


    I just extended my hand slowly, and flicked her forehead. "Don''t trust everything you hear, pretty girl." I admonished her in an amused voice, and grinned as the woman rubbed her forehead in surprise.


    "You''re immune to my powers? Just like the weird Pariah?" she asked in a confused voice.


    I turned to examine the silent Harlequin, both with my eyes and the tesseract senses. There was a strange aura around him, like a forcefield of some exotic nature. And I''ve only seen that type of aura on an Eldar Avatar.


    "A messenger of Cegoragh?" I asked to make sure.


    The masked Eldar nodded at me in silence. All right then. Gods could be useful, when they wished to be. Even Eldar gods.


    Anyways, I turned away and walked beside the Shariax, the glass throne recovered from the Eastern Fringe. Griselda was still alive, barely.


    "Time''s up, my dear. Step down and retract the roots." I asked gently while patting her hand.


    It took a minute for the new Alpha psyker to recover enough sanity and listen. "The Astronomican will go dark." she argued in a pained voice.


    I shrugged and tugged at her hand again. "It''s okay. A bit of darkness never hurt anyone." I quipped in a light voice as Griselda stood up from her throne, and the galaxy went dark.

 Magnus -Ch 188

    "Want to meet Big E?" I asked Griselda with a wide grin.


    "He''s back?" she asked in a hopeful voice, while packing up the glass throne and retracting the feeder roots.


    "Not all of him. His mind and soul are...fractured. Dispersed into the Warp and spread all over the galaxy. However, a good chunk is still here. The Golden Throne has served as an anchor, tethering him to his body and binding his soul to his birthplace." I explained in a soft tone.


    The strange Sister of Battle had appeared at my side, eyes glowing blue with Warplight while she examined the old throne and the new.


    "I wish to meet him as well." she demanded with a far away voice, then turned those eyes directly at me. "I really do."


    "Perhaps later, Miss Stern. Right now, I want you to seal back the Webgate and then heal the wounded, cleanse the Chaos corruption in these halls and destroy the attackers on the other side. Sister Fidelia and my Lamenters will escort you for the day." I demanded in a stern voice, while patting her silver hair and storing the magical Shariax into the tesseract.


    Her eyes flickered at my left glove, perhaps tracing some invisible emanation that lingered about the glass throne. "I see. A task that will earn me recognition among Imperial forces." Sister Stern mused as she glanced at the tired troops holding defense positions around the Golden Throne.


    I shrugged and began walking towards the Eternity Gate, and sending the necessary orders via the Manifold circuit of my brain implant. The Custodes wouldn''t listen to me anyway, and the various Eldar allies were keeping themselves at a good distance to avoid friendly fire. But I doubted the peace would hold, after I left.


    So a second before I stepped out, the collected the Harlequins into my tesseract, including the strange Pariah. He might be useful soon, most likely. Cegorach might be slightly insane, but he was still a god. It just made sense to keep his messenger close at hand.


    Next step, I found myself once again at the base of the giant adamantium gate, overlooking the stairway and the ongoing battlefield. Captain Semnai was locked in a melee duel with a distorted demon, probably a Prince going by size and might.


    My Captain''s blackstone armored plates were singed and scorched with Warp fire, and his Rosarius shield was glowing brightly with the strain of combat.


    My demon lance streaked a line of red fire and impaled the invader, then retracted slowly with a new victim. Another rune lit up and the weapon became stronger once more. I could feel the demon eager for more, more souls to devour and fuel the demonic fires. Perhaps one day, my alien friend. For now, get back into your cage.


    "Good job, Semnai. Now go and rest inside the throne room. Miss Stern will deal with the unwanted guests, soon enough." I said in a level voice.


    The Lamenter measured me for a long moment, then scanned Griselda with obvious suspicion. "As you wish, my liege. Follow me, Brothers!"


    "That''s an Ether lance, right? I learned about them at the Psykana School. The weapon of a potent Chaos Lord, or even a Daemon Prince. But I never knew they could be so strong." the psyker whispered in an impressed voice, while my sons ran inside the Eternity Gate after their Captain.


    "It only looks like one, my dear. So, what else do you see around us?" I asked curious, while examining Terra with my tesseract vision. Religious fervor and mass hysteria filled the streets, adding to the pandemonium already in progress.


    The blind woman glanced around and upwards, her white blindfold being no obstacle for her psyker senses. "Thousands of ships are lost in the Warp, and trillions of people are panicking without the guiding light of the Astronomican. Warp portals are opening all over the sector, and the enemies of the Imperium are massing for a final strike. In a month, or maybe less, the Eye will open and humanity will be lost." Griselda whispered in a prophetic voice.


    I nodded sadly. Her predictions might come true, if I wasn''t here.


    The next second, we appeared beside the rulers of the Imperium, the Emperor and his sons standing face to face with Magnus in chains.


    Captain Valoris looked at me with golden eyes, then promptly ignored me and turned back towards Magnus. "He''s too corrupted and filled with hate, Sanguinius. I know he''s your brother, but he''s fallen." the Custodes spoke with a different voice, alien and yet so familiar.


    With a flick of my hand, I stole the Emperor''s Sword from Guilliman and held it out. I could feel its immense power vibrating in pulsing waves through the blade and handle, eerily similar to the demon lance and yet completely opposite.


    If you stumble upon this tale on Amazon, it''s taken without the author''s consent. Report it.This sword wasn''t a killing tool, but something else. A conversion weapon, working in and out, even for Blanks.


    So I held it out, placing the pommel in the hand of the Pariah Grey Knight. "Sever his ties with the Ruinous Powers, Brother. The stomach should be a good place to start." I offered in a kind voice, then sat down in my command chair and returned to duty, commanding my troops all over the system.


    While I was gone, the Necron forces on Mars had vanished without a trace, some of them disappearing from firefights with my own troops. Almost like they were collected in a pocket dimension by someone.


    A dozen more Warp portals had opened in the Solar System, most of them unleashing additional Chaos demons and worshipers, and targeting Luna and Saturn with ships and invasion forces.


    Also, the Eldar fleet had bypassed most terran defenses and reached Jupiter as well, with a gentle grace and speed and holographic tricks.


    Guilliman observed the Ferryman Grey Knight with a frown, then walked beside me to see the shifting troop markers on the holographic screen. "There''s an Inquisition Fortress on Saturn and old gene-labs on Luna. They''re after demonic lore and genetic samples, to build up more corrupted Space Marines and bind stronger demons in their service." the Primarch deduced, simply by observing my troop movements countering the Chaos forces.


    I nodded slowly, while mentally deploying tanks and Knights to plug the breaches into the system defenses, while my fleet was repositioned to provide orbital support and direct fire on the emerging portals. Sadly, it was like trying to patch up a sinking ship, as more two invasion portals opened, as soon as the ships bombarded and closed a Warp portal.


    "The Eldar are here too. At your request, if I''m not mistaken, Primarch." I said instead, marking the Ynnari vessels with a yellow highlight on the screen.


    "Archmagos Cowl had a plan, to revive my father with their help. These C''tan sacrifices that you''ve tried were not enough, Pef Lancefire. I think we''ll go on with the initial plan." the Primarch explained in a cold voice, followed by a desperate scream from Magnus.


    The corrupted Primarch had split in two, a gaseous shade trying to flee the stabbed body, while the psyker Primarch fell to the metal floor and began morphing into his old shape, resuming a human appearance.


    Janice and Sanguinius pooled their psyker powers to restrain the fleeing demon, aided by Griselda, Rose and the two Silent Sisters keeping watch over Magnus. Then the Grey Knight drew his black blade and stabbed once, movement so fast and graceful I might have missed it without my enhanced senses.


    "It is done, Pef Lancefire. Lord Magnus is restored." the Grey Knight announced in a proud voice.


    A pained cough and a metallic sound followed, as Magnus stood up and expelled the Emperor''s Sword from his stomach. "It''s like...the fog has lifted and my mind is free once more. And I''m before my father now, beside my brothers once more." Magnus declared in a raspy voice, then coughed again, spitting clots of blood.


    "Pick the sword up, Magnus. Then go fix your mess on Luna. Janice and Dessima, you look after him." I commanded with a casual voice, my attention focused on the approaching Eldar ship.


    The God of Death had sent his messenger as well, and my bridge was not a receiving hall. "Ordela, prepare the reception hall for visitors. Have the servitors wipe the blood stains as well." I continued in the same voice.


    Primarch Sanguinius sighed and flared his powers for a second, then vanished in a golden light. A second later, he was back on Terra, commanding his troops and restoring a sense of control over the hectic situation.


    Yeah, my Primarch wasn''t the type to impose himself with psyker powers and grand gestures, not anymore, but he was now possibly the equal of Magnus, in psyker powers and skill. I helped with that as well.


    That Lord Regent rank wasn''t gained only by name and reputation. Sanguinius was strong even before, and now he was much stronger. He had observed my moves and motives, until he was certain I wasn''t placing the Emperor or the Imperium in danger, then just went back to work.


    "Well then. I better head up to the reception hall as well. Come, Captain Valoris. It''s not every day we meet an Avatar of a God, is it?" Roboute Guilliman asked in a calm voice, then patted my head on his way out.


    "This better work, Primarch." the Custodes muttered in a warning voice, then pushed the wheelchair with the Emperor and followed.


    Griselda sat beside me, and let out a pained sob. "It is so dark."


    "The night is always darker before dawn." I answered in a wise voice.

 Friends - Ch 189

    Slowly, the space battles in and around the Solar System began to grow in magnitude, despite the valiant efforts of Battlefleet Solar, the numerous defense platforms and the additional ships belonging to various other forces of the Imperium.


    For every Warp portal we managed to close, two more opened. At the same time, the astropath choirs were reporting major Chaos incursions at many strategic points in the galaxy, from Hive World Vigilus and Cadia to Armageddon and Baal, almost in a direct line trying to bisect half the galaxy from the Eye of Terror to the Maelstrom and beyond. Warp Storms were opening all along this invisible line, unleashing hell into the galaxy.


    I can''t say I was surprised learning about all this activity. I had worked all my new life to try to prevent the worst effects of this inevitable event, but I knew I wouldn''t be able to stop it completely. Future knowledge was something available in abundance to most of the players in this universe, gods, demigods and their avatars alike. What I knew, others knew as well, and unlike me these beings were able to effect change on a large scale, reshaping reality to fit their wishes.


    However, no matter how strong and insidious these beings were, I had faith in the Emperor. Not the Emperor-that-Was, human and prone to human mistakes, nor the Emperor-what-Is, a creature of Warp and miracles, pretty much driven insane by inhabiting the Warp for too long with a feeble anchor tying him to humanity. No, I what I believed in was the Emperor-to-Be.


    I hoped for a human Avatar, with access to higher powers via his domain in the Warp.


    Funnily enough, Lady Yvraine, the Emissary of Ynnead</a> was much the same, except her god-to-be wasn''t fully born yet, while my Emperor wasn''t yet alive.


    His Avatar body was ready, repaired and restored to peak condition, decoupled from the strain of the Golden Throne and ready to take a new breath again.


    Only He wasn''t. He lay lifeless in his wheelchair, even if somehow puppeting his Custodes to observe or demand things.


    Even worse, everything I could do to help him I''ve already done, and it hadn''t been enough. A good try, and some hopeful results, but restoring a god back to life was not in my powers.


    Magos Belisarius was preparing a new armor suit for the Emperor, something he claimed would sustain the Emperor for decades even when detached from the failing Golden Throne, but I was highly skeptical of his chances.


    Technology would not be enough, so it would come down to faith.


    Faith was a powerful tool, and one that would sustain a god very well, as other species proved it constantly with their own Warp gods, but Adam wasn''t even aware of his own divinity. In fact, he hated all religions and had tried to obliterate any trace of religion in the galaxy, purging temples and churches of every kind, human or alien, with his Great Crusade.


    The second the Eldar Emissary stepped inside my Fortress, I retrieved the Pariah Harlequin as a means of balancing out the mental pressure emitted by Yvraine.


    "Cover me, messenger. I feel kinda small, all of a sudden." I muttered in a pained voice, as an aura of death splashed over me and nearly made me crash to the floor. The woman was tall enough, but her presence was like a raging sea, nearly drowning me in death and pain.


    The Eldar Harlequin chuckled amused, and patted my arm. "She''s not very pleased to meet you, Pef Lancefire. Might you have done something to enrage the God of the Dead?" the creepy Solitare asked in light voice, while making his words rhyme somehow, by adding strange intonations to his words.


    I blinked for a moment, then smiled as well. "Ah. Commorragh." I did kinda exterminate most of the Dark Eldar, after all.


    The Eldar woman locked her eyes on me. "There are many Drukhari among the Ynnari, Astartes. Perhaps half of them, from what''s left." she declared in a melodious voice, which nevertheless scratched at my ears and my soul.


    I smiled sweetly in response. "So you''re saying, I missed some Dark Eldar?" I asked rhetorically then gestured politely towards the main hallway. "Let''s try and keep this meeting short."


    The Emissary of the God of Death snorted in contempt and walked onwards, without sparing me another look.


    Behind her, a Phoenix Lord glared at me with deadly eyes, then followed his mistress.


    To his side, a scantly clad Succubus smiled at me and patted her blade at the nice hips. "That is the famed duelist Lelith Hesperax</a>. I think she likes you." the Solitare commented in wry voice.


    I glanced at him and sighed inward. "You really think so?" I asked faking a hopeful smile.


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    "No. She follows the God of the Dead." he explained in a sour voice.


    Just like I thought. Yet another potential enemy, if things went sour.


    Luckily, the retinue of the High Priestess of Ynnead wasn''t too large, and did not contain an actual Avatar, which would have been a much bigger problem.


    "I don''t see the Yncarne." I noted in a soft voice, while following the guests towards the reception room. Perhaps it was invisible or in another dimension. Gods did have plenty of tricks up their sleeve.


    The Solitaire tilted his head in a curious manner, and all sound died around us. "You know too much, human. The Yncarne hasn''t been found, not yet. But somehow, you expected the Avatar to be present?"


    I poked at the surrounding air, finding a solid but transparent wall of negative-psi, much stronger than even Sister Ordela could manifest with her Null Shields.


    "If the restoration works, you can visit me at Illevar, and help train the new Pariahs. Your Null Shields are much better than even a minus-Omega Sister can generate." I offered with a small nod.


    "And if it doesn''t?" he asked with faint amusement.


    "That would be very unfortunate, Solitaire. I might have to bring them to your Library." I explained in a level voice, following a small hint from my memories.


    The messenger of Cegoragh laughed like I said an amazing joke, and patted my arm again. "Then let''s hope this restoration works."


    I wish to say I was witness to the following events, but things don''t always work my way.


    Primarch Guilliman stopped me at the door, and shook his head. "She doesn''t want you here, Lord Lancefire. Perhaps it''s better if you focus your attention on the invaders."


    Then he slammed the blackstone door in my face, making the Solitaire burst in laughter once more, not that I felt it was anything funny about this moment.


    "You are indeed a funny person to watch, Pef Lancefire. Perhaps I will visit your planet, if my student also agrees." the Harlequin commented in a joking tone, while I turned dejectedly away.


    "Miss Stern, huh? She is quite the miracle, isnt she?" I mused to myself while turning my vision into the tesseract to observe her feats at the Eternity Gate.


    The woman was a walking lightning storm, destroying thousands of demons every second without needing to stop and recharge, and running out of energy.


    With every step down the stairs, her Warp aura was simply obliterating minor demons while larger ones needed a bolt or two to be vanquished. And she made it look easy, her steps graceful and elegant yet confident and powerful at the same time.


    Perhaps one day, I could have Lamenter Librarians with the same skill and strength, if this joking Solitaire was willing to train them.


    "She is amazing, that is true. The only one of her kind in the entire galaxy. But, she is also amazingly dangerous, Pef Lancefire. My Pariah shields were not this strong, when I first met her." the Solitaire explained in a warning tone, with nuances of pain in his alien inflection.


    I nodded in understanding. The Demonifuge would have been a difficult student to train, with Alpha-plus powers flaring unexpectedly and striking at random all around her, driven by unconscious thoughts or dreams. Standing inside that lightning storm would mean death for everyone without Warp protection, and I doubted I could resist a lightning bolt capable of evaporating a Greater Demon, even with my own Blank powers.


    "She needs a Blank child, and then I can obtain a Null Rod for her." I answered in a softer voice, then turned to meet the latest visitors.


    "Lord Pef. This is Menelau." the woman said in a warm voice, presenting a young teenager at her side, dressed in a military uniform. Not sure the rank on his shoulder was correct, at his age.


    "Lady Inquisitor, welcome to my home. And you too, Menelau. You have my eyes." I said in my warmest voice, and offered my hands to both of them.


    "Lord father. I heard so much about you, I thought you''d be a giant." the boy muttered in a disappointed voice, then shook my hand a bit hesitantly.


    A Warp current coursed through his hand into mine, some kind of biokinetic spell, but blocked by the Null aura. "What was that, genetic testing?" I asked with a smile.


    Menelau lowered his eyes in shame. "... It works on most people."


    To my side, the Solitaire laughed again and elbowed me like we were old friends. "I see now. Blank children with psyker powers. Now this would be something of interest, even to Cegorach."


    "You have the strangest friends, Lord Pef. From an Eldar Avatar, to a Fenrisian Wolf then a C''tan, a few Primarchs and now a Solitaire Harlequin. What''s next, a Necron Lord?" Lady Ramaeus asked at random, while playing with her own Necron Nexus cube.


    Probably scanning the Blackstone Fortress with the extra dimensional senses, just like I was.


    I sobbed inward and patted my son on his head. Women intuition was a frightening thing.

 Snap -Ch 190

    "Necrons...they are quite insane, my dear Inquisitor. Even their Pharohs and Overlords that still retain some memories were driven mad by the living metal transformation. I suspect the process was similar to those Princeps that get absorbed by their Titan''s Machine Spirit." I mused thoughtfully while examining my son.


    It seemed Lady Ramaeus has trained him to control the psyker powers to some extent, as there were no involuntary flares of Warp activity, even in contact with a Blank like myself.


    Menelau raised his eyes and scanned my face with a piercing gaze. "You have met some Necrons, father?"


    "Indeed I have, son. The Hadex Anomaly didn''t close by itself, after all." I offered with a wide smile.


    The Solitaire chuckled to my side, and poked at my left glove. "You have quite the collection in there, Pef Lancefire. Five Primarchs, I believe?" the Harlequin asked with a snort, undoubtedly enjoying my distress at having my secrets revealed.


    "Keep an eye on that Succubus, my dear. I''ll go light up the Astronomican once more." I said instead, preempting the Inquisitor''s obvious questions.


    A second later, I re-appeared at the base of the Eternity Gate, the giant adamantium door now flanked by an Adeptus Custodes Company and an entire Grey Knight Brotherhood. Luckily, the Solitaire and his fellow Harlequins were tucked inside the tesseract now, as to not upset the defenders even more. Having the Imperial Palace breached again was enough of a stain on their honor.


    "Brothers." I spoke politely and pointed towards the door.


    "Lord Lancefire." A Custode replied with a flash of golden eyes. He gestured faintly with two armored fingers and the door opened a meter, just enough to let me pass, sidewise.


    Beyond the dimensional portal, a thousand techpriests were busy working on the Golden Throne machinery, possibly attempting to repair the xeno device, with little success from what I could see.


    Captain Semnai ran to my side, his face hopeful for good news. "My lord. The Emperor?"


    "Still being treated, Brother. For now, we''ll have to make do with sanctioned psykers to keep the Astronomican going." I explained in a low voice, and retrieved the glass throne and the next sacrificial psyker from my tesseract.


    In a few minutes, another blind psyker was burning his soul to power up the light of the Astronomican, and restoring a semblance of order and faith to humanity.


    "Much better now." I declared in a confident voice, while retrieving the next consumable batteries and having them wait on the side.


    "These are all Alpha psykers?" my son Vincent asked with a surprised voice, taking stock of the new batteries provided by the Astra Telepathica and overcharged by my Shadowlight. There were eleven of them, which should suffice for ten days perhaps.


    I shrugged and began walking back towards the gate. "Semnai, remain here with two companies and keep the Astronomican going. The consumables should last at least a week, but send warning if they petrify sooner."


    My Captain nodded and checked his combi-bolter by reflex. Hopefully he won''t need it, but you never know.


    The rest of my troops filled behind me in a long line, as I headed out of the Golden Throne room. Sister Helena walked beside me, smiling like a schoolgirl.


    A pair of Custodes Companions stopped me at the gate, their flesh healed and their teeth no longer visible though charred or disfigured faces. "The Emperor trusts you, Pef Lancefire. Make sure you don''t betray that trust." one of them warned me in a stern voice, while looking down on me from his greater height.


    I stopped and strained my neck to look into his eyes. The eyes weren''t glowing, which meant the Emperor wasn''t puppeting this Custodes right now.


    "You give excellent counsel, Brother. When the Emperor walks again, make sure to offer your counsel to him. He will need friends and advisors, not flesh puppets. Look up in a book what the word companion means." I answered in my best wise voice, then walked past him, followed by seven companies of Lamenters, most of them sporting burns and cuts on their power armor.


    Back in normal reality, I stood beside the adamantium gate and began deploying the Lamenter Companies where their armor and firepower would provide most efficient use, reinforcing weaken sections of the Imperial Palace and supporting the march of Sister Stern. She might be able to resurrect, but it was better if she didn''t die at all. An escort of Blank Astartes and Silent Sisters should keep her safer, from Chaos and the Imperium alike.


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    I wouldn''t put it past the Inquisition or the Assassinorum to try and capture or kill the Demonifuge, despite her immense powers and helpful actions. Or because of it.


    A few minutes later, I arrived on Luna and hastily covered my head with my helmet. The smell of burned bodies and poisonous psyker spells filled the regolith tunnels, and exploded corpses and trails of intestines were never fun to see.


    Chaos marines and sorcerers did not dissipate in the Warp like demons did, and the Catachan regiments preferred to use extra munitions even on dead enemies, just to make sure. Possibly for the best, considering how resilient Space marines could be.


    "Lord Lancefire! Come to see our work?" A Catachan Sergeant asked with an amused voice, while sitting on a crate and fiddling with an Exitus rifle. Well, a Forge Retribution copy of the real thing. Exitus rifles were quite rare.


    I turned towards him and observed his hands still busy with cleaning up his sniper rifle. "Tell me how it went til now." I asked while spreading out a Lamenter Company to cover the nearest tunnels.


    "So and so, my lord. The shield penetrator rounds work well enough on the Chaos psykers, and same for the ash grenades and the melta bombs. The Khymera</a> and those Warp Talons are a tad harder to kill. Lost a quarter of my unit already." the man explained with a sad head shake.


    A second later, a screeching Warp beast jumped from inside a wall and its head got splattered by my backhanded slap. My body had moved by itself, likely due to the extensive training I got in the infested Space Hulk back home. I checked my glove but the blackstone plate was still intact. Good enough.


    With a kick, I struck the body of the dead beast and it shattered into the Warp again. "So these things are the Khymera?" I mused in a low voice.


    I wouldn''t want to fight the things outside my power armor, that was certain.


    "Exactly, my lord. Sneaky things, and quite fast as you''ve just seen." the sergeant said with a careless shrug, and resumed cleaning his weapon with automatic moves.


    A minute later, the same beast appeared a tunnel over, and got sliced in half by a wary Lamenter.


    "And they respawn." I added in a thoughtful tone.


    "That too, my lord. Unless there''s a Silent Sister around. They kill them good." the Catachan provided with a grim smile.


    I nodded and traced the tesseract vision, locating Magnus and his escort. The Primarch was plowing through Chaos marines and sorcerers with the Emperor''s Sword in hand, while a blue shield covered his Ogryn-size fatigues and kept him safe from Warp spells and bolter rounds. As instructed, Janice and Dessima were only providing escort, and letting Magnus prove himself against the traitors.


    Once in a while, a stabbed traitor split apart, and a blackish astral form jumped away. Dessima would then crush the demonic apparition, while Janice would lean and heal the recovered Space Marine, while ripping off the corrupted armor with her bare hands.


    That armor would withstand tank fire, and yet my girl...what has the Emperor done to her?


    "Seen enough, dad?" she asked me directly into my mind, eyes glowing with violet lights like strange lanterns.


    "He seems stable enough. Leave him be and regroup with your Sisters. There should be cleansing rituals that can cover a small moon, right?" I asked with a curious tone.


    Janice turned towards Dessima and conversed something, mentally. A few seconds later, Janice Warped away and reappeared inside the Somnius Citadel, and began gathering the Lunar Sisterhood for a ritual.


    Sister Dessima continued trailing Magnus on his one-man Crusade, while still dispelling the corrupting demons from the recovered Emperor''s Children.


    Possibly something decided at a higher level then, and outside my control. My legal powers in the Imperium of Man were minimal at best, especially here in the Sol System.


    The ruling hierarchies were complicated and Byzantine, with opposing factions and hidden currents shifting constantly.


    I yearned to return to the Fringe, where things made sense and people had to listen to me. But first, I had to make sure the Emperor returned, and Blanks would not be pursued and persecuted again.


    And for that, my help would need to be obvious and irrefutable, something I avoided for a very long time. It was time to snap my fingers, with my Thanos glove.

 Saturn - Ch 191

    "No! It''s not possible. Not you!" A Chaos Sorcerer yelled towards Magnus, walking a few steps back in inescapable fear.


    "Enough games, Ahriman. You are more valuable to me alive." Magnus answered in a calm and stoic voice, and the flames engulfing the Emperor''s Sword died down.


    "They turned you...it was all a scam, father! They''ll burn your soul on that monstrous Warplight, for the glory of the Corpse Emperor. I''ve failed you." the man sobbed and fell to his knees.


    Magnus glanced towards Terra, then back at his wayward son. "Corpse? You can read the future as well as I can, Ahriman. My father has already opened his eyes. By tomorrow, he will walk again."


    "I''m going to be lonely without you, father. But I guess, you''ll always light my way..." Ahriman answered in a sad voice, then crumbled to the ground, armor shattering to reveal nothing inside.


    Another Rubric. Well, killing Ahriman would be quite a pain, I suspected.


    With the leading Sorcerer gone and the Silent Sisters already locking hands for their counter-ritual, my task on Luna was over.


    I flicked my hand and collected my regiments inside the tesseract, then scanned the place for something worth stealing.


    It took a while and some luck, but I did find a gene-library with exabytes of experiment data and some old history tomes, going from the 10th to the 30th millennium. Quite valuable, the history books, since most of that era''s knowledge had been lost or ''vanished''. But then, the Selenites have never been completely loyal, and hundreds of small cabals and cults still resisted Imperial Compliance to this day.


    And going by some hidden altars and blood sacrifices strewn around, Ahriman and his band had help to arrive on Luna. A step later, I arrived beside Magnus.


    "There are a dozen Chaos altars on the moon, Primarch Magnus. I believe you know how to locate them and the perpetrators." I spoke in a casual voice.


    "Pef Lancefire. My son...I never seen anyone terrify him, like you did." Magnus answered while weighing the sword in his hand.


    "Oh? Why would a big bad sorcerer be scared of a young Astartes, one with less than a century of service?" I asked in a confused voice, while tesseracting the godkiller weapon into my own hand.


    A second later, I vanished from Luna and appeared at the gates of Polaris fortress-crypt belonging to the Titanicus Terranic Ordo Sinister. Then, I knocked politely on the armored door, even though I could sense nothing behind the door.


    A metallic face appeared in bas-relief on the door, eyes glowing with the familiar blue lights of the Cult Mechanicus. "This installation is restricted, Astartes. You shouldn''t even know of its existence." the Machine Spirit voiced in an angry tone.


    "And yet, look at this sword in my hand. And also..." I answered with faint amusement while opening the Null Box on my chest and revealed the cog-shaped Rosette.


    "... That device does not mean what you think it means, Pef Lancefire. Nobilitae Secundus: Terran holdings = 974 square meters, Falkland Islands, southern promontory, Agent of the Throne: Ordo Xenos-tertiary class, Lamenter Chapter Master: on probation, pending Adeptus Terra review, and unsanctioned Rogue Trader: expired Warrant of Trade - 47.51 years. However, current records indicate you have entered the Golden Throne twice, and the presence of the Emperor himself on your Chapter''s space fort." the Machine Spirit explained in a rather not impressed tone.


    I might have gulped a little, and drew back my hand away from the irate door. It wouldn''t do to get electrocuted because my Warrant had expired. Which made little sense too, because the things did not have an expiration date, on them.


    "Did you just hack the Administratum central cogitator to read on my info?" I asked instead. Call it intuition, but I doubted Astartes internal data was easily accessed by every door lock. Especially that part about my probation. Only a Primarch could demand a review, and there were rather few Primarchs around.


    "...We shall never discuss this event ever again. And look, your Warrant of Trade has just gained 974 more years of unsupervised operations in the Eastern Fringe. Now, why are you bothering me?" the metal face asked with a scowl.


    I blinked in surprise then shrugged. The Emperor certainly liked playing with fire. In this case, a rogue AI, in charge of his Psi-Titans'' security.


    "I need a pair of Psi-Titans, to deploy in defense of the Imperial Palace. The pacification sirens in particular, since killing a few trillion citizens driven mad and angry by Chaos sorcery wouldn''t please the Emperor, especially on Terra."


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    The blue eyes measured me for a long second. In AI terms, it probably reviewed my service record and all known data points about my life a few hundred times.


    "Your request had been sent to the Preceptor-Intendant. Major Psi-source revolt confirmed, Titan assets engaged with traitor forces...pending... Request approved. Polaris-Albedelach will deploy at the Nepal entrance. Stand clear of the door." the Machine Spirit demanded in a rather surprised voice.


    The next second, the door vanished and another dimensional portal appeared in its place, to reveal a giant Warlord Titan stepping out.


    I moved myself on its head, and sat myself down comfortably. "The transport lander will arrive in 3.14 minutes. Be advised, riding on top of a Titan can be dangerous to your life and/or sanity." the Princeps spoke via his Vox casters.


    "I''m good, Princeps. But there''s no need to wait for a lander." I explained with a wry voice, then snapped my fingers.


    The next second, we arrived right in front of the Imperial Palace, with lascannons flaring the Void Shields of the Psi-Titan in the next second.


    "Ugh. I hate teleports. They make me sick to the stomach. And then, I get cranky and take it out on other people. Especially if they shoot at Albedelach." The Blank Princeps inside the cockpit commented with a caustic voice, followed by a low drumming sound that made my hairs stand up.


    That might be the titanic capacitors cycling, or some psychic weapon charging. I had a wary suspicion of the latter.


    "The golden armors are with us, big guy. The enemy is the other way!" I yelled while tapping the armored head with my glove. Riding a Titan was rather exciting.


    "I can recognize the Adeptus Custodes too, wise guy. Hang on!" the Princeps shouted and spun the Titan around, its claws gouging deep trenches to keep itself balanced.


    And then it jumped, clearing the adamantium walls and rushing right in the middle of the traitor army. Some unfortunate guys got stomped into the hard rock of the Himalayas, until the Psi-Titan reached his optimal range and sounded its psi-sirens.


    It''s hard to describe the effects, as there was nothing visible. But in less than a minute, incoming fire died out, while soldiers and cultists dropped their weapons and fell to their knees, weeping and sobbing.


    This beast was absolutely the king of crowd control, and the invisible sounds kept propagating for dozens of kilometers, rolling down the abrupt slopes and pacifying entire feral armies.


    "Another minute, to make sure they never do it again. But I believe the mission is complete." the Princeps declared in a proud voice, happy with an easy job.


    I grinned widely at his silly naivety. "Capacitors already out of energy?" I asked instead.


    "Don''t talk crazy, Lamenter. This baby can go on for years at this rate." the Blank Princeps replied in a proud voice.


    "...Years you say. I suspect we''ll have a lot of fun together." I commented in a wry voice, and moved us to the next gate. Bhutan.


    "They have tanks here! And that is a Baneblade!" the pilot yelled in a rather alarmed voice, as a heavy caliber shell struck the armored greaves of the Psi-Titan.


    "So...you can''t do it? Mission fail?" I asked in a teasing tone.


    "Oh, dear God-Emperor! I can''t fail a mission. They''ll take him away from me...damn silly traitors. Repent!" the Princeps yelled and kicked the Baneblade away, while blaring nega-psi vibes from all its available ports.


    It took us a whole day to visit all the entrances into the Imperial Palace, making a giant ruckus wherever we went and leaving sobbing and repenting guardsmen and other gangsters, criminals and cultists, to be collected by Arbiters or the Inquisition.


    "Well, I almost consumed one percent of the capacitors. But the Alpha psykers are still fresh, so they can go back to stasis. I''m going to remember this day for a long time, Lamenter. It was rather fun." The Blank Princeps admitted in more friendly voice.


    "Indeed, it''s not every day you get to walk around in public, and terrify people with those psi-sirens. But did you think the mission is over?" I asked rhetorically.


    "No! You cannot do this, Pef Lancefire. There are rites and canticles for maintenance, plus the energy reserves are getting low..." The pilot pleaded in a pitiful voice.


    "But I never visited Saturn. I heard the rings are amazing." I offered as an excuse, and began our new adventure.


    Only this time, it was demons. Big ones too.

 Arms - Ch 192

    "Let''s go help the Sisters too!" I urged the tired Princeps as soon as the last Greater Daemon fell and dissipated into purple gas.


    A single sob of helplessness answered me, just as I snapped my fingers to move us in front of the main cathedral of the Order_of_the_Shattered_Glass</a>, on Enceladus.


    Thousands of Sisters of Battle, supported by Rhinos and flamer tanks were battling a large army of Chaos cultists and lesser demons, led by a towering blue bird with hundreds of eyes on its feathers.


    Sadly for the sisters, these demons were mostly immune to flames, and the brave women were running out of stamina to wield melee weapons, while their bolter rounds had been expended hours ago.


    A small twist with the tesseract, and the Sisters were regrouped behind the Psi-Titan and safe from the deadly psi-lance. A dark beam of Immaterium burst from the Titan''s left arm, popping millions of demons like soap balloons, while the mighty Force claw on the right arm slashed at the Tzeentch''s Greater Daemon.


    However, the bird-like warp-spawn had its own tricks, and the Alpha psykers powering the Psi-Titan were nearly spent. The claw struck only vapor and illusion, while the demon re-appeared high above the battlefield, cackling with mirth.


    I clenched my hand on the handle of my sword, and orange flames engulfed the holy flame. ''Flame on!'' I whispered in my mind, and crossed the dimensional labyrinth in a millisecond, then struck the bird straight on its head.


    The Emperor''s Sword bounced off painfully and flew out from my hand, and landed at the feet of a teenage girl. ''Don''t do it, silly girl.'' I whispered to myself while vanishing from my compromised spot.


    But of course, she did. Her slim hand could barely lift the mighty weapon, and stood no chance at blocking a Greater Daemon''s strike. She didn''t even have a light power armor, wearing only the robes of a Novice, and a Guardsman''s flak helmet.


    I could almost see the girl get shredded into strips of bloody meat by the incoming claws.


    Then, a golden beam of blinding light erupted from that weapon, fractally splitting off into millions of smaller branches, all the way to the horizon and beyond.


    The girl fell to her knees, still alive and murmuring a prayer. However, there were no more enemies to fight, on this moon or anywhere else in Saturn</a>''s orbit. From Mimas to Iapetus, the miracle had erased all trace of the Warp invaders.


    I sighed inward and turned my tesseract''s focus onto the Blackstone Fortress. The reception hall doors were now open, and the Emperor and Yvraine were discussing something over a paper-like map of the galaxy, swirls of energy painting new borders and tracing thin red lines of ellipses and tangents.


    The Emperor glanced directly at me, then returned to his negotiations.


    Well then. Let''s hope he was still sane, my new Emperor-to-be.


    I stepped beside the miraculous Sister, and helped her to her feet just as the gigantic Psi-Titan took a single step and parked itself next to us. "Are you alright?" I asked still holding her hand.


    "Never felt better, my lord." she whispered in an awed voice.


    I raised her chin to make sure, and found her eyes glowing with an inner violet light, just like Janice had. "Things have changed, Sister. You are not who you were before, and the universe is also much different. The Emperor has returned."


    The girl glanced in surprise at her hand, then towards the Emperor''s Sword, weapon still radiating a warm golden light, if much more subdued now. "I didn''t know...did I really?" she whispered in confusion.


    I laughed out loud and snatched back the miracle sword. "No. It wasn''t you." I explained with a snort, and moved the three of us back on Terra, right in front of the Nepal entrance of the Imperial Palace, where Sister Stern and my daughter Janice were locked in a stand-off, among the burned ruins of the defense bunkers.


    The narrative has been taken without permission. Report any sightings.


    "I''m stronger than you." the Demonifuge argued with a cold tone, and a crackling sphere of white lightning formed around her.


    "A grox is stronger than a man too." Janice replied with a surprised glance at my companions. Especially the giant Titan at my back.


    So I brought out the Solitaire Harlequin, then stabbed the glowing sword into the ash-filled ground. "Janice, your boss needs you on the Black Lament." I spoke calmly, while the new miracle girl took a step back and found the Psi-Titan''s foot blocking her retreat.


    "This isn''t over." Janice muttered and vanished in a purple flash.


    Well, technically my daughter was correct, any and all Sisters of Battle were hers to command as Adepta Tertia. But it was also true, Ephrael Stern wasn''t a Sister of Battle anymore, despite her uniform. She just didn''t know it yet.


    "There only one psyker still alive, and just barely." the Princeps muttered from his Psi-Titan, probably not to certain about his chances against the Demonifuge, without fully charged batteries.


    The Solitaire turned to observe the God-Machine for a second, then stepped beside his angry student.


    "We''re going to join Pef Lancefire, for a while. Perhaps visit the Eastern Fringe and work on your temper, again." the Harlequin commanded in a level tone, and stepped through the deadly ball of lightning to pat the woman''s head, in a gentle move.


    A second later, Miss Stern turned off the death spell, and focused her glowing eyes on my hands, still holding the pommel of the holy artifact.


    "So I didn''t sense wrong. The Emperor is back." she asked in a curious voice, and came closer.


    All around us, auramite-clad Custodes and blackstone-plated Silent Sisters all raised their weapons and held the Demonifuge under threat, not that they had much chance of survival if it came to blows.


    Perhaps 10 Psi-Titans would be enough to hold her in check, but probably not. Maybe 20.


    Or even better, me. "You did good, Miss Stern. You earned a hug." I offered in a gentle tone, opening my arms for embrace.


    Hesitantly, the woman leaned into my arms, muscles still tense and slightly trembling. So I patted her back for a minute, until she got used to my touch and presence. "It isn''t so bad, is it?" I wondered wryly. My hugs were still the best, it seemed.


    "You said I''m pretty." Miss Stern answered in a softer voice.


    I grabbed her ass in response, then slapped it gently. "You have a nice ass too."


    A surprised growl emerged from her throat, then a shy voice followed. "There''s never been a man, I mean..."


    I ignored her naive claims and turned my eyes toward the snickering Harlequin. "You better behave, Eldar. Yvraine and the Emperor might be best friends right now, but I value my family above any alliance."


    The Solitaire nodded cautiously and drew his hand away from the glowing sword in the stone. Probably reconsidering his next prank, now that the galaxy had changed.


    Still holding Ephrael in my arms, I turned towards the other Sister of Battle. "What about you, glass Sister?"


    "My name is Darcy!" the young girl declared in a high-pitch squeak.


    It was a decent name for a side-kick, so she could keep it. "Great! But I was asking about your future. Wanna follow me, explore the Eastern Fringe and banish demons or xenos together?" I proposed in a curious voice.


    The young novice blushed slightly, then nodded.


    "I fell ignored and forgotten up here. Is it because I''m not a pretty girl?" the Princeps muttered in a morose voice, and leaned its huge Titan''s head above me.


    "You can join as well, big guy. Not sure about your walker. I''ll have to ask the Emperor." I mused out loud. I could use a Psi-Titan. Maybe even two.

 Left hand of darkness - Ch 193

    The next second, the Warlord-Sinister Psi-Titan</a> vanished, and then reappeared at the entrance into the Polaris crypt.


    Five of the Alpha-level psykers had died during the battle of Saturn, and the last one wasn''t much better. The poor Titan had taken quite a beating during the day-long engagement and it probably needed a week to be properly restored to full strength.


    The Arioch Power Claw</a> had lost 3 digits to a Bloodthirster Greater Daemon who refused to die and bit them off, and the shoulder cannons had been ripped off by two squid-like Greater Demons, probably belonging to Slaanesh.


    Yeah, a Chaos invasion wasn''t easy to defeat, and without me being there to move the Titan out of danger at critical moments ... it would have been destroyed. These God machines were amazingly strong and durable, but not invincible.


    The Blank Princeps knew it too, because five other Psi-Titans had been lost til now, and always to Chaos forces.


    Of course, I didn''t linger about, and test how the A.I. in charge of the Psi-Titans would react to its baby being returned in a battered state.


    I just saluted the gathered Custodes and tesseracted away, back on board the Singularity battleship.


    "Lord Lancefire, this is a xeno." Archmagos Cawl noted in an angry tone, and his famous Power Axe crackled with electricity as a counter-point to the presence of the Harlequin.


    "And I am a Rogue Trader." I said in a casual voice, just as Dreadnought Chyron arrived at a brisk walk.


    "I shall provide quarters and security for our ''guests''." the Lamenter Captain voiced from his walking coffin.


    I just nodded and gestured towards the main hallway. Soon enough, Ephrael and Darcy were being led towards their new homes, with the Solitaire tip-toeing after them, hands tucked into his large pockets like he was on a stroll.


    Hopefully he could keep the pranks at a minimum, for now.


    "You heard about the Machine Forge, Dominatus Dominus?" I wondered out loud.


    The techpriest nodded in a cautious manner, and held a familiar dataslate out. The one I gave to Primarch Guilliman some decades ago. "Quite a lot of ''discoveries'' on this tablet, Lord Lancefire. Some of them bear the definite markings of xeno origin."


    I just shrugged. "I''ve seen the Golden Throne, techpriest. Half of it is made from xeno tech, and your fellow techpriests have no idea how to repair it. Not to mention the Eternity Gate or the Imperial Webway."


    Belisarius Cawl sighed painfully and motioned at me to follow after him. A minute later we descended at the base of the Voidclaw, the ancient weapon able to shoot singularities, as projectiles or even sustained beams.


    "This is the weapon you ''recovered'' from Vigilus. I see someone had made some modifications to it, miniaturization of the atomantic shielding, triple buffer capacitors, scalable yield, surge protections against static or dynamic overload and hundreds of others tiny changes. Who did this?" he asked in a rather upset voice.


    I smiled a bit too wide. "A friend."


    "The same friend worked on your helmet''s visor, I suspect?" He asked with a piercing gaze at the helmet hanging on my belt.


    "Yes. He is quite shy and orange." I explained in a mild voice.


    "Yes. Jokaero smiths tend to leave subtle hints of their origin into their artifacts. The problem is, they can also deactivate the objects they''ve worked on with a single thought. Or make them explode." he warned me, while popping open a panel into the side of the giant spacegun. Thin red and orange lines formed a childish painting depicting a sunburst, and then the painted lines vanished deep among the cables and solid-state circuits of the ancient weapon.


    "Some kind of special paint?" I asked, back in savant mode.


    "Psycho-reactive paint, yes. I backtracked the tracker signal to its source. The control node was originally somewhere in the Eastern Fringe, but has now moved towards the Eye of Terror. " Belisarius Cawl explained while projecting a minimalistic galactic map and pointing at a moving dot. The trajectory lead right to Solemnace and a certain Necron Overlord with a whole company of Jokaero in his service. And there was a single possible destination for him and his own Blackstone Fortress.


    "Cadia. Makes sense." I mused to myself in a thoughtful voice. Trazyn the Infinite had arranged to place a self-destruct into my Voidclaw, before heading towards the main event in the galaxy. Some kind of empathic subversion of my Jokaero smith, undetectable and subtle.


    "Well, if it makes sense to you, then everything is all right, Lord Lancefire. But I assume you''d want to defuse the bomb?" he asked in a wry voice.


    "If you can fake an intact signal to continue and do not alert the target. The survival of this ship is much less important than the task at Cadia." I explained with a shrug, and started to turn away.


    "I have already done that, while you were riding that silver Titan all over the system. The recordings on Saturn were quite amazing, for a machine not used by Cult Mechanicus." the techpriest complained with a rather envious voice.


    This book was originally published on Royal Road. Check it out there for the real experience.


    "You can ask the Emperor about the Psi-Titan. He is back on his feet now." I answered with a shrug and vanished.


    My strange teleport powers were on record now, so no point avoiding using them. Same with the existence and powers of the Psi-Titans.


    I have always found it stupid to hide the existence of major weapons from your own people, if you were already using them on your enemies. I mean, the enemy already knew of their existence and general type of powers.


    A moment later, I arrived beside Inquisitors Rosalia and Velayne, who were also busy discussing advanced politics with their counter-parts in the Eldar delegation, Phoenix Lords, Exalts, Autarchs and Farseers.


    For once, I kept my mouth shut and just observed in silence, as prisoner and captive transfers were being arranged, ships being transferred over, Spirit Stones traded over for various Imperial relics, Saint bones and relic artifacts worth as much as a planet if not more.


    "I should ask for your head, Astartes. But it would be more pleasant to collect it myself." A black armored Eldar woman muttered towards me in contempt.


    "You''re a Phoenix Lord?" I wondered curious. These people were the equivalent of a human Primarch in the Eldar culture, with giant temples and huge numbers of followers.


    " I am Jain_Zar</a>." the alien woman answered in a dignified voice.


    I shrugged at that, since the name told me nothing. "Are you stronger than an Avatar?" I asked while scratching my cheek.


    A pair of green eyes blinked in confusion at my question. "Are you?" she answered in a defiant voice.


    I held out my hand and balanced it in mid-air. "Probably the same level, I''d say. The Avatar of Khaine was rather friendly, so we never got to testing our strength, when we burned down Commorragh together. Who knows, maybe Yncarne will be a challenge."


    Twenty pairs of eyes locked onto me and my absurd claims, while Jain Zar blinked in confusion again.


    "Go away Pef. Primarch Sanguinius wanted a word with you." Rose demanded with a pained voice, like I have broken some hidden taboo or something.


    Well, might as well leave before I was set on fire. Even though this space fortress was my home.


    With a twist of space-time, I moved myself beside Sanguinius, who was in the middle of a staff meeting with a hundred high-ranking Generals, Admirals and other Adeptus Terra of various factions.


    "Pef Lancefire! Had enough fun gallivanting around the Sol System?" the Primarch asked in a mild voice. Well, he was always that way, even while chopping off your head.


    Cool guy, my Primarch.


    "I was told to deal with the invaders, Lord Sanguinius. Primarch Guilliman himself, with his own words." I answered in a level voice.


    Sanguinius almost sighed, and patted my head in a fatherly manner. So this is where Ludvaius got the gesture from.


    "Nevermind then. Go to Cadia and deal with the invaders as well. If you need more troops or ships, we have plenty to spare right here." he explained with an inviting gesture towards the gathered staff.


    My eyes swept the gathered officers and officials for someone of real use.


    "You command the Indomitus Fleet Tertius, right?" I asked Fleetmaster Cassandra_VanLeskus</a>.


    "I do, Lord Lancefire. Nine battlecruisers and eighty four cruisers, all upgraded with Warpless engines. The weapon batteries are not upgraded though." she replied in a dignified tone.


    I nodded in understanding. The Navy rarely got the best deal, as they were rather prone to defections, mutiny and even turning to Chaos.


    "I will need some Augur Teams of the Templars_Psykologis</a> and a pair of agents from the Synopticon</a>. Maybe a Culexus Assassin, if there''s one available in system." I continued in the same tone, watching Sanguinius hide a faint smile.


    Yeah, he knew I didn''t actually need intelligence and subversion operatives, nor Pariah killers to go after Chaos demons or sorcerers. But he wouldn''t say that now, after he basically gave me a free hand to pick my team.


    "Anything else, Lord Lancefire?" Sanguinius asked in a pleasant voice.


    I pretended to think about it for a moment. "A pair of those psychic Titans. And especially the pilot of Polaris-Albedelach. We worked great together."


    "We all saw your exploits, my son. Very well." Sanguinius agreed, with a nod towards a white-and--silver dressed Inquisitor with a black glove on his left hand.


    And this Inquisitor was a Blank as well.


    Only then I realized how stupid I must have looked, with my low level Rosette, trying to impress the gate guard. Ordo Sinistrum was part of the Inquisition. The black left hand of the Emperor. The left hand of darkness.

 Magpie - Ch 194

    Preparations for the departure continued over the next week, sometimes overtly, with Navy ships moving in formation with the Lamenter fleet at Jupiter, and supply vessels bringing aboard extra rations, torpedoes and Nova Shells.


    Other preparations were more covert, stealth shuttles docking in secret with the Singularity and unloading their mysterious payload of operatives and advanced Machine Spirits.


    For example, the pair from the Synopticon was formed from a fully mechanical enginseer, with no organic matter at all inside, and teenage-looking boy with green hair and a single dataslate hanging from his belt.


    The boy walked right to me and examined me for a minute. "At least you have a mind implant, Astartes. Perhaps this mission will not make me tear my hair out, again." he declared in a superior tone.


    I smiled kindly, and switched to Manifold circuit talking. "Just make sure we have advanced warning if the Navy ships go traitor. Do you need special clearance to install your vox-thieves and whatever surveillance devices you normally use?"


    With a wry smirk, the boy glanced at his mechanical companion. "I stole this Sicarian_Infiltrator</a> and upgraded it with the best tech available in the Imperium. It even has Clavis overrides for secure vaults surveillance. There is basically nowhere it cannot go."


    "And I also want pressure plates installed around the main reactors and the Gellar fields generators. Even invisible enemies have to step on the floor, sometimes." I added with a second glance at the subverted Infiltrator. The boy was a geek, but a competent one going by this exploit. Stealing from the Mechanicus was never easy.


    A string of code and green engrams flashed over the irises of the green-haired boy, and the machine cloaked itself and ran off, then vanished into a quite small air duct. I could keep track of it with the tesseract vision, but otherwise I would have taken a miracle to detect the invisible infiltrator.


    "I''ll be in my room, writing the new parameters for this mission, my lord. Potential enemies?" the boy asked in a bored voice.


    "Mainly Necron, Eldar and Chaos. Perhaps some human faction as well, Officio Sabatorum, Assassinorum and Ordo Hereticus, Navigators and Dark Angels too." I revealed with a careless shrug. I did have plenty potential enemies.


    The boy scratched his head in a rather comical display of confusion. "I''m not a miracle worker, Astartes. You better have some skill and luck of your own." he muttered in a tragic tone, and walked off without looking at me or around him at all. Eyes glued to his dataslate, and already adding more variables to his spying engrams.


    A couple of hours later, I was lounging in the armchair, studying the hololith map of Cadia and its star system. Chaos and the Imperium had battled over the Fortress World for millennia and there was plenty of data to go through.


    "The map is not the territory, Lord Lancefire. The Cadians themselves are the walls that defend humanity from Chaos." a gruff voice spoke over my shoulder.


    I didn''t turn or give any sign of surprise. After all, I did ask for a Culexus Assassin.


    "Cadia...is not an Imperial Fortress, Assassin. Terra still had dinosaurs roaming its jungles, when Cadia was being fortified. The C''tan tasked the Necrons to construct the blackstone pillars, as part of their flat universe plan." I mused out loud, while highlighting the thousand of gigantic pillars raising into lower orbit.


    "So, the pillars themselves are the weapons. Blackstone is famous for withstanding Warp damage and your ships are covered in it. Would the pillars work against a Chaos incursion? Dispel demons or suffocate psykers like a Tyranid Silence?" the voice asked, seeming curious.


    "Probably they would. As a minor side effect. Anyway, your task is separate from this future battle. Ahriman. He is very difficult to kill, as he can shift timelines and vanish, leaving only an empty armor in his place. Thus, our plan must never threaten his life and close the second timeline. Or better said, we must catch him twice." I explained to the Pariah Assassin.


    "Well, this is the first time I''ve been called to make sure my target doesn''t die. But I am only one man, and can be in just one place. I hope you realize that, Pef Lancefire." the man answered in a thoughtful voice.


    "Three rooms down the hall, there''s a Solitaire Harlequin. He''ll be the first timeline hammer, with Sister Stern as the bait. She can resurrect, so plan for it as well." I said in a casual voice, then focused back on the map.


    The Cadians...yeah. They would not break, that was true. Now, what would Trazyn do?


    I had to plan for the actions of a lunatic, and that wasn''t going well.


    Then, Inquisitor Greyfax will arrive as well, with her Custodes in tow. Plan for a miracle?


    Yeah, not something really reliable, was it? Not for me, at least. My own sword lost its powers in a critical moment, just to give Darcy her moment of faith.


    It was hard to plan around the Emperor, as he worked in mysterious ways.


    Still, he would send a Saint again. He liked showing off. Probably Saint Celestine, or maybe young Darcy again.


    A case of literary theft: this tale is not rightfully on Amazon; if you see it, report the violation.


    Slowly, I began smiling as the fragments of a plan began assembling in my mind. Now that would be a great trick to play.


    I held my left hand out, the armored glove filtering the dim light of the hologram and casting a dark shadow. Five Primarchs held in the tesseract labyrinth.


    Angron, Lorgar, Perturabo, Mortarion held by me. And Fulgrim, with the Necron Lord.


    It could work. I remembered the giant hand emerging from the Hadex Anomaly when it was forcefully closed. Definitely an enraged Chaos God, most likely Khorne. Now, Angron was himself a Daemon Prince of Khorne.


    Would his sacrifice enrage Khorne enough? My guts said yes. The Empyrean construct was made of fury and carnage.


    The Blackstone Fortress itself was a weapon meant to kill gods, Warp gods too with some help.


    "You seem quite satisfied with yourself, Lord Lancefire." the Culexus Assassin observed in a level voice, once again appearing above my shoulder.


    "You have a name, my friend?" I asked instead, turning a centimeter to catch the Pariah in my peripheral vision.


    The Assassin hesitated for a second, then removed his Animus Speculum</a> helmet to show a young face with a dozen brain implants scarring his bald head. "I am named Vaedrex</a> now. You are a Blank yourself, so you earned a modicum of thrust for that. Plus your adventures with the Psi-Titan were rather fun." he disclosed with a wry smile.


    I smiled back. "Not usually my style, but my Warrant of Trade was expired and my Chapter Master rank is under review. Most likely the Lion. I don''t think he likes me much." I disclosed as well, and took out a bottle of expensive wine and a pair of crystal glasses, illegal loot from Vigilus both. Perks of the job.


    Vaedrex sipped the expensive wine with a far away look. "A publicity stunt, with two Primarchs watching. Plus the Inquisition and the visiting Eldar. I''d say it worked just fine."


    I shrugged and sipped my wine in turn. The Emperor wasn''t that pleased, seeing how he denied me the full use of his sword. Darcy might be innocent and cute, but even miracles had a reason.


    Which is why I planted his sword in front of his house and left it there. Let''s see who dares draw that sword from the stone.


    Late into the night, a pair of transport landers rose from Terra and made their way to the Black Lament, each carrying a Psi-Titan.


    "Come alone." Big E demanded straight into my mind.


    I was a little drunk, but I had to go anyway.


    "The Emperor calls, my friend. See you later." I muttered and vanished from my room.


    A second later, Canis arrived next to me, for moral support. Always show strength, and not a hair of fear.


    "You don''t listen well, do you?" The Emperor muttered with a mild voice, and waved his hand to put Canis to sleep. Should I be impressed? He could put mountains to sleep with the same gesture.


    I leaned on the giant wolf, and raised my eyes towards the God-Emperor of Mankind.


    "Which is why I have Canis. His hearing is very acute." I muttered in a casual voice.


    "Moral support. Plus you''re a bit drunk. Do you want the good news, Pef Lancefire?" he asked with faint amusement.


    "I am no longer under review?" I answered in a cold tone.


    "That too. But no. The measure of a man, I found, is in how many enemies he manages to have, and still live. Do you even know?" the Emperor asked with a short laugh.


    I shook my head and tried to count, losing a few perhaps. "A hundred?" I guessed at random.


    "This mission to Cadia. Those tesseracts on your glove will not work. You can''t catch dreams in different dimension." he said with a sad head shake. So I missed my guess.


    "I have never lost a battle, Big E. I''ll be fine." I muttered in a slurry voice. Not my best job interview, perhaps.


    His eyes glowed golden, and I fell asleep. "You''re an idiot, my son. But don''t worry, you''re my idiot now." he whispered in mind while my soul floated above my body a bit confused.


    A dimensional crystal the size of fingernail detached from my glove, and my collection of Primarchs and other precious prisoners was gone. I felt a bit sad.


    "Are you magpie, deep inside? What the hell is all this?" the Emperor growled while examining my collection of relics, weapons, xenos and forbidden artifacts.


    I couldn''t actually answer, you know, without a body or a brain. A second later, my Null Box opened on my chest, revealing the other valuables, like my Warrant of Trade, a mostly useless Rosette, a pair of digital weapons and a few locks of hair.


    "This...your mother. I see." his voice mused in a lower tone, just as Janice appeared beside him, looking at my body but not at me. She couldn''t see me.


    "You said..." she pleaded with a frightened voice.


    "I did. But now I know more. Your father fed me two C''tan. Billions of years of knowledge. My sons will be able to defeat any foes now. It''s only fair I start with him." the Emperor explained while plunging his hand into my chest.


    It hurt a little. I couldn''t really tell, but it sure didn''t look healthy.

 Test run -CH 195

    I woke up in the hospicae ward, with Sister Helena holding my hand at her warm bosom.


    As things go, it could have been much worse.


    "I''m not sick, am I?" I wondered while reviewing the datalogs through the Machine Spirit of the Black Lament.


    The reception party had moved elsewhere, and only the Lamenters and my house troops were still on board. Well, it wasn''t like the Emperor needed a ship, even one as nice as my Blackstone Fortress.


    But he did take my two tesseracts, and most of my precious loot, and that hurt a little. My heart was bleeding deep inside, which fit perfectly with the Lamenter heraldry.


    The third tesseract on my Aquila necklace was still there, with my ''good'' loot and supplies for my troops. This was the one I have recovered from Commorragh. I could work with a single tesseract labyrinth and nine trillion thrones as a starting capital. I did start with much less after all. I was even born naked and powerless, like all babies.


    "Sick? You''ll never be sick again, my lord." the faithful Sister whispered in a soft voice, then walked out and left me check my body by myself.


    For a second, I was worried about my progenoid glands, and checked for them. Still there!


    Excellent news, for once.


    I rushed to the bathroom and checked myself all over. My muscles had their own muscles now, and I could sense a few extra organs deep inside my body. And inside the brain too.


    I was also a head taller than I recalled, probably to make room inside for the extra gear. Almost the height of a midget Astartes now, which fit me just fine. Still, I wasn''t the same as my Astartes sons, or even the Custodes.


    No Black Carapace ports, no progenoid glands in the neck, and more importantly the junk still worked just fine. I''ll have to thank Janice for putting a good word for my jewels.


    While admiring the work of the Emperor, I sensed Lady Velayne enter my hospicae ward. "I''m in the refresher!" I shouted as she seemed a bit worried at the empty bed.


    A second later, she crossed the room and joined me. "You look...good." Velayne whispered and even managed to blush a little.


    I grinned widely and turned on the shower. "In or out?" I demanded in a teasing voice.


    Much later, she rested on the muscles on top of my pectoral muscles, a bit tired yet rather satisfied. "I was tasked to keep you company, Pef. And keep an eye on the Harlequin too. He is not exactly what he seems to be." the Inquisitor disclosed before falling asleep like a cat on her favorite pillow.


    Gently I set her aside, and moved myself into my quarters, nearly stepping on an invisible Assassin curled at the base of the door.


    Canis was also sleeping on his furs, and opened a lazy eye to show he noticed me.


    "There''s a bed right here, Vaedrax!" I commented in wry tone, while picking at the wardrobe for something loose that would still fit my larger body. A Catachan style fatigue uniform would do, for now. It''s what I also used to dress up a couple of Primarchs who didn''t have proper clothes and armor just yet.


    The man rose to his feet and dispelled the Etherium</a> cloak, then glanced at Canis with a frown. "Can''t you use the door, like everyone else? And why are you so big?"


    "Call it a growth spurt, my friend. The Emperor helped too." I answered in a snarky voice, while trying to find a larger pair of boots in my dimensional inventory.


    The Culexus Assassin pointed a finger at me, and did some type of nega-Warp spell. My skin tingled in response and a shield formed around me, like an invisible bubble. "You''re much stronger now. My temple recruits people of this strength."


    he revealed with a surprised voice.


    I bet he didn''t mean my new muscles.


    "I thought you guys were cloning Blanks for your program." I wondered with a wry tone, while going to pet my wolf and check him for any lingering damage.


    But Canis was fine, more than fine. A dozen cuts and burns on his paws had vanished, and he seemed to have become a bit larger and stronger as well. I might need a wider door. "Woof?" the wolf asked at my curious probing. I just scratched his head and the wolf sighed in delight.


    "We can clone Blanks...but there are risks and nasty failures sometimes. The Temple prefers natural operatives, whenever possible." Vaedrax muttered in a low voice.


    I turned to check on him, and noticed a faint smile at the corner of his mouth. "So this is where I''m supposed to offer my family for the program. Natural Blanks are quite rare, and most get killed before you can find them." I concluded with a sigh of my own.


    Perhaps being smarter wasn''t always a blessing.


    Vaedrax nodded a bit cautiously. "You did offer hundreds of Blanks to various Astartes Chapters." he countered.


    "There were contingencies in place, Vaedrax. Astartes training kills a thousand recruits for every new Space Marine. Which is fine, when you''re sifting through the trash at the bottom of a Hive World. Gangers and criminals and the like. Not so fine with my sons. Each of them gets schooling enough to earn them a Captain rank and an enginseer title." I explained in a harsher voice.


    The Assassin measured me a bit more thoughtfully. "The Culexus cannot afford that kind of waste, since Blanks are too rare. But I see your point."


    "You obviously don''t. You work alone, or perhaps with a small Kill Team. Now imagine you could have twenty like you, going after a target. Or a thousand. Or twenty Psi-Titans in support, and a fleet of Blank Astartes covering you from orbit." I offered with a grim smile.


    He blinked and stood still, mulling over my words.


    Well, at least I got something out of it.


    "A million Blank Astartes. That would be nice, if at all possible." Vaedrax whispered to himself.


    "You''re still thinking too small, my untouchable friend. We are mostly immune to Warp, psykers and various mental interference from Enslavers and other parasites. Now imagine the whole of humanity like us !" I said in a glorious voice, almost like holding a speech.


    The man sat down on my bed, trying to compute what I was saying. "If that''s even possible..."


    This story has been unlawfully obtained without the author''s consent. Report any appearances on Amazon.


    In a normal world it wouldn''t be. But here, we had a galactic-sized dictatorship. Social norms could be changed by decree, and they often were. What was illegal and anathema one day, it became the norm a millennium later, just like the Ecclesiarchy had done with the Imperial Truth, turned into the Imperial Cult.


    Turn the untouchables and Pariahs into Nobles and Angels, and people would gladly offer their children to become the new ruling class. I was already doing that in the Fringe, with some measure of success.


    Perhaps I was naive to place my faith in the Emperor, but I had faith anyway. And if he wouldn''t do it, for some obscure reason, I didn''t actually need his help. The Blank plan was still going, it would just take longer.


    "I''ll have a meal sent over. And don''t bother the wolf. He hasn''t eaten anyone in weeks." I quipped in a lighter tone, and snapped my fingers by reflex.


    The tesseract didn''t actually need gestures to work, as it used an empathic connection to its user. But a snap made it look better. ''See how easy it is for me!''


    I arrived beside the brightest techpriest of them all, Archmagos Cawl. "I need a new armor." I demanded with a level voice.


    The cyborg turned to measure me for a second, then glanced up at the Psi-Titan. "You''ll fit the cockpit just fine, Lord Lancefire. Hop in and let''s test the Manifold circuit."


    On the one hand, I wouldn''t get a Master-crafted power armor from him. On the other, I had my own Psi-Titan, made by the Emperor himself.


    I wasn''t too sad with my choices.


    So I just moved myself into the empty cockpit. A second later, the world exploded in my mind, as the Mind Impulse Unit linked up with the Machine Spirit, but a different type of Spirit from my Knight. The Ciricrux_Anima</a> converted psyker soul energy into motive power and senses, and the sleeping Titan had six healthy Alpha-level psykers to draw from.


    Options for various Titan-scale spells opened into my mind, from the Shroud of Terror, the psi-sirens able to crush souls and revolts with its invisible waves, and up to the Death Pulse bombs and the Necrotechica temporal-repair spell.


    A couple more exotic spells like the Quickening speed boost and the Antipathic Tempest of unhallow lightning could be deployed as well, and that was without getting into the left hand of darkness or Sinistramanus Tenebrae</a>, a Psi-cannon which resembled a directional Vortex weapon, though without the Vortex part.


    I have seen it in action on Saturn, and even Greater Daemons were killed with it. Well, for as long as the Alpha psykers lasted, that is.


    The last spell seemed a bit superfluous. With Biomancy I could drain the life force of everything in a dozen kilometers radius, then fire it as a concentrated beam of soul death, similarly to what the Immaterium beam of the Blackstone Fortress could do.


    Well, it would be probably useful if I fell right in the middle of an Ork Waagh or some Tyranid swarm. The Princeps of Albedelach had no reason to use this spell on demons, or the insane humans besieging the Imperial Palace.


    My own Psi-Titan was named Occedentalis-Sabaktes, a name which meant Destroyer from the West in ancient Greek. Well, it was certainly a destroyer, as it wasn''t built to construct buildings or roads.


    Below the snarling lion emblem, the Titan had a simple inscription. "Ordo Sinister - Pavore Dominetur" which translates from High Gothic</a> as "Masters of Fear."


    ''Up and let''s take a small walk, Sabaktes!'' I urged the God-machine. The first steps were a bit shakey, but soon my mind adapted to the height difference. But the halls of the fort weren''t suited for a test drive. There was plenty of elbow room outside though.


    I moved us on top of the Black Lament, and began running at full tilt, even engaging the Quickening to see how fast I could go. In a single minute I arrived back where I started, while the Anima was venting extra heat through the upper cooling coils.


    Quite fast, comparable to an Astartes jet bike in fact. This was in vacuum though, so air friction would slow the Titan somewhat on the surface of a planet.


    So I moved myself on Ganymede, the poor moon which had just been incinerated by the Chaos fleet attacking Jupiter. Recovery teams were sifting though the debris, so I went to lend a hand. The right arm of the Psi-Titan was in fact a Power Claw stronger than a thousand escavators, and with my help we soon managed to clear the vitrified sand and molten ferroconcrete, to reach the Data Hub burried under a broken mountain.


    "Want me to kick the door open?" I asked in a helpful tone.


    "Please don''t, my lord. The records inside are written on paper." A scribe in a biohazard armor answered at once.


    Perhaps I should stop helping then. With a wry salute I turned and jumped off, using the lightning storm to glide just like I saw Sister Stern do with her own lightning powers.


    The landing wasn''t as smooth as hers, since my Titan massed as much as an assault lander. The right knee bent and twisted with a horrible screech. Next time, make a note Pef. Jumping from a mountain in a Titan wasn''t easy of the feet.


    Oh well. Time to reverse time and fix the injury, right?


    The Necrotechica spell worked like a charm though, undoing my small mistake and turning the broken foot back into shape. Still, two psykers of the right side were giving off signs of soul trauma, so perhaps not all injuries could be fixed.


    Nevertheless, I picked up speed and ran for the next mountain, to help yet another recovery team. There were even some Ultramarines here, wearing exo-suits on top of their power armor for extra digging power.


    "I can lend a hand." I offered in a pleasant voice, and held the giant claw up.


    "Don''t damage the vault, Lamenter. Primarch Guilliman wants the records intact." an Ultramarine Sergeant proclaimed while waving his people away.


    So I scratched the door a little. Big deal. It was only a meter!

 Price CH 196

    By the next day, the fleet was ready to depart, all ships fueled and armed.


    A leadership conference with all the Captains and their XOs had just finished, where I instructed them what orders to obey and how.


    The Navy guys were possibly used to being subordinate to Adeptus Terra, seeing as this was the Sol System. Primarchs, Astartes, Inquisitors and various High Lords would often grab whatever fleet was available for a task or another, though I doubted any of the previous Crusade commanders had my ideas on how to conduct space warfare.


    Even their best Fleetmaster, Lady Cassandra was mildly qualified in my eyes, compared to the type of training and practice I had my Captains go through. Not her fault, as neural indoctrination chairs were not available to the Imperial Navy, so she had to struggle reading history or technical data page by page, from the often censured scrolls and books of the Schola Progenium or in the Admiralty spires.


    I gestured her to stay seated and took out a Null Wand like a Marshal''s baton. "You will carry this device at all times, my lady. Have it surgically implanted next to your femur, if there''s any chance you might not be able to wear it." I demanded in a flat voice.


    The woman took the wand and examined it for a few seconds. "I will do so, my lord. But why?" she asked with a frown.


    "We''re going to Cadia. The mote in the eye of terror, and a place that probably annoys the Chaos quite a bit. Your fleet''s real task will be to harass any enemies we encounter, without losing your ships. This stratagem is called a fleet-in-being, and is at least 40 thousand years old. But that only proves it is still effective now, as it was to our ancestors." I said with a slightly kinder voice. I happened to like smart women.


    Cassandra frowned again, and tapped her temple with the Null Wand. "I understand that. My ships do not have very effective weapons, but they can maneuver very well, even in places where Warp drives could not. But what is the purpose of this?" she asked holding the wand up.


    I thought for a second, then shrugged. "The device is a smaller Null Rod, which blocks psykers and demons from affecting you with spells. Can''t read your mind, or your future or influence you through the Warp. It even keeps most elemental spells at bay, to a point."


    "So...nothing else? I suspect there is more to this." she muttered a bit suspicious.


    "Yes, but you''re not cleared to know. In fact, even I don''t know exactly what the situation will become, except possible Eldar involvement. However, with the alliance getting ratified right now, I do not expect hostilities with anyone except Chaos forces. Everyone in the galaxy hates Chaos, so we''ll probably have some strange allies for a while." I concluded and stood up.


    "There is more to this..." Cassandra grumbled a little as she walked away.


    As the armored door of the conference room closed, I turned around to find Vaedrax removing his helmet and nod towards me. "So the Fleetmaster is my bait?"


    "Only if Ahriman comes. Otherwise, is a standard protection detail and you''re cleared to engage or not, at your discretion." I explained in a casual voice.


    The Culexus Assassin grinned back at me. "You''re a strange one, Lord Lancefire."


    I agreed completely with his sentiment. "How was training with the Lamenters?" I asked instead.


    "Well, they are somewhat slower than regular Astartes, but much better armored and armed. Quite excellent quality equipment too. Still, avoid sending them in melee fights, especially against Chaos marines." the Assassin answered with a careless shrug.


    As expected from someone trained to assassinate difficult targets such as Ork Bosses and Chaos Lords, Vaedrax wasn''t impressed with the skills of my Blank sons. He was obviously right, as I''ve met a few blademasters myself.


    My sons also did not have millennia of combat experience, nor were they decimated in ruthless training to select only the fastest.


    "And the Silent Sisters?" I wondered with a smile.


    Vaedrax just shook his head. "There are a few who might survive in close quarters, but...no. Without Astartes or Assassinorum-grade enhancements, they should not be on the frontlines. I would suggest sniper rifles for all of them. A single World Eater could plow though twenty of them with ease, if he gets close."


    "Well, these women were meant to hunt rogue psykers and demons, not traitor marines. I fought a Chaos Sorcerer on Estaban too, and it wasn''t too difficult, even without enhancements. Sister Ordela killed two Greater Demons at Fenris, took her like five seconds." I mused in remembrance.


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    "And then, there is the Demonifuge...she killed one of ours, a few decades ago. Why is she on your ship?" the Culexus asked in a colder voice.


    "Why not? The Emperor gave her the powers. Is she at fault the Inquisition wanted her dead, or for fighting back?" I wondered with a sad grimace.


    "... That''s not what I know. She was empowered by a demonic ritual." he argued back.


    "By the victims of demonic ritual, you mean. The 700 Sisters of the Screaming Cage poured their faith and souls into her, to obtain vengeance on that demon. And she has never stopped destroying demons since. Now, in my own line of work I''ve met many Inquisitors. Some I''ve befriended, or even loved. Others...I executed them and had their Rosettes sent back to Terra. That is the problem with those people who are not Blanks. Eventually the Chaos can get them, Primarchs or Inquisitors alike. Not that I blame Chaos for everything. Stupidity, greed and pride can get everyone, even Blanks." I answered in a softer tone.


    "That..." he started to say and remained frozen in a stasis field.


    I turned around to find the Emperor himself, holding a tesseract in his hand. "I saw you liked my Psi-Titan."


    "It was quite expensive, to be fair. Pretty fragile too." I muttered in a disgruntled tone. I worked hard for all the goodies in those tesseracts, plus the crystals themselves.


    He just waved a hand, producing some samples of xeno weapons, and my ''secret'' dataslate with all the inventions, even some too advanced to release just yet.


    "Perhaps it is so. But it would take me too long to produce such weaponry from nothing. And the Blanks problem...I''ve considered it for the past day. Vaedrax here, while a decent warrior and loyal to the bone, he would certainly die if implanted with a gene-seed. The women are not compatible anyway, due to extra chromosomes. Only you, and your miraculous bloodline can sustain a gene-seed implant." the Emperor admitted in a slightly annoyed voice.


    I just nodded. This wasn''t exactly news to me, as I had conducted my own experiments back at Illevar.


    "So, what now?" I asked after a minute of awkward silence.


    "I enhanced your body and mind, without going too transhuman with it. Otherwise, you''re free to conduct yourself as before, or any other way you please. Go forth and multiply!" The Emperor proclaimed while handing me back the Null Box.


    I opened the box to see a new Warrant of Trade, signed by the Emperor himself. The paper itself was glowing faintly, so to a psyker this would likely appear as a raging bonfire of Warp energy.


    I guess I did pay for it, with all the loot I produced for the Imperium. But the wealth of xeno and Chaos-tainted people or artifacts was well-worth the free hand given by the Emperor.  He did just say ''anyway I please'', which proves a level of trust he never shown much, or ever. Then again, I did speak in his Voice for a century all over the galaxy''s Fringe, and my deeds were found exemplary. I''d guess the new trust has grown to cover the entire galaxy now, with the new Inquisitor''s Rosette resting in my Null Box.


    The Rosette had a snarling lion inscribed on top of the old metal cog. Blaring coded engrams swiftly informed me I was now an Agent of the Throne, Ordo Sinister - Chamber Occendentalis - Perceptor secondary. Probably the necessary promotion to operate the Psi-Titan. Plus requisition things, people and whatever else I needed from every loyal Imperium world. Not at the level of an Inquisitor Lord, or Perceptor-Intendant, but probably a normal Inquisitor or such.


    Killing billions of people for no reason might be frowned upon, and killing trillions of innocent citizens might result in a reprimand or even a recall to Terra for inquiry. But otherwise, free hands.


    "I don''t think I''ll visit the Imperium much." I muttered with a grim smile and raised my eyes towards the Emperor.


    He was long gone though.


    "Fleetwide, form in pattern Gamma, and maintain point-defense stations. Then begin engine burn towards Cadia." I commanded over the vox network.


    As the fleet began to accelerate away from the Sun, a coded transmission arrived from my Synopticon agent, directly on the Manifold circuit. "My lord, three separate transmissions from the Indomitus fleet. Destinations: Terra, Luna and Titan. Decoding the contents will take me a week or so."


    Green hair or not, the boy was quite competent. Well, at least I knew someone would arrive at the party for certain.


    Now it was only a matter of waiting.

 Merging CH 197

    Well, my original plans for Cadia were burned and the ash tasted quite bitterly.


    No more Angron, to provoke the Chaos into mindless anger. No more daemon weapon, to kill whatever proved too difficult for standard weapons.


    The only ace remaining was the Sounding Board, and the necklace tesseract that housed it.


    However, with a single tesseract, and without my xeno auxiliaries, I was reduced to less aggressive tactics.


    I could still move and deploy my own forces at will, but I could not risk my last tesseract by interacting with corrupted beings or engines. Not without solid walls of blackstone and Tyranid bio-titans to constrict the Warp effects.


    It sucked, but I was still better off than most commanders in the galaxy could be. Even the tesseract vision alone was a gigantic help, as knowledge of the enemy disposition did allow a coherent strategy, by dispelling the fog of war.


    As for weapons, I had the strongest weapons of the Imperium to use, from the Singularity and its Voidclaw gravity gun to the Black Lament and its Immaterium beam, and even Titans and Psi-Titans. Sisters of Silence, Blank Astartes and the Templar Psykologis teams formed the special forces, while my armor and heavy infantry Auxilia troops had a hundred times the firepower of normal Imperial Guard regiments.


    I had pretty much everything I could want, except superior numbers.


    However, I doubted the Chaos forces had that many forces remaining for use. I did sort of decimated their numbers over the decades, not only the invasion forces but even the Dark Forges and various Demon Worlds I could reach. I hit them behind the lines and burned the production facilities, and the effects of that should be massive even on galactic scale.


    But...the Eye of Terror itself contained even more Demon Worlds and Hellforges and millions of Chaos marines. I had not managed to reach that far, and even Trazyn had barely managed to burn a single Hellforge at the edge of the Warp Rift, Xena II.


    The stable corridor called the Cadian Gate included other Fortress Worlds like Belis_Corona</a> or Agripinaa, and other Imperial worlds like Lelithar. That name seemed familiar to me, which was bad. Any memories I had of old books about the Black Crusades simply meant something bad would happen in that place.


    There were some good news though. The Dark Angels and their Primarch were converging towards the Scarus_Sector</a> to the north of Cadia, while the White Scars and Primarch Khan were approaching from the south, via Forge World Mordax. Over a hundred Astartes Chapters would be present, plus Mechanicus, Adepta Sororitas and countless regiments from the Astra Militarum and PDFs.


    Over the holomap of the battlefield, Inquisitor Ramaeus simply waited with her eyes closed. Not sleeping, but instead diving into the future for omens and hints.


    "Erebus. He''s the one leading the traitor attacks." she revealed after her long psyker trance.


    Well, considering who Erebus</a> was, can''t say I''m surprised. The guy was the architect of the Horus Heresy, and the one who turned Lorgar to Chaos.


    "I''ll take care of him, my dear." I answered with a confident voice.


    She just smiled sadly. "Bravery is not a substitute for strength. You don''t have to pretend, Pef. I can see you''re not truly certain of this battle, unlike the other times we''ve fought together."


    A few seconds later, Velayne tapped another planet on the holomap, marking it as lost. Urthwart</a>, a world so often attacked that people lived in underground bunkers all the time, had finally fallen.


    "Zombies of some kind. The astropathic messages are not clear." the Inquisitor whispered with a deep frown on her face.


    I leaned back in my chair, and glanced at my fellow Princeps from the Ordo Sinister, called Albesalom. Didn''t look much in the flesh, wiry and thin, but with Princeps it was mostly about willpower not muscles.


    The Blank pilot just nodded. "I guess this time it won''t be as fun. Any troops deployed on the surface could be lost to an orbital strike in minutes."


    "What we need is some kind of protection aura, like the Saints can project over their troops. They call it the Inviolable Aura." I mused in a thoughtful voice.


    Albesalom blinked at me then glanced at the Inquisitor with wary eyes. "And how would you manage that? Our Alpha psykers are not capable of it. Even if one of them might be a holy person, the ones on the left side are all savage, brutal beasts filled with anger and bloodlust. The darkness needs that to power the Psi-cannon."


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    "I have some ideas." I said with a wry smile and jumped to my feet.


    A minute later, I arrived at Sister Stern''s quarters, to find her and Sister Darcy playing cards and giggling like school girls.


    "Hello there. Mind if I join?" I demanded with a kind smile, and sat on the carpet in front of them.


    "Only if you let me play with Canis again." Darcy demanded with puppy eyes.


    I tried to resist. My willpower could restrain a Titan''s Machine Spirit.


    But those eyes...a minute later I just sighed, and picked up the cards. "Don''t put your hand inside his mouth again. He ate a dozen Space Marines, hands and feet crunched like twigs." I warned her with a grim voice.


    The girl didn''t quite believe me, but it was very true. They were even Lamenters, if traitors.


    Some hours later, Darcy returned to her room, and I shared a bottle of wine with the Demonifuge, while she spun tarot cards in mid-air.


    A few glasses later, she leaned on my shoulder for support. "I''m going to die again, aren''t I? The Emperor''s Tarot is very certain of it." she murmured in a sad tone.


    "Everyone dies, my dear. Some last longer than others, and some even come back. You think lamenting to a Lamenter, on board the Black Lament is fun?" I quipped and elbowed her gently.


    "Hah! Your Chapter is quite famous for its misfortune, that''s true enough. So why did you got me drunk? Wanna taste my pure body, my lord?" Ephrael proposed in a tentative voice, even pushing her chest out for emphasis.


    "There''s time enough for love. We''ll get to that, one day. But no, what I want is your psyker abilities. I bet you''d like riding a Titan with me." I answered in a serious voice.


    She turned to gaze into my eyes, electric currents swirling inside around the blue iris like a maelstrom of concentrated violence and wrath.


    "Only if you let me sit in your lap." she demanded in a childish tone, and obviously copying Sister Darcy''s perfect manipulation.


    So I drew her into a hug, and groped her a little as thanks. "It''s going to be great. We''ll begin tests tomorrow, and see what psyker effects we can obtain together."


    "Stay with me tonight..." the pretty Sister pleaded in a lonely voice.


    I tried to resist. I really did. But my bleeding heart wouldn''t let me.


    Plus she did have a fabulous body.


    The next day, we began working on controlling the psyker gestalt of the Psi-Titan, at the lowest setting possible. The fortress might be made of blackstone, but a Psi-Titan would still likely manage to breach the hull anyway.


    Damned walkers were quite overpowered, even without my miracle girlfriend exceeding all reasonable limits and overcharging the Anima circuit with a dozen times the normal amount of psychic energy.


    "I''m not much impressed with the abilities of your Titan, Lord Pef. It''s slow, cumbersome, the psi-spells lag and take entire seconds to cast, and there''s no psi-shield or even a Rosarius. All it has it''s brutish mechanical strength and amazing range for its weapons." the Demonifuge complained while leaning backwards and resting on my body like in an armchair.


    Well, technically my arms were the arms of the chair, so that worked fine.


    "Other Titans are much worse, my dear. I''ll show you the Emperor-class Titan in the next hangar. It barely moves at all, so I have to teleport it into battle before the enemy gets bored and simply leaves. And my Titans are all upgraded ones. The relics of the Mechanicus are much worse and take months to shamble around." I explained with a snort, and pawed at her peaks for my comfort.


    At least my hands had something nice to hold to now, as piloting a Titan was all in the mind and the implant circuits.


    Probably the exact reason why the Emperor enhanced my brain with his gene magic. He even unlocked the dominant genes of my Blank heritage, allowing me to begin learning the real skills of a Pariah, from Null Shields to rebounding psyker spells and draining psyker energy. Standing in the cockpit of a Psi-Titan with a potent psyker in my lap and six others slaved to the Anima circuit empowered me immensely even without drawing from this well of power.


    "All right, I trust you. So what do we try next?" Ephrael asked while breathing deeply and pushing her peaks into my hands.


    "Now, we try to make that psi-shield. First, a thin one covering the cockpit. Then a slighter larger one over the entire chassis. And keep the power low. No need to blow of the hangar doors, again." I whispered in her neck, while my mind merged with the Machine Spirit and gently urged it to listen.


    A flare of golden light followed, and the armored doors blew out again.


    "Sorry...I''m trying to be weak." Sister Stern muttered in a childish voice.


    She wasn''t really sorry though.

 Torque -Ch 198

    A week into our journey towards the Eye of Terror, an alert message arrived from an Inquisition Fortress at the edge of the Warp Rift, called Nemesis_Tessera</a>.


    Velayne urged me to shift course at once, because there were thousands of Chaos artifacts kept there. Allowing them to be captured would likely create a second front, and potentially release dozens of Greater Demons into the galaxy.


    I held a hand up for silence and linked with the fort''s Machine Spirit, computing the new course and the estimated time of arrival.


    This was the advantage of traveling on Warpless engines, the ability to stop or change course at need. Sure, with Warp engines you sometimes could traverse the entire galaxy in days, but it wasn''t reliable. You could also arrive years, decades, even centuries later or not at all.


    Nevertheless, it would be a good opportunity to conduct a training exercise with the Navy fleet, and iron out problems before we engaged a larger force at Cadia.


    "If we change course, we can reach Nemesis in nine hours. I guess they''re in luck." I answered after a minute of rechecking all the variables.


    "Thank you, Lord Pef." the Inquisitor whispered barely audibly.


    But I did hear it, possibly something the Emperor has done to make sure I listen well from now on.


    I kinda postponed a deep medical exam from my techpriests, maybe a bit wary at what they might find. I felt fine anyway!


    A minute later, my orders went out to the fleet, and the exact vectors were transmitted for the new course. The Navy fleet was sent a billion kilometers ahead and up, to act as bait for my own ships.


    Then I returned to my room and slept like a baby for eight hours, in preparation for battle.


    My mind was my best weapon anyway, so it made sense to recharge it to full.


    Then, the next morning I gathered the pilots and princeps of the Knights, Dreadknights and Titans and went over the future battlefield map, while the Auxilia were getting buttoned up in their tanks, Sentinels and fighters.


    "Alright guys. Depending on what we find, I''ll deploy our armored troops to flank and envelop the attackers, while the fleet covers us from orbit. The Inquisitor has alerted me to an imminent threat on the surface, and possibly below, some relics and artifacts that must not be taken by the Chaos forces. And if the Inquisition is worried, we should be too." I explained in a grim voice.


    Sister Letitia locked eyes with me. "You''re landing as well, Lord Pef?" she asked into my mind.


    "Most likely, yes. I do have a Psi-Titan now, as you have heard." I answered with a smile.


    "What about my Sisters? The ones without giant walkers." she continued in the same manner.


    "They should stand ready, as they will be deployed as bridge guards on the ships and maybe overwatch for the Astartes. I don''t have enough sniper rifles for all of them." I said with a shrug.


    The woman frowned, but stood silent. My wife Dae just nodded and dragged Zeta after her, and was soon followed by the Princeps of the other Titan of the Deus Ex Machina.


    "Is that aura spell ready?" Albesalom asked once everyone had departed for their giant robot walkers.


    "Hard to test it inside the fortress, my friend. Anyways, you will take point and neutralize the strongest enemies, as you do have the experience. I''ll focus on winning the orbit, before I make landfall with my Titan." I explained with a level voice.


    The Ordo Sinister perceptor measured me for a minute. "You know how absurd that sounds, right?" he asked in disbelief.


    I just shrugged and teleported away, sitting down in my command chair to wait. It won''t be long now.


    The tesseract vision showed me the Indomitus fleet veering off and fleeing from a Chaos warfleet ten times its size, while firing rapidly with all available batteries.


    Well, as fast as macrocannons could be said to fire rapidly, since they pushed each giant shell manually, into the loading breech. Hundreds of serfs sweating and cursing while dragging the shell out from the armory, then all along the gundeck to their gun, then load it in a dangerous and painful manner by hand...it took an hour for every new salvo.


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    Still, the Navy did its job, drawing the Chaos attention onto them.


    My own fleet had a similar number of cruisers and battlecruisers with the Indomitus Navy, plus a couple of battleships and carriers, but we entered the battlefield from below, and engaged the traitors from their blind spot.


    Torpedoes and lance batteries, plasma cannons and lascannons struck the enemy right as Nova Shells detonated in their midst, crumbling their Void shields and crippling the escort destroyers and frigates, while a couple of Nova mines vaporized their fighter and bomber squadrons.


    By the next minute, I was already deploying Titans and tanks on the surface of Nemesis Tessera, with fighter cover right above our front lines.


    The traitors numbered in the millions, and had tanks of their own, hundreds of Leman Russ and Chimeras even a few Baneblades. Perhaps twenty armor regiments, supported by Chaos marines, psykers and various demon engines, Chaos knights and even a Chaos Titan. Whoever planned their assault did not plan for my intervention though.


    By the time my corvettes launched and engaged the remaining Chaos warships, most of the ground fight was over. "Finona, clean up the system if you will. I''ll be down on the planet." I spoke with a grin, and my daughter smirked at me. "Give them hell, dad."


    A couple of seconds later, I stomped the charred ground of Nemesis with my awesome Titan, while holding Miss Stern in my lap.


    "Let''s try it now, my dear." I whispered in her hair, and gently squeezed her leather uniform.


    A burst of golden light covered the battlefield, engulfing our troops, and the allied Stormtroopers of the local Inquisition in a protective glow.


    "It works!" the Demonifuge shouted in surprise.


    I just smiled and urged the Destroyer to go fast. We blurred and left an afterimage behind, while I just hanged on tight and slashed and kicked and spit with my new mechanical friend.


    Nine seconds later, the Machine Spirit ran out of targets.


    "Leave something for me too, next time." the Princeps of Albedelach muttered on the Manifold, while swimming in slow motion towards us.


    "Draw back, Stern! We''re still in hyperspeed." I shouted at the entranced psyker in my lap.


    Like magic, the universe resumed its slow course, and tank turrets and boulders fell down all around us.


    "Uh...this thing can really amplify my powers. I didn''t realize we would be moving that fast." the miracle Sister whispered in awe, and leaned into my embrace.


    I scanned the battlefield to find injured troops and stormtroopers wonder at their newly regrown limbs or eyes, even picking up blown up legs to show them to their comrades as proof.


    Perhaps the Emperor had given me a bit more than I first thought. I had a goddess in my arms, not a mere psyker.


    Cheers of joy and victory emerged from the healed guardsmen, all praising the Emperor and his new Saint.


    I snapped my fingers and begun recalling the troops back to hangars and barracks, and just in time.


    I had just seated myself back into the command chair, watching Finona complete the space battle and incinerate the last remaining battleships before they retreated.


    "Captain, there''s a Lord Inquisitor called Torquemada_Coteaz</a> on the Vox. He wants a meeting." my vox officer said in a curious voice.


    No, no way. I did not like his name at all. "Tell him we''re in a hurry towards Cadia. Emperor''s orders."


    Was this a bad joke? An Inquisitor named Torquemada? I really did not want to meet him.


    "I think he''s curious about that aura your Titan projected over the battlefield." Lady Velayne advised me with a smile.


    "Yeah. But I''m busy." I answered while sipping my blessed recaf and reviewing the mad dash from the implant''s memory storage.


    It was quite incredible to watch it frame by frame, seconds turning into hours of savage butchery and battlefield massacre.


    Sure, an entire army could do the same, especially if Titans were involved. But a single machine, in several seconds?


    What the hell?

 Cadia - Ch 199

    The minute my fleet arrived in the Cadian_System</a>, the magnitude of the Chaos assault on the Imperial bastion nearly frightened me. The tesseract vision revealed every tiny detail, creating a perfect 3D map of the system and its contents in my mind.


    Over ten thousand warships, ten times as many Hell Fighters and other smaller demon engines, billions of traitor soldiers and millions of armored vehicles, xenos of a dozen species, many of them distorted by Chaos sorcery and psyker spells...it was almost as bad as I expected.


    Still, the corner of my mouth raised in a slight smile. "This isn''t so bad." I whispered softly.


    "Open your eyes, my lord! I think it''s pretty bad!" Semnai yelled and shook my shoulder, pointing at the holographic screen.


    The human defenders were locked in battle with corrupted invaders on the big screen, losing ships at a much greater rate than the invaders, often choosing to sacrifice their ships in suicidal ramming or reactor detonations, or getting boarded and being massacred in detail.


    A Black Templar Crusade fleet was engaged over Hive World Belisar</a>, while their Astartes and Auxilia fought valiantly against overwhelming forces on the surface.


    I just took a deep breath, and twisted space-time with my mind. The Black Templars and other exposed Imperium forces vanished in the Tesseract Labyrinth, and were replaced with blooming ordnance. Plasma warheads, Nova mines, incendiary bombs, canisters of nerve gas and atomic bombs, all dispersed over the battlefield in a mere minute. The entire Chaos army evaporated under my blanket of punishment, with few Titans and big demons remaining in a stunned state.


    "The meaning of sacrifice is always a better future, Semnai. You will deploy at Cadia with two Companies, and make sure they obey my commands. This is too easy, so I bet the worst is yet to come." I answered instead, keeping my voice level.


    For a second Captain Semnai stood still, eyes fixed on the screen and the cogitator statistics recomputing enemy numbers in the wake of my own strike. "Of course, Lord Lancefire. We are doing the Emperor''s Will." he said in a rather impressed tone.


    Partly on automatic control, I began deploying my own forces as needed, countering specific threats with effective counter-measures. Silent Sisters to block and weaken Daemon Princes, my own Titans and Knights to oppose enemy giants and armored regiments to protect soft targets like cities and vital infrastructure.


    Meanwhile, my eyes turned to the right, where Inquisitor Ramaeus was still scrolling through her Nexus Arrangement device. "My lady, I think it''s better if you direct the Black Templars for now. Melee battles might be awesome and glorious, but unnecessary for now. The cube allows nearly perfect asymmetric warfare. Use it."


    My lover smiled thinly at me, and nodded gently. "Take care of Menelau." she demanded instead and vanished from the fort''s bridge.


    Two assets in place, I turned my attention on the Indomitus Fleet and contacted their Fleetmaster via the empathic Sounding Board. "Lady Cassandra, link up with Battlefleet Cadia and support them as well as you can. Former orders about fleet integrity still stand." I sent directly into her mind.


    To her praise, the woman didn''t flinch or scream at my intrusion, just bit her lower lip and frowned. "I thought my Null Wand prevented psyker spells." she answered back, while already directing her officers and Captains to fulfil the task I given her.


    "This is not a psyker spell. It''s merely advanced technology, Fleetmaster. Just remember, I need your fleet intact, for later."


    As soon as the Indomitus Fleet Tertius changed course towards the bigger fleet defending Cadia, I turned my head to look at the Blank Princeps of Albedelach. "I need you to defend Hive World Macharia</a>, my friend. There are 300 billion people there, and they need a rally point. You and the Dreadknights will be it." I spoke out loud. "And don''t grope Stern too much." I added with an empathic mental smirk. The thin guy just scowled at me, before he popped right into the Titan''s cockpit and Stern plopped into his lap.


    By the next minute, Albesalom and the Demonifuge made landfall among the invaders at Macharia, while the Leviathan Dreadknights and the heavy infantry arrived to defend the Hive Cities.


    I wasn''t worried too much about that place now, with a Psi-Titan powered by the amazing Miss Stern to skew the odds in our favor.


    "Finona, accelerate towards St. Josmane''s Hope</a> world, and blockade it. Nothing in or out." I ordered to the Captain of the Singularity, while splitting off escort corvettes and a dozen cruisers for her squadron.


    It was a big risk, splitting off my forces to cover the entire system. Then again, I could see the big picture as well. While the Imperial Navy had to deal with the fog of war and erratic returns from their auspex sensors, Necron technology embedded into the Teseract allowed me to see the entire map at once.


    What enemy forces were present at Cadia right now, were not sufficient to conquer the system, only damage it and create destruction and panic. An alarm bell rang in my mind at that.


    Royal Road is the home of this novel. Visit there to read the original and support the author.Something else had to be going on, either some kind of sorcery ritual by Erebus and maybe Ahriman, or some different type of attack.


    Just to make sure, I began advancing my fleet towards Vigilantum</a>, a dockyard and training world filled with half-completed vessels and millions of Navy recruits, plus construction and repair facilities, techpriest conclaves and fusion reactor assembly plants for big warships. This was the softest target I could see, and probably the enemy could see that as well.


    Maybe it was luck, or intuition. Maybe simply baggage of war experience for a century. But after a couple of hours, my guess was vindicated.


    Warp rifts began opening en masse all over the Cadian system, revealing the other surprises that the planners of the invasion had in reserve.


    Dark Eldar raids descended at the fortress world of Kasr Partox</a> and a massive Ork Waagh carried on hundreds of Space Hulks at Vigilantum.


    Captain Chyron scoffed at the emerging new enemies and slapped my shoulder with his dreadnought''s massive arm. "So this is why we trained for decades on that Space Hulk at Illevar. There must be trillions of Orks here."


    My shoulder ached so I smiled kindly towards the armored Lamenter. "You know what I see, when I look at these Space Hulks and their occupants, Captain Chyron?"


    "A big fight?" he answered with a morose tone.


    "I see free metal for new ships, and unpaid xenos auxiliaries, eager to battle Chaos on my behalf. I see thousands of STC templates waiting to be uncovered, and trade capital for my Rogue Trader house. I see fifty new Forge Worlds opening in the Fringe, just to exploit this generous gift I was given." I replied with a grin, then began abducting the incoming Space Hulks one after another.


    It hadn''t been possible til now, as my mind just wasn''t strong enough. Maybe my willpower?


    I don''t know. But since the Emperor took his time to upgrade me personally, I was more. Blobs of intermingled ships, asteroids and Void whale skeletons, each measuring over a hundred kilometers in length, and sometimes depth would have been impossible to shift into the tesseract before. Not anymore.


    It was tiring, but doable. An entire Green_Kroosade</a> which could easily lay waste to a galactic sector just vanished, and remained in stasis in the Necron labyrinth housed in my necklace.


    Soon enough, I began ejecting unneeded Ork gretchins and squigs and most of the weaker Ork ranks, directly into the sun, while mentally directing the mind controlling filaments to take over the Ork Bosses and convert their forces to my control.


    Less than a billion Ork remained as xeno auxilia after the procedure was completed inside the labyrinth, only the largest and strongest of them, plus specialist units like Kommandoes, Mekboys and Painboyz.


    The work of the Ork gods and even Chaos gods over the millennia, to steal and divert Warp-travelling ships and creatures into these constructs simply served to enrich me now.


    It wasn''t all great though. The Ork Waagh field still pushed against the limits of the tesseract, and I had to counter than constantly with mental energy. Holding the reins of an entire Ork Waagh was hard, even for me.


    Perhaps it was time to trim the numbers even more, by unleashing most of the new forces on my enemies.


    So I began empathically directing various Ork Bosses and Warbosses onto different targets. The Dark Eldar first, then other corrupted xenos or demons, then against Chaos marines from the Night Lords</a> and Alpha Legion</a>.


    Sure, the losses of Ork lives were horrendous even so, but I didn''t mind much. Losing a hundred Orks to kill a Chaos marine, in close melee in underhives or mining tunnels was perfectly acceptable. They will still run out of corrupted marines before I ran out of Orks to send.


    At least it wasn''t human lives I was spending so liberally.


    You may think it was all going great, just like I did. But blood and death served Chaos too.


    By the next week, although the invaders forces were diminished to less than half, and Cadia was intact and well, the next phase of the invasion began.


    A major Warp rift opened right on the surface of Cadia, and out of it poured the real invasion.


    "That is Kharn</a>, and the World Eaters Legion. His Butcherhorde</a> can take on Titans and still win." Captain Chyron warned me as he recognized the Chaos leader.


    I began deploying more Orks and expendable assets like Tarantula turrets to hold off the new invasion force, and commenced retrieving the dispersed Lamenters from all over the system.


    It seemed my luck hasn''t failed me. I might not have Angron anymore, but this Kharn was a Champion of Khorne too. He would do just fine.

 Miracles - Ch 200

    "Ordela, you start preparing your sisters for the A ritual we talked about. I guess we''ll do it on Klaisus</a>, as it''s an ice world of less importance." I spoke towards my special ace in the hole.


    Sister Ordela was the strongest Pariah in the galaxy right now, and the among the most skilled ones. Her presence on a world was always a nightmare to normal people, and fits-inducing or even out-right death to some psykers, even without using her Omega-minus active abilities.


    That made deploying her in battle a constant concern, despite her obvious effectiveness against demons or sorcerers. Having my own Auxlia troops lose morale and sob uncontrollably during a major battle wasn''t all that fun to deal with, and for normal civilians it was even worse.


    Sister Dessima was only an Omega-level Pariah, which had mostly the same kind of consequences when she was deployed, but on a lesser range. Continent-wide instead of planet scale.


    She should work fine on the Elysian Fields of Cadia, where the major Chaos push was taking place right now.


    Captain Chyron let out a pained grunt when the Pariah Sisters emerged from stasis on the bridge. "So we''re still doing that plan, my lord? You know it''s pure lunacy, right?"


    "Just make sure this Kharn doesn''t die yet. Remove his limbs and subdue him, that''s it." I demanded in a stern voice, and nodded towards Sister Ordela.


    The woman tried to smile then abandoned the attempt in the middle. "Don''t die, Lord Pef. You promised me we''ll have children, one day." Ordela spoke in a sad voice, then slammed her visor down before I could see her blush.


    Unlike Dessima, I have found Ordela before she could take the silence vow, which was sometimes handy. It didn''t matter as much, since she simply couldn''t live among normal people. Her blessing was a real curse too, denying her a normal life.


    Other Blanks had it much easier, though still not great lives among normal people, still being subject to discrimination and being isolated. Being accusing of smelling bad or looking suspicious wasn''t all that nice, even for minor Blanks that didn''t even know they were psychic Nulls. It got much worse when they were found out, from being tortured or exploited to being converted into weapons, as assassins or simply psyker-countering ash.


    I just shrugged carelessly, mixing confidence and arrogance in my expression. "I''ve died before, Ordela. It''s no big deal."


    A minute later, I had Sister Dessima get ready for the Champion abduction, with dreadnought Chyron serving as the mechanical vice and the Pariah Sister as the pliers.


    A thousand starfighters dove for a ground-attack, while I spread incendiaries and grenades over the invasion force, to keep their heads down for a moment.


    In the midst of flames and explosions, a small team inserted via the tesseract, a squad of Terminator armored Lamenters, a mighty dreadnought and a thinly armored Sister.


    "Grab the axe too!" I mentally urged Dessima as she landed feet first on the Chaos Champion''s shoulder, and breaking his god''s protection with her Null aura.


    Then Chyron just moved, impossibly fast and precise, his Power Claw slicing away arms and legs, while the other Power Fist grabbed Kharn''s neck in a steel-crushing grip.


    Meanwhile, the Terminators unleashed their barrage of gravity-guns and ancient atomizer cannons, creating a deadly perimeter.


    Now, normal procedures for extraction wouldn''t work right now, so Dessima just slapped a teleporter beacon on the back of the Champion and then flared her Pariah Shield to overcome the Warp Rift.


    The second the rift closed, Kharn was teleported away and guided towards the sacrifice altar being raised on the glaciers of Klaisus, while my Lamenters and Dessima folded neatly back in the Tesseract, along with the looted Gorechild</a> axe.


    "It won''t work, human. Your Emperor warned you as well." an alien voice spoke from the door of the bridge, just as I retrieved the axe to observe it in detail.


    It was a heavy and gory axechain, made of adamantium and whirling chain teeth made of real dragon teeth.


    "You mean the ritual, Solitaire?" I asked the newcomer.


    "Yes, the ritual. And I''m not just a Harlequin. You should know when to listen." the Eldar muttered in a displeased tone, just as the ritual began forming on the ice world, with Ordela guiding the powers of her sisters to reverse the Khorne''s blessing over his Champion.


    Can''t say I was actually surprised at his admission. Cegoragh was a god too, and had access to millions of years of advance knowledge and technology, plus reality-warping powers.


    "Of course, messenger. But things are rarely what they seem, in this universe. Perhaps I do know better. And perhaps I am not working alone on this." I whispered just as another Blackstone Fortress arrived in the system.


    Although the new battlestation was sporting Forge Venatoria markings, and carried thousands of Venatoria techpriests, a Titan Legion and the entire Soul_Drinkers</a> Astartes Chapter, I knew very well who was holding their strings.


    A mad robot with an infinite amount of resources and no moral compass to hold him back. No soul either.


    The Solitaire Harlequin measured me with a piercing gaze, before slowly turning towards the exact spot where Trazyn and his blackstone warship has just emerged. "... That''s an insane risk you''re taking, human. You''re lucky we had a backup plan, and our own Talisman." He murmured in a soft growl, just as the third Blackstone Fortress emerged into the system, cloaked and invisible to any sensors, almost.


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    I just pointed in silence at the new arrival.


    The Eldar messenger just blinked slowly, and before his eyelids raised, he was just gone.


    "Stern, you''re next!" I sent directly in the Demonifuge''s mind, and moved the Polaris Psi-Titan right beside Ordela and her praying Silent Sisters.


    Almost immediately, a new sun rose in the Cadian system, as the world of Klaisus was engulfed into a blinding golden light, a result of the ritual channeled by Miss Stern and amplified by the Psi-Titan soul circuits.


    This wasn''t mere light though. I should have suspected the Emperor have read my memories and plans, and made the necessary arrangements.


    His goals had not changed in past ten millennia, after all. He had simply gotten a trillion times stronger.


    I took a step, through my labyrinth and arrived beside Trazyn the Infinite, the Necron Overlord with his own giant collection of valuable artifacts and people.


    "Hello again, Lord Trazyn." I spoke gently, and held my hand out to retrieve Canis, just in case.


    "And as always, the stranger with his puppy is once again a step ahead of me. You called the Eldar too?" The Necron asked while a thousand Astartes stomped down just one time behind him.


    "Just get ready, Necron Lord. I counted over 2000 broken pylons on Cadia. A third of the field power is gone, so I had to improvise a quick fix. Cegoragh himself was amused with the idea, and lent me a hand." I argued with a small white lie.


    I mean, my analysis of the situation was not wrong, only my contribution. But Trazyn should be a bit more wary now.


    The necrodermis robot turned to stare at me, and my wolf, with dispassionate green-glowing eyes. "Hmmm. Collecting what I wanted will be much more difficult now. You''ll owe me again, Pef Lancefire." the Necron demanded in a glacial tone.


    "We''ll trade, value for value, Lord Trazyn. Right now, you''re under my protection, as agreed by the Emperor of Mankind himself. How long until you can restart the field?" I asked, pointing at the fortress world of Cadia, and its 5000 remaining blackstone pylons.


    "There is a certain Inquisitor in the control room. And a certain Custodes too. This brings back memories, right?" The Necron Lord asked instead, avoiding my own question.


    Should I be worried? Nah. It had worked before too, even without Trazyn being involved directly.


    In a second, we flashed through Trazyn''s labyrinth to arrive before Inquisitor Greyfax, and her Custodes watcher.


    "My lady, you look amazingly well." I observed with a wide grin, while measuring my one-time lover.


    "Pef. There is a green alien robot at your side. And I suspect it''s exactly the one who held me and the Custodes captive for centuries." the woman growled in a slightly angry voice.


    I just shrugged and patted the metal guy on his back. "Mysterious ways, Lady Inquisitor. Anyways, leave the xenos to the Ordo Xenos, I''d say. Or did you quit Ordo Hereticus since we last met?"


    If looks could kill...well, they can, unless someone is immune to psyker spells.


    "You humans can flirt for an hour or two. I''ll get to work now." Trazyn advised me with a robotic smirk, and summoned his hieroglyphic menu to start up the Necron engines under Cadia once more.


    The Custodes simply ignored the Necron as if it was a statue beneath his notice, and stepped forward to pet Canis like an old friend. Even without my prompt, the wolf just purred in delight and enjoyed the scratches, making Lady Greyfax scowl even more.


    "Hmph! Boys and their dogs. You look taller, Pef." the Inquisitor remarked in a warmer tone, and approached me close enough for an awkward hug.


    It was a simple fact, but somehow her telling me that made me feel better. "Hmmm. The Emperor must have given me larger shoulders, for a heavier duty. How is Amalia?" I wondered about our Blank daughter.


    "On a Blackship, learning her powers. She keeps a diary already, with all your exploits. And her wolf is fully grown already." she whispered in a gentler voice.


    "Good. Perhaps in a decade, our family can gather in the Fringe at once. Like a family reunion." I proposed in a soft tone as well.


    She drew back a little, searching for something into my eyes, probably just to make sure I was serious.


    "Perhaps. So what is the Necron doing here?" she asked coldly, back in Inquisition mode, Ordo Hereticus style.


    Should I tell her? Not everything, of course.


    "Lord Trazyn was instrumental in closing the Hadex Anomaly, and dozens of other Warp rifts. His expertise is needed once more." I explained in a level tone, then glanced towards the always present Eye of Terror, its purple gaze present even underground in these Necron caverns. It wasn''t actually emitting light either, just like the new golden sun in this system.


    "And I expect to be repaid in full for my efforts, humans. Don''t forget that." the Necron added in a morose voice.


    "That too." I mused a bit amused.


    A giant scream of anger and wrath emerged from the giant Warp rift, followed soon after by a similarly giant claw. A few seconds later, another claw but a pink one erupted from with the Eye of Terror.


    "That''s...not Khorne." The Custodes whispered while his eyes began glowing with gold light.


    I gulped a wad of saliva, as the two claws started to cross the vast space towards Cadia. Then again, perhaps it wasn''t all bad.


    "Two out of four? It''s my lucky day!" I quipped in a joyous voice, mostly to raise morale among my party.


    Canis glanced at me like I was stupid. Lady Grayfax and the Custodes were not very impressed either.


    "Hold them off for an hour, the infrastructure is a bit damaged and re-routing the energy is not easy." Trazyn asked with a calm and certain voice.


    Definitely not visiting in person then, the brave Necron Overlord.


    Well, I didn''t really have a plan for two Chaos Gods coming out to play. I might need a miracle, and very soon.

 Nineteen - 201

    Without waiting, I teleported back on the Black Lament, and began accelerating the Blackstone Fortress towards Solar Mariatus, the outermost planet of the Cadian System.


    The Venatoria fortress soon joined me on this run, and fired first towards the incoming Chaos gods.


    The Immaterium beam was not limited by the speed of light or other mundane concerns. The ancient weapon simply burst into dark light, and kept firing for a long minute with a giant cone of soul death.


    It was not enough, although the energies projected by Trazyn''s fortress did hold the incoming claws in place, halting their momentum, and burned the outer layers of skin.


    I observed the process with curious eyes, trying to infer how much firepower would be needed to actually kill these things. Possibly a hundred times more? Hard to say with precision.


    Anyways, as soon as Venatoria stopped firing the claws advanced on Cadia again, but this time pushing in front of them a large Chaos fleet made up of shielded battleships and demon-engines.


    The Eldar fortress fired next, their beam crackling with blue lightning, similar in appearance with Miss Stern''s tempest powers.


    Screams of pain emerged and the Chaos hands burst into flames and halted again.


    "We should fire too, my lord" Chyron proposed in his usual gruff tone.


    "It would just exhaust me for no gain, Brother." I said with a small shrug, and folded Miss Darcy to bring her to my side.


    "Lord Lancefire! I was...What are those things? I can feel their hate!" the young Sister of Battle exclaimed in righteous fury.


    "They are the Great Enemy, my dear. Well, the part of them that our minds can recognize. I doubt anyone can see their real form." I explained in a light voice, and fired a short burst from the Black Lament. A single second to calibrate the weapon and obtain some data on the effectiveness of my own beam.


    To my surprise, and probably everyone''s else, the Immaterium beam of the Black Lament hit much harder than expected, throwing the encroaching hands back towards the Eye of Terror, while black cracks appeared in the structure of the constructs.


    The Emperor had fiddled with the fortress for sure, during his presence on board.


    "Dad, there''s a large revolt going on here. The inmates are led by an organization known as the Correction Rehabilitation Movement, and are taking over the prisons. I am deploying Tarantula drop pods, but it is not enough!" Finona spoke empathically into my mind, turning my attention to the Prison World of Saint Josmane''s Hope.


    Well, I wasn''t about to waste troops and time trying to save murderers and whatever other prisoners they kept on that world. This smelled to me like a Chaos front, and that was enough. The Inquisition''s unofficial motto fit perfectly to the situation.


    "When in doubt, Exterminatus." I answered curtly, and simply forgot about the problem.


    It was rather stupid to maintain a prison world right in the middle of the Eye of Terror anyways. What did they think it would happen, once Chaos influence grew stronger?


    The Nova guns of the Black Lament began firing their Nova shells at the approaching Chaos fleet, filling the void with explosions and burning hulls.


    The invaders kept coming though, a dozen battleships outfitted with dimensional shields plowing through and launching drop pods and troop landers towards Solar_Mariatus</a> and Demios_Binary</a>.


    I countered that with Nova mines and a squadron of corvettes to reinforce the orbital defenses, and soon the landing forces simply evaporated.


    Then the Mechanicus revealed their own surprise, defense batteries emerging from under Demios Binary''s surface and firing at the Chaos fleet with ancient laser and neutron beams, followed by long range missiles.


    A tiny singularity fired from the Glorianna Battleship hit a couple of enemy ships and overwhelmed their weakened shields and three battleships blew up from the unexpected strike.


    However, the return fire from the remaining Chaos fleet scoured Demios Binary and silenced the revealed batteries with lance and plasma fire.


    More hidden defenses began to emerge, and Void Shields sprang up to cover the batteries.


    I helped with a second of Immaterium beam fire directed at the incoming invader fleet, and soon after nine remaining hulls drifted in the void, scoured clean of any life or souls.


    "My lord, there''s a new Warp portal on Hive World Belisar! The emerging forces are the Emperor''s Children, led by Lucius</a> the Eternal." Chyron advised me, sounding a bit worried.


    I glanced in the tesseract vision at the new front, just in time to watch a Hive City getting swiftly overwhelmed by Chaos marines, demons and traitor regiments that emerged right in the middle of a large city with 30 billion souls.


    Not only that, but the invaders were rapidly assembling sacrificial altars with near mechanical precision.


    "Lucius? That''s the guy that just won''t die, right?" I mused, mostly to myself.


    "No, my lord. He can die just fine. But he takes over the ones who killed him." Sister Darcy explained with a horrified voice.


    I blinked in surprise, and halted priming the melta torpedoes getting prepared to launch in my labyrinth. Perhaps killing the guy wasn''t the best option then.


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    "Plan B!" I decided with an encouraging nod towards Chyron.


    We didn''t actually have a plan B, but the Lamenter Captain did have an enhanced mind, just like I did now. We had used plan A to capture and sacrifice the Champion of Khorne, so we should be able to do the same for the Champion of Slaanesh.


    An amused cough resounded from within the dreadnought coffin, and my Lamenter brother saluted me for the last time. Then he vanished, with Sister Dessima and the abduction squad arriving in the midst of the invading Chaos marines.


    Ten seconds later, the city itself vanished in melta bomb explosions and atomic fire. I extracted as many civilians I could from unaffected areas, but at least 3 billions people, right in the middle of the Warp portal zone were lost.


    Another burst of golden light followed from Klaisus, as Ordela and Albesalom were starting the next sacrificial ritual of a Chaos Champion.


    An angry howl of hate emerged from the Eye of Terror, and the pink claw split off into a thousand spiked tentacles rushing towards Cadia, followed more sedately by the burnished-red claw of Khorne.


    I held fire again, until the Necron and the Eldar fortress fired, then fired with the Black Lament as well, for a long ten-second burst.


    But this time the Chaos Gods refused to retreat, even as their skin blacked and cracked, then shards fell off and burst into flames. A torrent of tiny winged dreams erupted from the Eye, only they wouldn''t be so tiny if they were visible from light-years away.


    ''Emperor, if you have a miracle prepared, now it''s the time!'' I muttered in my mind. Not exactly a prayer, but I wasn''t a very religious person anyway.


    "Where am I?" I heard a confused woman ask right behind me.


    Darcy sprang to her feet to confront the new arrival, while I just smiled wryly in my command chair. Really, Big E? You waited until I asked for a miracle?


    "This is the Black Lament, Sister. The space fort of the Lamenter''s Chapter. And, we are at Cadia." the Novice explained with an impressed voice.


    "...I was dead, walking among ruins and corpses. And then..." the new arrival whispered to herself.


    "You died ten millennia ago, Sister Celestine. Come, I''ll let you have my old Novice robes." Darcy said and escorted the naked Saint towards her room.


    I just sighed inward and produced a set of light power armor and a blue bodyglove for the naked woman, and placed them in Darcy''s room, as my own miracle.


    The Emperor tried to be subtle, enticing me with his naked Saint.


    Not that I would refuse his gift, but now it wasn''t the right time for romance.


    I just hoped the Saint would be enough. I fired the Immaterium beam again, a short burst to buy me some time, then teleported beside Darcy.


    "I guess you''re the miracle, huh? Perfect body, I admit. But do you have actually useful powers, beside making me blush with your beauty?" I asked the dressing woman.


    The Saint was even prettier than my wife Serena, and possibly equal to my Rose, though quite differently. Flowing blonde hair and a warrior''s fit body, full lips and wide hips...yeah. It was love at first sight.


    Even knowing that it was hard to resist. Celestine nearly gasped while looking back at me and blushing profusely.


    "You''re very pretty too, Astartes. And while I know my faith is infinite, I can''t say if my powers will be sufficient for what I sense it''s coming. Fury and lust, anger and pain...the Ruinous Powers emerging from the Eye of Terror itself." Celestine answered in a shy voice, while tugging at the thin bodyglove.


    I just snapped my fingers and assembled the power armor around her with the tesseract, since time was quite short right now.


    "I do have a Titan, Lady Celestine. You can call me Pef, as we''ll ride into battle together. Darcy, you sit in the command chair and cover us." I ordered with a smile, then snapped my fingers again.


    The next second, my Psi-Titan landed beside Ordela and Albedelach, just as the glowing altar shut off.


    The corpses of Kharn and Lucius remained impaled on their ice spikes, lacking limbs and souls.


    "Did it work?" I asked the Omega Pariah, while Celestine shifted in my lap trying to find a comfortable position.


    "...Not really, Lord Pef. I think we need a Primarch, or they just die. Their souls are just too weak and corrupted." Albesalom answered instead, and pointed with his Titan''s Power Claw at the approaching Chaos Gods.


    I sighed inward, although I was told by two gods the ritual wouldn''t work. I guess reversing Chaos just wasn''t the same with an Ork Waagh. Sister Ordela returned to her labyrinth stasis pod, beside Dessima, while the covent of Silent Sisters were sent to protect Cadia and other vital ships and instalations.


    "We need to hold them off, for twenty minutes. I''ll take the pink one." I explained to my fellow Princeps in a grim voice, then entered hyperspeed and flashed away, the Destroyer glowing with the pure aura of an Imperial Saint.


    Albedelach passed me with ease, and streaked away in a golden beam, proving that Miss Stern was much stronger than the pretty Sister Celestine in my own lap.


    I had a few other tricks of my own though. I lazily dodged the incoming tentacle and flared the tempest aura, then fired the left hand Psi-cannon. The first tentacle simply evaporated into ectoplasmic ash, and I heard Celestine chant softly a melodic prayer.


    Twenty minutes with this amazing woman in my arms seemed too short now. I embraced her tighter and dodged yet another pink tentacle with my super Psi-Titan, then fired once more.


    Nineteen minutes left and 998 tentacles to go.

 Deathwish- 202

    I shouldn''t have dodged the third strike. The Destroyer had an inviolable aura around it. The poor planet behind me did not.


    I slashed at the passing tentacle with my Titan''s right claw, but it was too late. The world of Demios Binary, and the millions of techpriests guarding it, died in a cataclysmic explosion.


    "No! You''ll pay for that!" Saint Celestine shouted and flared her powers even more, incinerating a dozen incoming tentacles at once.


    Well, I never expected this fight to go easy.


    "Focus, Celestine! Channel everything into the Titan." I demanded in a quiet tone, just as the weakest psyker in the right arm began trembling and shaking, while the monitoring circuits simply shut off around his pod.


    Critical soul trauma, do not use battery number 3, the Machine Spirit requested on the Anima circuit.


    Incoming strike, dodge!


    I simply teleported away, and used the tesseract labyrinth to replace the psyker in the pod with Griselda. I wasn''t certain what Ordo Sinister did with the burned out psykers, but for now the blind battery could rest in stasis.


    Immediately, the influx of an Alpha-plus level psyker into the Anima circuits refilled the energy reserves, and even rejuvenated the weakened batteries to some extent. The Saint''s aura permeating the Titan helped as well, and a second later we were back in the fight.


    However, a second was all it took for the materialized Chaos construct to repair itself as well. The lost tentacles grew back, and even added tongues and teeth along their length.


    Trazyn''s beam flashed darkly beside us, and a large swathe of incoming winged demons died forever. But there were more, always more.


    The galaxy had plenty of rage and fear to summon untold demons, during the millions of years of sentience, alien or human alike. Pain or pleasure, fury or lust, it didn''t matter. Every dream and emotion was reflected into the Warp, only now the Eye of Terror threw them all back at once. Well, at least half of them.


    I continued released precious munitions onto the material assets of Chaos, spending torpedoes and mines and bombs like throwing rice at a wedding. Best use of them anyways, as thousands upon thousands of Chaos marines, or corrupted tanks and spacecraft, Titans and Knights and Dreadnoughts got obliterated every minute.


    My Orks held the lines in suicidal charges, enjoying the mayhem and massacre and the brutal violence like...Orks. Couldn''t compare their sheer joy and exuberation for a massive fight with anything else. Losing millions of Orks per minute was a fair trade in my opinion, if it allowed me to reduce the Chaos forces at a similar pace.


    Far to our right, Polaris-Albedelach had a great time, shredding into Khorne''s body like a whirlwind of lightning and death.


    The Eldar Talisman fired again, this time directly into Slaanesh''s pink construct. A hundred limbs got sheared off and flayed of life and soul, and then a gravity beam struck as well, emerging from the Singularity.


    The construct shifted and bent, contracting into a smaller shape with a giant purple eye in the middle.


    "That''s our chance, Sister. We''re going for the eye!" I commanded with a grin.


    My Psi-Titan, the Occedentalis-Sabaktes burst forward into a flash of speed and energy, and we impacted construct''s eye with the right claw first, then the armored pauldron. And then we got stuck, as the eye wept a sticky fluid than trapped us like an insect in amber.


    Perhaps not my best idea then. I flared the Antipathic Tempest spell, then fired a Death Pulse bomb right into the god''s eye. The shockwaves threw us away, spinning for a moment like a leaf in the wind.


    Right arm damaged, engage repairs now, the Machine Spirit of the Destroyer demanded in a wail of pain into my mind.


    I just glanced outside the cockpit, to find the right arm missing from the elbow. We aren''t going to repair that, buddy. We''ll need a Titan Manufactorum for that, and Cadia did not have such facilities.


    Still, I directed the psyker energy to begin the Necrotechica spell, sealing leaking conduits and plugging the gaps in the arm''s armor.


    Then I teleported again and fired the left-hand cannon at near point-blank range, exploding the purple bleeding eye into a nebula of violet fluids and misshaped sexual organs.


    Burning sexual organs though, with claws and teeth in painful places. I think I did them a favor.


    "Get out of there!" a robotic voice warned me all of a sudden, right into my mind.


    I grabbed my fellow Titan and flashed back on board the Black Lament, storing the two Psi-Titans in the tesseract for now.


    And then the world of Cadia was engulfed in a green light, and Stern and Celestine crashed to the floor, screaming and wailing in pain.


    I simply stored the hurting women in my pocket dimension, and walked to my command chair where Sister Darcy was biting her lips until they bled.


    "It''s okay, Darcy. Are you in pain?" I asked a bit worried.


    "I don''t sense the Emperor anymore. There is only a green wall, all around my soul." she answered in a confused daze.


    For once, I just patted her head and refrained from commenting. ''Working as intended.'' would have been cruel and unnecessary.


    Then I lifted her gently and sat back in my chair, placing the teenage novice in my lap. "Can you imagine what those things are feeling right now? Cut off from the Warp and the worship of their cultists?" I asked instead, then fired the main weapon for the last time.


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    The black beam was tighter and weaker now, but with the Warp repelled by the Cadian psylons, the Chaos God was weaker as well. The eroding beam spread through the decaying flesh, and slowly the Lord of Excess began to die.


    The drain of the Blackstone Fortress weapon began to feel uncomfortable, then painful, then worse and much worse. Still, this chance would not come again.


    I kept the beam on target for ages, until everything went black.


    "Wake up, my lord. There''s some kind of Eldar god, he wants to speak with you." I heard a young voice demand too loudly.


    With effort I opened an eye, to see Darcy at the side of my bed, and a pair of Eldar Harlequins, standing by the door.


    The tesseract vision didn''t even detect the second Harlequin, which meant something important. Probably.


    "You''re Cegorach?" I muttered in a tired slur.


    "Not quite, human. You can find me in the Black Library, when you have time to visit. My actual presence in the mortal world would have...too strong consequences." the second Harlequin answered in a perfect High Gothic.


    "I see. Some kind of projection then. So why are you disturbing my beauty sleep?" I continued while searching for a recaf thermos in the tesseract, then gulping the still hot beverage.


    "It''s been three weeks already. Also, the Eye of Terror is gone." the Eldar God answered with a short laugh.


    If this was a prank, then it wasn''t a good one. I only had to mentally link with the fort''s Machine Spirit...and look outside from any pict sensor.


    The Black Lament''s chronometers also confirmed the elapsed time. I''d slept for three weeks, but didn''t even feel weak or famished.


    I just sipped more recaf, and mentally checked my internal organs. Some kind of organic mechanism had triggered and placed me in hibernation. The Emperor did look after me.


    "Everything is great then! The invaders were repelled, and I can return to my other job." I quipped in fake cheerfulness.


    Both Harlequins snorted at the same time and the same tone. "Two Chaos Gods are dead, Pef Lancefire. And, you killed one of them. She-who-Thirsts is gone and Ynnead has awakened instead." The familiar Solitaire explained in an awed voice.


    I just blinked to shake off the last clouds in my mind. "So?" I asked a bit confused.


    "He''s an idiot, Lord Cegorach. I think we''re wasting our time here." The Solitaire spoke in Aeldari, only I understood him clearly now.


    Since when could I understand Aeldari? I barely knew a hundred common words.


    "I''m not wrong, my lonely son. He too has crossed the Black River, just like me and you. He can even understand us. Don''t you, human?" Cegorach asked while measuring me with a piercing gaze.


    Gods were obnoxious like that. Always reading your mind.


    "So who killed Khorne?" I asked in Aeldari, as I stood up and summoned Canis for support.


    The wolf sniffed at the xenos and glanced at me to confirm if they were edible.


    Darcy immediately plunged to hug and pet the elephant-sized wolf, almost vanishing in the thick and grey fur.


    "That''s...the funny thing. We helped too, but it was your pet Necron who scored the kill. And there was an Inquisitor involved as well, Lady Greyfax. She fired that modified weapon." Cegorach replied in an amused voice.


    I nodded with a smile. Trazyn had done the same with the Hadex Anomaly, using an Inquisitor for the dirty job itself.


    "Anything else?" I asked curious.


    "It is a huge galaxy, human. But yes. The Maelstrom is acting up, and the Screaming Vortex has began to expand rapidly, engulfing the entire sector. The Tyranids are acting strangely as well, thousands of Hive Fleets guarding habitable planets instead of devouring them. Craftworld Biel-Tann has changed course towards the worlds formerly inside the Eye, and refuses contact with anyone. The Outsider</a> Dyson sphere has began glowing brighter, which probably means the insane C''tan is waking up. And lastly, the Necron Hollow Sun</a> has detonated in a giant supernova." The Eldar god answered in a flowing voice, almost like a poem.


    I held my hand out and Canis pushed his nose into my palm. No wise utterances from my genius wolf though.


    He was possibly just as lost as me. I did suspect someone had a metal hand to do with a certain enemy Necron Dynasty being blown up, but not much else.


    "So?" I wondered again. I had a feeling the Eldar god wanted me to ask something, but I really didn''t want any Eldar help. Especially not a god. They came with too many strings.


    "I will allow Mnemorach to travel at your side, Pef Lancefire. And a favor, for your amusing service. I may not have the reach of your Emperor, but I suspect you''ll avoid Terra for as long as you live. You might need divine intervention, one day." the projection spoke in a final tone, then faded away, leaving the other Solitaire alone, once more.


    I grinned and pointed at the Harlequin with my thermos. "So I''m an idiot, right?"


    "You are, human. But you''re also too lucky. Had you asked anything from Cegorach, you''d have died a slow, painful death." the Solitaire explained in a casual voice.


    I chuckled at that, and drew Darcy out before she tugged the wolf''s tongue again. Poor girl had a deathwish, I swear.

 Momentum -203

    I can''t really describe the atmosphere on Cadia when I arrived in the capital.


    Perhaps bewildered joy? Confused hope? Either way, Cadia still stood, although its purpose was gone.


    No longer would its walls and guns be needed to defend the Cadian Gate against endless Chaos incursions. Occasional attacks and various other xenos raids would still test the Cadians, but the Eye of Terror was gone.


    The sky was no longer illuminated by the horrors of the Warp, and psykers and astropaths were rendered powerless by the activated interdiction field.


    Pariahs had a difficult time as well, with the main source of their powers being shut off. However, unlike the normal psykers, a skilled Pariah could still draw energy from other sources, like light and electricity and even life itself. I know, because I could still make shadows, with some effort.


    But that still wasn''t important. Necron technology was right now the most important thing, being able to operate at peak efficiency in the nullification zone created by the Cadian pylons.


    And a certain Necron Lord was gleefully having a parade of captured Titans and Astartes along the main avenue of the capital, with Imperial officials and officers blissfully unaware of the falseness of the display.


    I appeared at the side of Captain Semnai and Lord Creed, the local commander. Next to them, a Dominus Archmagos from Forge Venatoria was bombastically proclaiming the triumph of Omnissiah over the Immaterium pretenders.


    "And here he is, Pef Lancefire! The Hero of Cadia, the Godslayer and the Lance of Omnissiah!" the mind-controlled techpriest announced with a generous bow.


    I just waved off the exaggerated claims. I had strong doubts about the actual causal events that took place at Cadia, with at least two gods directly opposing the dead Chaos Gods, and a few other gods with vested interests in this affair.


    "Lord Creed, there are a hundred Hell Forges and thousands of Demon Worlds laying exposed in realspace right now, with the Eye closed. But, the Enemy will not wait long to regain initiative." I said in a level but clear voice.


    Lord Castellan Ursarkar_E._Creed</a> smiled grimly at me, then nodded at the Sergeant at his side. The man simply ran off towards the command bunker without further orders.


    "I take it you''ll be leaving right away, my lord?" he asked politely in reply.


    "Today, yes. I''ll open a pathway straight to Forge Mordax</a>, via the Navy base at Belis_Corona</a>. I''ll request they send whatever floating docks they have free, to install Warpless engines on the capital ships of Battlefleet Cadia. Also, the Venatoria techpriests can set up a repair facility at Vigilantum base." I explained in a firm tone, with my eyes glancing for a second towards the nearby techpriest.


    "Of course, Lord Lancefire. Your words are gospel for any loyal priest of Mars." the Archmagos replied in a strangely obedient voice. ''Meet me in one hour'' was the second message he replied on the Manifold circuit, without giving away the theater.


    I just sighed inward, then waved towards the gathered crowds, my gesture reproduced on giant pict-screens all along the parade highway. The locals cheered and seemed really happy to see me wave, for some reason.


    I stood there for a minute, if only to admire the Titans of Forge Venatoria taking large strides to cross the city. Nothing was as it seemed though, the victory celebrated here feeling hollow and quite bitter.


    Sometimes knowledge of truth could be a curse indeed.


    A minute later, I teleported away and stepped inside the Venatoria Blackstone Fortress.


    "Pef, he''s leaving me!" Lady Grayfax complained out loud, while pointing outraged at her companion Custodes.


    I had to chuckle at her entitled anger. "Finally had enough of her antics, Brother?" I wondered with a knowing smile.


    But the Custodes simply shrugged, unfazed. "My watch has ended." he quipped in a careless tone.


    "We will be honored to become your guardians, Lady Greyfax." A Soul Drinker Sergeant intervened, and gestured curtly at his squad. Ten Space Marines would be a nice escort for her, and they even volunteered.


    The Inquisitor scoffed and turned her nose. "I rather not be seen with defectors, thank you."


    I sighed again and snapped my fingers. A Company of captured Astral Claws, armors painted black, unfolded from the tesseract at my call. "You can have these guys, my dear. As long as you don''t poke too deeply at their former allegiance, these brave Deathwatch marines will walk through blades and fire for you. Right?"


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    "Yes, sire!" the mind-controlled Astartes proclaimed in a single voice.


    The woman measured the newly produced Astartes with a dubious eye. "Hmph. I guess I can take them, and use them somehow. They seem a little creepy though."


    Couldn''t argue with that, could I?


    Luckily, the awkward moment was interrupted by a certain Necron skeleton appearing from thin air, with a Primarch at his side.


    If you guess his name, you would be correct. It was Fulgrim, the only sane clone remaining from Fabius Bile''s experiments. Also, the Force polearm in his hand was the former weapon of Primarch Dorn, the Soulspear.


    "I kept my word, Custodes. Just remember that, the next time your Emperor needs someone whacked." Trazyn said almost spitting his words. Probably didn''t like parting with valuable trophies.


    The Warden Custodes simply nodded and pointed at me. "Lord Lancefire is empowered to trade with xenos, Necron." Then his eyes glowed golden and he simply waved Fulgrim to his side. "Come, Fulgrim. We''ll take the Webway to Terra. Your Father wants to see you."


    A green portal opened right in front of them, and they stepped into an alabaster hallway, then vanished.


    Should I be envious that important people got to save months of travel due to a god''s favor? I personally wouldn''t want to be in Fulgrim''s fancy armor right now.


    Even if this clone wasn''t responsible for what his main body did.


    "I feel used..." Lady Greyfax muttered a bit sad. She wasn''t wrong though.


    "And I suspect you want answers now, puppy stranger?" Trazyn asked and slammed his staff down on the blackstone floor, possibly to sound more important.


    "... I have my suspicions, Lord Trazyn. Some scheming god plotted the demise of his fellow gods, and you agreed to help, in exchange for a unique artifact?" I wondered in a lazy voice.


    The Necron laughed in a superior tone, while moving us in a different part of his labyrinth, where a swirling garden of yellow ichor swamps, and toothy plants formed a cage with a glowing hologram inside.


    "This is only a model, reconstructed from bits of memories and visions, mostly Eldar. But that is my future prize, human friend. I can give away a Primarch, even a precious Avatar for the real thing. A god!" the Necron Overlord proclaimed in a maniacal voice.


    I mean, there weren''t that many gods kept prisoner in a garden, were they?


    "You want to steal Isha?" I asked a bit amazed at his unfathomable boldness. He was bugfuck insane too. Isha was truly the most guarded item in the universe.


    "Well...not quite. We need to kill Nurgle, in order to acquire the Aeldari Goddess." Trazyn continued in a carefree voice, which sounded even worse coming from an undead robot.


    I should have walked away right then. You know it, and I know it. This wasn''t a daring raid, ending with a boss fight and rescuing the princess.


    This was literally breaking into Hell and killing Entropy to steal eternal life. But I was curious. Sometime insane people had a genius idea. Like one in a trillion, maybe?


    "Tell me more!" I said with a fake smile.


    So I listened for an entire hour, without even breathing too much. The Necron was insane, but he was also a genius scientist that took part in the War in Heaven, and won.


    I could almost imagine myself jumping though a dimensional portal with a divine beauty in my arms, when he finished his exposition.


    "You might overestimate me, Lord Trazyn. I mean, I''m slightly flattered you think so well of me...but we''d need actual competent fighters for such a quest. Subterfuge experts, illusionists and seers and counter-seers and a giant army...to start with. Those six guys from the Templar Psikologis could barely create an opening in the first layer. Behind that there will be Greater Demons. Unclean Ones." I grumbled with a slight shudder.


    We simply did not have the resources for such an operation.


    However, the Necron''s greed was possibly a stronger force in this galaxy than gravity itself.


    "A minor setback. You have possibly heard of the 7428 Hive Fleets awaiting new instructions from their Hive Mind? Once I find a way to capture them, all you''ll need to do is direct them into battle. It''s just that Tesseracts are too feeble for this many Tyranids..."


    the Necron Lord said in displeased voice.


    Perhaps I am an idiot. But I had a solution for that problem, and couldn''t keep my mouth shut.


    "I know where we can find a Tesseract Vault." I answered instead, almost eager to jump feet first into hell.


    "I knew you were the right man for the job, strange human! Now, do you think you can convince a couple of Primarchs to join this quest?" Trazyn asked with an enticing voice.


    I knew I could. I should have ran like hell though.

 Brothers - 204

    Under the not-too-effective scrutiny of Inquisitor Greyfax and her Deathwatch bodyguards, Lord Trazyn has departed for the world of Damnos</a>, to provide some unexpected and unnecessary help for the Second_Battle_of_Damnos</a>.


    Sure, the Necron Overlord was smart enough to mask his activities under the guise of Adeptus Mechanicus monopoly on technology, be it Imperial or xeno. Also, having an Inquisitor supporting his demands would probably make the involved Imperial forces at Damnos cede him the ownership over the Tesseract Vault, and more importantly: its contents. In this case a Transcendent C''tan bound to the will of the Necron Lord</a> known as The Undying</a>. And if he could obtain ownership over the Baleful Necropolis and its entropic machines our quest would become marginally easier.


    Meanwhile, my fleet and the Indomitus fleet plowed our way through the newly emerged worlds formerly inside the Eye Of Terror, spreading warmth and light to their inhabitants. Or in other words, Exterminatus.


    It wasn''t easy, but the Adeptus Mechanicus was already sending punitive fleets into the new sectors, and at Dark Forge Temporia</a> we joined up with Battlefleet Agripinaa and their allied Basilikon Astra fleet to clean up the heretics in a more organized fashion.


    It took a whole month to clear the numerous layers of space defenses, forts, deamon engines and sentient minefields, even with our superior numbers and overwhelming firepower, followed by a series of deep strikes and snatch raids, to recover as many STC templates and constructor fragments we could find.


    In the end, the result was predictable and illuminating as expected. Temporia burned in our wake, and we headed for Hellforge Gallium</a> to continue this impromptu Crusade.


    Another a month of heavy munitions consumption, millions of burned hereteks, and billions of enslaved troops and cultists, plus their demonic weapons and corrupted machines were all laid to waste.


    However, there was a distinct lack of Chaos marines or Daemon Princes everywhere in our path, and the defending Chaos capital ships were all old and destitute, often trying to ram or self-detonate, to create at least some damage.


    I wasn''t going to complain about an easy job though. Even so, we still lost a cruiser here or there, plus hundreds of starfighters and corvettes. Chaos was always a difficult enemy and the Dark Mechanicum even more.


    By the time we reached Forge Mordax and the Imperial fleets under Primarch Khan, my combined fleet was once more out of consumables, things like torpedoes, Nova shells and mines, plus most missiles and bombs.


    "You killed Slaanesh." the sword-nut Primarch addressed me in a slightly confused but impressed voice.


    "So I''ve been told. Just pushed a button, to be fair." I answered with a grin towards Khan.


    The giant man patted my shoulder and grinned back. "And this new look...you met the Emperor?" he asked in a knowing tone, possibly meaning my new greater height and bulk.


    "We spoke three times. Or maybe twice. He also gave me a Titan!" I replied with a cheerful voice, then turned towards his approaching brother.


    Primarch El''Johnson wasn''t my favorite of the Imperium demigods, and I knew he also didn''t like me. He even tried to get me sacked, which wasn''t nice at all.


    "Chapter Master Lancefire. I want to thank you for raising my father." the Dark Angels'' Primarch spoke in a majestic voice, and nodded for a millimeter. Maybe half a millimeter.


    I''ll take what I can get. I''m not petty.


    "It wasn''t very hard. Except the part where I was nearly denobled and robbed of my House and lands. Luckily, the Emperor was able to see past the unfounded accusations and waved off those charges. Even got a signed Warrant out of it." I said with a kind smile, then flourished my glowing Rogue Trader Warrant like a fan.


    There were perhaps a dozen Librarians and Reclusiarchs in the audience, and they all gasped in awe at my new paper fan.


    Primarch Khan was wearing my anti-warp gift, the Null Rod shielding him from the Warpy emanations, but his brother was not. The Lion took a step back as unseen sigils reached him, possibly without realizing it.


    The man paled as his eyes focused on the Warrant, as he probably sensed much more than I intended with my status-granting handwave.


    His brother Khan stepped forward and interposed his shielded person, then gently held the paper to read the actual words. "Like the old days, I see. Well, with the numbers of enemies you have, you will probably need to show this Warrant quite often, Lord Lancefire." Khan declared in a low but stern voice, possibly as a warning to those present here at Forge Mordax.


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    I sighed and just rolled the glowing scroll and stored it back into my Null Box. "I can take care of myself, Primarch. Actually, I just managed to find another of your brothers, Primarch Fulgrim. He was held in stasis in a Necron tesseract labyrinth, but he otherwise seemed fine." I explained in a level tone, then eyed the Lion for emphasis.


    "Fulgrim!" both Primarchs exclaimed in a surprised voice.


    "Anyways, I''m planning a big operation down into the Immaterium. There are still some enemies to kill, and perhaps allies to rescue. Wanna join me?" I wondered in a teasing voice, eying both Primarchs with a doubtful glance.


    The two brothers exchanged a look, then the Lion held a hand out to craft a blue psyker dome around the three of us.


    "What''s the target?" Khan asked in an aggressive tone, while standing shoulder-to-shoulder with his Primarch brother.


    "Nurgle" I answered via the mind implant. Some words should not be spoken out loud, if that god was still alive and well.


    They would know if their names were spoken. Maybe.


    I wasn''t taking more risks than necessary.


    Khan''s hand clenched on the pommel of his Force Sword, and he nodded warily. Then he glanced towards my fleet parked in orbit above Forge Mordax, and frowned deep in thought.


    Somehow, the Lion smelled the answer as well, even though he lacked a MIU implant. But then Alpha psykers were bullshit like that.


    "Even if we combine our forces, we''re barely at 1 percent of the required strength for such a target, Lord Lancefire. That fortress of yours won''t be very effective inside his Garden. And the pair of us can only fight one Greater Demon at a time. There will be hundreds of them." The blonde Primarch muttered in a dismissive tone.


    I completely agreed. It was lunacy. Almost guaranteed suicide, in fact.


    But I had more allies to call. A lot more.


    "We''ll have to call other races to help. Chaos is the enemy of all life, after all. So, want to hear the plan yet?" I asked with a shitty grin.


    Khan nodded politely, while the Lion grit his teeth in visible xenophobia rage. "The alliance with the Eldar Ynnari</a> has been finalized, for the most part. Who else?" the Dark Angel asked in a low growl.


    "Orks, Necrons, Tyranids, maybe a C''tan or two. Not all voluntary, of course. Some Eldar gods and Avatars might want revenge too, and the yet-living pantheons of dead races might join as well. The Rashan and the Jokaero also have nice tech, while the Hrud make excellent cannon fodder. It''s going to be a bloodbath anyways, might as well reduce competition for humanity, right?" I proposed with a shrug.


    Khan just gazed at me with his deadly eyes, while the Lion focused entirely on the strategy itself, frowns deepening on his face as he went over potential allies and the obvious difficulties in managing a concerted attack.


    "Such an attack will be noticed before we even depart. They''ll be ready for us, no matter where we emerge. And then... they will react with infiltrators, disinformation, subterfuge, starting conflicts and spreading mistrust, not that it would even be possible to create trust. We''d need multiple fronts to separate the armies, and lose timing and organization." The Lion concluded after a minute of rapid analysis.


    Well, he wasn''t wrong, of course. Logistics was the bane of every war, and enemy armies could not be expected to work and march together. Except in special cases.


    I snapped my fingers and moved us from the main spire to my Black Lament, inside the melee practice arena. Standing straight and unmoving, a hundred Ork Bosses glared at us with hate and scorn in their eyes, yet kept locked inside their bodies by the Necron mind-shackles. "Bow!" I commanded out loud.


    A hundred green and toothy faces bowed low, to prove my point to the two Primarchs.


    "Mind control. I expect it works on Tyranids as well?" Khan asked in a curious voice, while examining the captured Orks with a wide grin.


    "Nothing complex, and nothing in large numbers. But the synaptic controllers do direct the others, much like these Orks do. As for multiple fronts, there will be a helpful Necron to provide dimensional pockets to store and release these armies in the right place.


    He is a backstabbing insane robot, but he did kill Khorne not long ago. Just need to point him at our common enemy, and watch our backs. Not that different from the Eldar, after all." I answered with a level voice, just as Inquisitor Ramaeus teleported beside us.


    "The Black Templars are coming too. And a dozen other of Dorn''s Chapters." she announced in a calm voice, while nodding politely at the two brothers and kinda ignoring me. What did I do?


    The two Primarchs glanced at each other again. "This might work after all." Khan mused to himself, while his brother nodded.


    "Just don''t ask me to fight side by side with the xenos." Lion El''Johnson concluded in a sad voice.


    I personally would feel much safer surrounded by Orks than by his Dark Angels, so I generously agreed.


    Now, recruiting all the other races would be more delicate, so I smiled at the Ordo Xenos Inquisitor. She could handle the Eldar again.

 Garden -205

    I think something had indeed changed among the Adeptus Mechanicus.


    Sure, I would always bring gifts of the valuable kind, like STCs and advice on how to defend and grow their Forge Worlds, plus exotic xeno specimens and technology to analyze.


    That would make most techpriests happy with me, and often make them reveal their nice side with their own gifts and upgrades and free supplies.


    I mean, my entire Rogue Trader Dynasty was based around this concept of tax evasion and direct barter or I wouldn''t have been able to equip my ships and armies with the better tech of the Mechanicus in a single century.


    But now, the Fabricator Dominus of Mordax was beyond ecstatic. Perhaps it had something to do with saving his Forge from the Green Kroosade? Maybe piloting a Titan? Killing Slaanesh?


    Not sure.


    Anyways, I had free hands to requisition any and every munition I could want, plus priority for armor replacements and new vehicles.


    Only the lack of blackstone deposits nearby was an impediment to cladding my every trooper in this expensive material from head to toe. We mitigated that by extracting some blackstone walls from the Black Laments interior, and for an entire year a Forge World worked day and night to construct more Sentinels and attack drones, plus they provided bionic limbs and implants for my troops.


    Forge Mordax had received a whole Space Hulk to mine for metal and bits of technology, and was constantly importing human resources from nearby Hive Worlds as organic parts, serfs, servitors, acolytes and auxiliary regiments.


    Other Astartes Chapters were also boosting their numbers with extra vehicles and auxiliary regiments, mostly from The_Lathes</a> Forge Worlds further away.


    By the time the Eldar appeared at Mordax, I had 40 thousands new Armed Sentinels for the Catachan heavy infantry, and had replaced most of my loses in munitions, equipment and manpower.


    The Ynnari weren''t quite pleasant or polite with me, which probably made sense considering the trillions of their race I had burned and killed over my career. It was mostly Commorragh to be fair.


    Staring Yncarne, the Avatar of Death, in the face wasn''t the most pleasant day for me either. Also, the fact that a pair of Phoenix Lords, flanking the glowing Avatar, were emitting murderous vibes at me wasn''t nice either.


    I decided to stay silent and pretend it didn''t bother me. Diplomacy wasn''t my strongest trait, and I needed these xenos to take the brunt of the damage for me. Silence was golden sometimes. Lady Valeyne could take care of diplomacy just fine anyways.


    After seven long minutes of deathly stares, the Solitaire at my side snorted in amusement and patted my shoulder. "Let''s drink more of that expensive amasec, you lucky bastard. I was kinda hoping to see your soul crushed today, but I''m not that lucky." the Pariah Harelquin commented in a tragicomic voice, then flipped in mid-air to reach the reception''s hall door in a single jump.


    I just waved to the Eldar delegation and teleported outside, to keep pace with the amused Mnemorach.


    "So, you''re saying I was in danger right then? I didn''t feel anything." I commented in a curious voice.


    Sure, the Avatar of Ynnead, the Eldar Whispering God, looked impressive and all, but didn''t sense malice or resentment from it. Perhaps sadness?


    It would be a dour job to be the god of the dead, probably.


    "... It is good you haven''t spoken then. Playing dead in front of Ynnead bought you a respite." the Harlequin explained as he jumped over Vaedrax and entered my room.


    I kicked the invisible Assassin in the ribs to make him move out of the way. "Want a drink, Vaedrax?" I asked while pouring into three glasses anyway.


    The Culexus Assassin decloaked and rubbed his side with a scowl. "Should numb the pain at least..." he grumbled while sipping the exquisite amasec like it was a medicinal potion.


    "Now, we only need..." Mnemorach proposed with a dramatic gesture towards the door.


    "A real drinker!" Albesalom proclaimed from the door frame, then locked the armored door behind him.


    Four Blanks in the same room, plus a wolf to snore and create atmosphere. If we were to die tomorrow, I would be in good company at least.


    By the fourth bottle, only Vaedrax could still slowly lift a hand, due to his bullshit augmenting, so we called it a night and fell asleep.


    So what if the universe hated us? We Blanks had to stick together. And drown ourselves in self-pity and booze.


    The next morning, a massive fleet departed from Forge Mordax, keeping the schedule agreed by the Anti-Chaos Coalition.


    In other sectors of the galaxy, other races and fleets moved towards the nearest Warp rift or vortex, or created one if they had the means.


    Entering the Warp wasn''t all that difficult, anyways. A minute afterwards, that was a completely different problem.


    Leading our fleet was a Necron warship of a special design, looking like two Scythe ships glued to a silver sphere the size of a small moon. Also, it was piloted by a Necron Pariah, a sad soul who had at one time been a Blank Princeps of a Psi-Titan, only he was now encased in necrodermis and much less alive than before. Then again, the guy would be long dead if Trazyn hadn''t extracted him from his damaged Titan, some ten millennia ago.


    The narrative has been taken without permission. Report any sightings.


    Whatever the new ship was, it dragged our combined fleet after it a hundred times faster than our best warpless engines could provide, and thus it took only hours to plunge into the Screaming Vortex and cross into the Immaterium.


    Waves of trillions of demons and thousands of Plague_Marine</a>s waited at the exit, only for the Necron ship to unleash a green glowing C''tan chained to the tips of the ship, and millions of Tyranid bioships in our wake.


    A lightning storm erupted from the captured C''tan, forming a passage through the Nurglings</a> defenders, and thus we passed nearly intact through the first layer.


    Behind us, the Tyranids battled the defense lines in a frenzy of teeth and claw, but we didn''t have time to halt and shoot.


    Space itself shifted and turned inside out, and now we had a green sky above with pillars of flesh and tentacled plants growing taller than any mountains.


    We have reached the Garden_of_Nurgle</a>, or at least the outer layers of it.


    I leaned in my command chair and stroked Canis on his head, while I began deploying expendable troops as far as possible. The tesseract struggled to create a mental picture of the lay of the land, as distances were changing at random every minute.


    Nonetheless, a billion Orks chopping at the corrupted flora and feasting on the blighted animals did provoke a response, and more demons emerged to combat the ecological threat.


    Our guns and batteries kept firing at any possible target, setting fires and blowing up lesser demons and carnivorous plants.


    The assault worked great for an hour, reminding me of the Dark Eldar caverns I once visited. Giant fleet, burning everything in sight, that part.


    And then larger demons began to appear, right as we reached the second layer, kinda like a door made of poison gas and clouds of filthy flies.


    Weapons would be mostly ineffective against those things, although the Singularity managed to crush a couple into paste. It didn''t stick, and the Unclean Ones just reformed, intact and amused.


    Then a blue glowing Yncarne flashed into being beside them, and simply sliced once with its Crone Sword. The Greater Demons did not reform again.


    "Get to your Titan, Albesalom. The easy part is over." I called to my side, and the Blank Princeps saluted with a fist to his chestplate. "The Emperor protects!" the man declared proudly, then vanished.


    My Black Lament climbed above the fleet and I fired the Immaterium beam in a short burst, needing five seconds to obliterate the obstruction in our way.


    The third layer was open, and the Necron ship took the lead again, this time releasing a hundred Hive Fleets behind us.


    Trillions of Tyranids warforms emerged from their troops transports to battle in the Death Beds, trying to devour the apparent biomass in enormous hunger.


    But that was less important. Such a giant agglomeration of Tyranids created a huge Shadow in the Warp, and the entire Garden layer shook and collapsed in our wake.


    "That is Horticulous Slimux</a>" Chyron provided helpfully as we entered the third layer.


    The Transcendent C''tan fired his star devouring spells at the chief gardener to minimal effect, and so did the Singularity.


    Even among demons, some were stronger than others. And this thing was incredibly durable. Impossibly so, in fact. No known material could withstand a blackhole to the face like this demon just did.


    I frowned and began searching in the tesseract for a counter, settling on using Sister Ordela as a last resort. She was my ace and I didn''t want to reveal her so soon, or at all if possible.


    Luckily, those two Phoenix Lords decided to take this enemy down by themselves, and beamed themselves into close combat with the Nurgle demon, slicing at the jolly demon with glowing boomerangs and a bayonet rifle of some kind.


    I almost doubted their sanity and mine, when the Greater Daemon lost a hand and then another to those feeble weapons.


    Anyways, we couldn''t stop right now, nor could I do much to help.


    The battling trio was left behind, although I created a field of Tarantula turrets and deployed a dozen Ork Bosses to deal with Chaos reinforcements.


    And then, the green C''tan plowed straight into the next layer, called the Blighted Mansion. Space-time flared and buckled and the C''tan was thrown back, ripped in two by an enormous creature with poked green skin and a beer belly.


    "Welcome to my mansion!" Nurgle exclaimed in a cheerful voice, and time began to slow down.

 Heist - 206

    I''m not certain is this was merely my subjective perception of time, or some kind of omniversal temporal effect, but Yncarne moved too slow and missed the sword strike, and so did the Avatar of Khaine which appeared a second later.


    I couldn''t let a small failure stop us anyways.


    Polaris-Albedelach teleported above the battlefield and fired its wide range Death Pulse, moving slightly faster with the Demonifuge powering its psychic systems.


    But Nurgle simply took a small step back, only that step transformed into a hundred kilometers of distance, making the psi weapon miss.


    A black glowing C''tan appeared right beside the Chaos God and sliced with a Phase Scythe right into the creature''s leg, cutting a tendon perhaps.


    The shitty grin on the Chaos God''s face vanished, and a Warp wave struck the ghostly Nightbringer, shattering the C''tan shard into a thousand smaller bits of floating scrolls and black letters.


    I began preparing my Black Lament to fire, when an alien hand tapped my shoulder. "Not yet. You''ll only draw attention to yourself." the Harlequin whispered in a barely audible voice.


    Right! We did have a plan to follow, even if things went wrong here.


    I focused my mind and deployed the last remaining Orks behind Nurgle, right as the broken C''tan were sucked back into the Tesseract Vault and a thousand bio-titans replaced them in a concave arc centered on the target.


    Zooanthropes, Maleceptors, Trygons and Tyrants attacked Nurgle with psionic spells and focused Silence, even while thousands of plagues and diseases spread on the battlefield.


    Nurgle summoned his own reinforcements, demons and Plaguebearer</a>s, then Daemon Princes and Greater Demons, while my sneaky Orks howled in joy and rushed inside the mansion to loot and pillage.


    Nobody likes to see their home burned and looted, not even a Chaos God. His attention slipped, and he turned to deal with the annoying greenskins, his Warp portals opening all over the mansion to produce more Plague Marines, demon engines and diseased cultists.


    That second was enough, as the Psi-Titan had a clear shot and fired the Sinistrum beam right at the damaged knee, blowing it off completely, while the Eldar Avatars also struck with their godly weapons.


    "I''m getting angry!" the Empyrean godling yelled in annoyance, just as the sky split open to reveal a giant Ork with two heads, falling feet first.


    Nurgle shifted to the side barely dodging the crashing ogre.


    "I am Gork!"


    "And I am Mork!" the other head proclaimed in fairly decent Low Gothic.


    "And we have come to collect all the shinnies!" the first head explained while chopping with a familiar axe called Gorechild. My gift and bribe for their help, if that wasn''t clear.


    The dragon teeth on the blade sliced open the jolly belly of the Chaos God, only there weren''t gems and gold inside, like the Ork Gods were promised. For a pair of godlike creatures, they were quite the idiots, to be correct.


    I simply assumed they''d act like a bigger and badder Ork Boss, greedy and violent, and to nobody''s surprise they did.


    While the police drama took place on the steps of the mansion, our fleet kept moving forward, while a thousand Hive Fleets were being deployed behind and to the sides.


    Of course, the vast majority of these Tyranids were not mind controlled, only certain valuable specimens with powerful synaptic links gaining the honor of receiving Necron mindshackles.


    They did their job anyways, as the Tyranids were simply supposed to attack and devour everything they encountered. Mostly demons. If they died, it wasn''t a problem, quite the contrary.


    As the Black Lament passed over the battling gods, I sacrificed a crate of gems and gold and dispersed those over Nurgle''s wounds.


    I know, I was being petty, but I also didn''t want those overpowered idiots after my head. Better give them a bigger target.


    "Look! He really bleeds gems and gold!" Gork shouted and kicked Nurgle away to grab the shinnies.


    "I want the blue ones!" Mork demanded and slapped his other head in envy.


    I sighed inward as Nurgle just watched the Ork Gods bicker over his blood and gems, then biting on the gold to make sure it was real. His wounds were already regenerating visibly, by the time our fleet crossed into the next layer.


    "You were mean." the Inquisitor commented as she unleashed a barrage of melta bombs and promethium canisters behind us to create a wall of flames and screaming traitor marines being burned alive, yet unable to die.


    I just shrugged at her hypocrisy and fired a single second blast towards Nurgle just before the Tyranid Silence crashed over the mansion layer and that space crumpled into confetti and plague spores.


    Reading on this site? This novel is published elsewhere. Support the author by seeking out the original.


    The beam didn''t do much, barely flaying a layer of skin from the Chaos God, but now I had something to measure against its total apparent mass. About one in one thousand the necessary damage, not that Nurgle would stay still and allow me to fire for 20 minutes.


    "The Masque_of_the_Frozen_Stars</a> is already picking the lock around Isha. If you''re looking for valuables to steal, now it''s the time." Mnemorach whispered from behind my chair, just as I let out a tired sigh.


    I knew the plan, but this was the Warp and I couldn''t expect everything to go as planned. Already things were going badly, as the Ork Gods were too stupid to focus a single minute on their task.


    I didn''t actually hope that they''ll be actually able to kill Nurgle, even if the thing was injured, but at least they could have tried. A single minute!


    Damn it!


    The fleet kept going, while our troops began to deploy and fortify as much as they could, blocking the mansion''s corridors with ferrocrete and blackstone bunkers, setting up minefields and traps, and covering courtyards with flamer tanks and sentry turrets.


    We didn''t have a whole minute, as Nurgulite reinforcements poured in though doors, halls and portals, and our big guns had to jump out to fight Greater Demons and Plague Titans.


    We did have three and half Titan Legions of our own, plus nine Knight courts, and thousands of tanks. We could hold the enemy here, while the rescue took place. But only if Nurgle didn''t show up in person.


    Even Greater Demons were functionally immune to most weapons, and Titans were too slow to fight them on even grounds. If the plasma cannon missed, the Titan was toast or melted. Shields and armor counted for too little here inside the Garden, where reality was often a mere suggestion.


    Of course, there were other potential helpers that might arrive. The Hrud were coming through the Maelstrom, a giant migration of trillions with powers potentially equal to Nurgle himself.


    They might arrive in a minute, or in a thousand years though. Travelling through the Warp was uncertain like that.


    Tzeentch and his armies were supposed to attack Nurgle as well, but they weren''t going to. Tzeentch would be too cautious to risk his life in direct combat.


    I didn''t actually plan for the scheming god to actively help, but rumours of Trazyn''s deal with a certain Chaos Sorcerer were ''leaked''. Nurgle had been forced to deploy most of his armies on his domain''s border with the Architect of Fate, which did allow us a rather easy entry into his mansion.


    Suddenly, the mansion shook like a leaf in a storm, and the Necron ship just vanished, leaving us and the Eldar holding the idiot ball.


    "Isha was freed, but the Necron took her!" Mnemorach observed in a slightly surprised voice.


    "And that''s why the mansion is crumbling?" I asked while retrieving my troops into the tesseract. No point fighting the lesser minions anymore.


    "...No. Mork is dead." the Solitaire continued with his impossible knowledge.


    I blinked and urged the Black Lament to speed up and upwards. "I''m not sure if that''s good or bad." I mused while unleashing a barrage of Nova shells and Nova mines to cover the retreat.


    We changed course towards the Maelstrom, with our Gellar fields burning through their consumable psykers a hundred times the normal rate.


    The Immaterium currents were shifting and changing like crazy, and this wasn''t the best time to navigate. Only we didn''t have much choice.


    We had to reach the Hrud, or else.


    An Eldar cruiser changed course and dove right into the strongest Warp current and vanished without a word.


    "You saw that?" I asked a bit curious.


    "Farseers are crazy. Then again, a Crone Sword is worth the risk anyway." the Harlequin explained in a careless voice.


    Seeing what Yncarne could do with its own sword, I had to agree. Those weapons were kinda nice.


    "I want one too." I hummed in a longing voice.


    The Solitaire laughed and patted my shoulder. "You have enough enemies, human. Your Emperor was wise to remove a hundred targets from your back, but you keep wanting more."


    I sighed and scratched Canis on his wise head. "Woof!" the wolf proclaimed in a proud howl.


    Yeah, Canis I know. You''ll never be my enemy.


    Now we only had to find the damned Hrud in a universe-size maze that kept shifting.


    So I just opened the hololith screen and poked it at random.


    The Black Lament took the lead, covering the combined fleet with its bulk and enormous Gellar fields, and we sped onwards.


    I wasn''t a Navigator, but I trusted my luck anyways.

 Worry - 207

    The Black Lament shuddered again as our Gellar fields bumped into something large and quite solid.


    Most likely another Greater Demon trying to slow us down.


    Warning messages flashed into the Manifold circuit, and I mentally directed more Lamenters and Silent Sisters to plug the breaches or seal off damaged sections.


    It seemed like the entire Warp was hounding us, or at least half of it.


    I doubted Tzeentch would act against us before Nurgle was dead, but that didn''t exclude him pointing our location to our pursuers.


    I would have done the same in his place, and I wasn''t even close to that godly level of backstabbing abilities.


    "Do you even know where we are going?" Lady Valeyne asked in a teasing tone, and leaned to pet Canis in a suicidal move.


    Really, everyone keeps petting the wolf engine as if it was a docile puppy or something. Canis was already more than a match for an Astartes Dreadnought and possibly even an Imperial Knight.


    I know, because I did train him to fight Ork Bosses or Tyranid warforms, and he only had problems with the larger biotitans.


    "That way!" I explained carelessly, while pointing towards our distant destination.


    Both Mnemorach and the Inquisitor snorted at my convincing navigation skills. "Well, at least we''re going somewhere. I''ll inform Lord Cegorach to prepare the trap." the Harlequin said in a shifty tone, as if preparing another prank.


    And no, having invisible water bubbles crashing on your head is not actually funny. And he could even detect Vaedrax, as we did try to tie his shoes together, but failed.


    Perhaps I could glue his soles to the floor though. He wouldn''t jump away to the ceiling, next time.


    Canis begged me with a suffering glance to remove the Inquisition from his hair, but I wasn''t ready for that fight. "One day we will have our revenge" I whispered in triple meaning.


    The wolf sighed in a pitiful breath, and the Solitaire drew back his hand sheepishly.


    "Not for a week, Lord Pef. Come visit me, for tea." the Inquisitor said in an inviting voice, and all thoughts of revenge were forgotten.


    In a second, I teleported into my shower and once again stepped on an invisible Assassin sleeping on the floor. "Out! I have a date with a pretty lady!" I explained while ruthlessly kicking the lazy bum outside my bathroom.


    "...evenge is better served cold." I heard a slight mutter before the door snapped shut. Whatever.


    I was getting laid today, and nobody would stand in my way.


    Minutes later, I stepped out in full naked glory, to search the wardrobe for something proper to wear. A Captain uniform, perhaps?


    "You''re naked..." a young girly voice observed while its owner blushed from head to toe. I know, because my eyes can see a bit in infrared now.


    "As are most people after taking a shower, Sister Darcy. So brings you here?" I answered while debating between a green or a blue shirt to go with my tunic.


    "Green looks better." the girl said in a shy voice, and still not looking away. Well, I did have quite a superman''s body now, so it was understandable.


    I went with green, because it didn''t matter anyway.


    Necrons had green eyes too, and my special friend would better be ready to rescue me soon.


    In a minute I was dressed in my finest Rogue Trader uniform, which did look great with a green shirt. Too bad I wouldn''t wear it anywhere outside a fortified place surrounded by a hundred Gellar fields and a thousand Astartes.


    "You look dashing, Lord Pef! So...I was wondering..." the girl trailed off in a soft whisper.


    I blinked and looked at the Novice Sister again. "How old are you, Darcy?" I asked in a stern tone.


    "...I''ll be fifteen soon?" she replied in a dubious voice.


    "And this is what you want from your life?" I asked in the same manner.


    The girl shifted and tugged at her robes. "...I kissed you, and then you lived again. The Emperor granted me a miracle, and I was able to save you!" Darcy announced in a strident tone, voice climbing too high towards the end.


    I blinked and sat on my bed, then patted the place beside me. "You mean, at Cadia?" I asked to make sure.


    "...Yes. You died and then I prayed and confessed my love and kissed you...and then you weren''t dead anymore." the nascent Saint admitted in a fearful voice, and hid her eyes away.


    A case of literary theft: this tale is not rightfully on Amazon; if you see it, report the violation.


    Though luck, Pef. Now you have to own it.


    I poked the girl in her chest, then snubbed her nose. "You barely have breasts, Darcy. Why don''t you stay with Sister Celestine for a couple of years, and have her train you? Miracles are much easier with skill and training, right?"


    The girl hugged me tightly and sobbed onto my green shirt. "I will, my lord. If I am to become a conduit for the Emperor''s grace, I should be stronger. And grow up a bit, especially around my chest."


    So I snapped my fingers and miracled the crying girl in Celestine''s room. The Saint should take care of this problem for a while.


    Then next second I stepped beside Lady Valeyne as she sat on a leather sofa and gently swirled tea in two cups. "You''re five minutes late." the woman observed in a glacial tone.


    "Well, we didn''t actually set a time for this date." I answered with a smile and sat beside the Lady Inquisitor.


    "... Fine! Menelau was a joy to raise, so you better train him right. Now I want a daughter, like Janice." Valeyne demanded while sipping the hot tea with a questioning look.


    I frowned and thought about it, even engaging the mind implant for better accuracy. She didn''t just want a daughter, but one like Janice. As a means to obtain more power in the Imperium. Rose herself had reached the top by obtaining the Emperor''s approval with Janice...and our plans.


    The chances to obtain a Blank child were low anyways, and to be gifted a psyker/Blank combo was even rarer by orders of magnitude. A century of constant fucking duty had provided me numerous children, yet only about 4000 were Blanks. Of those, barely a dozen has dual powers, and only Janice had Beta-level powers from the start.


    Nowadays, after decades of training and being amplified by the Shadowlight artifact and the blessing of the Emperor, Janice was much more. Possibly as strong as any Primarch, except Magnus.


    Her secular powers also matched her training and abilities, with the Adepta Sororitas and the Silent Sisters under her command.


    "And what domain do you want for your daughter, my lady?" I wondered curious, then sipped the exotic tea.


    "I don''t know! Astra Telepathica maybe? Or at least the Templar Psikologis...maybe both?" the Inquisitor answered in a doubtful tone.


    I held my hand out and caressed her leg for comfort. "We''ll need to have many children in that case. Maybe five, maybe a hundred. Rose got lucky at fifth try."


    The woman bit her lips in deep thought. "I suppose it''s why I have this young body again. The Emperor''s currency is lives, and Blanks matter even more." she concluded in a philosophical tone.


    She was a cold and calculating person, my Inquisitor Ramaeus. But I also needed someone like her at my side, for diplomacy and other Ordo Xenos skills.


    "I suppose we could get married, once we reach Illevar." I muttered as I leaned closer for a kiss.


    Her eyes glinted with something predatory and hard, before she accepted my offer. "A wife, huh? I get to veto any concubine I don''t agree with?"


    I just held her hands and kissed her knuckles. "Advice. My first wife Decima can veto, because she was born a Lancefire. My second wife Hanna as well, if she wants to. Serena and Dae give good advice, but they aren''t Lancefires by birth. You''ll have to learn how things work in a Rogue Dynasty, my lady. In matters related to bloodlines, things are very complex."


    "I think I see it. Much like me having a say in Menelau''s concubines, because I love him that much..." the woman mused in a far away voice.


    She did get it, but not most of it.


    Love was important, but loyalty mattered even more. Valyene had the Inquisition and the Emperor as her loyalties, but out in the Fringe those mattered too little or not at all.


    When speaking with the Voice of the Emperor and killing Inquisitors, one had to cling to something more palpable, like his family.


    Janice knew that, because she had lived among her clan for a dozen years. I even heard her reproach the Emperor on my behalf, perhaps just enough to temper an excessive transhuman upgrade that would have ruined my life.


    "Let''s go to bed." I demanded with a grin.


    Velayne waved her fingers to fold her clothes and tea into her nexus cube, then blinked at me with doe eyes.


    Worries could wait. I had more urgent matters right now.

 Cavalry - 208

    Days and weeks passed under constant demonic attacks, straining my nerves and the Gellar fields, and yet the destination I''ve picked for our fleet seemed to recede farther away.


    Even worse, the on-board astropaths and Navigators, even my Librarians and Inquisitor Ramaeus were having trouble establishing psyker contact with the outer universe.


    It appeared we were lost in space, only much lower under, in the hellish dimension called the Warp.


    The only ones with a tiny sliver of knowledge of the events happening in the Materium were Sister Stern and her mentor, the Solitaire Harlequin. And they weren''t saying much.


    Sentences like "Things are proceeding as planned" and "There''s nothing to worry" kinda made me more worried.


    I also knew they weren''t lying, just not telling me the whole truth, for some strange reason that would become obvious much later. Probably.


    So, I had to play dirty. Even if that meant abusing a trusted friend to get to the truth.


    "Canis, you like Darcy, right?" I asked my trusted wolf.


    The giant feral engine mewled in a dubious tone, making puppy eyes at me, but my will held firm. He wouldn''t actually suffer from hugs and petting.


    An hour later, the young Saint turned towards me with an ecstatic face and glowing golden eyes. "Thank you, Lord Pef!" the teenage girl exclaimed in an endorphin-induced high.


    "What''s going on with the Imperium? Why aren''t we able to reach anyone?" I asked before she could recover from her trance.


    Her eyes glazed for a second, before returning to clear blue. "... I''m not sure. Everyone is mostly fine, although they move very fast and their thoughts are exceedingly rapid. Like entire days pass in minutes..."


    I nodded slowly while going ever the new information. Of course, the universe outside hadn''t sped up, it was us being trapped in a bubble of slow time. Possibly ever since we attacked Nurgle in his garden.


    Our Gellar fields prevented the more obvious effects of accelerated entropy affecting us directly, which was good, for now. However, that also meant we haven''t actually escaped, or not completely.


    Gods were probably still battling just outside the Black Lament''s hull, with the combined allied fleet as prize or hostage in their reality warping games.


    Was I a fool? I knew the heist wouldn''t be that easy. Still, we were still alive, which meant a number of things.


    With a deep sigh, I leaned in my command chair and patted my necklace, delving into the Sounding Board. The range of the xeno device was very limited when removed from the Pharos, but I could still reach the entire fleet.


    "All ships, prepare for combat. We will commence normalization in 60 minutes." I commanded toward the minds of all the ship Captains in the combined fleet.


    Naturally, the Lamenter and the Lancefire ships were used to such orders and immediately began sounding the battlestation sirens. It took longer for the Indomitus Fleet and even longer for the Eldar, at least until their Avatars confirmed the orders.


    A ghostly blue apparition manifested on the bridge, followed a second later by a burning red one. Yncarne and Khaine, luckily not in the flesh.


    I ignored the dead silent Avatar of Death, and instead focused on the God of War. "I don''t enjoy losing time, Khaine. Nor I am interested in your Great Game." I muttered in a calm voice. Perhaps with a tinge of irritation.


    A pair of orange glowing eyes focused on me for a minute. "Your point is noted, human. But this fleet lacks the firepower to change the outcome of the battle. We need Isha. And the fool as well." Khaine answered directly into my mind.


    I almost sighed, but I grit my teeth and glanced at the Pariah Harlequin observing the meeting from his perch on the ceiling. Selective canceling of natural laws was probably not meant to be abused this way, but I admit I envied his skill anyways.


    "Lord Cegorach will arrive at the right moment. A god is always on time, especially if timing makes everything more exciting. And amusing." the Solitaire whispered in a careless voice.


    I think I saw a flash of brightness in the dead eyes of Yncarne, but it was probably only a trick of light. Surely an Avatar of Ynnead could not get aggravated by his fellow Eldar god, right?


    Definitely not. And I wasn''t about to comment on his temper anyway.


    Canis yawned with his gigantic mouth, once again proving a perfect sense of social cues. "Chaos Marines are not edible, my friend. Bite and chew, but don''t eat them. Who knows what filth and disease they might carry." I advised the Fenrisian wolf while patting his nose.


    The wolf glanced at me like I was being too obvious. Still, his display broke the tension.


    Khaine measured the wolf for a second, before turning towards me. "Very well, Pef Lancefire. This location isn''t ideal, but we are close enough to the domain''s border. Just don''t miss." the Avatar said in a cold voice, and vanished.


    Cryptic again. But I was somewhat smarter now as well. I could infer what the God Of War had in mind, and plan the battle accordingly.


    Yncarne lingered for a few more seconds, dead eyes staring into my soul for some reason. Sorry, buddy. My afterlife is already spoken for, should I ever die. Again.


    Darcy stepped beside me and pointed at the glowing apparition. "Apology accepted, xeno. Now get ready to fight, if you want to live." The dead-white eyes glowed blue for a millisecond, and then the Avatar vanished.


    "Haha! You tell the upstart, girl! You do have the most amazing companions, Pef Lancefire." Mnemorach exclaimed and flipped back to the deck and poked the young Saint on her forehead.


    A blue rune flashed for a second before it sunk into her skin, leaving no visible mark.


    "That better had been a blessing, Mnemorach. Or else." I muttered while ruffling Darcy''s hair in praise. The girl was perhaps too brave for her own good, but then Saints were not known for being rational. Quite the contrary.


    The Eldar Harlequin smiled mysteriously and jumped onto the ceiling again, outside the reach of Canis and his formidable jaws. "Not telling, hehe!"


    The story has been taken without consent; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident.


    The wolf growled and grinned at his future meal. "Not yet, Canis. You know raw xeno meat is bad for your stomach. Perhaps boiled or grilled over a small flame." I advised the wolf while ruffling his fur and scratching his ears.


    "Wooof!" Canis answered in a convinced voice.


    Fried and stirred, not shaken.


    Good choice, my friend.


    But first, we had a god to kill, and the Eldar would be useful. Annoying and irritating like hell, but the xeno was connected and I needed his patron to have a bigger chance for victory.


    Especially since Isha would not show. Overlord Trazyn didn''t carry around that giant Tesseract Vault just for show.


    The poor Eldar goddess had simply changed a prison for another, if one in which she wouldn''t be tortured and forced to create cures to Nurgle''s plagues. The Necron had need for a completely different cure, one that affected his entire race with the necrodermis curse.


    I personally doubted that Isha would be able to restore the Necrons to their former Necrontyr flesh, but perhaps a cure for the Flayer virus was possible. And from there, Trazyn would probably start massing entire armies of new loyal Necrons to his Dynasty and wage wars on his enemy Necron Dynasties, which wars would hopefully keep him busy for millennia. Win win, at least for humanity.


    The preparation hour passed very fast afterwards, as troops and pilots prepared to sortie in their vehicles and starfighters, weapon batteries and tubes were readied and prayers and logic rituals were chanted by our techpriests and enginseers.


    And then, the Black Lament disengaged the Warp engines and we appeared again in the Warp and all Hell broke loose.


    A brightly golden figure flashed by and pierced through a tentacled Greater Demon, leaving only shredded entrails still pulled behind by its silver hands.


    For once, I didn''t need a lore expert to identify this historic figure. Ferrus Manus might be dead in the flesh, but his spirit was not. Just like Sanguinius, the golden Angel was kicking ass in the Warp without a problem.


    I flicked Polaris-Albedelach beside him, and together with the Psi-Titan the spirit Primarch minced the Nurgle''s Unclean One into tiny bits of gore and nightmare.


    Yncarne and Khaine took the brunt of the fight to Nurgle, striking with their glowing swords as Gork and the Legion of the Damned took a step back to draw their breaths and recover for a minute.


    Primarchs Khan and El''Johnson followed a minute later, with giant white wings acting as propulsion and shields. They weren''t quite the match for Nurgle, but I also helped with short bursts from the Blackstone Fortress beam.


    Far in the distance, trillions of Tyranids were still battling hordes of nurgulite demons, their numbers and Silence giving them an edge against the Immaterium creatures.


    Thousands of distorted ships and Space Hulks kept arriving to disgorge corrupted space marines and daemon engines of all sizes, from small Rapiers with spines and mouths to Chaos Knights and Titans inhabited by demons, their pilots fused into their seats in grotesque distortions of flesh and machine.


    Our batteries fired without pause, exploding enemies by the millions while I deployed the troops wherever they''d be useful. Lamenters and Silent Sisters formed the second line, protecting our larger vehicles with their Nulls auras and shields, while macrocannons and lance batteries fired on the Chaos ships in continuous salvos.


    I had a minor advantage with my tesseract, punishing the traitors when bunching up too much, with Nova mines or melta bombs.


    For an hour, the fight went well, and we even pushed the enemy back. But unlike the Legion of the Damned, our munitions were not infinite.


    Bolters and missiles started to get scarce then ran out. Torpedoes and shells lasted longer, while plasma and lasers would still fire as long we had power.


    It was not an ideal battleground though, not against a nearly infinite enemy force that was also able to reform and ressurect in the presence of their God, Nurgle.


    I glanced in the nearly empty inventory of the tesseract for my final options, the Omega Pariahs and my own Psi-Titan. Somehow, I didn''t feel it would be enough though.


    The damed Chaos God didn''t even seem tired and more minions kept coming despite by best efforts.


    "Sometimes, divine intervention should not delay this long." I muttered mostly to myself.


    "Oh? Is it the right time already?" an alien voice asked from the ceiling.


    I glanced at the patch-job joker with a dour face. Even if Cegorach arrived right now, he still wouldn''t be enough.


    "My lord...the Emperor protects!" Darcy announced in a proud voice.


    I did not curse or sigh. The girl was a nun, so I expected religious zeal from her. Instead, I fired the Immaterium beam again, chasing the impact tracer after Nurgle as the jolly creature dodged and evaded multiple demigods with ease, and kept it going until I began hurting.


    My vision began to blur, and pain filled my lungs. I kept firing, just as Yncarne chopped off a leg from Nurgle and slowed it down.


    Air became fire in my lungs, and I closed my eyes to focus better. Tracking Nurgle with the tesseract was easier than via the holographic display, and the Blackstone Fortress''s Machine Spirit constant stream of canticles and vector projections faded in the background.


    Saint Celestine failed to parry a thorny spike, and was impaled through the stomach, her wings shattering like glass. Albedelach was blown appart by a mighty claw, only for a blue forcefield to cover the cockpit.


    I forced myself to push through the pain and recover Stern and Albesalom, but Sister Celestine exploded into white feathers before I could reach her.


    Ferrus Manus was bitten in half and melted into acid, or perhaps wine. The Warp was always trippy that way, but today was especially strange.


    The universe burned around and inside me, and everything lit up in glowing golden light. Then time itself stopped, the implant''s chronometers turning a billion times too slow.


    Yet even in slow time, a stupid laughter filled my ears as a pillar of light split the Warp.


    The cavalry had arrived.

 Conference - 209

    With a gentle shift, the golden pillar spread out like a fog clearing over a mountain valley, and in fact transmuting the Warp itself into a solid area of hope and dreams.


    Acid clouds and fleshy mountains transformed into white-glowing mountains with castles and walls all around us, dotted with angelic figures manning turrets and weapons sparkling with holy sigils.


    A host of angels and seraphs, with giant wings and fiery swords converged on the Chaos God, lead by a blinding figure in a golden armor.


    "The Emperor of Mankind is here, Lord Pef." Darcy announced in a reverent tone.


    Well, I could see that for myself, even with my eyes closed. And the Emperor had also dragged his entire Warp domain along, radically changing the battlefield and returning the fight to a home advantage.


    "Lord Cegorach made this possible, just so you know, human." the Solitaire Harlequin added with a gleeful snort, just as the Emperor struck with his own burning sword at Nurgle.


    I cut off the Immaterium beam before I passed out, then opened my eyes to see the fight directly. Sadly, it was a blur of sparks and claws, even in the nearly frozen temporal horizon of this new domain.


    To no one''s surprise, the Ork god Gork didn''t stick around to find out the winner, and sped away while clutching the head of Mork under one arm and a trove of gems and gold under another.


    "Orks will probably lose half of their Waagh strength for the next millennia." Inquisitor Ramaeus concluded while watching the events.


    That was possibly good then. Weaker Orks would allow humanity some respite and time to recover, or better said focus on the more pressing enemies like the Tyranids.


    I didn''t have time to muse to long on that problem though, as Nurgle shattered into a thousand bits and scattered all over the Warp, with Primarchs and Avatars chasing after individual bits to end them once and for all.


    I resumed firing the Black Lament''s beam as soon as the Emperor cleared the line of fire, striking a hundred fragments of the former Chaos God and annihilating them.


    Funnily enough, most of the escaping fragments were retreating towards the infested Garden, where they were soon attacked by the ravenous Tyranid fleets.


    I wasn''t going to chase them into that abattoir, especially as the Tyranid seemed to have a field day gorging themselves on the small bleeding Nurgle shards, and his demons.


    The demons themselves seemed suddenly much weaker, or at least here inside the Afterlife domain of the Emperor.


    The battlefield clean up took mere minutes, with untold numbers of Warp angels and the immortal Astartes of the Legion of the Damned killing billions of demons with ease.


    Soon, I began collecting the deployed troops and vehicles, returning them into hangars and depots just as techpriests began reconsecrating their holy engines and covering the machines and armor in oil and prayers.


    The tesseract vision offered me the privilege of observing this universe''s powers gathering for an ad-hoc meeting in a white stone spire of the Afterlife. The Eldar god of pranks, Cegorach himself was there as well, his feet carelessly laid on the marbly table and one hand draped lazily over the arm of his chair. Everyone else, from Primarchs to Avatars and Phoenix Lords were struggling to ignore the obnoxious god and his antics.


    "Why is your lord so smug?" I wondered with a glance at the usual suspect.


    Mnemorach chuckled and glided beside me, then leaned over to poke at the hololith screen. A galactic map appeared at his touch, with the Screaming Vortex circled in blue by an Eldar rune.


    "Lord Cegorach has closed this Warp vortex just now, using the Talisman of Vaul. You realize what this means?" the Eldar Harlequin asked in a teasing voice.


    I admit, galactic politics and the games the gods played among themselves were still way above my head. I could deduce some of the implications though.


    "Something about a larger godly domain, I suspect?" I asked with a glance at the Ordo Xenos expert.


    Lady Valeyne shook her head slightly, so I possibly missed the point.


    "Perhaps it is better if you avoid galactic politics, Pef Lancefire. Anyways, you will be called upon soon. Try not to die." Mnemorach advised me with a snicker, then jumped away and vanished in mid-air.


    The tesseract tracked the Solitaire as he reappeared beside Sister Stern in her room. Damn cheater! He didn''t even have a tesseract, yet he was able to do most of my tricks anyways.


    I just patted Canis on his head, secure in his complete friendship and support.


    "You think I''ll get a medal?" I asked him without much hope.


    The wolf turned to measure me for a minute, then sniffed in dismissal. Yeah, my thoughts exactly, buddy.


    Ensure your favorite authors get the support they deserve. Read this novel on the original website.


    I kept watch over the glowing Avatar of the Emperor as a familiar map of swirling circles was produced and discussed among the winners of the Garden War, with new symbols and runes appearing over the map as each participant pointed a finger towards it.


    Hours later, the focus of the conference changed towards the Eastern Fringe, and I became suddenly a lot more interested.


    Certain runes were familiar to me already, like those for the Celestial_Orrery</a> on planet Thanatos, or the Ymga Monolith, and new runes marked the Ultramar space, and my own kingdom at Illevar.


    Further south, the Tau were marked as well, as were the Ghoul Stars to the north. The crownworld Gheden</a> of the Necron Nihilakh_Dynasty</a> featured three different runes for some reason, and Solemnace</a> featured both a Necron glyph and an Eldar rune.


    It didn''t take a genius to figure out they were partitioning spheres of influence and galactic borders, as well as quarantine zones and important artifacts.


    "I wonder what are they saying about the Lancefire lands..." I muttered with concern towards my future wife.


    "I guess you''ll find..." she began saying when I was suddenly yanked away from my chair and displaced right into the map room.


    "Hello there!" I quipped in a jovial tone.


    Nobody bothered to answer me, although Primarch Khan blinked and looked away.


    "So you''re going to send your soulless hammer to solve such a delicate problem?" Khaine asked with a derisive tone, and pointed at a glowing green rune marking Solemnace and the lands of Trazyn the Infinite, Necron Overlord and jailer of Isha.


    That was rather discriminatory though. And I was not a hammer. Perhaps I wasn''t the most delicate of men, but I never wanted to be one.


    "My son has his flaws, but he gets results. Isn''t that right, Avatar of Ynnead?" The Emperor asked the other divine being.


    Again, the God of the Dead fixed his white orbs on me, and measured me for a long minute. Then he turned and nodded towards the Emperor, with some secret message passing between them, and above my head.


    "Is this about Trazyn?" I asked to make sure.


    Everyone in the room just stared at me in silence, which became quite awkward after a minute. Perhaps silence was golden?


    "Things have changed in the past 90 years, my son. And with the Hive Mind gaining a share of Nurgle''s domain in the Warp, we think it would be good if Isha was freed and started aiding the alliance. Lord Khaine is quite furious at the delay." The Emperor spoke in a soft and rational voice, although his holy aura and appearance as a divine avatar kinda broke the setting a little.


    I could imagine changes had happened out in the real over 90 years. That was four generations and unknowable discoveries and social upheavals, especially with the Emperor returned to life.


    Plus the consequences of my own actions before that, like spreading Blank genes and new technologies. And killing a few Chaos Gods.


    Even worse, the Tyranid Hive Mind now had a domain in the Warp? Genestealers would spread like wildfire in that event.


    Space Hulks could be directed to emerge anywhere in the galaxy and infest or attack more human worlds, perhaps even Eldar or Tau.


    "Free Isha. Sure, I''ll do it." I answered after considering the situation for a minute.


    "We lost 3000 ships and billions of warriors trying to do that, human." A certain Phoenix Lord interjected in obvious scorn.


    I blinked and turned towards the fuming Eldar woman. They tried a military solution? Against Trazyn?


    How stupid could these people be?


    "Don''t you have Farseers? Surely they could predict the outcome of an assault, right?" I wondered in a surprised voice.


    I think Cegorach smirked at that, while Primarch El''Johnson scowled profoundly.


    "The odds get better if you are present, my son. Just let us know what aid you need from us. We do have substantial forces and armies, among ourselves." The Emperor explained with a gentle smile.


    Maybe. The white might not have been his teeth, it was hard to say with all that glowing light. The voice was pleasant though.


    I shrugged and waved my hand to dismiss the offer of more troops or ships. "I alone will be enough."


    Again, a dozen pair of eyes stared at me in scorn or perhaps disbelief. Cegorach tapped his forehead for some strange reason, and I was expelled from the conference without more comments.


    What did I do?

 Ferrus - 210

    Back on board the Black Lament I had new guest.


    Uninvited but welcome, Ferrus Manus stood in his Angel form on my bridge, silver hands sparkling with the Immaterium equivalent of necrodermis.


    "Can you talk?" I asked a bit curious. Obviously, the Emperor considered my mission important enough to deploy a heavy weapon as back up. Ferrus Manus certainly qualified as such.


    Dead eyes stared at me without an answer. Well, I didn''t expect him to speak, to be fair.


    It wasn''t even the first time I have encountered a spirit Primarch. "Don''t worry, my friend. We''re going to see a goddess and have her restore you back to life." I explained in a patient tone, and gestured towards the plasteel block normally reserved for an Astartes bodyguard. Like Ludvaius.


    And speaking of my old friend, it was probably too long since I''ve visited Meridian. I could stop there on my way, and check on Ludvaius.


    "My lord, he is a Primarch! In the same room with us!" Darcy exclaimed in a reverent voice.


    I sighed inward at her fan-girly way. "You can touch him if you want. Just don''t stick your hands in his mouth." I answered with a snort, and Canis snorted in tandem.


    Darcy watched the Angel sit on his pedestal and stare blankly at the viewing screen, her eyes wide in awe and hands trembling with excitement.


    "You do have the most curious friends, Pef Lancefire." a xeno voice observed from the door.


    I turned to nod towards Menmorach and his escort, Sister Stern. "I''m certain you''ve met Phoenix Lords yourself. Ferrus Manus is quite similar to your race''s demigods."


    The Solitaire raised a finger to comment, then lowered it sheepishly. "I guess they would seem similar to a human. Warrior aspects with dedicated followers." he admitted in with a shrug.


    I began to nod when the Warp shifted, white clouds and pearly gates evaporating all around, the conference ended or perhaps moved someplace different.


    The Eldar fleet departed without any word, splitting into a dozen smaller fleets each diving into different Warp currents.


    I guess they didn''t feel like saying good bye, or even good luck.


    "I can Navigate the Black Lament, Lord Pef. Just name a destination." the Demonifuge proposed with a kind voice.


    Should I have been surprised at her new talent? She was in fact a new Empress of Mankind, created in similar manner to the Emperor himself. Sure, the Emperor was given his powers by a thousand of shamans pooling their souls into a single entity in ancient times, but the Battle Sister also had 700 souls imbued into the fabric of her existence.


    A new Perpetual, able to resurrect or destroy legions of demons with ease. And now, Stern was my new companion and concubine. I surely lucked out with her, even if she came with an Eldar Harlequin in tow. For a Solitaire, that guy was amazingly sociable.


    Then again, I did have thousands of Blanks and Pariahs as companions, Lamenters and Silent Sisters with the same Null aura as he had. There wasn''t much tolerance in the galaxy for people like us, especially not among the Eldar.


    "Hive World Meridian" I declared while sending orders to the ships via the Manifold circuit, and calling the fleet to form up with the Blackstone Fortress.


    The Alpha psyker smiled at me and vanished in a purple flash, to reappear in the Navigator quarters. Soon enough, we proceeded on our journey, with the new Navigator pathing our way though the nebulous Warp currents.


    Just like Janice, Sister Stern did not need a third eye to steer the ship through the Warp.


    Anyways, I was quite busy during the journey with repairs and new STC blueprints. I might have accidentally acquired a hundred data-stacks filled with archeotech data from Mars and Jupiter, and entire vaults of ancient machinery which I rescued from their inevitable destruction at the hands of the Chaos, Ork, Dark Eldar and Necron invaders.


    Sure, eventually the crisis was also solved and the Sol System didn''t get destroyed, but nobody could say it hadn''t been close. I even mapped a part of the Noctis Labyrinth on Mars, just to have something of value to trade to my special friend.


    I was a Rogue Trader by birth, wasn''t I?


    To my right, the dead Primarch seemed to approve, as he observed my efforts on the STC templates upgrades with a stone-faced expression.


    Sadly, the vast majority of the valuable templates refused to load at all on the cogitator, locked under complicated algorithms and anathema-class overrides and the few that did open were horribly defaced or decayed.


    The techpriesthood of Mars guarded their secrets well, even innocuous technology like solar powered rechargers or vox transmitters.


    Of course, I did have working templates already stored from different Forge Worlds, and even some xeno-based blueprints from the T''au and other technological races. I could compare and then design a missing piece with a similar function, even if it wasn''t an ideal device. Some efficiency or reliability would be lost through my meddling, but then it wasn''t all bad.


    This story has been stolen from Royal Road. If you read it on Amazon, please report it


    If the result was different enough to warrant a separate pattern name for this solar charger, then I could trade the new pattern without worry. "Ferrus Pattern solar charger. Discovered in an ancient facility by Trader Lancefire. Techpriests and enginseers are advised to use with caution, due to age degradation." I wrote as a final note.


    Then I saved the blueprint and reached for my recaf mug, only to find an Angel hand hovering over the mug.


    "You want some caf, my friend?" I asked in suprise.


    The Angel turned to stare at me like I was silly. Possibly not his point though.


    "You don''t like the name? I thought you''d be honored." I deduced with my genius brain.


    That wasn''t it though. The Primarch''s left hand morphed into a cogitator port and he simply plugged himself in, then re-opened the template to look over it with a curiously interested look on his statue face.


    No wonder the Iron Hand Astartes all had a knack for using bionic limbs and repairing their own weapons or armor. It was genetic.


    In mere minutes, the Angel repaired the damaged STC template then began upgrading it with subtle shifts in placement and materials, replacing gold connectors with platinum or enlarging some capacitor banks while reducing another.


    When he was finished, he added a few steel pins along the spine, and the template folded into a much smaller size, more compact and protected by the outer casing. Then the diagrams unfolded once more, and the text changed to remove the warranty warning.


    I patted his back in excitement, since this new device would be actually valuable, even for my own troops when deployed in the field. Perhaps as backup sources for the Tarantula turrets as well, even those mounted on the hull of spaceships. Every solar system had a sun, after all. Plenty of energy to collect. "You''re pretty bright, for a dead guy!"


    The Angel turned and nodded towards me with a stony face.


    "Is it dinner time already?" a certain lazy Assassin asked from under the bed.


    And no, I wasn''t cruel to Vaedrax. He just preferred not being stepped on, it seemed.


    Perhaps being kicked by accident, sometimes.


    "Last meal together, Vaedrax. We''ll arrive at Meridian sometime tomorrow, and you''ll resume the escort mission on Lady Cassandra." I explained as I raised and stretched my back, working out kinks induced by hours of focused effort.


    Useless effort as well, considering what the Angel Primarch had just proven. Still, I didn''t envy his dead form.


    And on that note, a giant Angel escorting me around would raise eyebrows, perhaps even start some sort of zealot rage among the Imperial citizens. The crew of the Black Lament wasn''t the type to get overly excited over a Primarch, especially not ours.


    The Battle Sisters and some techpriests were still impressed, but not to the degree normal Hive citizens would be.


    As Vaedrax crawled out and stretched as well, I began taking out various power armors and even dreadnought suits to compare them with the size of the Angel. Too small though.


    "Wait, are you trying to fit the Angel into a suit of armor? He is more durable than a cruiser!" the Culexus Assassin exclaimed with a laugh.


    Ferrus Manus turned towards me and nodded, agreeing with Vaedrax''s point.


    "Nothing like that. But he is too obvious and might cause popular revolts or upheavals wherever we go. Primarchs are myths among the populace." I explained patiently as I extracted the golden armor once worn by poor Brother Arkio at Forge Shenlong. The same place where I first killed a Primarch, and then an Inquisitor. Good old days, right?


    Only this time, instead of stopping a delusional Astartes who dressed as a Primarch, I was dressing a Primarch to look like a delusional Astartes.


    "And is he going to walk or fight in that armor? He doesn''t have a Black Carapace..." the Assassin countered with a pretty logical argument.


    But, he was asleep during the latest developments.


    Ferrus Manus simply became a vaporous cloud and moved inside the armor, then plugged himself in the armor''s control circuits with his necrodermis plug. A second later, he found the wing ports and stretched his wings out through the flaps, and hovered in mid-air with a satisfied face.


    "You were saying?" I asked rhetorically while retrieving and mounting the helmet over the armor.


    "...Nobody will suspect a thing. Until he has to speak, I guess." Vaedrax muttered in a lower tone.


    "The armor has a vox box. You were saying?" the Angel asked with a metallic voice.


    I glanced at the Assassin and we both sighed. Primarchs were pure bullshit.

 Old days - 211

    Our fleet emerged at the outskirts of the Meridian system in a flare of purple light and exotic Warp radiation, and immediately I began observing the massive changes that had occurred since my last visit.


    Entire constellations of space forts, extensive minefields, detection auguries and FTL communication arrays, three fortified moons and a decent sized space fleet of a couple Navy cruisers and hundreds of PDF corvettes guarded the Hive World, while the world itself had grown in population and industry at least ten times. Someone had been very industrious in the past century, to achieve these results in such a hostile galaxy.


    There was also an Ambition_Class_Cruiser</a> of the Vhane Trader Dynasty, being repaired in dock by a Mechanicus shipyard called Flying Angel.


    The New_Dawn</a>''s prow was mangled pretty bad, possibly a result of a collision or more likely a daring ram.


    However, my interest was currently focused on the Governor''s spire, and the Governor herself, Elena Derosa. My lover hadn''t aged well, and was undergoing rejuvenation by an Adept called Sanistasia_Minst</a>, with Ludvaius and my daughter Octavia observing the operation from a glass cubicle.


    Dozens of Biologis techpriests and their aides were helping as well, even taking care to maintain hospital-level quarantine and cleanliness, by wearing sterile gowns and gloves.


    "Lord Ludvaius, there''s a large fleet emerging from Warp, led by a Blackstone Fortress!" the micro-bead alerted the Blood Angel bodyguard, mere seconds after the auguries had time to register my fleet''s presence.


    The Veteran Astartes simply glanced in my direction, then smiled. "Stand down, that''s the Black Lament of the Lamenters Chapter." he ordered in a satisfied tone, before closing his eyes. ''You have returned, Pef Lancefire?'' he asked in is mind, certain I would respond.


    ''It took me a while, my friend. Nurgle was trying to keep me for himself.'' I answered with a snort, then teleported beside him in the observation room.


    "Dad?" a shy voice asked her eyes widened. A second later, Octavia jumped to hug me and started wailing and sobbing.


    "It''s okay Octavia, everything will be well." I whispered and patted her platinum hair. Octavia was at least a hundred years old as well, but she had my genes and took care of herself. Anyone else might look at her and give her at most 30 years of age.


    "Mom, she delayed the treatment for too long... Always hoping you''d return to us one day." my daughter explained between sobs.


    I sighed inward and glared for a second at Ludvaius, mentally scolding him for letting things go so wrong.


    However, before he could reply a flare of light and a golden glow announced the arrival of a certain Angel in disguise.


    The Primarch simply nodded towards Ludvaius, before looking down at the ongoing procedure of rejuvenation. "Governor Derosa is much too weak for rejuvenation. She will die in a decade anyway." he concluded in a dispassionate voice, making Octavia sob even harder.


    Ludvaius blinked with his good eye, then shook his head. "Which one are you? Because I know you''re not Sanguinius reborn. Dorn or Russ, maybe?" the Astartes wondered with a slightly astonished voice.


    I sighed audibly and leaned over to pat him shoulder in support. "This is sealed, under my authority. Octavia, it''s time to meet your other family on board my fortress." I explained before teleporting her among her Blank siblings on the Black Lament and ordering Captain Chyron to prepare a neural indoctrination chair for the new Blank.


    If I was to leave Octavia as the next Governor of Meridian, she would need a stronger mind and more knowledge. And in a single week, my daughter would receive the same initial training as the Silent Sisters or the neophyte Lamenters gained via the training chairs. From weapons and tactics to history and biology, even knowledge of economics and basic technology or xeno races, plus extensive mental hardening and psychological repair, the Astartes Codex had it all.


    Of course, Octavia was not an Astartes, so she wouldn''t absorb everything with the same ease, but the neural training would be more than enough for ruling a single system and controlling herself as well.


    "I can help that Adept and give the Governor a few more decades." Ferrus Manus proposed in a level voice.


    I glanced down and measured the operating table while interfacing with the local Manifold to extract the relevant information. Not that I doubted this Angel, but he wasn''t Sanguinius or Magnus, giants with Alpha plus psyker powers. His skills were more technical in nature, probably better than a Fabricator General in certain aspects. If I wanted Elena transformed into a combat cyborg, Ferrus Manus would be my first pick for the job.


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    "There''s no need, Primarch. We''ll take her with us and just ask Isha for healing." I decided after considering the options of a moment.


    Due to her Warp domain over all life, the Eldar Goddess was possibly an even better biomancer than the Emperor himself, and she should be grateful once I managed to rescue her.


    "You''re placing a lot of hope on a xeno psyker, Pef Lancefire. And even if she does help, there are risks." Ferrus Manus answered in a gruff tone, possibly not very pleased with my rebuttal, or the trust I placed in a hated xeno god.


    "I hope I''m invited as well, my lords. Keeping watch over a Hive World gets boring after a century." Ludvaius interjected in a hopeful tone.


    There were subtle undercurrents in his voice, like unhappiness at being forgotten for so long, or having his efforts at managing the reconstruction of Meridian being hidden under the guise of a simple bodyguard with a big hammer.


    Ludvaius had certainly played a bit part in the growth of this Hive World, copying my own methods in the Fringe and advising Elena on various policies and deals.


    Unlike other Astartes, my old friend had been at my side for a century of civilization building at Illevar and Retribution as well as helping me repair technology or trade with the Mechanicus. His work was visible clearly to my better mind, and if I were to examine all that Elena did to strengthen Meridian, I was certain most of the ideas and results were his unrewarded effort.


    So, I just nodded in acceptance. Ludvaius was mine, and that was it. Sanguinius could even ask the Emperor for the return of his son, but I knew what the reply would be. "He''s doing my work."


    "You did a great job here, Sergeant Ludvaius. I will need your service in the Fringe, for the next expansion phase. Meanwhile, tell me about this Elucia_Vhane</a> and her personal medic." I said in a lighter voice.


    "...Lady Vhane''s a lot like you, Lord Pef. When you were younger and a bit too rash. Crazy courage, even to the point of ramming an Ork Kroozer for a desperate victory. Furthermore, she has a private voidborn regiment and even several techpriests in her crew. If she wasn''t over 500 years old, I''d say she''d be a perfect wife for you." the Blood Angel explained with a snort, his timbre showing amusement and amazement.


    I smiled at that, since an endorsement from Ludvaius was worth a planet or more.


    "You could go and repair her cruiser, Lord Ferrus. We''ll be here for at least a week." I said with a glance towards the golden armored Angel.


    The dead Primarch measured me for a minute, then vanished in a flash of golden light.


    "I would say Ferrus Manus is certainly dead, but miracles stopped impressing me after the Emperor returned. And I know you had a hand in that, Lord Pef." my old bodyguard muttered with a deep sigh.


    Obviously, Ludvaius was mostly correct, but I doubted the Emperor wanted to story public. Especially the part about a certain Eldar death god providing aid in his return.


    "I should not talk about the resurrection of the Emperor, my friend. Instead, I can show you what he gave me." I replied in a teasing voice, then opened my Null Box to reveal the signed Warrant and my new Rosette.


    The Blood Angel examined the office badge and the scroll with a giant grin, then patted my shoulder in approval.


    "And like always, you forget to mention your new stature. You''re almost a real Astartes now!" Ludvaius quipped while measuring my new height and bulk. He was still head taller than me, but at least I wasn''t a midget compared to him. Not anymore.


    "That too. Ladies love it." I declared proudly, making Ludvaius laugh out loud.


    "Only you, Lord Pef. So, we''re going to see Isha next?" he wondered in a more restrained tone.


    "Uhm. She''s been captured by a Necron Lord during the assault on Nurgle, and the Emperor tasked me with her rescue. So I said yes, since a goddess might be useful." I explained with a cheerful smile.


    Ludvaius snorted and then nodded. "I see. Like the old days, huh?"


    "Well, it''s going to be tricky. Anyways, let''s go meet Lady Vhane first. I could use another Rogue Trader in my camp, and I need to reward her help with Elena. You can watch, if you want." I declared with smirk.


    The Blood Angel sighed "I forgot about that part of the old days..."

 Goddess - 212

    For the visit to Solemnace I decided to bring a less threatening force with me, not a whole Crusade fleet. The ships wouldn''t have much value against Trazyn, except as hostages against me.


    The Canticle for the Vanquished, my old battlecruiser fit the task perfectly. Escorting us was the New Dawn, Lady Vhane''s cruiser. I wanted my new ally to see for herself the magnitude of Necron force, plus Isha might be able to help the old Rogue Trader Captain, as she was too reaching the limit of rejuvenation treatments.


    The main fleet continued ahead towards the Dovar_System</a>, the linchpin of the Gilded Worlds at the border with the T''au Empire. I had big plans for the T''au, mostly involving stealing their delicious technology, and liberating the human worlds at the border.


    "If it isn''t my favorite stranger with a puppy. And a special guest as well? I didn''t know the Imperium also used Rubrik marines." the Necron Overlord spoke in my mind as we arrived at the edge of the Solemnace system.


    My eyes flashed to the side, where Ferrus Manus was inhabiting a suit of armor just like Ahriman''s failed experiments.


    "The Primarch is an Emissary of the Emperor of Mankind. Dead for now, but your own guest should be able to restore him." I replied via the Sounding Board, while fortifying my own mental defenses.


    I should not give Trazyn too much of advantage, not that the Necron was in any way feeble. With those C''tan under his control, plus the Tesseract Vault and whatever other wondrous technologies, Trazyn was a superpower by himself in the galaxy.


    "Well, since you travelled all the way to my domain, I suppose I could be a gracious host and invite you over for tea. And perhaps some business?" the Necron asked in a teasing tone, which sounded quite weird from an undead robot.


    I smiled inward, just as I appeared inside his green glowing tomb. To my left side, Canis yawned in boredom and perhaps annoyance at being teleported once more. To my right, Ferrus Manus extended his immaterial wings and floated a meter from the blackstone floor, while his gloves shined with a silver glow. Possibly a symbol to be recognized by, as there weren''t many Primarchs with necrodermis hands in this galaxy.


    "Ferrus Manus, huh?" Trazyn the Infinite muttered in curious voice, as the walls parted to the side to reveal the Eldar goddess in her new dimensional prison.


    I examined Isha for the first time, comparing her appearance with other Eldar people I''ve met so far. She was pretty and had a more generous body, with deep red hair tied into a top knot and an Exalt garment decorated with glowing runes.


    "Lady Isha." I whispered and nodded slightly. The goddess stared at me and my companions in surprise, a flash of recognition passing through her eyes as she measured the Primarch for a minute.


    "Ah yes. I should introduce you to my guest, Lord Lancefire." Trazyn chuckled. "This is Pef Lancefire, a special friend of mine. Rogue Trader, Astartes Chapter Master and an Inquisitor of the Imperium of Man. The wolf is called Canis. And the Primarch..."


    the Necron explained to his prisoner in a grand voice.


    "Ferrus Manus, the son of the Emperor. I know him." Isha answered in a crystalline voice, warm and kind.


    The golden armored Angel nodded at this, but remained silent. Probably waiting for some kind of signal to attack, as if violence would work.


    "That trick with the psycho-reactive paint on the Singularity was quite nice, my Necron friend. But I have warned you before. It will cost you." I began my negotiations with a bit of pressure, while removing my helmet to glare at Trazyn.


    The robot shrugged without concern. "It was a simple precaution, should your forces turn against me at some critical point during the Cadia campaign. I never expected you to actually kill Slaanesh." he explained with an amused voice.


    I accepted the praise for what it was, and ignored the actual fact of having been a bit dead, at the time Slaanesh died. It took a god to kill another god, and the Emperor provided the last impulse via his Saint Darcy. But that was between me and the Emperor, and the xenos were better off not knowing.


    As a Precog of immense level, he possibly saw some kind of backlash or curse befalling me if I was alive and killed the Chaos God with my own hands. Thus, he solved the problem by holding my soul safe at his side, and deceiving everyone to create a boogeyman that would worry or scare other gods into a measure of compliance, most likely.


    The Great Game never stopped, as the Warp energies never died and could not be destroyed entirely, they just shifted allegiance as new gods appeared.


    "Nevertheless, you got caught meddling and I shall have my due for it, Lord Trazyn. Now, to the crux of this new trade. I want to buy Lady Isha." I declared with a smile.


    Canis snorted and glanced between me and the scary robot with obvious doubt. The Necron had an immobile face as always, but I think he was surprised as well, going by the gasp emitted by the Eldar goddess.


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    "Oh? Is there something in this galaxy I would be interested in, and worth more than a god?" Trazyn wondered in a flat tone.


    "Two such beings, in fact. Both of them are intact C''tan, one dormant and easy to capture, and the other awakening as we speak. Of course, to capture the Outsider you would need to already have another C''tan under your control. The outsider is rather formidable, seeing as the Tyranid fleets avoid his Dyson sphere at great distance." I said with a teasing tone and produced a data-stack with the map of the Noctis Labyrinth on Mars, where the Void Dragon slumbered.


    Trazyn leaned on this Empathic Obliterator</a> staff while considering my offer. "Always full of surprises, even when I thought I had all variables accounted for. And where is this second C''tan?" Trazyn asked in a more suspicious voice.


    "The Void Dragon is on Mars. However, you should know that another Necron Dynasty had tried to grab him while I was there. I suspect the Silent King, but well...he wouldn''t say." I quipped in an easy voice.


    The Necron Lord took a step back, and grabbed his chin in deep thought. "It is very enticing, such a prize. But if the Silent King himself tried and failed, a strike with my own forces would probably fail as well. Plus, I know the Emperor of Mankind has returned. I won''t bet my life on a 20 percent chance, no matter the potential worth of the prize."


    I sighed inward, as even the genius Necron was locked in a conflict resolution mindspace, despite my efforts to educate him on the value of fair trade.


    "I did say it would be a trade, did I not? I get Isha and you get the Void Dragon, without having to fight the Imperium or the Emperor. Of course, you will need to use the Blackstone Fortress and the Venatoria techpriests to gain access to Mars, plus this nice Primarch to vouch for you." I explained in a softer tone.


    Trazyn hesitated and turned towards Ferrus Manus for confirmation.


    "It is as Lord Lancefire says, Lord Trazyn. He speaks with the Voice of the Emperor, out here in the Eastern Fringe." the Primarch declared with his synthetic vox voice.


    "That is more surprising, I''d say. A binding agreement, via a Rogue Trader? And I receive immunity during the trade?" the Necron Overlord wondered as he focused on the Angel.


    "As long as you don''t overstep the boundaries of the deal. If the Emperor has to intervene to protect his subjects, then you will incur penalties...and the Emperor is not especially merciful to xenos or oathbreakers." Ferrus Manus replied in a sterner voice.


    While the two overpowered beings conversed the details of the C''tan extraction, I approached Isha for a personal request. "My lady, freedom is never free. I expect you''ll provide me with some help, if it''s within your powers."


    A pair of alien eyes measured me for a long minute, before nodding slightly. "I am needed elsewhere, and quite desperately, Astartes. You get one day."


    I sobbed inward at the unfair deal, but gods were always like that. I had a dozen issues to be fixed by a god level biomancer, and a single day was probably not enough. Then again, I did have something to trade for her services.


    So I turned towards the Necron. "Right! Lord Trazyn, a certain Phoenix Lord has complained to me about losing thousands of ships and many warriors. Billions of them. I need them packed and ready to transport in a dedicated tesseract, in exchange for the paint job." I demanded in a shameless voice, while holding my palm out.


    I think I heard metal teeth clench and screech as Trazyn turned towards me. "That''s too much! They came here to kill me!"


    "And what was the purpose of that paint?" I asked curiously, and rhetorically.


    "...Damn human. What are you looking at, silly dog!" Trazyn muttered in an aggravated voice, pointing his staff at the innocent space wolf.


    "Woof!" Canis barked, conveying his undying respect.


    "You''d scratch the gums on those metal bones, Canis. He''s not as soft as those Ork vegetables." I intervened and drew Canis back before he actually tried to bite the metal Necron.


    "Wooo." the wolf answered with a brave voice, while his Rosarius shield anchored on his collar flared visibly. In a fair fight I''d give Canis good odds against any Necron Lord, but Trazyn wasn''t an easy target.


    "Damn mutt! I''m not scared of you!" Trazyn grumbled as he straightened his staff and held a tesseract crystal out.


    With a mental flick, I grabbed the captured Eldar and the new tesseract, and then held my other hand out for a goddess. "Come, Lady Isha. We have a few people to heal." I said while gesturing towards the dead Primarch.


    The Eldar goddess stepped out from the Tesseract Vault and gingerly swept my hand aside, then held my elbow like a princess. "All life is my domain, Pef Lancefire. But, this spirit Primarch is not alive. He will need Ynnead''s aid to return to life."


    Damn it. I really didn''t like the creepy god of death.

 Busy day - 213

    As I returned on board the Canticle, the snarky Solitaire was for once bereft of silly jokes. No mater the cruel jokes and casual massacres of his theatre role, the Solitaire Harlequin was still an Eldar, and thus deeply ingrained into the Eldar pantheon and religion.


    He just stared at the Eldar goddess with awe and reverence, something he hasn''t shown even in the presence of his patron god, Cegorach. Then again, Isha was something different.


    "Lady Isha..." he murmured in a daze.


    "I see you, Mnemorach. Your sacrifice is not forgotten." the goddess answered in a clear voice, although her attention was focused on the other goddess present on this ship.


    Ephrael Stern stared at Isha with a surprised visage, while tendrils of lightning began to swirl around her body.


    "Stan down, Stern!" I ordered in a harsh tone, then relocated the Sister of Battle to the side, and right between Albesalom and Vaedrax. Constricted by their Null auras, the oncoming lightning storm was mostly subdued.


    With a curious glance towards me, Isha raised an eyebrow. "This woman has amazing potential, for a human. She glows so bright..."


    I shrugged and walked onwards towards the medicae ward. "She looks normal to me. As for psyker powers...strength without skill is less than a boon and more of a hindrance. Decent Navigator anyways." I commented in a careless voice.


    Canis took a guarding station at the ward''s door as we entered the first medical room. Here they treated emergencies such as injuries or burns, mostly the result of training accidents or machine malfunctions. Damn things kept happening to the crew, or the troops carried for defense.


    The goddess smiled as we walked through, and in our wake injuries healed and limbs grew back as if a miracle was happening. And it possibly was.


    A minute later, we arrived at the rejuvenation ward, where Elena Derosa and Elucia Vhane rested in their hospital beds after their latest treatment.


    "I understand the problem now. Your barbaric treatments had reached the limits of what can be done to stimulate life via mechanical means." Isha whispered in knowing voice, while ignoring the outraged Biologis techpriests.


    With a simple gesture, the plugs and feeder tubes were lifted away, while a spell flew over the two women and began regenerating both of them back to health, and a certain measure of youth. Not complete, but an indeterminate age about 30 to 40 was much better than before.


    A minute later, the rejuvenat specialist Adept, Lady Minst arrived at a run, probably warned by the lack of bio-signals from her Rogue Trader Captain.


    "...It''s you! I dreamed of you, held in a cage." the Adept murmured at the sight of the Eldar goddess.


    The goddess nodded in a gentle manner. "We share a purpose, Lady Adept. Healing is your calling, and my divine domain. Should you ask, you can have a place at my side." she offered out of nowhere.


    The Adept hesitated, turning towards Captain Vhane for advice.


    "I will not deny you this chance for more knowledge, my friend. Go and learn, and one day you might return to the Elucidian_Starstriders</a> as a fantastic healer. Try to make it back in 500 years though." the Rogue Trader said in a wise voice, already weaving a new layer of subtle deals to benefit her Dynasty. I could only nod at her Trader skill, deftly turning a momentary disadvantage into long term profit.


    As she spoke, Lady Vhane rose from her bed and stretched her body, showing off a great pair of lungs and wide, appetizing hips. Since I was the only able man in the room, I immediately deduced I was the target of this show, so I enjoyed it for a few more moments in grateful appreciation.


    Isha snorted at the display, then turned towards me as I stepped beside Elena to check on her. "There is little else for me to do on this ship, Pef Lancefire. I suppose I can visit the other cruiser, as their crew looks to me in awful shape, considering they do not use cyborg servitors like your own ship."


    However, I did not buy a goddess just to treat a pair of aging women. Not that I would refuse their gratitude and hot bodies, but I had a greater purpose, one that I''ve awaited for centuries to achieve. So, I opened my Null Box and retrieved a lock of platinum hair from Justine. "My mother died facing a Daemon Prince. I believe you are able to reconstruct her body." I demanded while slowly depositing the remains into her hand.


    Isha frowned, and poked my cheek, possibly to compare my genes with the sample in her hand. "Your mother was a Blank. This will take some time." she complained while walking towards a free bed and concentrating on the request.


    "You have a whole day, goddess. I have more business with Lord Trazyn." I explained politely then stepped away on the Tomb World of Solemnace.


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    Ferrus Manus was still in diplomatic negotiations with the Necron Overlord, only this time a mummified head was involved, and a huge galactic map projected various trajectories and vectors of future invasions, color-coded by race. From black Necron to purple Chaos and green Orks, plus H''rud and T''au and dozens of other species that attempted to invade Imperial space, or would in the future.


    The Yyth_Seer</a> was connected to a special Necron neurographic interpreter, that converted the alien prophet''s ramblings into solid projections with immense military value. From the Zeist Sector bordering the T''au to the Stygius_Sector</a> in Segmentum Obscurus, soon to be under attack by Tzeentch''s minions, the entire galaxy was dotted with future wars and clashing arrows of various races and strengths.


    "Isn''t this information quite expensive, Lord Trazyn?" I wondered while memorizing the map, for my own profit.


    "As long as my Nihilakh Dynasty</a> receives its rightful place in the God Conference, this is a price I am willing to pay. I did my part at Cadia, and killed Khorne for my Dynasty. I also closed the Hadex Anomaly and the Eye of Terror." the Necron Overlord answered in a boastful voice. Well, he was rather capable, for a sociopathic paranoid robot.


    But with all the shameless claims, I noticed Trazyn had actually managed to push his own boss into the boiling pan. Sending his Phaeron, Shemvokh</a> to represent the Necrons at the high table was bold and cunning.


    The old Phaeron would find it impossible to refuse the honor, and yet he would have no real power to negotiate, unless he asked Trazyn for help.


    "This is about the Pariah_Nexus</a> then. With Shevokh sent away, you will receive this project under your control." I mused out loud, and noticed the Primarch turn in surprise towards me.


    "Quite astute, this observation, Lord Lancefire. But is there a reason you''re disturbing this negotiation?" he asked a bit too forceful.


    I smiled pleasantly, then flared my own Null Shield to block off sound and any Warp readings from the dead Primarch.


    "I expect there are lots of new technologies awaiting me, Lord Trazyn. I know the T''au keep researching onwards to address their lack of allies in certain fields. And as always, I will need them in STC format." I proposed with a mental message via the Sounding Board.


    The metal boned robot glared at me for a moment, as if trying to read my intentions. Sure, I did expose his power play among his fellow Necrons, but such simple ploys were rather easy to deduce.


    Trazyn never liked taking real risks or becoming an obvious player in the galaxy, instead preferring to obfuscate and misdirect, while hiding his real influence and power. A sensible approach, considering how determined the Eldar were to kill him, until now. Even if kidnapping Isha was his own fault.


    "You''re lucky the Flayer virus antidote was completed by Isha before you arrived, my strange friend. The Eldar goddess has become a liability now, especially after she failed to revert any Necron, back to our original Necrontyr flesh. I even got a generous offer from Ahriman for her." Trazyn answered with his own mental sending.


    "An antidote is not a vaccine. Clever play, Lord Trazyn." I commented just as a data-stack filled with advanced technologies appeared in my hand. This was the last paid batch of technology included in the Psi-Titan trade from a century ago. I was a bit delayed collecting my prize, but unlike humanity the T''au kept researching, so a century of extra development was great.


    "A Flayer vaccine was not intended nor desired, Lord Lancefire. There would be no reason for those protected to remain loyal. Those infected will have to return every decade for treatment, or become demented beasts again." Trazyn explained in a proud tone.


    It was really clever of him, as millions of Necrons will flock to his banner to escape the C''tan virus, and thus provide him a giant expendable army.


    But news of Ahriman were worrying. This guy was beginning to annoy me, especially since he constantly evaded my traps.


    Still, I knew where he will be in a decade, as Tzeentch intended to extend his holding in the real, by conquering the Stygius Sector. A decade was a long time to prepare, especially if the latest tech infusion contained anti-warp devices and weapons.


    I hoped the T''au didn''t let me down and invented nice stuff. Or I would have to expend more Vortex warheads to convince them of the right path to follow. Eh, I would probably send a few warheads anyway, just to keep them busy.

 Sleeping beauty - 214

    With one hour left on the clock, I bit a finger nail to stop myself from speaking. Isha was busy restoring Justine''s body, although it was only a soulless shell for now. And not a superstitious Soulless as most people saw the Blanks because of their special Warp-less nature. No, Justine''s soul was not inside this body, despite it taking breath and having a heart beat.


    "There you go, Pef Lancefire. Your mother has a body now. But, just as with that dead Primarch, you will need the God of the Dead to return her soul." the goddess spoke in a level voice, seeming tired by the long operation.


    She did manage to clone a new body for Justine from old DNA, despite her being a Blank. Not an easy feat, going by her tired eyes.


    I nodded and smiled, then moved Justine into my good tesseract, so she would be held in stasis. To gain the help of Ynnead or Yncarne would be very difficult, since deities had little to gain from me, but Yvraine was made of flesh and would need saving someday. And then, I could propose a fair trade and gain a life for a life from her patron.


    "I suppose this is it, Lady Isha. I don''t think gods need a spaceship to travel." I said with a wry voice, and gestured towards the ship''s outer hull.


    The Eldar goddess blinked in surprise at my abrupt farewell. "There are still 40 minutes left, human. Surely there is something I can do, in the remaining time?" Isha asked, possibly to discharge any future obligation towards me.


    I would have liked a future favor instead, but it seemed today wasn''t that perfect day.


    "All right then, goddess. Let me think, what should I ask of a divine biomancer?" I hummed to myself, while scratching my cheek in deep thought.


    My own body was in top shape, by the Grace of the Emperor. My crew had just received Isha''s Blessing, and they were all healthy and free of illness or injury.


    "Perhaps, you can try to unlock my Blank genes for my children. Too few of them receive the gift to be free of Warp influence." I decided after a minute of deliberation.


    Isha stepped in front of me and searched for something in my eyes. "You truly believe your Null aura is a gift?" she wondered a bit astonished.


    "Completely. If everyone becomes a Blank, then Chaos will find no purchase in any soul. No corruption, no mutation, no more treachery or rebellions, and with zero rogue psykers, no more people hosting demons or becoming Warp portals." I explained in a serious voice.


    The goddess froze for a moment, and her eyes filled with tears. "You would destroy the beauty of the world, and the brightness of their souls?" she asked in deep pain.


    "I''ve seen the Garden of Nurgle, my lady. I''ve also killed Slaanesh myself, with some help. It wasn''t beauty that filled them." I answered in a cold, harsh voice.


    A gentle hand caressed my face, and something tingled below my belt. I think she made me come with a single touch, which was something I will never tell anyone. The galaxy would be filled of hating people that blamed me for a divine handjob.


    "It is done, Pef Lancefire. However, I would prefer a small fleet to escort me to the Black Library. I''m not exactly a goddess of war." Isha demanded with a fleeting smile.


    I was rather high at the moment, and quite excited at the thought of unlimited Blank children. So, Isha received a dozen Eldar cruisers that materialized at the edge of the system, filled with a million Eldar crew and warriors liberated from Trazyn''s labyrinth.


    The most expensive handjob in the galaxy, but well-worth it in my opinion.


    "Take care of Sister Ephrael. Once she takes the final step...you will see." the goddess whispered as she faded away from the medicae ward, and appeared among her astonished people.


    A second later, a water bubble splashed over my face followed by a cheerful laugh. "You got played, silly human!"


    "Canis, hamstring!" I shouted and chased after the stupid Harlequin with the wolf barking happily for the hunt.


    Of course, we once more failed to catch him, as the trickster was able to phase through walls and teleport, as well as invert gravity or become invisible. Constant laughter and pranks involving dog food continued for half an hour, then he vanished somewhere.


    An hour later, we found him playing cards with Sisters Stern and Darcy, with the two women testifying he never left their presence for a couple of hours.


    "Wooo?" my wolf asked a bit confused.


    "Perhaps, my friend. Very likely." I answered to his wise suspicion. If Mnemorach was here, then we chased after a different Harlequin.


    "Larissa, set course for Forge Machine." I mentally ordered via the Sounding Board, as I sat down to play some cards as well. Darcy swiftly demanded her furry pillow for good luck, and I had a bottle of amasec to drown my frustration in.


    A minute later, Ludvaius and Albesalom showed up for cards as well, while the Culexus Assassin Vaedrax kept scouring the ship for a second Harlequin. He never found him, even as we arrived at our destination a month later.


    There was a giant surprise waiting for me at the Machine Forge. My old mentor, Magos Gyron was here, with a giant Ark Mechanicus the size of a small moon.


    The Speranza was larger than many Space Hulks, and was crawling with techpriests from a hundred Forge Worlds, although not a single priest from Forge Wold Palomar where the ship was found.


    The effects of a real STC database and construction forges were also evident, as the system was filled with ships, Titans, Knights and tanks of various types.


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    "Explorer Gyron, I see you were quite successful in your Quest for Knowledge." I offered with my arms open.


    The old cyborg hugged me tightly and patted my head with his brand new mechadendrites. "It was your plan, young Astartes. So, I hear you had quite an adventurous life while I was absent."


    "Well...things happened." I quipped with a shy smile.


    "Hah. Things always happen when you''re involved, Revelator. Or perhaps is Herald now? Did you find more exotic templates during your travels?" the techpriest wondered while poking a holoscreen to produce a list of intact STCs found inside the Speranza''s memory banks.


    I scrolled over the list, rapidly noting a number of conspicuous absences, such as the Bastion forcefields and other Dark Age technologies.


    Sure, Titans and Knights, as well as older models of ships or armor were great, but there wasn''t anything truly radical here. The datastack I just got from Trazyn had energy shields and weapons even more advanced than the Speranza''s database.


    "We will need to discover a hidden database inside the Machine Spirit, with some more advanced technologies beside these relics. Ah, here it is!" I muttered and produced a copy of the original datastick, with only a hundred inventions that would be acceptable by the Mechanicus.


    Gyron tilted his coghead, and delicately extracted the memory device from my hand, holding it carefully as if it might explode.


    "Perhaps Herald is still a lesser title, my pupil. Emissary of Omnissiah then!" my mentor techpriest exclaimed while examining the contents, and scrolling through the blueprints on the holoscreen.


    I even had a few original STC templates here, obtained with the help of Ferrus Manus and labeled accordingly.


    Of course, the vast majority of the new blueprints were T''au discoveries, dumbed down and repackaged as STC documents by Trazyn and his thousands of captured techpriests.


    From gravity shields to anti-gravity vehicles, Ion cannons and advanced missiles, smarter and potent static and mobile turrets and up to heavy bombers copied after the Tau Manta and better Sentinels walker and a few types of power armor.


    Nothing that would jeopardize Necron technological superiority, but in great numbers even ants could devour an elephant. And humanity did have numbers on their side.


    The latest phase-plasma rifles could fire a thousand times from the same gas canister, with lethal range over 3 kilometers. I was rather pleased with the new infantry weapon and had high hopes it would prove itself in the field, since the logistics of providing bolter shells for a thousand regiments were rather difficult, not that any normal soldier could even carry so many rounds.


    As for Anti-warp weapons, the T''au had produced a prismatic-spray gun that vaporized demons in a cone 50 meters wide. It was eerily similar to a starfighter''s vectoring thruster, and it needed a robust platform to be used in the field, like a light tank or a gunship. Perhaps mounted on a Knight as well. To this weapon, Trazyn had simply added an extra nozzle to inject promethium into the spray mix and make it even more deadly, then called it the Lancefire Flamer.


    I wasn''t certain if this was Necron humor or a sign of respect, but I didn''t mind the publicity. Demons would fear the Lancefire name even more, and through the Warp the ripples would create even higher damage. Plus it did spray fire.


    "Where do you find all these wonders? The Speranza is quite intrigued by some of these templates, especially those with obvious xeno tampering." Gyron grumbled as the Machine Spirit itself manifested on the Manifold circuit to examine the latest STC discoveries.


    "Hmmm. The provenience is quite exotic, I''m afraid. Primarch Ferrus Manus helped create this solar charger, for example. Others were recovered by the Inquisition, or given to me by the Emperor, or stolen from...well. I can''t actually admit to stealing, can I?" I answered with a shitty grin.


    "I wanted to see a fabled Psi-Titan, Lord Lancefire. I was informed you pilot one, correct?" the Machine Spirit asked with a metal voice emanating from the bridge''s vox caster.


    I nodded slowly while scanning the Ark Mechanicus for a free lab with the necessary scanning tools. A second later, I displaced myself and Gyron into that lab, then sealed the lab with my Inquisitorial Rosette.


    "The Emperor has personally granted me a Princeps rank in his Ordo Sinister, Chamber Occedentalis. He also gave me a Titan made by his own hands." I proclaimed in a command voice while displacing the Destroyer from my tesseract. Still missing the right claw arm, but it looked amazing anyway.


    After a few seconds of astonished silence, I produced the Chamber Polaris Psi-Titan which got greatly damaged by Nurgle. In fact, beside it''s left arm and cockpit most of the Polaris Albedelach was pretty much toast, although its self-cleansing runes and purity seals had maintained the chasis free of corruption. Sadly, its Alpha-level psykers did not survive the explosion, and only the left shoulder''s nutri-wombs remained, filled with a pair of dead bodies.


    "What caused the damage?" Gyron asked in a terrified voice.


    "...Errr. My Titan''s right claw got melted when I punched Slaanesh in the eye. As for Albedelach, he got hit directly by Nurgle. But don''t worry, those two guys are dead now." I explained in a calm voice.


    "... Bullshit!" the Machine Spirit shouted from the wall''s vox caster.


    I just shrugged. It was true.

 Genes - 215

    "You have returned, Pef Lancefire" the C''tan observed in a slightly astonished tone.


    I just nodded, since some facts didn''t really need dwelling upon. I was obviously here.


    "Tell me about the Pariah Nexus." I asked instead. A new War_in_the_Pariah_Nexus</a> should not come to happen, especially since my efforts were aimed at turning Trazyn and his Dynasty into proper allies, someday. But if an entire Sector got cut off from the Imperium, the rulers of the Imperium would react with their usual methods, throwing billions of guardsmen and thousands of ships at the problem, instead of figuring out a mutually advantageous solution.


    Zarhulash frowned at my demand, then glanced towards Canis for a second. It couldn''t be a coincidence, that every powerful being I met was wary of my wolfish friend. Perhaps something the Emperor did to my wolf?


    "Your Necron friend is very crafty. But, one of my shards is locked inside the vault under the world of Tredica Ardaxis. I do have some insider information into their plans." the C''tan said in a level voice.


    I measured the giant humanoid, while I scratched Canis furry head. "Woo!" the wolf advised me in a short bark.


    Perhaps Zarhulash was truthful.


    "I am the one in charge, Mighty Zarhulash. But, I need a clear demand to make a decision." I explained with a frown.


    "Fine! I want my freedom, not just for this shard, but for all the captured shards. I want to become whole again." the C''tan answered in a thunderous voice, while he yanked his living rock chains that bound him to the Pharos.


    As expected, Zarhulash wasn''t very different from any other creature.


    "The Pharos is too important, both strategically and otherwise. Without this installation, the freedom of trillions of humans in the Eastern Fringe and the entire Segmentum would be placed in great peril. Although three of the Chaos Gods were killed since we last met, the most dangerous one is still out there, plotting to take over all reality." I mused, mostly to myself.


    While speaking with Zarhulash, I was also scanning the galaxy with the Pharos, updating my mental map with realtime hot spots and invasions. From San Leor in the south to the Nephilim Sector where the Nexus debacle was taking place, to the Red_Scar</a> Sector, where a major Tyranid tendril of Hive Leviathan was heading. Thousands of smaller crises, from genestealer cults to Ork invasions, a flare of pirate activity in the regions surrounding the Maelstrom and lastly the newest emergence of the Startide_Nexus</a> which allowed the T''au to expand deep into Imperial space, bypassing the Fortress Worlds via a Warp Gate.


    I wasn''t in a position to stop all these events, but my Fringe kingdom has not been idle in my absence.


    The Catachan settlers had multiplied thirty times, and were not only able to defend their colony worlds but were actually expanding and colonizing new planets, with the support of cheap vehicles such as Weasels and Sentinels and fleets of corvettes produced in my two established Forge Worlds. Two minor Forge Worlds had also been set up at the forefront of the expansion wave to produce critical munitions or infrastructure materials such as ferroconcrete and fusion powerplants.


    I could raise a thousand new Auxilia regiments without even making a large dent into future population growth. However, no matter how well armed or good genes or training they had, without tesseract support I couldn''t be sure of victory.


    Plenty Imperial Guard armies had been lost in similar circumstances, despite brilliant commanders or Astartes backup. When fighting Tyranids or Necrons, normal soldiers were over matched by orders of magnitude, while Chaos forces had other advantages that would turn your troops into traitors.


    A plan formed in my mind, pathing a years-long campaign to intervene in the most dangerous crises while also conserving troops and providing them with combat experience and better equipment.


    I will need the Sisters of Battle to form the vanguard for the Lamenter Auxilia forces, while a full Titan Legion and an expanded Knight House would take care of the larger enemies.


    With a mental flick, I retrieved two of the Ork Space Hulks that I''ve captured at Cadia to provide the Machine Forge techpriests with extra metal for new ships and vehicles, then stepped through the Pharos right into the Starfort over Illevar.


    "Dad!" Victor shouted in joy and rushed from his command center to embrace me.


    "You look well, son." I observed with a chuckle. He had put on plenty muscle and even had a warrior demeanor about him, a sign of constant training.


    "Heh. I do have all these Lamenters training rooms and neural chairs for my use. Plus the Sanguinary Priests were quite glad to beat me up everyday." Victor quipped in a light voice, with a gesture towards the support Lamenters left behind to protect Illevar.


    "Master Lancefire. You have Astartes organs now?" the leading priest spoke with a serious voice, while measuring my taller and bulkier body with expert eyes.


    "Some of them, yes. The Emperor himself was kind enough to upgrade me to some extent. Mostly, so I would be able to pilot a Titan." I answered with a level tone.


    In a few minutes, all the Lamenters left behind gathered in our reception hall, including the newer techmarines and the reserve Aspirants being prepared for gene-seed implantation.


    Instead of boasting and giving a grand speech, I connected with the Starfort''s Machine Spirit and uploaded the galaxy''s map with the ongoing crises. "This is our galaxy. By colors, we have incoming threats that endanger humanity in our area of operations. Tyranids, Orks, Necrons, and other races or factions believe humanity is soft and ripe for picking. We shall prove them wrong."


    The mood became grave and deadly silent. Even a single Tyranid Hive Fleet was major threat that required dozens of Astartes Chapters and billions of guardsmen to fight off.


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    Still, despite our Chapters name being the Lamenters, nobody complained. We lamented for our enemies, not for ourselves.


    "What is the plan, Chapter Master?" a teenage Aspirant wondered in a soft voice.


    "Good question, Brother Jinga. There are 34 Ork invasions, with two major Waaghs heading for the Krongar</a> Hive World and the Evraad Forge World. We will deploy squads of thirty Aspirants and 12 regiments at each of these threatened planets, with 100 Aspirants and 100 Auxilia regiments to hold off the larger Ork Waaghs until reinforcements arrive. But if they don''t, you will have to win by yourselves. A hundred of House Lancefire Knights and a few Warhound Titans will make landfall with our larger units." I explained while assigning the roles on the galactic map, along with the necessary fleet units and transport ships.


    "What about us, the techmarines?" a new Lamenter wondered with a wide smile.


    "There are 2644 techmarines in the Lamenters. 444 of you will remain on Illevar to continue training and provide security. 200 techmarines will remain in my main fleet to support the assault on the T''au, while the rest will deploy in the Red Scar Sector to support the Blood Angels and our Primarch. You will also receive 200 Auxilia regiments and 200 Knights, although they will be fresh and inexperienced. Captain Chyron will take command of the Baal strike force." I answered while marking down the Indomitus Fleet as the main space element with a carrier and three battleships at the strike force''s core.


    An Apothecary Lamenter raised a hand, a bit hesitantly. Truth to be told, I did keep the original Lamenters locked up inside the Starfort, with an escort of Silent Sisters trailing their movements. It was hard to trust the originals, since a few of them went mad and ate my daughter.


    "Yes, Brother Iulian?" I asked curious.


    "Surely, some of us can help. Even if simply providing healing or advice." he asked in a timid voice.


    "Eager to join the Remembrance Hall then? There are several former Apothecaries in there, their brains served as palpable lessons in hubris." I warned the Apothecary with a frown.


    A shiver crossed the gathering, just as I intended. It was one thing to give in to a mad impulse and perhaps get killed for it, and another to be nailed to the wall and have your brains served to new Space Marines as an object lesson in the perils of treason. And not being allowed to die for a thousand years.


    "We are Lamenters too, Master Lancefire. If we the Apothecaries are not trusted, just kill us!" Brother Iulian demanded in a loud voice. I was almost ready to do that, but it would lower morale for no reason. Perhaps another lesson would serve better.


    "All right then. Thirty Apothecaries may deploy with our troops and help. As for trust...I only trust Blanks. This is the harsh reality of this universe. Everyone else is exposed to the Warp and may fall at any time. Every decade we hear about another Astartes Chapter that betrayed their vows and plunged into treason." I replied in a stern voice, while marking the Apothecaries at random to be sent to war, spread among the strike forces.


    It was an almost statistical certainty that some of them will crack. The sons of Sanguinius were deeply flawed, as proved by the Death Companies present in every Chapter of our gene-seed.


    Soon after that, I teleported onto the planet to speak with my Noble subjects and address various issues, everything from trading rights and export licenses to immigration quotas and protests about too much surveillance.


    "The price of being alive in this galaxy is increased security. And seeing there had been no more genestealer cults or heretic revolts, I say it''s working. Now, we have over 3000 planets awaiting colonization. Which Noble House wants to send their scions to benefit from exploring and exploiting these new worlds?" I asked the gathered Nobles.


    A myriad of hands raised all over the conference room, practically everyone except my close family like Lady Serena or my Blank children.


    I scanned the assembly while parsing their backgrounds and blood connections to my House, then selected 300 Blank Nobles that had been born while I was away.


    "Excellent. We will begin by naming 300 new Governors from those of you which posses the Blank genes and are thus considered qualified for such a giant endeavor. After a week of preparation aboard the Starfort in orbit, they will depart to their new posts in the Fringe and enjoy the duties and privileges of becoming a Planetary Governor for House Lancefire. Their children will also get the chance to become Astartes or Silent Sisters, should they be born with this precious gene." I proclaimed in a generous voice.


    "Lord Lancefire, I have two daughters! Perhaps you can consider taking them as concubines?" an upstart Merchant with his own private fleet of star galleons asked loudly, while gesturing grandly towards a pair of women with huge lungs.


    I was almost certain some kind of augmentation was done to them, as those breasts almost reached the physical limits of a female body. It will be nice to explore those peaks someday, if Serena approved of them.


    A second later, hundreds of voices joined the chorus to propose themselves or their aunts, mothers and sisters as potential concubines that may one day raise their Houses to a Governor''s status.


    "Lady Serena will analyze your proposals starting from tomorrow. Right now we have family business to discuss." I ordered in a clear voice.


    In a minute, the conference hall was emptied of greedy Nobles and Merchants, while Serena sat in my lap and drew me into a long kiss.


    "We all missed you, my lord. I hope your new body can deal with all your existing wives and concubines, before you consider taking new ones." Serena whispered as she came out for air, and then bit my ear in a suggestive way.


    A second later, we teleported on my bed already naked. I did want to test my new body, especially after Isha has unlocked my genes.

 The climb - 216

    The following month is mainly spent enjoying as much time as possible with my beloved family, and taking care of the recruitment drive for new regiments.


    It would take at least a year for all the Catachan recruits to gather and receive training and equipment, which was also the timeline the Speranza Spirit proposed to repair my Psi-Titan and upgrade the stockpiled vehicles with new sensors and blackstone armor.


    Constructing a new park of better tanks and walkers will take longer, especially as I intended to expand the Auxilia with 300 armor regiments, 100 heavy artillery and 600 heavy infantry regiments required for the Stygius Sector campaign the next decade.


    Meanwhile, the Machine Forge was tasked with upgrading most of the cruisers and battlecruisers with Nova Cannons and drop pod capability, as well as converting 40 transport ships into escort carriers, both for starfighters and bombers and torpedo corvettes.


    Since protecting the larger fleet carriers from Chaos had proven very difficult, even in my presence with a tesseract, I decided to focus on smaller carriers that wouldn''t create so much loss when destroyed.


    Plus, this would allow me to disperse my forces more efficiently and cover a larger volume, while providing fighter escort for the capital ships.


    Forge World Retribution was still focused on mass-producing lighter vehicles, such as Weasel light tanks, Sentinel walkers, Guardian and Tarantula turrets plus large numbers of expendable attack drones and hunter-killer missiles.


    Of course, light units also had the largest casualties ratios, but that was the reality of war. In the past century the vehicle stockpile on Retribution had reached 500 thousands Weasels and Sentinels, plus over 5 million attack drones.


    I could only hope they would be sufficient, even though these lightly armored vehicles were mainly meant to fight enemy infantry forces. Our Titans, Knights and Baneblade variants were the designated units to oppose heavy enemy units like the Tyranid bio-titans or the Ork Gargants.


    With massive air support from the attack drones and the light fighters, plus orbital parity with the enemy we had a good chance of victory, even without considering the cheating I would provide with my tesseract vision, tactical deployment and long range bombardment.


    The armor regiments would slowly convert to the better Ragnarok templates, once sufficient tanks were manufactured, with Hydras and Chimeras providing anti-air and mechanized infantry support.


    As for our artillery regiments, the latest Manticore and Basilisk platforms would also be slowly replaced with Ragnarok-chassis self-propelled artillery guns, with longer effective range and better sensors and targeting auguries.


    Using the small tactical Nova shells as artillery munitions will provide a twenty fold increase in firepower, even with the number of gun barrels remained the same.


    And lastly, the advanced weaponry obtained from the T''au will need to be tested and produced, at first for my Lamenters and Silent Sisters, then dedicated units from the Sisters of Battle and the better marksmen of the Catachan Auxilia.


    Sure, I would have liked an instant conversion to the brand-new weapons, as well as the cool anti-gravity vehicles and powerful gravity shields, but I was also a realist. It would take probably an entire century for large numbers of advanced weapons and vehicles to be produced in sufficient numbers.


    Plus, it wasn''t as my Blank sons lacked Dark Age relics or potent shields. I did scour the vaults of the Mechanicus on Mars and Jupiter for thousands of forgotten relics, including power swords, heavy bolters, disintegration guns, ancient Dreadnoughts and Baneblades and even some datastacks filled with ancient technologies.


    I deliberately abstained from stealing specialized units like Titans, Dune crawlers or battle-robots, since Mars would surely notice their absence, and worse, their curious presence over distant battlefields.


    In hindsight, this has proven right, since Speranza was able to manufacture even Warlord-class Titans with the right minerals and authorization.


    This has allowed my Deus Ex Machina legion to transfer all their battle-ready Princeps to new Titans of potent might, and left the smaller Titans like the Warhounds and Reavers available for training or minor deployments with the new pilots.


    Given the approximate production cycle of about one Warlord Titan per year, in the 85 years since the Speranza had arrived at the Machine Forge the legion had reached 100 Warlord Titans and 200 smaller walkers, plus almost 500 Knights of various classes and 900 Baneblades. They weren''t my upgraded versions, so it will take some work to modify them, but they did provide a giant armored force to oppose similar powerful enemies.


    Also, as expected Brother Semnai had little problem defending the Gilded Stars from T''au encroachment, holding them firmly at Prefectia and gathering allies from the Fringe for our future campaign to liberate the human worlds still occupied by the T''au.


    The Iron Hands and a dozen of their successor Chapters had signaled their interest in joining the new Crusade, and a dozen Ordo Xeno Inquisitors were also gathering ships and troops, plus a number of Rogue Traders and Adepta Sororitas priories seemed quite incensed to participate, for various reasons.


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    The Imperial Navy was already present with the Indomitus Third Fleet under Lady Cassandra, and a hundred Cadian infantry regiments from the Astra Militarum were sent by a certain Primarch to bolster the occupation forces of the Prefectia Crusade.


    Yes, Primarch El''Johnson of the Dark Angels was the one to command those guardsmen into my army. Seemed quite strange, until Lady Valeyne explained how the Cadians would remain there permanently and deny my House the opportunity to extend my influence over a new galactic sector.


    "Damn it. Why do I have to endure such pressure from the Lion? I don''t have any beef with him, if he would just leave me alone." I grumbled as I lay down on my pillow, and my new wife rested on my shoulder.


    "Perhaps your military feats are eclipsing him. Perhaps you argued with him in public. Perhaps you kicked out his envoys from your domain? Or maybe you took away the gifts you sent from the Rock? Even embarrassed him in front of the Emperor...does any of these seem possible? " Valeyne wondered a bit rhetorically.


    I did do all of that, although I had good reasons for it.


    "It''s still petty. It''s not my fault his own sons have placed him in a stasis pod then forgot about him for ten thousand years" I muttered in disgruntlement.


    "See! You do not treat other Primarchs like this. The Lion has every reason to be prideful, as a demigod made from the Emperor''s own flesh. His strategic genius is renowned all over the galaxy. His sons fought for humanity on a thousand worlds. He even liberated Armageddon!" the Inquisitor claimed a bit too fervent.


    "Yes. But he also burned down human worlds, and was about to exterminate the Space Wolves, because their own Primarch is missing." I argued back in a harsher voice.


    Valeyne sighed and patted my chest gently. "Mistakes were made. But this cycle has to stop. The next time you meet, you better solve this, Pef Lancefire." she warned me in a calming voice.


    Damn it!


    If the Lion was such a genius, how come half of his sons turned against him and became the Fallen?


    Hopefully Ferrus Manus will not be a dick too, after I manage to resurrect him. I had too many enemies already.


    With that thought, I fell asleep and dreamed of alien beasts and a green-dressed goddess drinking vials of poison. Probably my inflated imagination.


    Luckily, I woke up with a more pleasant feeling, as Elixa de Mornay was taking care of my morning wood with her pretty red lips.


    "Morning, Elixa!" I quipped and gently trailed my fingers through her red hair. In the room''s corner, Ludvaius held his thumb up for encouragement. I winked at my bodyguard and allowed Elixa her prize.


    With a pop, she rose and started riding me while pawing over my chest and abdomen with grabby hands. "There are a pair of bouncy sisters outside, Lord Pef. I had to enter through the vent to gain the first place." she disclosed in a prideful tone, while I was mesmerized by her own bouncing assets.


    Finally, Serena had granted me those two sisters! And they even came equipped with extensive child rearing capabilities, providing sufficient nutrition for four hungry children at once!


    Of course, I would need to test the equipment myself, for many hours. But I didn''t mind that at all. It might be my duty, but I was allowed to enjoy it, right?


    "And how are the Obsidian Auguries performing?" I asked in doublespeak.


    "Oh, our lord and master is eager to meet the new recruits in our shady organization? Well, two of your Emperor''s Daggers have passed away while undercover with a genestealer cult. But there are still ten of them that are arduous to rekindle your connection.


    As for the other operatives, we have reached almost a million total membership. We are spread out over a thousand planets here in the Fringe, and have covert bases set up all over the Segmentum, on most Hive Worlds and some Civilized Worlds, as well as Cold Trade dens and smuggler heavens. By the way, we will need a trillion thrones to repay all the operating expenses. Spying is not cheap." Elixa explained vocally while the accounting details flowed over the Manifold into my Mind Impulse Unit implant.


    It was a lot of money, but a century of large scale surveillance was indeed not easy. From safe houses to fake identities and advanced cogitators for hacking and data processing, to covert strike teams and stealth shuttles for insertion, the Obsidian Auguries have grown tremendously in scope, and also in costs.


    The Lancefire Dynasty has supported them over the years with black books accounts and transportation on the Rogue Trader ships, but nobody expected the organization to grow so large my absence.


    Still, I wasn''t a poor Trader anymore, and also had the looted thrones from Shadowbrink and Vigilus and many other places I have visited. It wasn''t like locked vaults and hidden treasury chambers were beyond my tesseract''s reach.


    "Don''t worry, my dear. You did well, but we will need to expand the Auguries at least ten times over the next century. The Tyranid Hive Mind is now present in the Warp, and we will need to prepare for extra numbers of genestealers popping up everywhere. Astartes Ludvaius here will help you train and design better procedures for your operatives. And perhaps a few Ordo Xenos Inquisitors will help too, once they arrive." I replied in a wise manner, then returned my attention to her bouncing peaks and began climbing again.

 Better - 217

    One by one, the task forces began leaving to fight the Orks, often just as soon as 12 regiments gathered at their muster points. Comprised of ten infantry, one artillery and one armor regiments, these task forces were the incipient formation of a modern mechanized division, with sufficient troops and firepower to counter varied types of enemies and unit compositions.


    In total, each of these divisions would be comprised of 120000 Auxilia guardsmen, with 8000 vehicles of different types and specializations, from Armed Sentinels, to anti-air Hydras, Weasel light tanks, self-propelled guns and a formidable core of  20 Baneblade heavy tanks spearheading 300 main battle tanks, mostly Leman Russ patterns but also some new Ragnaroks. In the Astra Militarum, such a large concentration of tanks would need to gather 10 armor regiments, and hope they had full rosters.


    My hope was to send them into medium level battles against stupid enemies like Orks, so they gain experience and confidence, before concentrating them into a large army. Their officers had the best training I could afford, from a decent general education to a good military academy, even some time in Astartes-class neural chairs. They would have Drop Cruisers to provide Tarantula turrets in harder battles, as well as a few techmarines with hundreds of their Guardian walkers to intervene in desperate clashes.


    A few companies of Adepta Sororitas and a pair of Silent Sisters would also depart with each division to provide special circumstances support, both against psyker Orks and other potential enemies. Just because you went to fight Orks didn''t mean you might not encounter other species, or even demons.


    The objectives I gave the Aspirants were simple and easy to understand. Protect the population, the industry and the cities and minimize collateral damage where possible. Obviously, they would need to adapt to local conditions, such as weather, terrain, local language or customs, even obstructions from local Nobles or priests. But how they dealt with such problems was actually their test, since I could now afford to be selective in accepting new Lamenters as replacements.


    However, as long as the Aspirants completed their mission successfully, I could always transfer them to a different Chapter in need of Blank recruits, and adjust their destination depending on proved traits like aggression or charisma or sheer brutality.


    All Astartes were fine warriors anyways, due to extensive training and neural lessons, but personality traits were as varied as all humans had. Better to send them to fight along Brothers of a similar mentality, than be miserable among the Lamenters.


    In the past century, Victor had transferred thousands of Blanks to a number of local Chapters that pledged to abide by the Lancefire rule, which was simply to not murder our recruits in stupid training or hazing exercises.


    By now, there were thirty Blank Companies among the Blood Angels and their successors, as well as Blood Ravens, Black Dragons, Salamanders and even some Space Wolves.


    The number of their techmarines had also increased dramatically, which also provided increased combat effectiveness from repaired vehicles and armor, plus additional firepower in dire need.


    As the year passed, the last Auxilia groups embarked for Krongar and Evraad, each of these armies consisting of 100 Auxilia regiments with Knights support and a few Titans. They also had much larger air power forces in support, because Waaghs were always dangerous, even if you thought you had prepared enough. The rules of reality bent to favor the Orks, and their illogical maneuvers often resulted in surprising victories even against formidable defenses.


    Even impenetrable Forge Worlds have fallen to Ork Waaghs, when they shouldn''t have had even 1 in a trillion chance at victory. To counter stupid tricks I''ve sent my better Generals with the troops, Regina and Jenit, formerly from the Valhallan all-female regiment. The two women had already carried their pregnancies to term and had to leave their Blank babies in the nursery, but needs must. We had a galaxy to defend, and our children would carry on with the duty when we died.


    "Are you certain I need to stay behind and act as spymaster?" my old friend Ludvaius asked with an unhappy voice.


    "I should return in a few years, Brother. But, I do worry of some scheme that might befell my capital. Be it Chaos or Genestealers, maybe some revengeful Dark Eldar. Maybe all of them and more. I did make a few enemies." I admitted in a heavy voice.


    Ludvaius nodded thoughtfully, then tapped his bionic eye. "I shall install more Bastion fields and extra turrets then. And I do have your xeno pistol in case something big comes through." he replied with a grin, while patting his hip where he holstered a Necron dimensional gun. Sure, I had a Jokaero artisan work it over and convert the gun into a combi-bolter with Imperial design, but the second barrel was able to trap even a Titan into a dimensional pocket.


    The Canticle was finishing loading up the last Invasion_Cathedrum</a> of the Sisters of Battle from Sanctuary, because I had a mind to produce more Blank Sisters as fast as possible. An entire priory of 4000 young women should provide me with plenty of entertainment in the completion of this duty, starting with the new Cannoness and going down the ranks as time went by.


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    Already their gene pool had been dominated with the Catachans, since the Sisters of Battle were quick to recognize the formidable abilities of the Catachan women. From increased reflexes, resilience and mental fortitude, to unwavering loyalty and courage, the new breed of Sisters were ideal for the role of relentless heroines.


    Sister Stern, along with a company of Silent Sisters and a dozen Knights, plus a dozen Auxilia regiments had departed for San_Leor</a> to rescue their besieged Sisters, while Albesalom piloted my Destroyer Psi-Titan, until the Speranza figured out how to reconstruct his trashed Titan.


    Sending the regular soldiers was slightly overkill, since a single Psi-Titan would be sufficient, even without Ephrael Stern boosting its powers twenty times. But anyways, better safe than sorry, and with Chaos you were always better off with more guns on your side.


    "Docking complete, Lord Pef. We are ready to depart." Larissa announced from her Captain chair.


    I nodded and patted Ludvaius on his shoulder, then displaced him back in the Null Hive, where he had a gigantic spying network to oversee.


    "I''ll be in my bed til Prefectia." I advised the ship''s Captain then simply walked out from the bridge on my own two feet, like an ordinary person.


    Knowing smiles and grins flashed behind me, as the bridge crew snickered at my incoming duty.


    Soon enough, the Overlord-class battlecruiser sped away towards the T''au frontier, escorted by several carriers and Lamenter Strike Cruisers.


    Canis lifted a lazy ear to acknowledge me as I entered my rooms, then yawned politely.


    A minute later, a polite knock on the door signaled the leader of the Sisters and her Seraphim</a> squad had arrived to have a long and fruitful meeting for the betterment of mankind.


    "Lady Bella, you''re even prettier than I''ve been told." I remarked in surprise, taking sight of the Cannoness in her full battle regalia.


    The woman had the classic silver hair of every Sister, but her body and face were completely angelic.


    She smiled a bit sadly. "I was not elected for my beauty, my lord. In fact, it has been a hindrance to my service for the Emperor." Lady Bella murmured demurely.


    I nodded and offered her my plasteel chair, that was certified to withstand the weight of power armor. "I do understand, Lady Bella. I got this face from being implanted with Primarch Sanguinius gene-seed. Sometimes, I feel like punching a mirror."


    The woman chuckled a bit amused and seemed to relax a little. "Going by your fame and exploits, I''d have thought you''d take pride in your looks. You do look nice." the Battle Sister mused while her companions nodded in agreement.


    "Hmmm. I''m not a great warrior, my lady. Better than a neophyte recruit, but that''s about it. I''ve been beaten and crushed by traitor marines, or even by loyal Astartes that didn''t like my words or genes. All my battles were won with my mind, and the Null genes." I confessed with a shrug, then produced an expensive bottle of sweet liquor and crystal glasses.


    There would be time enough for love, first we had to establish some trust and common ground, by sharing stories both good and bad. People always saw the Sisters of Battle as unflinching witch hunters with burning faith and heavy flamers. And while this was true, they were also women with their own feelings. They were a bulwark against the terror despite their fragile bodies, and I could respect that.


    It was easy to battle xenos or traitors when you had 8 feet of bulky muscle and durasteel sinew to push you forward, as well as brains neurally cleaned of fear or doubt. However, I knew how frail a normal human was against a Chaos marine, because I have been that human once.


    "And now, you want those Blank genes spread among everyone in this Lancefire Sector, just as you recruit the Lamenters and even the new Governors." the Cannoness said after sipping a bit of liquor.


    "Humanity is slowly dying, my lady. We fall behind in technology and the Imperium is torn apart by heretics and traitors, turned by Chaos or genestealers. We have not invented new weapons or technologies, because Chaos infects our machines or engineers when we stray from the STCs." I explained with a sigh, and gulped a glass of liquor to make a point.


    The Sisters followed suit, downing their glasses and getting a bit red in the face. "And you say we should all become hereteks, once we are Blanks and safe of these perils?" Lady Bella wondered with a warning tone.


    "I''m saying we can be better. Right now, I have to gather a Crusade to stop the T''au from slicing off an entire galactic Sector, although they were crafting bone spears 6000 years ago. But they can advance so fast because they are all Blanks. There are no ghosts and demons inside their new machines or cogitators, because the Warp can''t even see them. In a few centuries, they will rival our ancestors from the Age of Technology, and will battle the Necrons on equal terms." I answered in a sad voice, while pouring more liquor to my guests.


    A couple of glasses later, we all agreed we had to make humanity even better. Beginning from my bed.

 Raptors - 218

    A Crusade against a xeno empire is different from a liberation Crusade of Imperial worlds. The standard Imperial tactics would require total extermination, and then perhaps sifting through the ruins to recover valuable artifacts or technology.


    I have even taken part in the Ghouls Stars Crusade against the Cythor Fiends, the one where Primarch Sanguinius took command and made a mess of things.


    For the Tau, I had different plans though. Burning planets would not recover my investment, after all.


    Thus, I spent a whole month at Prefectia instructing my officers, and the other commanders that arrived to help with the Crusade. We had maps and estimations on the Tau forces, by the grace of the Ordo Xenos and some local Rogue Traders. We had enough ships and ground units to conquer the entire Tau species, although it would be very costly.


    However, I did not want that. Only half. I''m modest like that.


    "I want their researchers captured! I want their labs intact! I want their factories and shipyards as undamaged as possible!" I demanded in a loud voice.


    The Cadian Colonels and the Navy Captains looked down and muttered to themselves, while the Adepta Sororitas and the Astartes Captains glared at me with burning eyes. One of them quite literally, because he was a psyker.


    "You''re making this conquest much harder than it has to be, Lord Lancefire. We have no need for filthy xenos technology or their scientists." a certain Sister declared in a proud voice.


    I sighed inward and mentally shifted her congregation to another target, a Farside Enclave, replacing them with a Lamenter Company and five Auxilia regiments in the battle order for that Sept World.


    "Please, Sister Beatrice. You need to consider what other groups in this Crusade need. The Mechanicus certainly needs that xenos tech. The Rogue Traders also need intact installations and valuable artifacts to recover their costs. The Ordo Xenos is mandated to examine the tech as well." I pleaded in a tired voice.


    On the large hololith screen, the field deployment changed to slot in the Battle Sisters under Beatrice into their new positions.


    "... Fine! My Sisters and I will fight to return the captured humans to the light of the God-Emperor. And, try not to burn more than necessary." the woman allowed in a steely tone.


    I smiled pleasantly and pointed at the other end of the Nexus, which emerged somewhere west of Kar_Duniash</a>, the main producer of Dominator_Cruiser</a>s in the Ultima Segmentum. And because these cruisers also had a Nova Cannon, this raised the importance of the Fortress World to absolute. Vital for the security of the Imperium, especially against the Tyranids.


    "Lady Kalistradi, you and the Black Dragons will need to secure Kar Duniash at all cost. We are not certain how many Tau ships have already traversed the rift into Imperial territory, so be careful." I continued with a nod towards the friendly Inquisitor.


    Several other Inquisitors raised a finger to signal their interest, and were added to the task force prepared to cross the rift and cleanse the Tau incursion. They came with warships and their own Stromtrooper regiments, their troops upgraded to Lamenter Auxilia standards from my own stores of spare vehicles, plus each had been granted a Deathwatch Company from my reserves of Astral Claws, so their help would certainly speed up the reconquest.


    Of course, I wasn''t actually worried about a Tau push into the heart of the Imperium, mainly because the Tau lacked fast FTL engines, and their methods required a slow advance with lots of defenses and logistical bases. The Tau were not Orks, to rush head forward into battle. They would consolidate their gains in the Nem''yar_Atoll</a> first, and that gave me plenty of time to strike directly at the Tau heartland, conquer the Nexus gateway, and then lock the Tau behind me.


    And with that final check, the Damocles Crusade was ready to begin.


    The Lamenters and my Blackstone Fortress took the worst job, which was the Nexus itself and its formidable defenses, while the rest of the crusading troops were spread out for a simultaneous strike at forty Tau systems.


    A week later, the Black Lament plowed through the railguns and torpedoes and mines that protected the stable rift into the Ultima segmentum.


    My starfighters and corvettes began clearing up the overwhelmed static defenses, while I began filling my second tesseract with hundreds of Tau ships, advanced bombers and fighters and any movable tech I could grab.


    In less than a day, we had the far end of the Nexus secured and I began deploying my own static defenses, starting with the upgraded Aegida Fortress and then thousands of asteroid forts and Mechanicus-made minefields.


    Lady Amberley remained on the Aegida to begin interrogations and thousands of techpriests from Forge Retribution emerged from their Ark Mechanicus to examine the captured technology.


    Leaving the Fortress behind, I boarded the Singularity battleship, flanked by seven other battleships of my Dynasty and entered the rift to clear the Imperial side, and then establish a trading port copied after Footfall, the Rogue Trader haven in the Expanse.


    If you stumble upon this tale on Amazon, it''s taken without the author''s consent. Report it.I didn''t have a name yet for this new port, but the majority of my clan already named it Port Lancefire. It would take a decade and major work from the techpriests to connect thousands of asteroids with voidsteel chains and raise buildings and artificial gravity generators, but I expected the port to become profitable even sooner.


    There were already 54 Rogue Trader ships in this Crusade, and the news would spread fast to others in our profession. Profit was a great motivator, after all.


    Less than a week later, after the first defenses came online at the Aegida Nexus, I continued the advance towards the major Sept World of Dal''yth</a>. Without qualms about cheating, I began filling the tesseract with ships and panicked locals, while with my good tesseract I deployed the occupation troops and an initial batch of colonists.


    Dal''yth had been a Water caste world, thus it was filled with factories and trading depots, with goods from a thousand different worlds being offered in trade. There were also dozens of embassies from various minor species hosted here, which were of great interest to the Ordo Xenos. Since the Imperium rarely allowed for diplomatic relations with xenos, learning how other races managed would be quite important.


    From Dal''yth, I once more boarded the Singularity and departed in a rush for the Tau World of Kuu''lan</a> where some unexpected events took place.


    Sure, in war there are always surprises, but this time in was an Astartes Chapter, the Raptors that were involving themselves in my Crusade, without even sending me notice.


    After a quick status report, it came to light that the Raptors were asked by the Governor of Dolumar_IV</a> to abduct an Ethereal leader and bring him back. A task which they almost accomplished, until they were ambushed by a large Tau fleet consisting of five modern battleships and a dozen cruisers.


    Their single battlebarge was nearly failing by the time my fleet arrived, and they had already lost three Strike Cruisers and nine Gladius Frigates. Possibly not very inspired of them, to attack the Tau as they were on a war footing against a Crusade.


    "What do you think, Inquisitor?" I asked with a suffering voice, towards Lady Valeyne.


    The Inquisitor glanced at the ongoing space battle on the screen, then sighed. "If you have enough forces, stay and conquer the Kuu''lan system as well, Lord Pef. I''ll go solve this Governor problem, but I will need Sister Dessima, just in case." she claimed in a cold voice with holding out her silver cube.


    "Take the Canticle then." I offered and deposited the Overlord battlecruiser near the Singularity. It was the fastest ship I had available, and it also had the most modern weapons and defenses.


    By the time the battlecruiser sped away for Dolumar, carrying three Deathwatch Companies and a squad of Silent Sisters lead by the Omega-level Dessima, I was already dropping my troops on Kuu''lan and clearing off the last remains of the Tau Navy.


    Of course, I could conduct these maneuvers with my eyes closed by now, and even engage in polite conversation with my guests at the same time.


    "Master Lias Issodon</a>, here is what is going to happen. Because you and your Chapter have volunteered to take part in the Damocles Crusade, I will give you a fair chance to recover your loses. Your barge, the War Talon</a> will be repaired and upgraded, and your Chapter will receive five new cruisers and twenty destroyers to replace what you''ve lost."


    To my side, the Chapter Master of the Raptors simply nodded, waiting for the other foot to drop. "We are very grateful for the rescue, Lord Lancefire." he muttered a minute later.


    "I am certain you are, Master Issodon. I will even provide your Chapter a hundred Blank recruits and training for a thousand techmarines over the next decades. However, there will be a price. Your Raptors will remain here, in the new Sector we are conquering from the Tau, and provide security for the human colonists. You will raise a thousand Auxilia regiments and enforce Imperial law, in conjunction with the Astra Militarum and the Navy. I suggest you base your Chapter at Dal''yth, where a new Forge World will be made to exploit the technology of the Tau." I demanded in a forceful voice.


    The man glared at me for a second, then turned his eyes back on the screen, where the Leviathan Dreadknights were battling the advanced Tau warsuits and grav tanks.


    "Any chance we may receive a few Leviathans?" he wondered in a sad tone.


    "Of course, my friend. Every Blank Astartes will be gifted one. I take care of my children." I answered with a wry smile.


    Plus, it was only fair that the Imperium based the new Sector at the same place where the Dal''yth_Treaty</a> was signed some three hundred years ago, after a major defeat of Imperial forces.

 Admiral -219

    Over the next year, the Crusade proceeded as planned, not that the Tau were able to match the array of forces deployed against them.


    My forces advanced as deep as Ke''lshan</a> into Tau territory, where we first had to fight off The_Purge</a>, a large Chaos warband with a predilection for chemical weapons.


    Then, minor incursions from Orks and some Eldar Corsairs, followed by a large genestealer invasion carried by nine Space Hulks that emerged from the Perdus_Rift</a>. Free ship hulls and gigatonnes of precious metal would make the development of this new sector much easier, even with the stupid regulations of the Administratum. I kept one Space Hulk to distribute the more intact hulls to the other Rogue Traders, and grabbed one more battleship and three battlecruisers for my own House.


    The ships would need decades in dock to be restored to operational status, but in the meanwhile they will provide work for my Forge Worlds in the Fringe. The cruiser hulls will need to be transported to more advanced Forges like Metalica or Tigrus, because the smaller Macharius drives required a high degree of precision.


    The Tau did not stay still and let us conquer them, and struck back from inside the Nexus pocket, and with two large fleets that tried to pincer the Crusade the rift and re-connect with their lost colonies.


    They didn''t stand a chance, but still they tried. I was happy to fill my tesseract with more Tau ships, as well as advanced battlesuits and remote drones. These machines will need to be reverse-engineered and refitted for human use, then I could equip the next wave of colonists with better vehicles. Of course, just the Mechanicus techpriests were not enough for such a task, which is why I retained nearly a billion Tau specialists in my tesseract for follow-up development outside the Imperium.


    The Iron Hands and their successors also took charge of a number of reconquered systems including the Taros_System</a>, which anchored the new Sector with another powerful base.


    Meanwhile, on Dolumar IV, Sister Dessima and my lovely Inquisitor wife found themselves caught in a Chaos plot involving a pocket dimension filled with demons, a corrupt Governor and the usual effects of an Eldar Farseer''s failure to solve a problem. Turns out this Farseer had simply cut off a segment of the Webway to imprison a demon army, then left it forgotten until the humans arrived and had to clean up the mess.


    I wasn''t very happy either, since the debacle has cost me five dead Silent Sisters and 233 dead Deathwatch marines, plus millions of dead PDF and Guardsmen from the local garrison.


    In comparison, the entire Damocles Crusade took the lives of 219 Astartes, of which six were Lamenters and less than a million Militarum soldiers, most of them from the Cadian regiments sent to bolster our numbers by Primarch El''Johnson.


    Lady Amberley remained on the Aegida to conclude a new treaty with the Tau, appropriately called the Sword of Damocles.


    However, I had no time for diplomatic games, and moved my fleet and most of the Crusade through the rift, and headed towards Kar Duniash, to exchange part of the loot for new Dominator Cruisers and extra munitions. A single Space Hulk had enough metal to construct a thousand cruisers, so the shipyards were happy to trade me ten new cruisers for this once in a lifetime deal. I also kept my bargain and donated five of them to the Raptors Chapter, and even gave them Blank Captains from my own House.


    It is hard to please a large clan of Rogue Traders that always expect to command a capital ship, but I do my best.


    Three weeks later we made haste towards the Evraad System to take part in the Ambush_at_Gnarion_Reef</a>.


    And thus, we made it just in time for our forces to re-capture from the Orks a dozen unfinished battlecruisers at Port Vull. The Forge World was happy enough for my help that two of the Mars battlecruisers were transferred in my care, and they got ten of them back to be delivered to the Navy upon completion.


    My Aspirants were already skirmishing with the Orks, in hit-and-run strikes among the asteroid field, while our Auxilia troops and the techmarines provided defense for many shipyards and asteroid forts.


    Reading on Amazon or a pirate site? This novel is from Royal Road. Support the author by reading it there.Also, the Space Wolves were inbound with a battlebarge called the Axe_of_Russ</a>, which stood little chance against a thousand Ork ships.


    The following battle was a textbook Lancefire withdrawal and envelopment, that netted us a modified Ironclad battleship called the Kill_Wrecka</a> and the head of Ghazghkull_Mag_Uruk_Thraka</a>, 114 Kill Kroozers and 577 Ork Eskorts captured, in exchange for four frigates and seven corvettes lost by the Crusade.


    Although I allowed Blademaster Khan the honor of dueling the infamous Ork Boss, he was still upset. I just made sure the Warboss wouldn''t run away. Which feat, would be difficult without legs.


    "You melted his legs off!" the White Scar Captain complained while holding the head of Ghazghkull in his left hand.


    I shrugged innocently, and nodded. "This Ork has escaped from Primarch El''Johnson at Armageddon. Fast on his feet, or so I heard."


    A soft snort from Lady Valeyne warned me I was stepping on thin ice with the lethal sword master.


    "Stop helping, damn rookie!" the Blademaster grumbled and kicked the head away in disgust.


    The giant head rolled for a hundred meters and fell off the deck, then bounced away towards a trash chute that would be emptied before we departed the system.


    I kept watch in disbelief with my tesseract vision as the head continued an unlikely adventure to escape my ship, then bounce off towards a lifeless moon in the distance. One of my patrolling corvettes clipped the Ork head and changed its trajectory towards a Mechanicus shipyard where the techpriests were already working to restore an Ork Eskort to its former Imperial destroyer status.


    With a raised eyebrow, I kept watch, and followed the rolling head as it was once more clipped by a construction robot and rolled onwards towards a medical ward.


    I mean, there is luck, and then there was this. I didn''t doubt Ghazghkull would manage to restore himself to life and escape, if left alone. Damn critter was already getting his head mounted on a defective servitor!


    I snapped my fingers and deported the Ork head and the traitorous servitor into the sun, then kept watch for a few seconds until they got vaporized.


    A second later, I stepped away and out from my power armor, to enjoy a warm shower and then a whole day of sleep. Major battle were still tiresome, especially when splitting my attention a million ways to keep watch over my troops and enemy movements, not to mention stealing ships and exploring hidden vaults with the tesseract.


    I had barely landed in my bed, when the door opened to allow Lady Cassandra, my Navy Admiral into my room.


    "Yes, my lady?" I muttered in a sleepy voice.


    "What can I do, to be given this captured battleship?" the Lady Admiral asked in a straightforward voice.


    I grumbled a tired "Sleep" and drifted off.


    Minutes later, a soft body climbed beside me in bed and hugged me tight.


    I think I heard an amused snicker from under the bed, which I promptly ignored.


    A dozen hours later, I opened my eyes to stare into the medium bosoms of my Admiral, who was already awake. "Cassandra?" I uttered in fabulous logic.


    "I did what you asked, my lord. Is this enough?" she asked in a coy voice, glancing down at her chest.


    I sighed inward and poked her breasts in revenge, then teased a pink nipple between my fingertips. "You don''t need to sleep with me, my lady. And you already have command over a hundred capital ships."


    Instead, the woman glared at me for a long minute. "Maybe I do want to. Maybe I also want Blank daughters that get to roam the galaxy freely, and commanding their own battlecruisers." she answered in a soft voice, and stretched her hand to grope at my biceps.


    Well then. Put it this way, I could spare a battleship for the mother of my children.


    "Becoming a Lancefire is dangerous." I warned the woman before she took the last step.


    Cassandra snorted and climbed on top of me with a wry grin. "We''ve been to Hell and back already. I think we''re way past dangerous by now."


    I grinned back and drew her into a kiss. I never slept with an Admiral before.

 Kenny - 220

    It took six more months to travel the sector and squash the last remaining Ork invasions, while also gathering my dispersed Lamenter Auxilia divisions and Aspirants, then reviewing their combat records.


    More ships and troops arrived from the reconquered Tau Nem''yar_Atoll</a>, as my Inquisitor lovers lead a thousand newly raised regiments and three Knight Houses they have recruited to cleanse the blue xenos from the Imperium.


    They had managed to liberate the occupied human worlds, but dealing with small detachments of Fire Warriors from the Tau was completely different from what will be needed to halt the Tyranids.


    "Perhaps, have them all entrench in bunkers and guard the Hive Cities?" I mused in a doubtful voice, while going over the rather flimsy equipment these new regiments had. Older models of lasguns and field lascannons, with barely any mortars or armored vehicles. Some of these units even lacked flak-jackets or helmets.


    In the strategy room, my Generals and Captains grimaced with disappointment.


    "We can pair each of these regiments with one of the Auxilia, and have them form skirmish lines or aid in the static defenses. Here, in the Vitria_System</a>, maybe?" Captain Semnai wondered in a doubtful tone, while pointing at the second Tyranid tendril on the holomap.


    The Tyranid Hive Fleet had split into three major tendrils, and Vitria was right in the middle.


    I planned to use the bulk of my forces in the Satys system, to halt the bugs advance from below the galactic plane, then strike across the base of the other tendrils and cut them off with my fleet.


    However, perhaps the new troops could also hold at Vitria. Not by themselves, but then the Blood Angels and all the other successor Chapters were also gathering to defend Baal. Also, Sanguinius has not been idle and had founded twenty more Chapters using his own gene-seed. They still did not have enough techmarines or Auxilia forces, but 20000 extra Astartes were quite a potent force anyway.


    "Very well, Brother. You will have command over the Vitria war theater. Lady Kalistradi, is that all right with you?" I asked politely.


    The Ordo Xenos Inquisitor bit her lower lip in deep thought, then nodded. "I fear we will not have enough."


    I sighed inward, but such was the state of the Imperium. Too many enemies, not enough guns.


    "There are more human forces incoming, Forge Worlds and Rogue Traders, beside the nine Battlefleets of the Imperial Navy. And once I win at Satys, I will come and strike the bugs from behind." I concluded in a certain voice.


    My officers raised their eyes from the holotable to stare at me, probably due to my outrageous victory claim, then smiled or shook their heads in amusement. Still, not one of them doubted me.


    It was already an established fact. Wherever Pef Lancefire fought, he would win. No matter the odds.


    "Just make it quick, my lord. I estimate we can hold for at most 3 weeks, with only a thousand regiments and a hundred Knights." Semnai complained in a lamenting voice.


    "I''ll be there in two." I boasted with a grin, then vanished from the room.


    Back in my quarters, I still had some fucking duty to finish. The last squad of Sisters of Battle from Sanctuary, then right back from the start. Inquisitors, Silent Sisters, Titan Princeps and various other women in need for Blank children.


    In just two and a half years I managed to produce 5000 new Blanks, by judiciously impregnating my allies based on a tight schedule overseen by a couple of Order Familious Sisters and an old Inquisitor with a young body.


    Lady Valeyne appeared next to me in the shower and pawed at my wet skin with grabby hands. "When do you want me, husband? First in line, or after you seduce the pure Battle Sisters?" she murmured while helping me soap.


    My lance sprang into battle formation, so I leaned into a kiss. Such a dedicated wife...I might reward her twice.


    Much later, I sent the exhausted Sisters back to their dorm, and leaned back with my eyes closed. Valeyne rested on my chest, and sighed happily.


    In the corner, a giant wolf sighed softly and went back to sleep.


    It has been a long day, but my new body could take it now. Eleven women in a single day...I sure had a blessed life, didn''t I?


    I woke up the next day to find Sister Fidelia and Lady Dae in my bed, licking my body with teasing tongues. Although it was time to depart for war, I made a bit of time to enjoy the two women and fill them with positive energy.


    A few hours later, I was already leading the Singularity and its battleships and cruisers fleet on harassment strikes on the southern Tyranid tendril, if killing and crippling a million bioships per shot could be considered mere harassment.


    The Voidclaw gravity cannon of the Glorianna battleship was certainly effective on the bugs, as even the bioships that did not explode under their own mass remained behind to be strafed by the cruisers and annihilated.


    Love this story? Find the genuine version on the author''s preferred platform and support their work!


    For now, I avoided spending precious Nova shells and mines, because the Tyranid numbers were far too large for classic munitions to matter.


    At the edge of the Satys system, the Black Lament with 6000 corvettes and 90000 starfighters for escort formed the anvil, while Albesalom, Vaedrax and other Blank Sisters rotated constantly to fire the Immaterium beam at the incoming Tyranid swarm.


    Fields of asteroid forts and mines formed a defense perimeter around the Blackstone Fortress, while the lighter ships struggled to reduce the myriad of flyers and spores advancing ahead of the Hive Fleet.


    Even so, the Black Lament had to retreat everyday under the constant xeno assault, falling back to a secondary fort line, then a tertiary and so on.


    A week later, my roving fleet managed to arrive behind the Hive fleet, once a trillion bioships were killed in constant guerilla strikes. At the same time, the leading elements of the Hive Fleet had managed to push back the defense fleet and begin landing their feeders onto the verdant worlds of the Satys system, only to encounter the bulk of the Lamenters, plus the Lancefire Knights, the Auxilia regiments, the Adepta Sororitas, Titans and Tarantula turrets, plus 2200 techmarines in control of 220000 Guardian walkers.


    It was a giant shooting gallery now, and I began using the Nova Cannons to break up the larger concentrations of remaining bioships.


    The local PDF and militia units were hidden in armored bunkers and manning the walls of the human cities, and thus they were barely damaged by the invasion.


    Instead, my troops used field fortifications of steel cages filled with rock and plates of blackstone, taking the high ground where possible and covering them with Bastion forcefields and theater Void shields against orbital attack.


    Thousands of strike drones covered our army from the air, unleashing volleys of missiles or dropping incendiary bombs, while our Aquila fighters contested the sky against scores of Gargoyles and other Tyranid flyers.


    Having thousands of Hydra-class anti-air vehicles helped as well, barrages of multi-lasers and autocannons supporting the troops against air attacks, or delivering unforgiving fire upon light Tyranid units that entered close range.


    The most impactful were still the Armed Sentinels, which provided close support to our infantry, both with long range lasguns or heavy bolters, or up close with flamers and chainswords.


    Despite all these, three Hive Cities were overrun by a new type of Tyranid biotitan called Mawloc</a>, which dug deep under the ground to emerge right inside the human cities, and then allowed millions of smaller warforms to climb through the resulting tunnels.


    The surprise evolution was nasty, since there weren''t many possible defenses against such a threat. Sure, I couldn and did intervene with the tesseract and rescued most of the endangered locals, then expelled in the invaders into the sun...but any other commander would have a difficult job holding the line. Necron tesseracts were the ultimate cheat, and the Tyranids had yet to adapt to this trick.


    With a wary soul, I gathered my troops and sped towards Vitria, using the travel time to repair and rearm our vehicles and munitions.


    Although the defense of Satys was successful, we have consumed half of the total ammunition reserves and lost a few percents of our forces, even a couple of Knights and Baneblades.


    As soon as the Tyranids reached melee range, the battlefield became a slaughter field, since fighting off five-meter tall bugs with scythe claws wasn''t that easy, not even for Astartes.


    However, I did manage to capture a thousand Tyranid biotitans for myself, and by the time we reached Vitria I had them mindshackled to my Necron control rod.


    The Aspirants were given the task of painting each of them in the yellow colors of the Lamenters, then inscribe them with Auxilia markings, such that our troops would be able to distinguish the xeno auxiliaries from the feral Tyranids.


    A dozen Ordo Xenos Inquisitors gathered to observe the bravery of the Lamenter Aspirants, and debate how heretic my actions were.


    Meanwhile, I just rode a captured Zooantrope, using it as a levitating mount and direct the Aspirants to paint a less visible spot. "Here, behind the ear too!" I demanded like a building inspector.


    "... I don''t think that''s an ear, my lord." Aspirant Giordi muttered while climbing over spikes and thorns to reach the unpainted spot.


    I shrugged and floated towards the next biotitan. "Make the bleeding heart larger! And more red!" I ordered on a whim.


    My Aspirant rolled his eyes and obeyed without comment. What? The bleeding heart was the heraldry of the Lamenters, right there in the Codex.


    A loud bolter shot filled the room, and then my flying Tyranid crashed to the floor, brains leaking from a fist-sized hole.


    I turned towards Sister Bella and her smoking gun.


    "Noooo! You killed Kenny!" I wailed in fake despair.

 Silence - 221

    As we approached planet Vitria</a>, we passed by thousands of wrecks of Navy warships, floating dead in space, many of them engulfed in Tyranid ooze and ichor, and sporting deep scars and gouges from gigantic claws or teeth. It was as if a blender had caught this Battlefleet and spat it out devoid of any life.


    And as it happens, it was all my fault. I have been victorious, and possibly too much so.


    The Tyranid Hive Mind was adaptable, and the lessons of its defeats were imparted instantly over stellar distances, such that other Hive Fleets did better, next time.


    On the glass planet, a single Hive City still held, with less than 300 Guard Regiments still alive and defending the walls. The capital city of Silica had tall walls made of obsidian, and the ground was also hardened glass, the result of a solar flare that transformed this world from a deadly desert Death World with murderous feline predators into a Civilized World on a sterile planet made of glass.


    And in front of the armored gate, a giant Tyranid Titan was battling Brother Semnai for sport, smacking him around with ease. I''ve heard of the Tyranid Swarmlord</a>, the response of the Hive Mind to dangerous individuals or species.


    The immortal beast, armored and armed with four indestructible bone sabers that could cut through metal or force fields with equal ease.


    Well, Semnai wasn''t the commander of this warzone for his gentle smile. This guy had been in the Deathwatch for a few centuries, and he was now equipped with some of the best equipment available to humanity in this era. I know, because I made sure of this.


    Power armor of Master-class design, plated over with blackstone and diamondoid chitin from other Tyranid Titan shells, atomantic shielding and a Rosarius faith shield, plus a Null Wand to keep Warp shenanigans away.


    The Null Wand was also the single reason why Semnai was still alive, as the Swarmlord''s psychic disruption field over its Bonesword</a> dissipated harmlessly, in proximity with the nullifying wand.


    "Having fun again, Brother Semnai?" I asked him via the Sounding Board.


    "Grrr. We''re losing badly, my lord. And this damned beast is too strong!" he exclaimed as he vanished from an incoming attack and arrive beside me.


    I tested the Tyranid boss gently with the tesseract, only to find it covered by a protective psychic screen that prevented its capture. Damn it! I hated when my cheats stopped working.


    Anyways, I had my own boss to send. A second later, a Psi-Titan appeared in front of the Hive City gates, already glowing from the faith powers of Sister Stern. Albesalom should be enough to deal with this monster.


    Elsewhere in the system, my fleet was already engaging the Tyranid Hive Fleet from behind, scoring hundreds of bioship kills every second.


    Semnai groaned in a tired voice and sat beside me on the plasteel dais, to watch the boss duel on the big screen. "I can''t believe I''m still alive. This creature is possibly as strong as Primarch, or a Greater Demon." the Lamenter lamented in a lamenting tone.


    I glanced towards my Brother Captain for a second, then return to the task of rescuing the remaining humans from the infested planet.


    "The creature was toying with you, Brother. The Hive Mind has sent it to oppose me, after all." I explained in a level voice, already considering a dozen scenarios in mind.


    Humanity has suffered horrific loses at Vitria, and Silica City was probably left standing as a message to me, or the Emperor. Possibly both.


    Its hunger will not be denied, and killed swarm creatures were simply disposable and expendable. In fact, there would have been little reason to assault a vitrified world, devoid of any life except humans. That showed that humanity itself was the target, and possibly the object lesson of this strike.


    "You''re saying, the Swarmlord could have won at any time, my lord?" Captain Chyron wondered from my other side.


    A strike/slash combo from the sword-wielding Tyranid proved my point, as the Psi-Titan was bashed back and crashed into the Hive City gates.


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    The Destroyer fired back, first a Death Pulse with merely splashed the chitin armor of the bio-titan, then a black beam from its Sinistrum Anima weapon, which burned away half of the Swarmlord. However, the Tyranid boss didn''t die, and just stood still as its flesh regenerated as super speed.


    In a minute, the Swarmlord recovered and screeched a loud psychic shout of defiance.


    "Wait! Don''t fire again, it just wants to adapt to the psycannon." I urged the Blank Princeps as I retrieved Sister Ordela and rose to my feet.


    "Lord Pef?" the Silent Sister asked with a wondering voice while examining the holoscreen.


    "I want a bonesword like that." I explained while mounting my helmet on.


    The bridge of the Black Lament fell silent at my ludicrous claim, but I simply transported myself and Pariah Ordela directly on Vitria, and on the spiky neck of the Tyranid Swarmlord.


    The shock of losing contact with the Hive Mind, due to the Omega-minus level Null aura of Ordela only incapacitated the creature for a second, but it was enough. I simply struck the beast with my Necron control rod then teleported away, leaving the mind shackles to dive and infect the Tyranid Boss from the inside. Filaments of exotic Necron scarabs and living rock wires spread inside the bio-titan, stealing away its independence and self-control.


    A few seconds later, the psychic shield also dropped and the Swarmlord vanished inside my tesseract, to be fully converted into a loyal xeno auxiliary leader.


    Inside the Silica City I began depositing a few million Orks, and let them enjoy their last hours of freedom, and pillaging the ruins of this former human world.


    "Glassy bits? They cut good! Bugs all around, with big spike things!" the Orks commented among them, as they began to arm and armor themselves with looted equipment left behind by the Vitrian_Dragoons</a>, the local Guard regiment.


    Devoid of the wise leadership of their Swarmlord, the Tyranids rushed towards the scent of life and blood of the Orks, and soon enough flak batteries and lascannons from the wall defenses began firing torrents of dakka at the incoming bugs.


    Billions upon billions of deformed bio-organisms descended onto Vitria, while I gathered the surviving Navy and other ships in the system beside my fleet.


    Techpriests and techmarines, as well as engineers and other adepts began emergency repairs for the more salvageable ships, while the more damaged ones were collected in my tesseract labyrinth as prize derelicts.


    Out of the nine Navy Battlefleets, totaling an impressive 83 battleships and thousands of smaller vessels when they arrived, barely 30 battleships were still combat capable, while a dozen were only worth the adamantium of their hulls by now.


    While waiting for the Tyranids to throw themselves into the glass trap, and the Orks to enjoy a last gud fight, I began scrolling through the combat logs of the damaged ships, to find out how things got so bad.


    Some inevitable incompetence from the Navy Admirals and Captains was understandable, while poor maintenance and weaker weaponry were inherent conditions for any Navy ship.


    Still, humanity had lost about 70 percent of its naval and ground forces in this battle, and all of this in only two and half weeks, until I managed to eliminate the Satys tendril and make my way to Vitria.


    Of course, some units got away somewhat better, the Sisters of Battle and the Inquisitorial Storm Troopers had barely lost a quarter of their numbers, while the Lancefire Knights and the Lamenter Aspirants took slightly less than 20 percent losses.


    That meant 19 Knights, many of them my brothers and sisters in flesh, will never get to meet Justine after she returned to life. From the 800 dead Aspirants, almost 100 were my own sons, who made the final sacrifice for a better tomorrow.


    I wasn''t happy at all. Victory still felt like ash in my mouth, even as the Exterminatus torpedo engulfed Vitria and glassed the place once again, lighting up a giant funeral pyre for my children and a trillion of my enemies in my wake.


    My fleet departed for Hive World Asphodex</a>, in the Cryptus System. Crossing through the Tyranid Silence was hard on everyone in the fleet, if for different reasons.


    Thirty billion people awaited death or salvation on that world, not only from the third Tyranid tendril, but also from the Necrons sleeping under the surface.


    I sat in my room with a grim heart, when Sister Magda_Grace</a> entered, her entire body glowing with inner light. I know Sister Darcy asked her to console me, but I wasn''t in need for an intervention.


    "Lord Lancefire, do not lose faith!" she urged me while drawing my amasec bottle away.


    Canis sniffed at the intruder for a second, then lowered his head on my shoulder again.


    I just sighed and took out a fresh bottle from my dimensional storehouse. "Just...don''t talk, Lady Grace. My faith is not getting smaller, I just need to arrange the memories of my dead relatives in my mind. And I''m sure your Order lost plenty of Sisters on Vitria as well." I muttered in a grim voice, then gulped the bitter amasec to keep company with the bitter taste in my mouth.


    The valiant Canoness sighed softly, then drank a bit from her own bottle.


    As my fleet sped silently through the void for the next battle, me and the new guest drank our sorrow away, in silence.

 Point of view - 222

    Lord Commissar Cain was not happy. By every single rule of the universe he should have been long since dead, by claw or bite or bolt, even old age.


    Instead, his body was still in its prime, barely a day over 30 years old. The Adeptus Munitorum had already decreed that Commissar Cain was to be considered alive and well even when presented with clear evidence to the contrary.


    So far, he had been declared lost in space, devoured by Tyranids, chopped to bits by Orks, fallen into a Warp Vortex, blown apart by a volcano, drowned in a massive tidal wave, even enslaved by the Dark Eldar.


    But to nobody''s surprise, Cain had always survived.


    Even now, when his new Mordian_Iron_Guard</a> regiment was being overrun by genestealers in the underhive of Phodia</a>, the capital of Hive World Asphedex, nobody really expected him to actually die.


    After all, the regulation of the Imperium stated that he could never die.


    Slashing left and right with his relic sword called Peace, Commissar Cain advanced to the front lines, to lend a hand to his brave guardsmen.


    ''Good men, all of them. So brave...'' thought coursed through his mind, as he kept watch for any cowards or defectors. Fortunately, the Iron Guard had excellent recruiting standards and the guardsmen died with fury in their eyes, even as the corrupted mutants sliced them apart with their impossibly sharp claws.


    Not sharp enough to block Peace. Nothing was. Damn sword could cut steel or bone with same deceptive ease.


    ''Damn Lancefire! Why did you have to give me this crazy sword?'' Cain complained as he drew his blessed Inferno pistol and blew a hole through a giant genestealer, with tendrils coming out of his mouth. Better make sure, the larger xenos didn''t reach the weak flesh of the Mordians.


    At his back, the last pair of Amazons kept watch from their Armed Sentinel walkers, making sure that nothing attacked him from behind. Kelya and Mirage, the last of his Catachan bodyguards still alive after a century of service were mostly machines by now, their limbs and organs replaced with bionic components following scores of crippling injuries. Beside the giant chainswords, each Sentinel had a Lascannon arm, and those artillery-class weapons sliced though a dozen enemy ranks each shot.


    To the right, his own children formed the Chrome Company, all wearing burnished power armor with pauldrons made of blackstone. Using multi-meltas and storm-bolters his children had a field day in these dark and polluted catacombs, as they held the line strong and blocked any attempt at envelopment.


    Sadly, to the left the situation wasn''t good at all, as the Mordians lacked Sentinels or power armor, and were thus getting massacred by the damned genestealer cultists.


    Just then, a trio of large Broodlords burst through the rusted walls and crashed into the weakened left flank, creating a dangerous breach.


    Cain drew back a few steps to analyze the situation and try to find an escape route. It seemed this battle was lost, once more. "Reserves, strike to the left!" he ordered while sneakily retreating towards the right, where the Chrome Company should be able to escort him out of this bloody mess.


    The last Mordian battalion charged bravely into the maws of the genestealer Broodlords, while the Amazons focused fire on the middle Broodlord.


    An Iron Guard Sergeant jumped bravely right into a giant maw, then detonated his melta bomb, while a second Broodlord fell on its side due to losing a knee to the Amazons lascannons.


    However, the last Broodlord wasn''t scared at all, and plowed through the final Guard battalion right toward Cain.


    ''Damn it! Why me?'' Cain complained inward, while shooting the second shot of the Inferno pistol, and only burning out a single arm of the genestealer boss.


    Cain slammed the pistol back into the hip holster and grit his teeth. ''I was leaving, why do you have to follow me?'' he cried inside.


    "Hold strong, for the Emperor!" he shouted outward, since morale was quite important, even in defeat. Especially in defeat.


    A measured retreat would be much better than a panicked rout. Some people might survive that way, especially himself.


    The monster jumped forward and slashed wide with its diamond talons, then gulped the poor Commissar whole. ''This is it! I am dead.'' Cain thought as the maw closed around him and began crushing his light armor.


    ---------------


    "Huh? It seems luck is not enough, after all." I commented out loud, while storing the brave Commissar in my tesseract.


    "Woo?" Canis argued at my side.


    Hmm. My wise wolf might be right. I did change this man''s luck, or perhaps I was part of Cain''s story now. Everyone deserved a Deus Ex Machina rescue, and my Titan Legion deploying right now on Asphodex was even named after this trope.


    Still, that kind of dedicated targeting on the part of the Hive Mind, it didn''t sit well with me. The last Broodlord had intentionally ignored easier targets just to reach the good Commissar, possibly in an attempt to shatter morale or weaken the defenses of this planet. Ever learning and adapting, the damn xeno godling.


    With a flick of my fingers, the Iron Guard was returned to their barracks, while my techmarines continued the task of clearing the underhive, and get some live training too.


    Aspirants in their new Armed Sentinels and the proper Lamenters with their Dreadknights Leviathans formed the main force striking towards the psyker genestealer Patriarch, at the bottom of the Hive City.


    I kept a lazy watch over my troops, not that I expected any injuries against such weak opponents. My children and I trained on Space Hulks after all, without any armor or heavy weapons. Today it was merely a warm up, as my fleet tried to reduce the number of Tyranids approaching the planet from below the galactic plane. Lady Cassandra commanded the harassing fleet this time, from the Singularity battleship, while I had the task of creating a strong anvil to crush the bugs with, anchored by the Black Lament fortress.


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    The genestealers themselves would be considered mere biomass and devoured by the Tyranids once they made landfall, their purpose fulfilled by sowing rebellion and sedition inside the human defenses.


    But for that, the Sororitas and the Inquisitors in my fleet were now scouring and interrogating the nobility in the upper spires, using their Jokaero-made detectors to filter out infiltrators and infected among the rulers of this world.


    Some of the nobles including the Governor tried to fight back, urging their house Enforcers to resist, but since each Inquisitor had at least a Deathwatch company as escorts, plus thousands of Battle Sisters and their own retinues of agents, interrogators, assassins and techpriests...well. It rained blood.


    Meanwhile, the stockpiles of vehicles and munitions were being transferred onto the surface, while cooperating leaders were tasked with recruiting ten thousand PDF regiments to help defend the planet from the incoming bugs.


    With less than a month remaining, the training of the new soldiers would be rather low, and they would lack modern weapons or even standard Guard equipment.


    But hollow metal spears and spinning flails weren''t that high of technology that local factories couldn''t produce, and even plasteel helmets and chest plates should help protect the PDF troops to some extent.


    A hundred new manufactorums were converted from local factories to start producing new Hellguns and Heavy lascannons, while the chemical factories were being repurposed to produce explosive and incendiary munitions.


    Luckily, I did have thousands of techpriests to oversee the militarization process, while the Hive World would easily afford millions of tech-servitors to be converted from the local criminals and gangs.


    A few days later, I gathered my staff and the local commanders for a strategy meeting.


    "Commissar Cain, my old friend!" I exclaimed over the holotable as the brave man gulped his third glass of amasec.


    "... Yes?" he asked a bit fearful.


    "In recognition for your devotion to the Emperor, and your formidable service record, I herby promote Lord Commissar Cain to the rank of General-Commissar!" I commanded with a glance towards my Inquisitor wife.


    Lady Valeyne Lancefire grimaced for a second and nodded, a bit too slow. She wasn''t happy then. But I knew better.


    "Me?" Cain wondered while looking around for a hole to hide into.


    "Yes, Lord Cain. You will take command of the local troops, roughly 10000 regiments being raised to defend this Hive World, a meager 100 million men with nearly no modern weapons. My own forces will support you, wherever the fight is thicker or titan-sized enemies are present." I explained in a polite tone.


    In a few seconds, the man changed a dozen faces until he realized he wouldn''t have to lead from the frontline anymore. It wouldn''t be possible to command so many troops from the front anyways. A bit more relaxed, he set down his empty glass and leaned back into his chair.


    With a glance towards the enormous holomap depicting the situation on and around Asphodex, the new General-Commissar turned towards me and observed me for a long minute. "Why me, my lord?" he asked eventually.


    "There are a dozen reasons Lord Cain, but the most important is that the Hive Mind fears you. And if such potent enemy fears you, then you''re the best man for the job. I dare say, there are few individuals in the entire galaxy that the commanding intelligence over the Tyranids actually fears." I answered with a wry grin.


    All around the holotable, Astartes, Sisters, Generals and Inquisitors focused their gazes on this powerful menace that even the Hive Mind feared.


    "... That Broodlord, it jumped towards me. Priority target?" the Commissar wondered, mostly to himself.


    I shrugged carelessly, leaving the man to his delusions. I knew the man quite well, and he was mostly motivated by a powerful survival instinct, aided by a great amount of luck. And if the enemy was strong, that meant his survival depended on defeating the enemy, rallying troops and raising their morale. But no matter his reasons, once properly motivated the man was quite a genial commander who had trampled over Ork Bosses, Chaos Lords or genestealer Patriarchs by mere lucky aim or superb swordsmanship.


    And his Chrome Company was almost at the level of a Deathwatch bodyguard, the lucky survivors of his Catachan concubines donated by myself nearly 150 years ago.


    I was also certain the Emperor did have plans for the good Commissar, possibly something in the vein of a new Adeptus Terra order, that would bind the security of the Imperium with the Commissar''s personal safety.


    As the saying went, the Emperor was always watching, and Cain did have a holy relic Aquila marker glowing on the guard of his nice chronophage sword named Peace.


    "Lead us to victory, General Cain!" Lady Regina shouted, raising her own amasec glass in salute.


    Left without an avenue to escape, Cain raised his own glass and drank his sorrow away.


    Then, we began planning how to massacre the filthy xenos, and people began throwing ideas and stratagems forward. Some of them wouldn''t work on Tyranids, but humanity had plenty of other enemies. I had already located the Necron Magnovitrium weapon hidden under Phodia, and thus victory in this Cryptus_Campaign</a> was already certain.


    I made sure to remember every proposed trick or strategy, and began planning the next war, after this Hive Fleet was destroyed.


    For in this grim dark future, there was only war.

 The Vail Report

    Inquisitor Amberly Vail took another glance at her psychic-linked diary, the empty pages longing to be filled with more words, while the archeo-stylus in her hand quivered with anticipation.


    With a sad smile, she began drawing new words and schematics, in High Gothic. With a subtle twist of the Warp, the words were encrypted and encoded with the Ordo Xenos engrams as to deny the Enemy access to critical data. Hopefully.


    "To the God-Emperor of Mankind and my fellow Inquisitors, I hereby testify to the events of the Invasion_of_the_Stygius_Sector</a>, as witnessed with my own senses.


    As some of you may know, my new mission had been to observe and document the life and feats of Pef Lancefire, and his forces, at first at the order of Lord Inquisitor {Redacted} and later with follow up orders from High Lord Of Terra {Redacted} and Primarch {Redacted}.


    I will not go into much detail about Pef Lancefire himself, not only for my personal safety, as he is certainly able to observe me at any time due to the xenos artifacts like {Redacted}, {Redacted}, {Redacted} and Primarch {Redacted}, but simply because it is not relevant.


    Lord Lancefire himself has claimed to abstain as much as possible from ''cheating'', as he calls the use of his powers or artifacts, mainly because he intends for Humanity to achieve the same feats with their own skill and strength.


    In this regard, I can indeed attest to Lord Lancefire''s minimum use of outside forces, and instead using and abusing his own military forces to a degree not known possible or even theoretically proposed, not for human forces at least.


    Of course, the Lamenter''s Xeno Auxiliary units are not human, and they did provide a huge impact as force multiplier and distraction, as well as ambush and simple meat-grinding units on the frontlines, in addition to Warp-phenomena suppression or special abilities.


    Also, the feats of Primarch {Redacted} onto the battlefields of the Stygius Sector are also not the purview of this document, nor could they be, since the words would self-erase at the same speed I could write them down.


    Firstly, I will describe the forces brought into play by House Lancefire and the Lamenters'' Astartes Chapter, although some leeway should be given due to {Redacted} and {Redacted} abilities of Lord Lancefire to resupply or recover troops in the field.


    The Lamenters'' are indeed still Codex compliant and their Battle-Brothers'' numbers have never exceeded 900 in the field, although liberal use of tech-marines (about 2200 observed) and their thousands of Guardian walkers (roughly 200000 observed) did provide extreme levels of firepower and suppression comparable to a full Astartes Legion.


    However, the Lamenters themselves are rarely deployed as frontline units, as their doctrine calls of the use of the Lamenters Auxiliary Forces as the principal units to hold the field.


    Human Auxiliary units were mainly of Catachan genetic stock(with sizeable elements from Valhalla and Cadia descendants), and were organized as follows:


    Heavy Infantry: 600 regiments, or about 600 million troops, with integrated logistics and walkers (about 600000 Armed Sentinels of various types), Artillery: 100 regiments with over-strength numbers if compared to the nominal Imperial Guard(estimated 200000 artillery guns), plus anti-air and air-to-ground vehicles (roughly 400000 ground attack aircraft), Armor: 300 regiments of over-sized strength(roughly 300000 light tanks, mostly Chimera and Weasel patterns, 30000 heavy tanks mostly Ragnarok-patterns and some Leman Russ, 1300 super-heavy tanks of various Baneblade-pattern, (mainly Doomhammer models armed with twin-Magma Cannons).


    Of note in the above lists, the vehicles themselves are not the standard patterns used by Astra Militarum and other Imperium of Man''s units. Lord Lancefire has taken great care to upgrade these machines with new(or archeotech) auspex, weapons, armor and shields, plus various bits like enhanced tracks and logic-engines, thus giving his troops at least an order of magnitude of superiority versus similar vehicles from other forces.


    Adding to this were Forge Machine and Forge {Redacted} allied forces, plus the Knights of House Lancefire with about 500 Knights of various models(mainly armed with Volcano Lances). The Mechanicus units were rather secretive about their numbers and capabilities, but I did observe roughly 300 Titans in the field, plus assorted support and skirmish troops mostly made up of combat-servitors (estimated over 1 billion), Skitarii (over 10 million) and battle-automata (over 10000), plus a few {Redacted} siege engines.


    Various other allied forces were present, most notably the Adepta Sororitas with 6 priories (roughly 6 million troops with tanks and walkers support, plus the Silent Sisters {Redacted} Vigil, with their own 800 Knight-sized walkers of {Redacted} pattern), the Holy Inquisition''s Stormtrooper regiments, as well as the Iron Hands Astartes Chapter (and all their successor Chapters), 24 {Redacted} Astartes Kill-teams, {Redacted} and {Redacted} Assassinorum {Redacted} Clade agents, 6 {Redacted} Augur Teams for psychological-ops and lastly 2 {Redacted} human and cyborg operatives for noosphere surveillance.


    For space and space-superiority combat, the forces gathered to fight the Great Enemy invasion consisted of: Lamenters'' Strike Force of 5 battlebarges, 5 battleships (including the Glorianna-class Singularity) 62 heavy cruisers (including 40 Drop-cruisers) and 3 Universe-class fleet-carriers (carrying roughly 5000 starfighters, 1000 bombers and 1000 corvettes), plus the Black Lament super-fortress, then the Lancefire House Navy which consisted of 32 Battleships, 14 Battlecruisers, 491 cruisers and 87 escort carriers (carrying roughly 400000 interceptors and 40000 torpedo corvettes), various support, repair, supply and logistics vessels (over 1000 ships), and lastly the Adeptus Mechanicus Machina Basilikon Fleet with 7 battleship-sized Arks, 95 cruisers, 2 Forge ships and 4 platform XXL carriers (estimated capacity: 4 million servitor-brain combat space-drones and 4000 corvettes).


    Note that nearly every capital ship deployed was upgraded with Nova Cannons and thick {Redacted} armor and extensive auto-targeting point-defense batteries, plus Blank bridge crew, Blank Machine Spirits and improved Gellar field coverage.


    The other Astartes forces present were not quite as heavily armored or armed as the Lamenters, which did cause them significant casualities, not that I''ve noticed any complaints, quite the contrary. Immediate replacements were provided from the wounded soldiers in the Auxilia, often during high-intensity combat. I did also notice a large increase in tech-marine presence among the Iron Hands forces, generally at parity with the regular Battle-Brothers numbers.


    Sadly, I cannot go into detail about the extent of the Xeno Auxiliary Units deployed, mostly because of sheer numbers, distance or psyker-suppression effects involved, or entropic cascade and temporal distortions in the case of the Hrud.


    Auxilia Orks were easier to observe, but I believe Lord Lancefire used the greenskins as mere distraction or amusement instead of actual combat units, considering how often I heard him snicker or even laugh loudly once the Orks were being deployed. Note that {Redacted} or {Redacted} artifacts, or perhaps Alpha-level psyker-based telepathy is required to direct such xeno auxiliaries against an enemy. Bribing doesn''t work!


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    As for the local forces of the PDF, Astra Militarum or the Imperial Navy, they were of course present in large numbers in the Stygius Sector, at least in the beginning. However, considering that latter analysis demonstrated losses of upwards of a trillion soldiers per day(sector-wide) in the early phases of the invasion, I uphold Lord Lancefire''s decision to ignore local units and instead focusing on taking the fight directly to the enemy, instead of attempting to reinforce the disintegrating Imperial forces in the Sector.


    Simply consider the amount of invaders in the Dhobash_System</a>, for example. The Enemy had deployed 6 Titan Legions, 9 Knight Houses and over 20000 tanks obtained from Forge World Rho-Delpha</a>, accompanied by 18 hosts of {Redacted} Daemons and 3 entire corrupted Space Marine Legions. Local Imperial forces were overwhelmed in minutes, and once the {Redacted} and {Redacted} rituals had began, even the most loyal Imperial units had began defecting or suiciding en-masse, not to mention shooting at anyone they could see.


    In the void the situation at Tarkan Hive World was even worse, as the last Great Enemy had gathered a giant fleet that out-numbered the relief forces 100 to 1. Of course, they did not outnumber the Tyranid Hive Fleets released against them by Lord Lancefire and his {Redacted} xeno friend, an event which indeed created the setting and conditions for a latter victory against the Unified {Redacted} Front.


    Regarding the relatively low casualities from the civilian population of the invaded Hive Worlds (often in the thousands instead of trillions), this can be explained by Lord Lancefire''s softer heart (compared to a regular Inquisitor), and his liberal use of xeno {Redacted} and {Redacted} artifacts, as well as several interventions from Primarch {Redacted} and the Demonifuge {Redacted}, plus unconfirmed reports of glowing Saints or Faith miracles in places I couldn''t observe directly.


    Regarding the Eldar fleets and Wraithbone Titans deployment during the invasion, plus the rumors of divine intervention by several Eldar Deities or Avatars, a separate report has been sent to the Ordo Xenos Conclave at Aegida Station, along with the necessary document files, pict-captures and psyker-trance memory crystals of the events, in particular my own recordings of a Revenant_Titan</a> in combat against a {Redacted} Horde.


    A secondary report of the Forge Venatoria techpriests, Titans and {Redacted} Fortress and their suspected {Redacted} xeno overlords involvement has also been sent in triplicate, after the first copy has vanished in transfer.


    As for the curious case of Major Sly Marbo of the Special Operations Group, and his claims of 44 Titans and 97 Knights destroyed by his own hand, I could only confirm 6 Titan-kills via direct observation. Another 56 cases have been documented via battlefield auguries and after-action reports of nearby forces. However, it is my own presumption that our Major has in fact understated his feats during the Invasion, since the mysterious disappearance of the enemy''s 5th Titan Legion during the Prismata_System</a> Campaign can have little other explanation.


    Considering that Major Sly Marbo is also a Blank and has been observed to {Redacted} himself and displace objects with ease, I consider the man as dangerous as Lord Lancefire himself, at least on a personal scale. Hopefully, due to the man''s marriage into the Lancefire House, we do not need to worry about tracking him all over the galaxy as well.


    In conclusion, the combined intervention of House Lancefire, the Lamenters Chapter and the allied forces is estimated to have caused 97 percent loses to the physical invaders, including ships and vehicles, and 23 percent permanent loses to insubstantial invaders, as 67 percent non-permanent loses that could be restored with great effort by the Great Enemy. I could also confirm the death of Warlord Khardoff</a> and all of his officers and command staff.


    However, despite our best efforts the Archtraitor Ahriman escaped once more, even from a direct hit with a {Redacted} Assassinorum pulse.


    A note of caution, for those of our rank who might attempt to copy or emulate the feats of Lord Lancefire in other places.


    Make sure your Astartes units consist of Blank Space Marines or have been completely protected via Null Rods and similar means. Like my own {Redacted} Rod.


    Obtain the support and presence of a large number of Silent Sisters. Blank officers/retinue too.


    Employ the services of {Redacted} or {Redacted} Assassin Clade, or the use of God-Emperor''s own {Redacted} Titans.


    Get your own {Redacted} Fortress.


    Try to obtain {Redacted} or {Redacted} artifacts as to deploy Tyranid bio-titans at crucial points. Ordo Xenos rank or Rogue Trader Warrant required.


    Befriend one Primarch and ask him to join your quest. There are at least {Redacted} to pick from.


    Obtain Mechanicus support. Titans are nice, but only if they''re on your side.


    Ask Lord Lancefire to lend a hand. (Obviously the safest path)


    As for the aftermath of the Stygius Invasion, Lord Lancefire is still involved with the clean-up and the closing of various Warp-rifts, although other Imperial forces like the {Redacted} Astartes under Ordo Malleus and Primarch El''Johnson with his 42 Space Marine Chapters have also arrived to help. It is of course too late for the 91 worlds burned to a crisp via Exterminatus ordnance, as well as the 5 Imperial worlds that had been dragged into the Warp by the retreating {Redacted} forces.


    The Stygius Crusade also has the honorable mention of awarding the highest numbers of Astartes badges ever recorded, including over 4000 Imperialis</a> , over 3000 Machina_Opus</a> and 731 Imperial_Laurel</a> badges. Hundreds of other awards like the Marksman''s Honour and Iron Halo shields were also awarded for extraordinary feats of skill and bravery. Furthermore, 98 Lamenters badges called Writ Sanguinatus Mori were awarded post-mortem to fallen Lamenter Marines, including all their Apothecaries that did not posses Blank genes.


    By the powers invested in me, I hereby end this communique and send it to the higher Lords in the Imperium for evidence. Follow up reports inbound as more data is gathered.


    Amberly Vail, Holy Inquisitor of the Imperial Faith, Ordo Xenos and Ordo {Redacted}.


    Thought for the day: "Life is not measured in years, but by the deeds of men."

 Audiobook and the Last Omake: Of Wolf and Man.

    Thanks to a great fan named John K?nig, this book is now being published as audiobook on Youtube. It has a metallic yet feminine voice, oddly fitting to the setting. Imagine listening to your faithful Machine Spirit, and it will feel even better.


    link here https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCElL-U5W9hW-1PeuqKPxhdw</a>


    https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL0d0iUv24LCfd92HkfEHK6SrDdOltIizC


    Enjoy.


    And now, the loyal companion gets his own POV. All hail Canis, the Immortal Wolf himself.


    <div>


    <blockquote>Canis slept, and dreamed.


    Just as the big Golden Alpha said, he was now much more than a simple Fenrisian wolf.


    The Elysian Fields were now open to him in his dreams, and he could hunt as much as he wanted. Demons or Xenos, traitors or corrupt, none could stand in front of the Mightiest Canis. At least in his dreams.


    Sadly, the real enemies were slightly more dangerous than the ones in his dreams. For now.


    Leaping over an entire mountain, Canis rushed into a pack of Orks and rapidly ripped them to shreds, even ignoring their silly metal spikes and tiny pricks of molten metal they shot with. Mightiest Canis cared not for such minor inconvenience, and barely registered the glowing claw of the Ork Alpha while he crunched his melon head between his indestructible teeth.


    With the tasty mushroom brains also came the knowledge inside, as little as the puny Orks had. Not that Canis even needed such low knowledge, such as avoiding minefields or tearing cables out to disable the smoky machines.


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    He already knew all that and more, even in the harsher real. The Black Alpha has taught him well, even before the Golden Alpha added those ''upgrades''.


    New flesh organs powered up his muscles and speed, while the metal organs enhanced his mind and senses.


    Even asleep, Canis knew everything happening in the Black Flying House, tinniest vibrations being translated into locations and identities of anyone or anything moving inside the ship. Smells also gained increased definition, and now he could tell emotions or intent by the smallest change in the perspiration of a human, although the Eldar Black Man was still able to elude him. For now.


    His organs still needed more time to grow and adapt to his wolfish blood, and the brain-reading organ could only read fragments of the knowledge from his prey. For now.


    But one day, the Golden Alpha said, it would grow into a different one, able to digest souls as well. Animaphagion, the same organ his Black Alpha had.


    Mightiest Canis ran again, and jumped into a deep sea filled with small Krakens, just like those from Home, but smarter. Working in vicious packs, trying to devour him before he did the same. But unlike Home, he could move underwater and even breathe, and he tore the Krakens into small bits, easier to eat.


    In the real world, he would need to power up his rain shield, that smelled like fresh rain, and then take out the metal claws to do this, and much slower. In the Dream, Canis was way beyond such meager aids, as the Ancestor Wolf Spirit ran with him everywhere, like a second indestructible skin.


    Canis wasn''t there yet, and it would take many moon cycles to reach this in the real. Many more enemies to devour as well, and steal their purple mana for himself.


    But one day.


    Sighing softly, Canis dreamed more, hunting the enemies of the Alpha, just like the Ancestor Wolf did, since the beginning of the Pact.


    He was loyal and fluffy when needed, or vicious and bloody in combat, when the Alpha asked. Canis was still a good boy.


    For now.


    </blockquote>


    </article>

 The new Imperium

    It had been a long and grueling campaign against Chaos, and despite our overwhelming victory our loses were quite bad.Almost a third of our total ground forces had been lost, and over half of our machines as well, half of them to enemy damage, the rest destroyed by our own troops after they succumbed to Chaos corruption.


    And while the air force had proven extremely effective in providing close air support or deep tactical strikes, the losses had been even higher due to the inherent fragility of air-borne machines. They will need shields, or else we simply threw away expensive Forge time.


    I had a lot of work to next, even as the Black Lament traveled back home towards the Machine Forge.


    At my side, Primarch Ferrus Manus worked at his own cogitator station, trying to fix my imbalanced project of creating a new multi-laser type weapon, but instead of splitting the beam of a regular lascannon, I''ve tried splitting a Vulcan Lance beam.


    "You were too eager, Lord Lancefire! The concept is good, but your application..." the genius Primarch said in a humble voice.


    I sighed in pain. "You realize we still don''t understand the real science behind the Vulcan Lance. We are like children, matching bits of technology in new shapes, hoping something might work."


    "But you will find a way, right?" the angel-in-armor asked in a hopeful voice.


    I will. Once Trazyn gives me a new template. But this thing was rather classified. People had been burned alive for far less.


    Instead, I saved my project on a new dataslate, and opened the new shield model that I recovered in this Crusade, so called Ionic Flare Fields, a combination of Ion Shields and Flare Shields that surrounded a machine in a powerful yet less energy-draining defense field. These ancient devices were also locked behind a barrier of knowledge, but could provide humanity with light-weight shield emitters that could be portable on light machines like Sentinels and aircraft.


    "Take a look at the new IF shield when you can, smart Angel. I think even your regular Dreadnoughts will be able to power these light shields" I said and sent the new, damaged, STC template to my new work buddy.


    The Angel tilted down his helmet at me for a moment, then checked his cogitator. "Yes, very interesting device, this shield. I will make an effort while you sleep." Of course, the spirit Primarch had no bodily needs, so he could keep fighting or working non-stop. Made for a perfect lab assistant, in my humble view.


    I just waved a hand in goodbye, and tesseracted away to my own bedroom, where the resident Fringe Inquisitor, Lady Amberly Vail was already waiting for me in bed, and mostly naked, except some lingerie made of thin silk.


    "My dear, you look absolutely appetizing!" I admitted with hungry eyes.


    "... And?" she asked in a coy voice.


    "May I have the pleasure of your company, this night?" I asked politely as I slipped in bed beside her.


    Her lips crushed mine in hunger. Well then, hunger had to be sated, right?


    An hour later, the fun ended and my regular fucking duty commenced, as fertile women began to arrive in my bed, to get impregnated and help save humanity with our next Blank children.Only a dozen per night yet, but I would get stronger, I knew that.


    Once the Emperor had implanted my brain with some new special gland called Immortis, similar to the ones implanted in Primarchs, I have also recalled what my third build option was, the Ancestral Awakening. Thus, much like the Emperor and Sister Stern, I would keep getting stronger and stronger over time, in body, mind and soul. The Primarchs and the Space Marines also had this trait in their normal 40k method, as this other beings like Paternova Navigators or the Eldar Phoenix Lords.


    The narrative has been taken without authorization; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident.


    Glancing at Canis, who slept blissfully at the side of my bed, I mused inward at his future. The Emperor would have made sure I would have an immortal companion at my side, and one that would grow in strength as well. His Ancestral Ancestor would have to be Fenris himself, the wolf-god of the Space Wolves. There were rumors of a giant wolf-shaped creature that hunted Daemons in the depths of the Maelstrom. Good hunting in your dreams, my loyal puppy.


    With a tired body, I laid in bed and waited for blissful sleep. Darkness.


    "Good morning, Lord Lancefire!"a loud Blood Angel Sergeant boomed in my ear, way too soon.


    The tesseract view englobed near space, showing me the Blackstone Fortress and all the surrounding ships. A distant Eldar cruiser shadowed us, thinking themselves hidden by holoshields.My left index tapped on invisible cosmic strings, providing me with another Eldar cruiser and instead bringing out a thermos filled with black tea. A nice morning indeed.


    Ludvaius rose his remaining eyebrow, and scanned the bedroom for any intruder. "Woof Woo!" Canis protested, as if anything could by-pass his alert senses.


    "Anything new?" I asked in between sips of hot tea.


    "Astropaths report we have left the Astronomican range, with latest news before loss of contact of another Tyranid Hive striking in Segmentum Pacificus. Adepta Tertius and Primarch Khan were en route to stop it." my old friend said in a milder voice.


    Big news then. The Emperor wouldn''t send two big hitters unless there was a large danger. Khan himself could demolish a planet by himself. As for Janice...she was heavy backup for Khan. In case the crazy swordsman found something too big to slice away with the Dao.


    "I see. Any...special news?" I asked in a low voice.


    "Nine hundreds Auxilia were found infected with various Chaos-source agents and given Mercy." he added in a sharper tone.


    Amberly was working hard in her day job. The Inquisition had a hard job too.As expected. Fighting Chaos still created victims long after the firefight was over. The faster everyone was a Blank the better.


    "Your own Chapter is phasing out First Born marines. I expect you will soon receive permanent reassignment as my bodyguard." I said in a level voice and threw a knowing glance at Ludvaius. Couldn''t say Sanguinius wasn''t a realist. Once the cloned marines were available, bigger, faster and stronger than the old marines, even the Blood Angel himself was quick to discard the old version for the improved ones. The remaining old-stock Blood Angels were given escort missions to various important dignitaries like Rogue Traders or Admirals, or Governors and Generals, while the Cawl clones filled the ranks with better Primaris Space Marines.


    "Still better, than being thrown in a last battle to wash away the shame of our weakness." Ludvaius muttered in a sad voice.


    "Or being dissected for spare parts. Mars would be glad to have Marine-grade servitors." I answered with a snort. It was still possible, if too many discarded marines began to go traitor.


    Ludvaius grit his teeth in silence. We have both seen far worse things in this hellish universe.


    "The new Glory-class battlecarriers are supposedly nice." he said in a confident voice at the new Primarch flagships.


    "Hah. Five new ships will not fix the galaxy." I laughed out, thinking of the magnificent creations praised all over the galaxy as the best creation of the Emperor of Man. Sure, they were twice as large as a Glorianna, and even had their own sub-fleet of fighters, bombers and escort corvettes, but for their cost the Imperium could have made 500 Nova-armed cruisers and punched a far greater enemy in the face. Much like I just did with 496 cruisers of my own.


    "Breakfast!" I demanded instead, and moved us both to the nearest mess hall.


    Brother-Captain Semnai arrived at a fast walk to sit beside me at the table.


    "Chapter Master, what about me and Chyron?" he asked in a worried voice, while nodding towards Ludvaius.


    "What about you?" I asked rhetorically.


    "Orders have come through, from Segmentum Command. All Astartes First Born are to be dispatched as bodyguards..." Semnai grunted in a hopeless voice. He seemed rather upset too.


    "You realize how many children I have? As well as some Inquisitors? Just pick one" I mumbled in between bites, while Ludvaius just shook his head. Other chapters will be hit much harder, but the Lamenters had too many options.


    Semnai stop to think for a minute, as I drank the last of my tea. "You are rather cunning, my Lord. I will pick Inquisitor Ramaeus!" he said in a happy voice. Duh, he picked the only Inquisitor I was actually married to.


    "Go and study the new Inquisition protocols then! It''s been a century since you were part of Deathwatch." I pointed out in a lighter tone, as I stood up and transported myself beside the dead Angel.


    His armor just gestured at the hololith screen.


    Powering my savant implants, I absorbed the data on the screen. The genius of the dead Primarch was undeniable. While I slept, he actually solved the Ionic Flare shield. Not the final, robust version, but a working one nonetheless.


    "Tomorrow we reach Machine Forge, Primarch. Want to meet my C''tan friend? I keep him locked in my basement." I asked in a soft voice.


    A giant wing patted my head in a paternal gesture. "You have the strangest life in the galaxy, Lord Lancefire." he spoke with his modulated vox box.


    Coming from a dead spirit inhabiting a suit of golden armor, it sounded ever stranger.

 Rogue Trader

    "Just say hello" I spoke with a wry voice, as the C''tan shard stared at my Primarch friend.


    "He appears similar to those Immaterium constructs you call a Greater Daemon." Zarhulash said in a strange voice, both curious and weirded out.


    "The Emperor has been living in the Warp for the past 10 thousands years. We can even detect his domain in the Warp as the Astronomican, even here in the real world. But in the Warp, it''s called the Afterlife. I''ve seen it too, it is full of Angels and seraphs and other such beings." I explained in a calm voice.


    "And he has necrodermis plug ports too!" the C''tan added in a more enthusiastic tone.


    "Perhaps you could plug something there? Those green swords?" I asked with a smile.


    "A Phase blade? If he can power it with his soul, it would also become a fierce Force Weapon..." Zarhulash mused to himself, then spat out a tooth and began to reshape it into a weapon hilt, even adding a golden Aquila on the pommel.


    His time with the Ordo Xenos had served Zarhulash quite well.


    A few tests later, and Ferrus Manus gained a brand new Phase Sword, even better than those used by the Callidus clade assassins.


    "This was interesting, Lord Lancefire. But I must return to my duty. The Iron Hands need me." the Primarch spoke as farewell, then teleported out of the Pharos and rejoined his own Chapter.


    Wait, I wanted to ask you so many things...but he probably would not answer. Beside helping me craft some wonderful STC templates, the Angel didn''t seem to want to disclose anything about the Emperor or the Warp...


    Oh well. I wouldn''t be easy been him either. Dead yet floating about in Angel form.


    I took out my Sounding Board and began searching the range of Pharos for new interesting things, such as xeno invasions, Chaos incursions, Necrons killing things, more pirates, even more Tyranids, Orks being Orks, and all the fun stuff of 40k.


    "Searching for a new target, Pef Lancefire?" the resident C''tan asked in a friendly voice.


    "Always! But hopefully less mindless killing and more loot. Maybe even an STC?" I mused in a less hopeful voice. An entire galactic Sector and I barely found a single STC, that containing my new Ionic Flare shield. And since my searches were backed up by the omnipresent senses of a tesseract, I could be sure I didn''t miss anything. Damn STCs were indeed extremely rare, no matter what the lore said...


    "Ah, the fabled STCs you humans prize so much! You know there is a giant cache of them, right on board that Speranza Ark parked outside." the C''tan provided in a helpful voice.


    I sobbed inward, and just nodded. The Speranza might have plenty of STCs under lock and key, but for now it only allowed us access to the most basic tech, albeit including standard Baneblades and even Warlord Titans. Like children given only the safest toys to play. On the other hand, seeing how many of the same toys were wielded by the Chaos worshipers, perhaps it made sense to keep the dangerous stuff away from easily corrupted humans.


    "The Speranza is an over-controlling intelligence, with barely any human neurons. It wouldn''t give us access to advanced tech, lest we use it on other humans. And humanity is rather at war with itself as well." I answered diplomatically.


    "Hah! At least you realize what it is. Your Tech-priest friends are still bowing to its holy might five times a day, lighting incense candles and spraying holy oil..." the C''tan giggled in amusement.


    Still searching, I reached the Tau Empire and searched for some new tech, but it seemed they had also stalled. Even their Demiurg allies had left them...wait!


    If you stumble upon this tale on Amazon, it''s taken without the author''s consent. Report it.


    "The Demiurg! They had advanced tech I was planning to steal...I mean trade." I muttered in dismay.


    The C''tan leaned into his chains and stared at me. "I thought the working theory was that the Tau had obtained an ancient STC cache and were building upon that." he quoted, from my own fake explanation I wrote for the Tau-sourced STCs.


    "I was a fool! I mean a genius, but then a fool! I figured it out, then somehow fooled myself into thinking I fooled the rest. The Demiurg were the STC source!" I exclaimed in a groaning voice.


    "You thought the entire Ordo Xenos and dozens of Forge Worlds were all fools?" the C''tan asked me in an innocent voice.


    I slapped my face in silence. Of course my explanation was believable! It was the truth! I didn''t fool anybody but myself.


    No wonder the Tau tech was quite easily translated into STC format. I was merely working in reverse, much like I did for my entire life.


    "Want me to trace their ships?" Zarhulash asked in a mild voice.


    I sighed. Damn Rogue Trader build. "Price?"


    "My shard, from that Necron Overlord." he demanded in a gentle voice.


    "I bought an Eldar goddess once. I can surely buy a simple shard." I said in a defeated voice. Damn it! Trading for a C''tan might be too expensive.


    An hour later, I arrived at Solemnace in person, alongside my faithful wolf. The Necron citadel appeared even more powerful now, with hundreds of Necron war constructs guarding every hallway, while millions of Necrons stared at me with robotic eyes. It felt a bit creepy.


    A small Scarab floated on my shoulder, speaking in Trazyn''s voice. "You still can''t have my Titans, Pef Lancefire!" Bah, foiled again.


    "Take me to your leader!" I demanded and poked the scarab beetle in the glowing eye.


    The space shifted and moved me and Canis into a different tomb glowing with strange blue lights. In the middle of the cavern, hundreds of Necron Lords, Crypteks and other higher ranks were elbows deep inside a dormant C''tan.


    The Void Dragon himself.


    "Busy day?" I asked in a polite voice.


    A Necron robot body twitched as if caught by surprise. "We don''t get many visitors here, Rogue Trader." Trazyn the Infinite said in a grand voice as he emerged from somewhere inside the sleeping C''tan.


    "I see you like my gift." I observed in a mild voice, with a nod at the priceless C''tan.


    "Come, let''s talk somewhere else." he muttered in a low voice, as if ashamed of being heard. In a second, we moved again to his old rooms.


    "Big project then? I saw different dynasties here." I offered as a starting point.


    "Mostly those infected with the Flayer Virus. They hope to find a permanent cure here." Trazyn explained with a robotic smirk. They would find only work and more work, as the crafty Necron would never give them a final cure.


    "There is a shard of the Potentate in the Pariah Nexus. I need it, for something." I said in a level voice, while a pair of dataslates appeared in my hands.


    The Multi-Lance project and its bigger brother the Vulcano Cannon split weapon. I had no hopes to bring them to a final product phase by myself, and even the Angel was powerless.


    Trazyn took the slates and nodded slowly, while examining Canis with scientific eyes. "You know, the wolf is..."


    "I know, the Emperor has worked hard to grant me a worthy companion. Canis has a lot more to grow before he can eat something like a Void Dragon, but someday..." I said in a praising voice, and patted my wolf in encouragement. The mighty wolf turned and looked at me with intelligent eyes.


    Trazyn stared for a minute longer at my wolf, considering something. "The Potentate is a coward. But he does have Cosmic Fire, like you said. Useless to me now, but still, he should be worth something."


    "Fine! You can return the Tesseract Vault from Deimos, and we''ll trade by true worth again." I warned him in an angry voice. He gained a free Trancendant C''tan from that deal, not to mention the Vault itself.


    "Wait! I know, you''re far ahead since the last time. You can have a dozen Venatoria Titans, and these new toys. But, I do need a symbolic gift in return. My boss would not accept a loss for my Dynasty..." Trazyn muttered in fake shame, as if his Pharaoh would care about his sneaky deals with a humble human like myself. But fine. I did have something I wanted to be rid off. Eldar were no longer an approved target for Imperial forces anyways.


    With a smile, I transferred the sneaky Eldar cruiser that followed me, including the crew, except their personal weapons and armor. I had my own use for them, especially since my Obsidian Auguries often needed deniable kills for their job. A shuriken catapult sent a different message than a lasgun bolt in the head.


    "You still owe me for the Transcendant C''tan, Lord Trazyn. I will not ask anything now, since you''re busy with harnessing the Void Dragon, but someday..." I said as a parting gift, and waved goodbye as I was returned to the Machine Forge with a new tesseract containing an unbound C''tan shard.


    A dozen upgraded Titans would beef up my Titan Legion again, recovering my loses in the crusade, while the multi-laser style Volcano Lance and Cannon would upgrade my arsenal by an order of magnitude.


    Now, let''s see where those Demiurg went.

 Well-oiled

    "Lord Lancefire! You are needed on the Black Lament!" an urgent message stopped me from transporting to the Pharos.


    "My Lord, the Archmagos demands you visit her immediately!" a second message arrived on the Mechanicus Manifold circuit.


    "My dear, make some time and meet your lonely wife, can you?" a certain Inquisitor whispered in my mind directly. Velayne!


    Damn it! I wanted to explore the galaxy...


    Breathe, Pef! The C''tan could wait.


    So I tapped my fingers three times, moving myself to the Blackstone Fortress and bringing two anxious women in my presence at the same time. "Esteemed Fabricator, you look...well-oiled?" I offered in an uncertain tone.


    My wife pinched my side in reproach, so I possibly missed something. Quite possible.


    "We need to schedule the Forge''s production cycle for the next decade, my Lord." the Fabricator answered with a polite tone, but seemingly rather urgent. So I took out the latest STC dataslate and gave it to her, knowing it would keep her busy for an hour, at least.


    Then I rose my eyes, watching the brave Sanguinary Priests lose their momentum and step back, as if I was a dangerous predator. "What is it now, Brother Helios?" I asked their Chief Priest.


    "Well, we lost all the Apothecaries sent on Crusade..." he murmured with a wary glance at my Inquisitor wife.


    "As I predicted, even before we departed. You have replacements, I would hope?" I asked rhetorically. I knew I had ordered 400 new Apothecaries to be trained and prepared, and even if there may be delays...


    Brother Helios nodded and pointed at the conference holoscreen, where the training schedule was just listed. "We have 28 Apothecaries ready to begin duty, Chapter Master. As for the rest, 42 are still in the last stages, and..."


    The graph ended abruptly on the screen. 70 Apothecaries, and the rest failures. Still a good ratio compared to regular chapters, but damn. 330 dead young boys?


    Only two of the old Apothecaries remained from the initial ranks, now promoted as Lamenters Lorekeepers, since they were over 1000 years old and rather knowledgeable.


    "So we doubled the numbers of Apothecaries?" I said in a lighter voice, as if I could only see the full side of the glass.


    Brother Helios hesitated for a moment, then nodded. "It would seem so, my Lord."


    "Anything else?" I asked curious.


    "Well, there are 3000 of your special tech-marines that have returned from their Forge World training. And we still have 1255 surviving ones from the first batch. 4355 total, plus the three Forge Masters." he explained in a softer voice, this time glancing at the Fabricator tech-priest.


    "Again, we doubled their numbers, right? All is good?" I asked with fake joy.


    The Sanguinary Priest changed the graph once more, this time pointing at the Blank Brothers, thus my own sons and grandsons. "We took 81 casualties among the Battle-Brothers, and the last implantation cycle has produced 305 viable recruits, as well as 5 more poisoning cases. The supernumerary recruits can be sent to our allied chapters."


    I hugged my wife and frowned at the numbers. Nowhere near close to a million Blank Astartes I would need to replace the corruptible ones. Possibly 2 million now, with the extra founding of new chapters by fresh Primarch gene-seed, that churned cloned Primaris Marines by the thousands every day.


    ."What do you say, dear wife?" I asked with a nod towards the screen. The extra numbers were too small to make a difference anywhere. Two companies of Blank Astartes were too few.


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    Veleyne clenched her hand over mine. "I would say, 200 Culexus Assassins would make a difference, even at galactic scale."


    Both the Chief Priest and the Magi Tech-priest locked their gazes on the screen, then turned towards me with questions on their eyes. At my side, a Culexus Assassin de-cloaked and coughed lightly. "That would be a change. The temple training would only enhance their killing potential." Vaedrax mused in a thoughtful voice.


    "Like our own Alpha Legion. This has promise, my dear wife." I answered in a far-away voice, the savant implant already parsing thousands of potential applications. It could work. Or fail and burn me to ash. What training would my boys get? Would they resent me for ruining their lives?


    "You are skeptical. Don''t trust the Culexus Temple?" Velayne asked in a knowing voice. Ah, the wonders of an Inquisitor''s mind.


    "As I said, like our own Alpha Legion. Do you even imagine what hundreds of demented killers could do in my name? I can already hear them: I am Lancefire!" I grunted with a heavy sigh, aping the Alpha Legion motto: ''I am Alpharius!'' they all recited in their psychotic ways.


    "...They do say that a lot." Vaedrax muttered at my side, before going invisible again.


    "The Emperor Protects! Perhaps we should defer the decision to Him?" Brother Helios proposed with a wary glance at the former spot where the dreaded Culexus was last seen.


    "Come, Fabricator! We''ll go over the last campaign and decide what we can discard or increase." I spoke towards my loyal Archmagos.


    Over the next hour, we parsed the less effective machines I have used in the Stygius Crusade, discarding most close attack planes and the light armored Weasels, then renounced the Leman Russ tanks completely. The Ragnaroks had fared twice as good if not more.


    "Now the Infantry...what to do?" I hummed to myself.


    . "Your sniper rifles seem to have worked beyond expectations. I propose 400% increase." my Fabricator offered in a mild voice.


    "Finding 4 times more snipers would be hard, but fine. They may not be Scout Marines, but a heavy bolter to the face would still kill someone." I said in a level voice. Over 7% from all Chaos Marine kills were due to my snipers. If a small investment would increase this to 25%, would be awesome.


    "The Tarantula turrets...they become useless as soon as the front line moves. They will need to move with the front." she proposed with a glance at the resident Ominissian Emissary. Sure. I will give them wheels or something. Maybe legs, so they keep pace with the infantry? Small legs, but more of them...like spiders. Sigh, Tarantulas were spiders!


    "Chimera transports turned into fireballs as soon as they entered combat..." the tech-priest observed with clinical post-battle analysis skills.


    "They are not tanks...and the light tanks fared even worse. Perhaps a new transport vehicle, based on the Ragnarok chassis." I offered with a sad headshake. Then again, one shouldn''t use mechanized infantry as tanks anyways. Something to fix in the Academy training.


    "You would know better where to find such a holy template, Lord Lancefire. Perhaps the new shields can also help. They would sure help the poor Sentinels." she added in a wry tone.


    "The Sentinels worked great. 400% increase per regiment as well. A full division could field 40 thousands armored walkers, and the IF shields would make them battle worthy. Nothing else except an adamantium shell would provide proper defense against tank-level weapons." I said with a shrug.


    I quite loved my new Armed Sentinels, firing their Lascannons in deadly volleys. Not only they provided heavy weapon support, but they also carried their pilot in relative safety. Not quite power armor, but close enough. More was better here. The Tau did quite fine with their Fire Caste as well.


    The Fabricator shrugged as well, then shook a mechadendrite at me. "You know adamantium is quite hard to shape. And too heavy for Sentinels anyways."


    I know! "A single frontal plate will help though. If you remove the plasteel, it would only increase..."


    "By 18 percent in mass. The mass distribution would be off, the balance actuators would overheat, the engine would..." the tech-priest argued in a more logical tone.


    Okay fine. Heavy metal, I get it. I waved a hand off. "Shields then. Perhaps a small plasma engine instead of the Promethium VX. Not critical at this time."


    "Agreed, my lord. The Doomhammer variants have proven to lack engagement range. We shift to the Volcano Lance template?" she asked with a curious tone.


    Ah, my favorite tanks. Baneblades with twin giant melta guns. They would melt anything that got close, even Titans. But Chaos Titans had Volcano Cannons, they did not need to come close.


    As for mounting Volcano Cannons directly on the Baneblade chassis, I knew how poorly the Shadowsword variants fared. Not only they lacked a turret, but they also had to stop and charge their capacitors for a minute before firing. Made them slow and vulnerable, not that the enemy would stand still and allow them to snipe.


    What to do? Wait for now.


    "We don''t arm the new Baneblades yet. There is a new template in the works. A pulsing Volcano Cannon, like a multi-laser. And we keep the remaining Doomhammers. Tyranids do try to come close." I explained with a grin.


    A long metal tentacle extended and patted my head, then descended to grip my smaller lance. "You somehow manage to make my engine hot, Lord Lancefire. And I am well-oiled now." she purred with a mechanical voice.


    Oh well. I did have a strange life, in this brave new world.

 Teeth

    After spilling my gene-seed into Lady Gemma''s vitae-womb, I finally got a spare moment to hide away and tesseract into the Pharos, joined by a giant wolf named Canis.


    My C''tan friend seemed to be rather anxious for my return, eying my third tesseract gem with greed. "You got him?"


    "You doubted me? My heart is bleeding!" I quipped with a relaxed voice, while tapping the Lamenter sigil on my armor.


    "Release him already!" the ancient creature demanded, shaking his chains.


    "And when he instantly attacks me, I will be forced to kill him, my precious trade ruined. You don''t want to know what the devious Necron Lord forced me pay." I said in a calm voice.


    "I watched you trade with the Necron before, Pef Lancefire. I also know what happens to your enemies. I even helped at Commoragh, didn''t I?" Zarhulash pleaded in a more quiet voice.


    . Well, then. Let''s see if a century of indoctrination really worked on the C''tan. With a flick of my fingers, I brought out the spare shard, while my other hand held a Necron trans-dimensional beamer, just in case I was wrong.


    A giant statue-shaped being emerged beside Zarhulash and tugged gently at his chains. "You can''t leave unless we remove the heart, brother." the second C''tan spoke in a sad voice.


    "You have a chosen name, shard?" I asked curious.


    The being glanced at my green-glowing beamer, then froze as Canis growled in a low tone. "So, it is true. We are in deadly danger around you, Pef Lancefire." the C''tan shard observed in a cautious voice. It seems Trazyn was right, the Potentate was indeed a coward.


    "Very well. Your name will be Lash. Like a smaller brother to Zarhulash." I added in a careless voice, then stored away the useless beamer. If I had to use it now, I had already lost.


    "You seem to have designs for my future, human. Nobody names something unless they do." Lash observed with a smart inference. Then again. C''tan.


    "For now, you will produce Phase blades for my children. But to travel the galaxy at my side, you will need a disguise..." I muttered in deep thought. There were too many tech-priests and Ordo Xenos Inquisitors around, and they have practice detecting xenos.


    "The wolf will make a good shape to take, little brother. And if you need to fight, Canis is actually rather formidable already, even before you upgrade his weapons and shield." Zarhulash proposed from his wall.


    "...This isn''t the freedom I was promised!" Lash grunted while kneeling beside Canis to begin upgrading his shield collar and retractable claws.


    "Patience, Lash. The Rogue Trader is right. We need to acquire the rest of our shards, and the galaxy is filled with humans, Aeldari and others. I will provide overwatch support with the Pharos." Zarhulash spoke in a more confident voice while nodding towards me.


    Stepping back, Lash shapeshifted into a Fenrisian wolf, almost identical to my Canis. There were subtle differences, or maybe I was too used with my wolf not to notice. "Canis, point him out the markers which make him alien.You would know best how a wolf should feel." I added in a softer voice.


    Canis looked at me for a minute, perhaps testing if I was joking. Then he began circling the fake wolf, sniffing and clawing at wrong things, while growling softly. It took a long hour until Lash began to resemble a real wolf, even to my tesseract''s senses. "Wooof Wooo!" Canis howled loudly, then poked the fake wolf to copy him. "Woof Woo!" Lash tried, and got a giant paw slapping his head. Again.


    A case of literary theft: this tale is not rightfully on Amazon; if you see it, report the violation.


    More work to do. "So, you certainly had time to search for the Demiurg, right?" I asked with a tired voice.


    "Most of them have gathered at Tenebrae_9-50</a>, in the Octiss System. The rest have returned to their origin place, in the galactic center." Zarhulash explained as he centered the Pharos view on the system. Millions of mining drones were busy exploiting the asteroid minerals, while a hundred strangely shaped voidships held station near the sun.


    And inside the ships, short and bulky humans wearing different types of Void armor and human-looking weapons or devices, if clearly more advanced. Perhaps more advanced than the Mechanicus had.


    Jackpot! These guys surely had their own STC, and perhaps not a single one, seeing what they have done to the Tau.


    "Their tech looks human enough, perhaps Federation level." I muttered to myself, as the Pharos gently shifted the viewpoint to show me the inside of their engines. Warp engines, but small and advanced ones. And the Geller fields looked even stranger. Everything looked polished and clean, although the ships were clearly old, thousands of years old at least. Curious.


    "If your Speranza would truly help, you could have the same toys." Zarhulash pointed out with a wry voice.


    Pushing my mind strongly, I space-dragged a small dagger hilt and brought it into my hand. A plasma blade lit up the inside of the Pharos, making the wolves fall silent. Pretty much the best tech of the Mechanicus, among some lost human miners in the middle of nowhere. Miners that have upgraded the Tau to a minor power in a couple of centuries.


    "You have gotten stronger, Pef Lancefire. Before, you couldn''t have ported a single coin from so far away, not unless you had someone there to provide you an emotional link." the C''tan said in a slightly surprised voice.


    Straining myself even harder, I began stealing more small items and brought them back. Pens and dataslates, bolter rounds, even the glove of a void suit. My head began to swirl in a daze, and I decided to stop. I could steal everything once I entered that system in person, and without even a headache.


    "Let''s test your disguise, Lash. If you get your head blown off by the first Inquisitor, don''t blame me!" I demanded in a wry tone, then stored Canis away and moved onto the Machine Forge, where the new Titans were getting lots of oil and love from the resident tech-priests.


    "My lord, I hope you did not steal the God-machines from Forge Venatoria. Although, I doubt they ever had anti-grav plates able to support a Warlord Titan." A ranking Magi intercepted me, as I stared at the floating Titan being tested by Zeta, my darling Princeps.


    "Not stolen, but not quite legal either. It was a trade for a favor, to a certain person." I explained with a wink.


    "I see, my Lord. We will make haste to scrape the old markings then, and anoint the machines to our Deus Ex Machina Legion. The Ominissiah''s Favor comes in many forms, after all." the Magi answered after he failed to wink back with his mechanical optics.


    Lash walked at my side in the wolf form, pretending to be a smart wolf. Nobody seemed to notice the difference, so everything was fine.


    ''Incoming, angry female!'' the C''tan sent on my Manifold Circuit, proving the thing was very much not impregnable to malicious outsiders. Or at least those of C''tan ability.


    I turned and hugged my Princeps wife before she could start screaming. "We can''t give every Titan grav wings yet, my love. This heretic managed to modify a dozen, before he was chased away. I saved the poor Titans, but the schematics will take time to recover." I explained in a low voice, as Dae_Vergos</a> slowly calmed down.


    "You better make it happen, absent husband. My room, tonight!" she demanded as she ran away to climb into another floating Titan.


    Marriage saved, again!


    "Now, who could save my life and help me give my wife floating Titans?" I muttered to myself as I walked away, heading towards the Noble Knights in the next base.


    Lash threw a knowing look at the floating Titan and ran beside me. ''Making the grav plates would be difficult with your low tech, human. And what are those horrific teeth swords on these walkers?'' the C''tan asked in a repulsed voice, as we stared at a Knight-sized chainsword hanging above us.


    ''Our version of a chain blade. You should hear the sounds they make, as the adamantium teeth bite into tank armor!'' I quipped in a joking tone. They sounded quite horrific, I admit.


    ''I rather not. Wolf ears are very sensitive. I could give them real blades...'' the C''tan offered by himself. Well, I couldn''t say no to a few hundreds of Imperial Knights wielding Phase blades, could I?


    That Eldar cruiser I gave to Trazyn was already paying off for itself.

 Detector

    ''Those two men!'' Lash nosed at a pair of Sacristans that tended to a damaged Knight.


    I searched my implant, and brought up their files, both recruited on Boros when we rescued that Knight World. Heavily augmented with cybernetics, they were almost tech-priests in their skill with fickle machines, and worth their mass in gold. They have just returned with us from Stygius...


    ''What about them?'' I asked curious.


    ''Etheric disturbance. Type 3, contagious.'' the C''tan shard noted in a disgusted voice.


    I froze for a moment, even if the exact type of danger wasn''t certain yet. ''You better translate that in Low Gothic.'' I said while sending a message to my wife, just in case.


    The wolf-shaped Ct''an drew a deep breath, and twitched his nose. ''Corrupted recently. Now trying to corrupt this walker and install an etheric nucleus inside its processing core. Engaging!'' he answered with a loud growl, then flashed at speed towards the infected Sacristans. His claws extended out in mid-strike, flaring with green light for a second, before slicing the two intruders into a dozen distinct parts, all smelling foul of daemonic corruption.


    Velayne arrived at my side a moment later, with her Bone Staff already in hand. "I see you have everything in hand, husband." she offered with a thin voice, tingling with unspoken danger.


    "When the Emperor upgraded Canis, he installed a few new organs..." I explained with a calm shrug, then gestured at the wolf C''tan to keep searching.


    "And even Phase-tech claws. I knew the wolf was special, but now?" she murmured to herself, as my other wolf ran around, sniffing at the repair and logistics personnel.


    ''They taste foul, but I was rather hungry. This woman...'' the C''tan continued as he stopped in front of Felicia Tyber, my concubine and priceless help with many STC repairs.


    ''What about Felicia? She was an Ork prisoner once.'' I said with a tinge of pain in my heart. I hoped she wasn''t corrupted, but then Nayla...anyone could fall. Even Primarchs had fallen.


    ''Ork? Yes...she still has the Old Ones smell on her. Etheric disturbance, type 1, localized. You appear to use that knowledge for yourself?'' the C''tan asked me, sounding curious.


    ''Call this a double-agent plot. She can understand non-human machines.'' I explained with an inner frown.


    "Isn''t this woman your own concubine?" Velayne asked with a veiled suspicion. "She smells of Ork. But we knew that already." I answered her inquisitive voice.


    "How interesting! I wonder if we could chop that nose and...nevermind. The wolf''s nose is his His work as well." the Inquisitor faltered at my glare, realizing that maiming my wolf wouldn''t end well.


    ''I could build you a dozen etheric detectors, Rogue Trader. For a small price.'' Lash offered with a tiny snort in my mind, knowing I already considered the option.


    ''You can continue purging the infected, Lash. But other than Chaos or Tyranid corruption, you will ask for my approval. As for the price, make your offer carefully. There are thousands of other shards out there, some more pliant than others. You can ask your brother what I did to those that failed to comply.'' I replied with my own veiled threat. Then I turned to Velayne and smiled grandly. "My dear wife, although you parsed your request poorly, I understand. You may receive an olfactory-etheric detector one day, when I managed to copy it."


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    The Inquisitor measured me from head to toe, then glanced at the fake wolf that sped up to sniff at more and more Forge personnel. She then leaned on her Bone Staff with a thoughtful look on her face. "This smells like another of your outrageous trades, my dear. More Necron magic?" she guessed at random with her Ordo Xenos honed senses.


    "Necron? I doubt they have this thing exactly. Maybe similar though." I mused softly, mostly to myself. Trazyn did have his Jokaero task group, which already provided me with omni-sense eyes and visors, but they were clearly not as effective. Smell detectors though, I may have lucked out again.


    "More dubious tech that would make my work so unbelievably easy? Tell me more, dear husband!" Veleyane demanded in a throaty voice, promising pleasure or pain, at her discretion.


    I vacillated for a second, then picked pleasure. "We will discuss this in private, say later tonight?" I offered with a coy voice, then walked away rapidly, already busy cleaning up the gory mess left behind by Lash. Sweep the infected corpses into the sun, then wave my all-cleaning Necron wand...I should choose another profession soon. Becoming the janitor of the galaxy was going to be tedious.


    I wasn''t joking either. Cleaning the mess left behind by the Crusade took me a whole month, and gave the C''tan shard thousands of souls to feed upon.


    Building the etheric scanning device wasn''t as easy as I hoped either. We couldn''t simply use blackstone for everything, with humanity being as xenophobic as ever. Making it look like an elephant''s trunk like Lash proposed, wouldn''t work either. Biotech wasn''t used much by the Imperium, except for certain internal augumetics.


    In the end, we picked a wrist watch look-alike, with a dozen thin needles poking the nerves under the skin and connecting the user with the device via bio-electric signals and neural feedback. It was painful to use, and even smelled a bit like the normal 40k cyberware, so it was perfectly fine. When I pointed mine at the real Canis, the detector screamed in my mind of a major Type 5 disturbance, if localized to a single individual. I was right, the Emperor did boost my puppy with his version of a Great Warp Angel, or maybe Daemon. Heavenly Wolf, I decided as Canis sniffed at me then turned to stare at his competitor.


    ''Now you see what I see, when you look at your innocent puppy.'' Lash added from the side, then managed to raise a hind leg and scratch his head.


    ''You say he can also devour souls, like the C''tan?'' I asked instead as I leaned into my wolf and scratched his chin.


    ''He needs time, to grow and develop the animaphagion gland. Just like you do, Pef Lancefire.'' the C''tan answered with a piercing gaze at my forehead.


    Whoa, he sprang the news on me mercilessly! Then again, I was to one to feed two C''tan shards to the Emperor. Now that he got the taste, I doubted the Emperor would stop at two.


    I looked to the wall, where Zarhulash still hanged impaled by living metal chains. "I will depart for Octiss soon, maybe tomorrow. You have some nice targets en route, Mighty Zarhulash?"


    The C''tan nodded and made the hololith screen connected to his toe lit up. A number of worlds began to scroll, each with their own interesting loot or adventures. I linked to the Sounding Board and began scanning the galaxy and systems on the way with the Pharos, until I had a dozen points to create a route. As each target world demanded a different level of authority, I had to make sure to bring the appropriate ships and companions on this quest.


    Rogue Traders had little power inside the Imperium, even those like me, with a signed Warrant. An Inquisitor was required, as was an Astartes fleet and some Forge tech-priests, even a Forge ship. A dozen Indomitus ships from the Imperial Navy, then transport ships, supply, refueling...it was still a Crusade Fleet anyways, not that the Black Lament Fortress was weaker than any Imperial Fleet by itself.


    In total, 8 battleships, 4 battlebarges, 122 heavy cruisers and 12 escort carriers would form my ranging fleet, those that have escaped from the Stygius Crusade with the least damage. The rest would need years or decades in dock, or be melted for metal and forged into new vessels. Barely a third of my grand fleet, but still powerful enough to contend with nearly everything this evil universe could throw at us. I started with a single light cruiser though, so I wasn''t really unhappy.


    First target, another Blackstone Fortress, the so called Eighth_Blackstone_Fortress</a> . Once recovered and upgraded, it would nearly double my fleet''s mass and firepower by itself.

 Invisible

    "Ouch, damn it father! You said it hurts a little..." Victor Primus Lancefire complained like a child, as the needles of the precious Etheric detector sank into his left forearm.


    Romulus ran at his side and smelled the bleeding arm with concern on his wolfish face. Then licked the blood, as if his germs would help the wound heal faster.


    "Leave it be, Romulus. I can deal with a little pain." Victor grumbled as his Blood Angel bodyguard snickered in a soft laugh. He was only human, not a bio-engineered supersoldier.


    "Governor, you could forsake this weakness easily, you know? My progenoid-glands are full, should you accept a gene-seed implant..." the Blood Angel Veteran offered with a kind voice.


    Victor sighed inward. Again, the same thing! If father had wanted his first born to be a Space Marine, he would be already, possibly even at Captain rank after a century of service. ''Type 5 minor disturbance, localized.'' the detector provided in his mind as his hand stopped in front of the armored Astartes. Working perfectly, as expected of C''tan xeno tech.


    The Tesseract crystal hidden in a pendant at his neck tingled with a subtle warning, as a corvette-sized vessel Warped inside the Illevar system, filled with...some kind of modified humans.


    ''Dad! Look here!'' he whispered in his mind. Nothing reached back, meaning father was already away from the Pharos.


    Oh well. Time to be a real Governor then.


    He tapped his vox bead in his ear. "Mother, there is an incoming ship. Human but...strange." he spoke on the vox, hoping Lady Decima Lancefire would have more knowledge.


    His Astartes bodyguard checked his combi-bolter, while Remus ran from the balcony and pressed the green button on the door, sealing the spire from the outside. How did the wolves know?


    "We hear you, Governor! Auspex scans are clear. Invisible, perhaps?" mother answered from the Lancefire Admiralty base with a worried voice.


    The Blood Angel cough lightly. "They could have a Reflex_Shield</a> . Some Deathwatch kill-teams used that device for high secrecy missions."


    Victor blinked and wrote the words on his implant. Something father would be very interested in, no doubt. "Corvette size, invisible to augurs. Imperial black ops. Recommendations?" he asked on the vox, while already preparing a couple stratagems in his mind. Using the tesseract openly was not advisable, except if...


    Maybe it was another Emperor-granted mission like last time, when his sister Janice came and absconded with the Black Lament?


    Or when Major Marbo stole a dozen Exterminatus torpedoes from the Lancefire armory?


    Or maybe, when mother Elixa arrived on an invisible Vanus Temple shuttlecraft? Wait!


    He searched through his implant for today''s unique code, and sent a Manifold message to the Obsidian Mother, including a description of the ship and his suspicions.


    ''You were correct to disturb me, Governor. These people are not Deathwatch, but Temple agents. Which Temple though?'' Lady Elixa de Mornay wondered in a strange voice.


    "Just wait, and observe for now. We will run a number of auspex tests, while the Obsidian parses the description through the cogitator database." Lady Decima spoke in a sharp voice, then turned off her bead.


    Victor sighed and patted the anxious wolf on his nose. "A Temple ship, arriving unannounced and invisible. What could they want here?" he mused in a low whisper.


    The giant Blood Angel tapped the blood drop sigil on his armor. "They already have a ship, and wouldn''t need your Dynasty resources. Perhaps hunting someone?" the Astartes answered in a thoughtful voice.


    "Maybe they want Obsidian access. We do have a huge network all over Ultima Segmentum." Victor answered with a frown, then sat down at his cogitator to wait. A new STC dataslate arrived with the C''tan watch, containing some new templates, damaged or unfinished. Father wasn''t shy of passing more hard work onto his heir.


    Scrolling through the new templates, he could easily see which designs were original and which were father''s usual failures. Ionic flare shields for aircraft or Sentinels...only the largest vehicles had Ion shields in the Imperium, yet father wanted to give all his units some type of shield. And a better variant, covering all around and even countering projectiles. Ferrus Manus, the Primarch of the Iron Hands was listed as the creator...


    Sure, it was easy to shift the blame on a dead man, and Primarchs and Saints were mostly unassailable by the priesthood of Mars.


    Celestine pattern multi-lance. Celestine pattern multi-cannon? Was father still grieving for the dead Saint?


    ''Etheric disturbance, type 2, inverted.'' the detector chimed in his mind, as a certain invisible Eldar Solitaire entered the room without been seen by the Blood Angel or his Fenrisian Wolves.


    "Lord Mnemorach, care for a drink?" he offered politely as he took out a bottle of amasec from his drawer.


    "Oh? And now the son begins to match his father. Did you see that Assassin ship?" the Solitaire asked as he sipped from his glass, ignoring the fuming Astartes.


    "Yes, it''s all the rage at the Admiralty. They keep cycling the auspex frequencies, hoping to see a glimpse on their screens." Victor explained with a light voice, and took a larger gulp of amasec, for courage.


    He knew what the Solitaire was capable of, even outmatching Mother Ordella in speed and strength, and she was their strongest Omega-minus Pariah.


    "I hope the Culexus are not here for me or my ward. It would be a shame if our fight demolished this fair planet." the Eldar Harlequin said in a careless voice, sounding unconcerned for his safety. Then again, he and Mother Stern had demolished an entire galactic sub-sector by themselves. A mere planet was only spare change for those two.


    "I would hope you can behave, Lord Mnemorach. My father has authorized me to use drastic measures in case of clear danger." Victor muttered with a tired voice.


    "And you have a new wrist watch as well. Quite a complex disguise for a...well. I should go and stay by Stern''s side, lest she flares a lightning storm by accident." the Solitaire added as he sped outside, stealing the amasec bottle on the way.


    Amasec bottle, lightning storm...in the end it was a fair trade. Victor glanced at his bodyguard and he rushed to seal the door again.


    Victor picked the dataslate again, and almost had a heart attack.


    Hidden in the last words on the dataslate, there was an encrypted field for a stellar coordinate, marked with the Black Sigil of the Obsidian. Three people could read this code, Father, Janice and himself.


    Unrestricted use of tesseract, even at the risk of discovery. A Ninth_Blackstone_Fortress</a> reserved only for the Lancefire Dynasty.


    And the Culexus Temple had just sent an invisible ship, while father was away on a new Crusade. He took out another amasec bottle and drank directly, ignoring the fancy Noble status of his Governor rank.


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    A Blackstone Fortress was powerful enough to snuff Great Daemons or close Warp Rifts. And a powerful Pariah could use its beam to drain a Warp God to death. Even Father had done that, once.


    Maybe a single bottle would not be enough. Victor felt his shoulders buckle under the weight of his duty.


    A giant palm covered his head, and patted him gently. "Don''t worry, Governor Lancefire! As long as I draw breath, I will keep you safe." the Blood Angel declared in a confident voice.


    Victor took another big gulp. He was a Lancefire and feared nothing. And he will soon get the means to kill anything, even Gods. There weren''t many Gods left.


    "They are moving towards the Admiralty Base." Victor announced after almost two weeks of tense waiting.


    "We can see them now, Victor. They seem to have reverted to standard Void shields." former Captain Chyron spoke on the vox, sounding as bored as ever. Then again, the poor man had lived and endured far more than anyone here, Except perhaps Mother Stern who died a few times. It wasn''t really a good comparison to make.


    Now Chyron had been decommissioned as a Lamenter active cadre, and served as bodyguard and advisor to Lady Decima in her capacity as the Lancefire House Fleet Admiral. And considering that their House now had over 2000 Warp capable voidships, and hundreds of Macharius-drive non-Warp capital vessels...his mother controlled the largest Navy in the Eastern Fringe, and quite possibly the largest private war fleet in the galaxy. There were mining consortiums and trade guilds with more ships inside the Imperium, but those were merely transport barges and such.


    "Just ask them to remain on their ship. We already have enough trouble with a single invisible assassin running around." Victor said in a tired voice. No wonder his father had placed the burden of the Eldar Solitaire as far as possible, and into his hands. Mnemorach even glued his two wolves together at the hip! Some kind of strange joke of Eldar make, most likely.


    Romulus perked up and stared at him for a second, before crouching and licking the patch of missing hair. On the other hand, the wolves didn''t shred his bed for a month, always trying to stand alert for another prankster. Perhaps it was good trade? It wasn''t his skin, after all.


    "Take a small sip only, Governor. If they are Culexus, you will need all your wits for your trade." the Blood Angel spoke as Victor grabbed the amasec bottle without knowing.


    "I just wished father was home, instead of fighting whatever xenos he found at Moebius</a> " he answered in a low growl, then opened the door to find Mother Stern and her side-kick already waiting.


    "Victor, morose and depressed as ever!" the Solitaire exclaimed in a joyous voice.


    "Yes, yes. Now let''s meet these guys and see what they want." Victor answered with a pained sigh. Then he opened the mind-link to the tesseract and moved the three of them inside the Temple ship, just as it docked.


    Surprise was a precious resource, best employed to your own advantage.


    ''Etheric signal, type 5. Hidden.'' the wrist watch pinged into his mind, pointing at an empty alcove at the side of the door. An Imperial agent, cloaked somehow. Victor checked the tesseract vision, finding a giant man wearing a cowl, right where his eyes saw nothing.


    "You saw this man before?" he asked the Solitaire, as the Harlequin became still and cautious suddenly.


    "Not him, but the same kind. Inside the Golden Throne. They wore golden armor there." Mnemorach spoke softly, while tugging at his ward to stand back.


    The invisible man ignored the Solitaire and moved suddenly just beside Victor, already holding his left wrist and examining the detector. "I will need a watch like this too." he spoke in clear High Gothic, and his eyes flashed golden for a short moment.


    ''''Etheric signal, type 5, inverted'' his watch chimed softly as another invisible person appeared in the corridor.


    Victor nodded at the new invisible shape. "A Custodes without armor and a Culexus Temple Pariah. I sure hope you have the right accreditation to be here."


    "I serve as the Emperor''s eyes, now that I am too old and frail for bodyguard duty." the Custodes said in a softer tone, almost ashamed. Then he produced a lion shaped sigil, emitting the Emperor''s House codes. Victor sighed and shook his head, forcing himself to withstand the engrams long enough to close the Manifold circuit and lock his MIU implant.


    "Old and frail, he says." Mnemorach laughed and took Stern''s hand, as they both vanished in a flare of light.


    "Let''s have a drink and speak. You have traveled a long way to reach Illevar. " Victor proposed with a glance at the still invisible Culexus.


    "They can''t be all like their father, can they?" a feminine voice asked in a curious tone, making the Custodes nod slightly. "Not all of them. I heard the Adepta Tertia is special though. And now this boy. Victor Lancefire, I presume?"


    Victor had already sat down and had an amasec bottle in hand. Three glasses fell onto the marble table, clicking with crystalline sounds. "I believe you have come for a trade. Selling or buying?" Victor asked calmly as he poured the drinks.


    The Eyes_of_the_Emperor</a> agent chuckled lightly, and took a small sip. "Have you forgotten your duty to the Emperor, young Lancefire?"


    "Have you come to rescind our Warrant?" Victor asked with a small smirk. Their Warrant of Trade was signed by the Emperor himself. Father also had friends in the highest places, not only enemies.


    "Good. As I said, I am not the one to induce violence, nor could I win such a contest here. And Lady Stern had killed a Culexus agent before. We can realize when we are outmatched." the giant man spoke with a glance at his comrade.


    The woman took off her strange helmet, revealing a pretty face with short blond hair. The suit hugged her body closely, revealing an enticing shape... "Good amasec. Expensive." she murmured in her glass, almost like she was enjoying the appreciative looks of their visitor.


    Victor remained silent, as he observed the strange Custodes calling himself an Eye of the Emperor. His body was covered in scars and injuries, and several bionic augments replaced lost parts.


    "You have millions of Blanks here." the Custodes spoke after a minute of heavy silence.


    Victor nodded, as their presence was hard to mask for those with enough power. "Very few of them are able to become Space Marines. Those than can, they already do." he preempted the demand. Father''s Primarch, Lord Sanguinius had demanded the same. Too few were born, and many died during implantation anyways.


    "I suspected this was the case. Which is why I brought her. The Culexus temple has the technology to fix this problem. We hope." the man said in a soft voice.

 Moebius report

    ''Hold strong, Amberly. He is on our side!'' the fearless Ordo Xenos Inquisitor whispered in her mind, focusing on the task at hand.


    Once more, she had to write a report to the Aegida Conclave, and very likely the report would once again reach Holy Terra and the eyes of the Emperor himself.


    "Hereby, I describe the events I have witnessed personally or by augur relay, during the Moebius Campaign.


    As instructed, I still follow the life and deeds of Rogue Trader Pef Lancefire, now bestowed with other Imperial ranks such as Astartes Chapter Master, Terra Nobilitae and others.


    The target of this campaign was a Necron crownworld, the capital of a Necron Dynasty called Nekthyst_Dynasty</a> . These xenos had been engaged in a long war with an Ork Waagh, and thus were already on a war footing, also having captured or destroyed several Deathwatch Kill-teams sent to obliterate their leadership.


    The planet itself was not a standard Necron Tomb World but a maze of hyperspace corridors which trapped and bewildered any attackers, which is how the besieged xenos had managed to survive the aforementioned Ork Waagh.


    Did that stop Lord Lancefire? Obviously not!


    While the Crusade fleet had less than 150 capital ships and 5000 escorts, it was sufficient to bombard the damaged planetary shields and defenses, and provide an entry point for the following ground invasion.


    In a strange and uncharacteristic method for their usual deployment, the Lamenters attacked with their full chapter in force, often sword in hand, while their Lamenter Auxilia units followed at a sedate pace with heavy support from their Armed Sentinels


    Although some use of Ork or Tyranid Xeno Auxilia was noticed, I believe Lord Lancefire simply used the Xeno Auxilia to enrage or distract the enemy while his Lamenter Astartes and their human Auxilia advanced at speed through the hyperspace maze, cutting down millions of Necron Warriors with unbelievable ease.


    A small number of Titans and Imperial Knights forced the maze open for the troops to pass through, but they remained outside and waited for the expected victory.


    And how did they achieve this victory? This time, the Lamenters and most of the Auxilia Armed Sentinel walkers were equipped with Phase-blades, although glowing a dull emerald green instead of the bright electric green used by certain assassin clades, such as the Callidus Temple.Could this be another archeotech STC discovered by Lord Lancefire? I do not know yet.


    Over 4000 Lamenter Tech-marines and about 160000 Guardian remote walkers aided the rapid push, while proving a significant increase in accuracy and coordination, by using more Tech-marines to control the remote walkers. It was an amazing sight to behold, as if an entire Astartes Legion of old had returned through time to crush the humanity''s enemy.


    In a single day, the Moebius Campaign came to an end with a giant battle in a Necron Monolith, where the Necron Phaeron</a> Oblis the Enslaver</a> tried to use Deathwatch hostages and various booby traps in a desperate last stand, only to be casually clawed to death by Lord Lancefire''s Fenrisian wolf called Canis. It is a giant wolf though, and his claws appear to also feature Phase-tech by their emerald glow.


    At least a quarter of the Necron World still stands intact and will be bestowed upon the Deathwatch as a new Watch Fortress, now that the Necron inhabitants have been all destroyed with impossible ease, and three quarters of the maze had been returned to real space by some unknown means.


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    Was is worth the lives of over 50 Blank Astartes and over a million Lamenter Auxilia? Most obviously so, now that Lord Lancefire had completed the second half of this campaign and obtained another Black Fortress for his chapter.


    Startling still, the Lamenters Chapter appears to have returned to the full 1000 Battle-Brothers number not even a day after the fleet departed from Moebius, heading for a new target in this strangely named Demiurg Crusade.


    Is the Crusade name connected to those rumored Tau allies that may have provided the Tau xenos with STC templates for their rapid technological development? I do not know, but I believe it so.


    Further updates to come as the Crusade continues.


    Amberly Vail, Holy Inquisitor for Ordo Xenos and Ordo {Redacted} .


    Thought for the day "Compassion is reserved for servants of the Emperor: aliens deserve only our scorn."


    The blonde Inquisitor sighed as she flared her new Alpha-level psyker powers and sent the psychic-link page directly into the mind of a Sanctioned Psyker at the Aegida Station.


    She did not mentioned her own involvement in the battle, as self-praise was not appropriate, especially to the Emperor of Man. He would know of her giant lightning arcs and millions of Necron kills anyways. No need to brag.


    Not to mention, because the Lamenters were immune to psykers powers, her lightning didn''t cause a single injury to the front lines, unlike any other time when she had to intervene directly. Some young Lamenters even joked with her and called her ''Miss friendly fire''.


    "Sniff" she heard a sound right behind, then she closed her diary and turned around, to find a giant wolf head staring at her from above.


    "Canis, when did you enter my room?" she asked with a start. Sneaking up on an Inquisitor was nearly impossible, and one with Alpha-level powers even more so. And yet, this wolf did so, easily.


    The wolf glared at her with intelligent eyes, then nosed her holithscreen, making the galactic map center on another star system. Then he emitted a low growl and vanished, again without trace of a Warp teleport or anything similar.


    ''Damn it! First it was a Primarch keeping his ghostly eyes on me, now a wolf?'' she muttered inward with a shiver. She had always known the wolf was strange, and more intelligent than any animal had the right to be. I mean, the wolf even had a Mind Implant Unit, for Emperor''s Grace! Not to mention a collar shield and now Phase claws.


    She decided to avoid mentioning the wolf again in her reports, it wasn''t worth it. Pef Lancefire himself was difficult enough, without involving a strange wolf that was modified by Emperor for who knows what purpose.


    She still checked the new Octiss system on the screen, then began searching for more information in the cogitator banks. A dozen failed searched later, and after using her Clavis over-rides she found a hidden message: Colonel SP47 of Geno Seven-Sixty Spartocid</a> ''suspected Alpha Legion presence, departing to investigate'', followed by a date in M30. During the Horus Heresy? No other messages either, probably meaning that old Imperial Army regiment was doomed, and this Colonel had died without completing his report.


    What was she involved in now? How did the wolf know about this? Luckily, she had Pef Lancefire and his impossible powers at her side. Even if this was an Alpha Legion base, and even if Primarch Alpharius was there and waiting, she was confident in victory. The man had killed a Primarch by accident once.

 Wings

    When I entered the command bridge of the Black Lament escorted by two giant wolves, my crew simply shook their heads, and ignored me.


    What were they going to say, when their Chapter Master acted strangely again? ''Boss, you''re being weird!'' Things didn''t work that way in the Lamenters. Maybe Captain Semnai would have said something, but now the man was safely away with my Inquisitor wife, on the other side of the Astronomican.


    Inquisitor Vail rose her eyes to stare at me and my wolves, and just shook her head. "We''re coming upon System Octiss in a few minutes, Lord Lancefire. I have some information about this place, it was perhaps a base of the Alpha Legion, long ago." she spoke instead, avoiding to look at either wolf.


    "Curious. I know it was a Necron base even longer ago." I said with a thin smile, while feeling ahead with the tesseract senses.


    The Inquisitor pursed her lips, and she produced a glowing white ball in her palm. Good, we will have our lightning storm if things went bad.


    Just like my Pharos vision had shown, the place was full of Demiurg mining drones, as well as a decent fleet, almost matching my own in numbers.


    "Captain Teresa, maintain widest auspex range with the planar line, deep below." I ordered to my new Ship Mistress, as I now preferred to focus on the wider view, without controlling the ship myself.


    Not that my recent action model would allow this, being headfirst into battle and leading the Lamenters in the field. It sounded a bit silly, even Black Templar silly, but it worked. Charging headlong into melee might sound suicidal, but not when wearing blackstone armor plates and wielding Phase blades. The C''tan blades were weightless and could slice through any armor or shield, as the Necrons on Moebius discovered to their surprise.


    "As you order, Lord Lancefire! Descending to maximum auspex depth." my daughter Teresa answered from her command throne, taking the Black Lament and the rest of the fleet beneath the orbital plane of the system.


    In several minutes, the augur screen lit up with the Demiurg fleet, but barely sensing the numerous but small mining drones.


    "These would be the Demiurg?" the Ordo Xenos Inquisitor spoke softly, while leaning on her Bone Staff to get a psychic read for herself.


    "The ships look strange, but they are human, Lady Vail. And likely more advanced than our Adeptus Mechanicus." I added in a clear voice, making our tech-priests perk up with tingling senses. Grabbing some advanced tech was their holy mission, after all.


    "Human, you say?" Lady Vail muttered in a low tone, almost doubtful.


    "Well, not like us, I expect. But their language and runes originate from Terra. North Europae district, if my lore is correct." I answered while producing a different, but certainly human design dataslate running a runic script.


    The Inquisitor took a short glance at my dataslate, then nodded. "Probably Skandic. I would guess they departed before the Great Crusade."


    Huh? My lovely blonde lover was quite a cultivated woman. Or, she knew more than she told me. Quite possible as well.


    Zarhulash had only mentioned a Necron Pylon preventing Warp travel to this system, and nothing about some Alpha Legion base. Then again, he was well asleep during the Horus Heresy times.


    "We will reach optimum deployment position in a minute, Lord Lancefire. These ships do not appear to have noticed us." Teresa announced with her implant linked into the command throne.


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    However, auspex readings did not show us the inside of the Demiurg ships.


    "Oh, they are aware now, Captain! The crew are rushing towards their combat stations." Inquisitor Vail exclaimed with a strident voice.


    ''Should I engage?'' Lash asked on the Manifold. Hmmm. Not yet.


    I tapped my vox bead and began to speak, using the Demiurg dataslate to convert my words into the local language. "Demiurg friends, this is an Imperial Fleet. We have come to trade." I offered politely, while also stealing a few million mining drones. I could make use of these drones in my Fringe domain, away from Imperial eyes.


    "...Trade?" Lady Vail mouthed silently. She still had a lot to learn about this universe, no matter how much schooling they had her do in the Schola Progenium.


    "We await for your proposal, Imperial Fleet." the Demiurg replied after a few minutes of hurried scrambling.


    "Thunderhawk 912, set course for the Demiurg fleet." I ordered as I glanced at the wolf-shaped C''tan. ''You can have your fun once they dock.'' I explained with an inner sigh.


    The negotiations will be short. Having a pet C''tan wasn''t all nice toys and roses. The thing needed to eat, and their species ate souls.


    "Woof!" Canis demanded from the other side. Okay fine, you both can have fun with the abhumans.


    "Boarding parties, prepare for transport! Auxilia units, perimeter guard. Tech-loving personnel, new tech!" I announced on a fleet wide channel as the Thunderhawk transport docked with a Demiurg ship.


    By accident, my finger twitched and made a dozen Bastion_Class_Commerce_Vessel</a> vanish inside the tesseract, just in case the negotiations turned sour. Okay, it wasn''t an accident at all.


    And action!


    A thousand Lamenter Space Marines, 4000 Tech-marines with 120 thousand Guardian walkers, 40000 tech-priests, 400 thousand Armed Sentinels, 4 million Auxilia troops and 40 million combat servitors appeared at once on every Demiurg ship. While their vox boxes and servitor skulls kept blaring "We come in peace, lay down your weapons!" in Demiurg words, they also kept shooting at any dwarf holding a weapon.


    It was a bit sad, but these Demiurg had been proven to trade STC data to the Tau aliens, thus declaring themselves an enemy to the Imperium in general and the Mechanicus in particular.There could be no good ending for them, not with so many witnesses, including thousands of tech-priests and an Ordo Xenos Inquisitor.


    "Shall we, my lady?" I asked gently as Sergeant Ludvaius stepped at my side, combi-bolter in hand.


    The Inquisitor glanced down at her perky ass, worried it may become flat from too much sitting. "I will need some prisoners anyways." she accepted with a grin.


    A second later, we tesseracted in the middle of the biggest fight I could find, a giant hall filled with thousands of Demiurg warriors wearing power armor, that somehow managed to push our forces back.


    ''On me, Lash!'' I demanded as my shields began to glow fiercely.


    Thousands of lightning arcs burst from Lady Vail''s hands, felling hundreds of Demiurg fighters at once, while others found their armors short-circuiting from the excessive electricity.


    "By the Primarch''s burning beard!" I heard Ludvaius curse as his own Reflector shield began to over-heat from too many bolter rounds.


    I ran forward, Phase blade slicing away at anything bearing arms. This was fun as well!


    Slice, skip, slice, dodge! My moves flowed into another, blade in my hand light as a feather. A minute later, Lash arrived from a side corridor and minced a few hundreds Demiurg in a couple of seconds, moving at hyperspeed.


    Then silence.


    A thud sounded far too loud, as metal hit the deck with the mass of a ton of steel. I turned, and saw Ludvaius gasping for air, missing half of his lower side. The shield must have failed seconds ago, maybe more. I was just lost in combat trance, too busy pretending to be a swordsman.


    A gentle breeze flew from Amberly''s hand, sealing the leaking wounds as his Null Wand was a dozen meters away, still stuck inside my brother''s leg.


    "Ludvaius..." I murmured in shock.


    "Don''t be sad, Brother. We will never die of old age." my blood brother whispered among coughs of blood, then closed his eyes, looking quite at peace.


    A flutter of wings, and his soul departed towards the Emperor. I just pointed a finger at the C''tan, warning him to stay away.


    ''I am not insane, Pef Lancefire. This food is not mine.'' the C''tan said on the Manifold circuit, then ran off towards the next fight.


    "Ludvaius was a good man. And I felt...wings?" Amberly mused with a strange voice. I just nodded, then gripped my Phase blade tighter. A few more kills, for the road.

 Score

    I only thought for a second, before deciding on my next bodyguard. My body was quite important to me.


    The White Scars Captain Joghaten_Khan</a> had been at my side for a century, and there wasn''t any one better with a sword around, except a Primarch. Those guys wouldn''t become my bodyguards too easily.


    I just hoped he would prove more...durable.


    A flick of the tesseract brought the Blademaster at my side. "Brother Joghaten, welcome to my service." I explained with a sour voice, while nodding towards the cooling corpse of my Blood Angel Brother.


    The man simply nodded, having seen too many such corpses. "It is our duty, Lord Lancefire. Try to keep on my left side in combat." he urged me as he picked the unlit hilt of the fallen Phase blade. A green blade sprang out, changing length for a second until he locked the desired one.


    "You held a Phase blade before?" I asked a bit surprised.


    "A brighter one, from a dead Callidus woman. The hilt was much more fragile, and way heavier." he mused to himself, as his right hand sliced the air 40 times in a second.


    I just shrugged, as the Callidus Temple would not have a pet C''tan to craft them proper Phase blades. They possibly simply energized broken C''tan teeth with whatever portable batteries they could find. It would be a proper method for the polymorphic assassins.


    Focusing my mind on my own blade, I slowly extended the green beam to 2 meters. Then 3. I strained my mind, and began to push the beam even more.


    "You would simply slice off the hallways with that, my Lord. Plus, you would be a danger to those around you." Joghaten spoke in a warning tone, while he and Amberly both retreated a safe dozen meters away.


    Oh right! I was being silly again. With a sigh, I drew the beam back to 1.1 meters of green, deadly blade. Even better than a green lightsaber, to be honest.


    With a glance at my tesseract vision, I picked another corridor and stored the broken body of my brother away. The trade negotiations should end soon.


    -------


    Victor glanced from Captain Chyron to Shield Captain Kalluin</a> , finding these two were quite a perfect match.


    "Stop trying to intimidate the boy, old man! When Pef Lancefire returns, he would only hunt you down and shove my fist up your tight ass." the Dreadnought boomed from his coffin, making Victor cough his amasec down the wrong pipe.


    "If I was trying to intimidate the good Governor, I would be aiming a blade at him!" the ex-Custodes answered with a calm voice, making the pretty Culexus lady smile.


    Chyron just laughed loudly. "Victor, my boy! It would only take you a second to flick this useless sack of old bones into the Sun. I would also buy you a drink..."


    "Please, you two. I am not some mind-wiped Astartes to understand your brotherly teasing. Or whatever this is. Go away and let me talk with the lady." Victor demanded in a tired voice, making the Custodes almost sputter in outrage.


    He waited for a second, then transported them both into the same brig cell.


    The pretty Culexus looked around for a second, then turned towards him with a smile. "I wonder if your father would act the same way..." she began with a honeyed voice.


    "He did act this way, and far worse. I am not even a hundredth as brave as he is. But anyways. Tell me about the tech you have."


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    The woman sighed and placed a holographic disk on the table, projecting complex genome graphs and spiraling waves mingling like two drunk rainbows. "The gene-splicing would be easy enough. I believe your local Biologis Magi can handle it. The soul inversion is complicated. Doubly so, for your own special Lancefire genes. I expect you have already experienced soul poisoning for your failed cases?"


    Victor nodded, already expecting the worst.


    "There are some others like you, that exhibit gene compatibility with the Emperor''s gene-seed, while being Blank as well. But, they are all sterile." the woman explained in a soft voice, watching his face for any signs.


    He could only sigh again. This was about the Sensei.


    "My father is not a Sensei. He met the Emperor in person as well. Got new organs and stuff." Victor said in a low voice, and poured himself more booze.


    "That''s why the Eye is here. Although he''s not a Blank, you shouldn''t worry about his integrity. No Custodes has ever fallen to Chaos." she answered after small sip of amasec.


    "He is defective enough to be kicked out of the Imperial Palace. Bitter and old, possibly resentful. He can stay in the brig until we finish." Victor decided with a small shrug. The Imperium wasn''t worth much here, no matter what they believed.


    "So, you practice natural impregnation, to avoid the Blank backlash?" she asked in a careless voice.


    Victor nodded and gulped more amasec.


    "I would like to try it as well. I never felt safe, until now." she muttered into her crystal glass.


    "We should finish our bottle first." Victor proposed in a shy voice.


    The woman nodded and gulped her drink in one go. "My name is Chi, or at least my symbol." she said softly while pointing at an X sign on her arm.


    "Sounds like Ancient Greek. My father has a Psi-Titan called Occidentalis-Sabaktes. It means Destroyer from the West." Victor said in a reminiscing voice.


    "Yes, I''ve heard that. And rumors of 40 new such Titans crafted by the Emperor''s own hands. One of them will be sent to our Temple." Chi whispered in a longing voice.


    Victor just filled their glasses, and kept silent. It would be hard for a Pariah among the Imperials.


    "...Simply waiting in stasis for another mission, another Kill-team if I''m lucky. At least I won''t be alone." the woman mused thoughtfully in her glass.


    "You could stay here." he offered without knowing.


    "Hmmm. Are you buying or selling?" she asked with a sad laugh.


    Victor just smiled. His father had just given him unlimited authority. Might as well use it.


    "I can do anything, my dear. But, you would have to be willing. My father would fist me with Chyron''s fist otherwise." he proclaimed with a grand toast.


    "You realize, I would also become a Lancefire? I would have a family name!" Chi wondered out loud.


    Victor grabbed the bottle and moved them both to his bedroom. "Keep quiet guys." he demanded in a soft voice, as he tucked the drunk assassin in his bed. The wolves glanced at the dreaded woman and crawled quietly towards the balcony door.


    His Blood Angel bodyguard rose his thumb up, for another successful hunt.


    Now, how did one kidnap a Culexus Assassin, legally? Victor mused with drunk thoughts.


    He would have to ask his father. He had done that too. But Victor would be the first to score a lady Culexus. He returned the thumb to the bodyguard, happy he had finally outscored his father.


    Pef Lancefire will be so proud!

 Fane

    ''Lash! You know what this is?'' I asked the C''tan with a digital poke.


    ''A cogitator, as you can clearly see in the visible spectrum. But...way more advanced than the crap you have around. Still wrapped in some kind of altar though. These Demiurg aren''t any better than your silly tech-priests.'' the wolf C''tan growled at me and somehow lifted his hind leg to scratch his head.


    "Wooo?" my other wolf proposed in his wise ways.


    "Yes, Canis. Of course we will take it. The problem is...how to see what''s inside?" I asked out loud, then dutifully scratched Canis on the head, until my fingers skipped over the Mind Impulse Unit.


    Problem solved! Maybe Canis was the genius in this family.


    A flick on my chest opened the Null Box, and I retrieved my real Rosette. Clavis engrams rushed out towards the Demiurg machine, and I tenderly opened the Manifold to interface with the strange machine.


    "I would ask if this is wise, but I suspect it would be too late..." I heard my bodyguard mutter before I flew away into the noosphere, entering the digital mindscape of the Demiurg.


    "Old codes! Terran codes! Who are you?" the metallic tasting Machine Spirit asked in a curious voice.


    "There are different truths to this question, Demiurg. For example, your name means creative force, along with divine spirit and hundreds of other meanings. I am Pef Lancefire." I answered with a curious tone as well.


    "Clever, clever! You are not Kin, yet you are an old soul. Maybe older than me." the Demiurg spirit answered as it began to link with my own implant database, trying to force open any file it might find.


    "Now, don''t go stealing data just like that. I will give you my data file, so you can observe my life and my deeds." I continued in a more relaxed tone, as the Pef-for-life.dat/M41 was sent towards the Demiurg cogitator.


    Minutes passed as the machine digested my history, from birth to today. Not everything of course, but the major datapoints. Parents, education, early campaigns, the Crusades, Cadia, and even some newer stuff from Terra and Stygius. I should find time to complete my logs, with this new Crusade.


    "Uh? I would say you''re soft iron, but then you''re here. And the giant Black Fortress too. What will happen to me, Pef Lancefire?" the Demiurg asked in a more pitiful and resigned tone.


    "You have two choices, my new friend. One, the Mechanicus will take you apart, cog by cog and file by file. Much like your Kin, they worship technology and seek to understand. I hear it''s not pleasant for the machine itself." I offered in a kind voice.


    "I will take the second option, thank you!" the Fane cogitator exclaimed in record time.


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    "The second option, you will receive a new Kin. My Lancefire family in the Fringe numbers around a billion, with thousands of ships and other war machines. We also have hundreds of STCs and even an intact Ark from the Golden Age." I proposed in a more modest voice.


    "This does sound better. And what will happen to my old Kin?" the Demiurg asked in a fearful voice.


    "Well...Let''s see. Those who took up arms against our troops are already dead. Those who did surrender will be taken by the Inquisition, to answer for the crime of sharing STC data with the Tau alien empire. And there are a dozen Bastion ships hidden in my pocket, as well as their crews and a few million mining drones." I said in a lighter tone.


    "I see. To the victor the spoils. Perhaps we shouldn''t have given the Tau our Ion technology...." the Demiurg answered in a contemplating tone.


    As I drew back, the Demiurg Fane folded in my good tesseract, while I replaced the empty space with a hundred dead mining drones pilled up to fill the cogitator alcove. Battle damage, so sad.


    "Lord Lance...nevermind. I expect we are good here?" my bodyguard asked in a more relaxed voice, now that I wasn''t mind-linked with a dubious alien machine.


    "Good is relative. Too bad we couldn''t find a working cogitator on this deck. Let''s keep searching!" I ordered, as Lash took point to absorb any Demiurg traps which may remain. The C''tan shard was more durable than a battleship anyways. He''ll be fine.


    Canis moved at my side and nudged my glove, expecting another scratch for his wise advice. So he got it. I can be nice. I can!


    Was the Demiurg worth the lives of 19 of my Blank sons, as well as another million Auxilia troops? The Mechanicus would turn a dozen Sectors and trillions of Imperial citizens to ash without a doubt, for such a find. They probably burned even more already, just to recover fragments of the ancient knowledge. Their Exploratory fleets didn''t carry all those guns for fireworks.


    By the next day, I had packed up all the Demiurg remains in the system, some in our cargo holds, others in the tesseract, and my Chapter returned to full numbers by producing 19 new Lamenters from my pocket.


    If the Culexus wanted more Blanks, they should show up filled with equal value gifts. My sons were not for sale. Not cheaply, I mean.


    After this, me and Lash were a bit busy unlocking and absconding with a working Necron Pylon, which should mesh quite nicely with my second Black Fortress. Picking a name for it would be harder.


    Damn, a pet C''tan was amazing to have, no wonder Trazyn did so well.


    ''You have more snacks in your second labyrinth, Rogue Trader? I did well, didn''t I?'' the C''tan asked with a hungry voice.


    Ah yes. He needs to eat more souls. Canis only needs meat pellets...but he can''t make me C''tan level tech. Choices, choices.


    ''Of course, my brave wolf! What would you like for supper? Ork or Tyranid?'' I proposed with a joyful voice. I did have to thin the Ork numbers anyways.


    ''No Demiurg?'' They taste much better.'' the C''tan complained in a childish tone.


    ''Careful now. Snacking on prisoners is not the same as snacking on combatants. What would your brother say?'' I warned him in a gentle voice, while flicking out more useless Orks.


    Crunch, crunch! The C''tan ate his vegetables with a sad face, but he still ate them all. Good boy!


    "Don''t say anything...we never saw anything..." my fierce bodyguard muttered while staring blankly at the ceiling. He was learning fast.


    "Wrrr. Woof!" Canis growled and dragged a plump Ork to a corner, to eat some vegetables as well.


    "Don''t fight over food, you two! I still have some Orks left, and there''s a hundred Orks planets en route to Forge Metalica. Might as well relax a little, and refill our pantry, after all this hard fighting." I proposed in a kind voice.


    "WOOOO!" both wolves howled loudly. Orks were great.


    Even Brother Joghaten seemed to perk up at the news. Orks made for excellent sport hunting.

 Fool

    While my people relaxed on the unscheduled Ork safari, including my bodyguard and the wolves, I was hidden in the vault of my Black Fortress, busy setting up my Demiurg Forge with the help of 500 Tech-marines.


    And it was not easy!


    Some of it was battle damage, since we did take most dwarf ships by force, but most of the problem was the advanced nature of the Demiurg tech. Even with a mostly compliant Fane cogitator, who appeared to be too self-aware for a simple Fane, we still had a lot of problems. Sure, we could Forge the new bolters now, but this was mostly because the tech was almost identical. The Demiurg Forge was of amazing quality, and could shape adamantium with 10 times the ease of the best Mechanicus fabrication line.


    The weapons didn''t even require human neural and nerve tissue for the Machine Spirit to activate, which was somewhat of a relief. I didn''t have many dead Blanks to harvest for parts in the Crusade Fleet, and using normal human parts was a risk I wasn''t willing to take. Not for the Lamenters anyways. Give the enemy the slightest flaw, and you could well be certain to have your weapons jam at the first sight of a Chaos Lord or Sorcerer. Happened too many times at Stygius.


    With a sigh, I reposition some troops down on the planet, as they were about to step into a primitive Ork ambush. Guys! This is your vacation, don''t die on me here.


    They were not Veterans yet, even with my new tactic of throwing them into the enemy head on.


    Hopefully, the next batch of Catachan-stock Lamenters would prove better. If not, I would have to begin the Primaris procedure for my troops as well.


    The Emperor wasn''t discarding the First Born on a whim. The Primaris were better in every way.


    Lacking experience obviously, but those who died could be replaced just as easy. In the end, he would have Veteran Primaris in every Chapter, it was inevitable.


    "Inquisitor, place a call to your boss. I will need someone at Illevar with my own Primaris tech." I asked on a whim, while cursing inward as my little finger got caught in some damn metal lathe. Hurt like hell too!


    A minute later, the Inquisitor keyed her vox. "I swear, it''s like you have all the luck in the galaxy." she groaned on the vox bead, sounding unhappy.


    "You got a reply already?" I asked curious.


    "Yes. The Primaris tech is already at Illevar. But your son has locked his Custodes in prison." she answered with a weird cough. Maybe the vox bead was faulty.


    Then I computed her words again. Oh? I mean, great! Rapid delivery service, the second I thought to ask.


    Gently, I extracted my finger and stared at it with dismay. I doubted it will ever move again. ''Will you send me an Angel, again?'' I wondered without much hope.


    By some miracle, my finger began to glow with golden light and popped back into shape, looking perfect. Got it, Big E. I''ll save your Custodes from my evil son. When I reach Illevar, of course.


    At least Canis and Lash were having fun, trying to outscore one another. I knew a vacation will do my people well. The White Scar Blademaster was covered in vegetable blood as well, looking happier than I ever saw him.


    "Chapter Master, did you just grow a new finger?" a nearby Tech-marine asked with wide eyes.


    "I certainly did not! The Emperor is having a laugh. And watch that lathe, it bites!" I pointed angrily at the guilty machine.


    A few hundred of my kids stopped to stare at my outrageous words. "Perhaps you could visit Lady Vail, father? We have everything in hands here."


    Stolen content warning: this tale belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences elsewhere.


    I nodded in shame and moved away, catching a glimpse of a few words as they vanished from last page of her diary. "Amberly? You have a rank in Ordo_Astartes</a> ?"


    The blonde woman nodded hastily. "It''s not what you think, Lord Lancefire! I didn''t ask for you to be suspended." she claimed rather panicked.


    "I know, my dear. I spoke with the Emperor about that. But still...you are investigating me." I muttered in a disappointed voice.


    "That is something else. Every Chapter gets a review, how they perform, what tactics they use, what loses they take. You knew this already!" she declared with a stronger voice.


    "Hmmm. I hope that''s all there is. Even the Emperor congratulated me for those 56 Inquisitors I have killed." I growled in a lower tone, watching her face grow pale. It was 67 by now anyways. I was quite busy at Stygius.


    "...There is also a concern you might be trying to form a Space Marine Legion." she whispered in a low voice.


    "Haha! Both Sanguinius and the Emperor asked me to make more Blank Astartes. I was practically ordered to go forth and procreate! You also know, my kids will never fall to Chaos. I know is not my Rose, the High Lord of Terra for the Inquisition. It is not Lady Valayne, who even married me to have more Blank children. So...who is concerned?" I asked patiently.


    "... My first mentor, Inquisitor Yetzmov</a> " she admitted with a weak voice.


    I sighed and patted her shoulder with regret. "If I could make a Blank Space Legion, the Emperor would give me a medal. Do you think he likes having to kill a few million Chaos Traitors, who bear his own gene-seed?"


    "I suppose not. As proven by that Custodes waiting for you at home." Amberly groaned and leaned into my chest.


    "We are both too dressed for this talk." I decided with a wry smile.


    "Right! I do need to lose some tension." she answered with a sly grin.


    In a minute, I had the pretty Inquisitor bent over and screaming my name. Felt good being on fire!


    ----------


    Victor exulted as he pumped his hips, feeling his lungs on fire.


    Chi was amazing, but way too resilient in bed, with her Assassin augumetics. He was losing all the stamina so fast.


    With a huge effort, he burst forth, intending to procreate. "Yes!" he yelled in victory.


    "Victor!" the woman yelled with a loving voice.


    He crashed beside her, breathing heavily. "Dear Emperor, I need more training..." he complained softly.


    "You need the right enhancements, my love. I''ll see what we can pick, that would not inhibit your procreation." Chi whispered with a tender voice.


    "Assassin-class enhancements are comparable with the Astartes glands, Governor. You should consider this, for your safety as well." the Blood Angel bodyguard spoke without prompt. It seemed a better advice than getting the gene-seed, at least.


    "This can wait until father returns. But in the meantime, I have to go on a short trip. Chyron will join me." Victor decided on the spot, now that his mind was clear.


    "... Take your lady as well, Governor. A Culexus can splatter Demons with ease." the bodyguard spoke in a worried voice. Chi looked at him hopeful, but this wasn''t a choice.


    Victor just sighed and vanished through the tesseract labyrinth. He will take Mother Ordella, not some unknown Assassin, no matter how pretty. One of them did try to kill Mother Stern, after all. Couldn''t risk father''s mission on a feeling.


    By the next hour, he had gathered a decent fleet of 4 Battleships, 7 Carriers and 86 Cruisers, then departed for the far side of the Eastern Fringe.


    His mother simply frowned, but just nodded and placed the Admiralty on alert until he returned.


    They were both Lancefires, so they knew the odds. Against a hostile universe, the clan had to circle the wagons, and the battlewagons too.


    As his ships left Illevar, thousands of torpedo corvettes emerged from their carriers and docks, ready to sink anyone who dared to come.


    --------


    Ephrael Stern glanced at her Solitaire, then shook her head. "They will be coming soon."


    "Of course they will. This place looks like an easy target now, in comparison." Mnemorach quipped with an easy laugh.


    "At least Vaedrax and Sabaktes will fight at our side." she claimed confidently.


    "They failed before." the Solitaire said with a careless shrug.


    A small coin made of electric light flickered in her hand "It''s a coin toss then."


    "It always is, little sister." the Solitaire whispered in a sad voice, then placed his mirror mask back on.


    They had killed many Great Daemons together, but never a Demi-God.


    If only Lancefire didn''t make so many enemies. Maybe he could have called someone for aid. But nobody would come for him, not even if Lady Isha asked. Not that she would. She hated Blanks more than Chaos.


    Joining the Fool in a last laugh would be fine as well.

 Ambush

    Just as my people returned to the fleet, relaxed and feeling brave after easily butchering nearly sapient cucumbers, a strange wolf poked his head in my room, where I was still working on more STC to trade with my Mechanicus buddies.


    ''I have some bad news, Pef Lancefire. The Pharos has detected a new enemy, aimed right at you and your House.'' Lash said in a grave voice, as he came close and traced a dotted line on the galactic map, going from the Maelstrom to the Eastern Fringe.


    ''This is from Zarhulash?'' I asked to make sure, while scratching his wolfish head by muscle memory.


    ''Who else can maintain overwatch over a quarter of the galaxy? Also, a large fleet has just departed from your home, heading outwards towards the edge of the galaxy. I assume you sent your people to recover the third Black Fortress?''


    the C''tan asked while his eyes stared at my hand with a weird look.


    Right, this was not Canis. I sheepishly drew my hand away from the ancient Star God.


    Computing a course for my fleet, and subtracting the delay caused by towing some 88 Demiurg ships hulls behind...with a sigh, I stored the captured fleet in the tesseract. No more pretending, if they wanted to play dirty.


    "Best course for Illevar, Teresa. We have guests coming." I ordered in a harsh voice, soon followed by the blaring sirens warning the crew.


    Before the fleet left the system, I pushed my mind and filled the second tesseract with the remaining Orks and some of their bigger contraptions. We will need all the troops we can get.


    ''They have some giant ships as well. Brother counted 9 of them, all filled with troops and daemons, plus tens of thousands of escort vessels.'' Lash added in a careless tone.


    ''Lash, can you activate the Pylon at the right time?'' I asked in a softer voice.


    The C''tan blinked at me, then glanced at the cogitator screen which now had a countdown for our ETA. Six days, six hours....no way!


    ''We will be too late, Pef Lancefire. At least 24 hours.'' the C''tan predicted with a calm voice. Such a giant Chaos fleet would not need a whole day to lay waste to my homeworld.


    I grit my teeth and the wolf mirrored me. ''You may be a broken god now, but you still have the knowledge. More speed?''


    ''I will need a delicious meal for this, Rogue Trader.'' the C''tan demanded in a shameless tone.


    I just rose and ran towards the Black Lament''s engine deck, itself larger than our largest battleship. I''m sure we could find something to feed the internal furnace of the Star God.


    Finding an enemy to exterminate wasn''t hard at all in this hateful universe.


    Once inside the engine, the wolf shapeshifted back into a giant humanoid creature, with tentacle hair that exploded out and impaled the blackstone walls on all sides.


    "Keep the salad coming, Rogue Trader. This will take a lot of energy." the C''tan demanded in a hungry voice, as red energy began to flow along his tentacles.


    So I kept shoveling Orks into the C''tan furnace for a whole day, while the Black Lament dragged our fleet at hyperspeed towards the Fringes of the galaxy.


    "I think it is enough. We better arrive behind them and obtain surprise." I said in a tired voice, as the C''tan reverted to his wolf form.


    Then I just moved myself into bed, and fell asleep.


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    As I woke up the next day, I checked the inventory. We barely had a few million Orks left in the tesseract, beside a million Tyranids I kept as shock troops, armored in adamantium plates painted with the Lamenters yellow sigils.


    "Lord Lancefire, I would guess you were the one who sped up the entire fleet? This is why you slept like a log, for 12 hours..." the Inquisitor inquired with an inquisitive voice.


    I just waved a hand, then brought out my black tea thermos. "Brother Joghaten, go prepare the Lamenters for a Crusade-level Chaos assault. Then report on the Biologis Deck to be installed with a Null Wand. Magos Juggler will handle the insertion."


    My bodyguard froze for a second, then ran out, possibly sensing this was quite serious.


    "You could tell me more details..." Amberly said with a frown on her pretty face.


    "We will arrive on time, and most likely just behind them. I don''t know much about their composition, beside the nine large ships that could likely counter the new Imperial Glory-class. Thousands of ships at the minimum." I mumbled in between sips of hot tea.


    "You already have enough ships and forts at Illevar to counter this. I think only Holy Terra can match your defenses." she mused with a thoughtful look at my thermos.


    "And yet, they think they can win. It might be close." I said with a more level voice.


    "...You''re not worried at all. Dear Emperor, this will be like Cadia all over again!" she exclaimed as she drew back, hands white on her Bone Staff.


    I just smiled. By tomorrow, the fleet will pass close enough to Solemnace, and I could invite a friend to this party. An undead robot friend, but a friend in need is a friend indeed.


    Lash was gonna love him!


    "I will ask a few Necron friends to visit me at home. But the Eldar will probably not come. They still hate me, even after I saved their precious Isha." I added with a sad voice.


    "You have killed more Eldar than all the galaxy combined, since the Eye of Terror appeared." she explained in a patient voice.


    "Huh? That might explain the hate. I always suspected it was my Blank genes." I said in a surprised tone.


    "And how can you have Necron friends? You just exterminated an entire Necron Dynasty at Moebius." she wondered curious.


    "Exactly as you said. Different dynasty. They are not united, or not yet. They used to have a Necron King." I said in a kind voice, as my hand snaked towards her leg.


    The Inquisitor drew back, thinking about something. "I will need more troops. My Deathwatch guys are also depleted." In truth, she consumed over 300 former Astral Claws at Stygius alone. Damn Chaos.


    I nodded slowly. "You can have 20 Blank Astartes from my spare. A few Blank tech-marines as well." I offered after some deliberation. Better use my sons now, and lose less, than replace more later.


    "Your Blank Marines do work quite well with my powers. And they don''t risk getting fried by accident." Amberly said in a grateful voice.


    "Bed?" I offered while drawing the sheet away. She blushed for some reason and walked away in a hurry. "I need to prepare."


    Before she arrived in her rooms, I filled it with spare Lamenters then instructed them of the new mission. I even provided a few buckets of black paint. Only this time, they could keep the red bleeding heart sigil of our Chapter.


    It wasn''t long until I could reach Trazyn with my Sounding Board.


    "My old bony friend! I have a new puppy!" I explained in short words.


    "Pef Lancefire. You would be the one I have to thank for exterminating those pests at Moebius?" the Necron Lord asked in a grateful voice.


    "You could. I am heading towards Illevar in 3 days. You could bring my next STC slates, and even your Fortress. It will be a fun reunion." I proposed in a grand voice.


    "...really? I hope this will not be an ambush, my almost clever friend." he answered in a suspicious voice.


    "Have I ever given you a reason to doubt me, Lord Trazyn? Did I ever attack you? Or even planted an innocent bomb somewhere in your home?" I continued in a joking voice.


    "..." the Necron remained silent for a long minute. "I can''t find any bomb."


    Good? It might have been worse if he found something.


    "See? I do need you, my old friend. I would never hurt myself by hurting you. As long as I get my templates, you are perfectly safe." I explained in a capitalistic tone. Or at least it sounded capitalistic in my head.


    "Fine, but I might bring some firepower with me. You know, for insurance. This is a dangerous galaxy." Trazyn commented in a lighter tone.


    I mean, what could I say? Don''t bring a doom fleet with you? He would be useless, and I don''t have useless friends.


    "Whatever makes you feel safe, Lord Trazyn. I did hear about a Phaeron getting killed in his bed last month. Some Rogue Trader with a big wolf..." I added as a parting gift.


    "We don''t even have beds. See you in 3 days!" Trazyn spoke with grit teeth.


    I think he is afraid of an ambush now.


    I mean, he was even right. It was just not for him.

 Hydra

    Lady Decima Lancefire never felt awed even in the presence of a Holy Inquisitor, not when she knew their real motives hidden under their mask of righteousness. And it was even harder to feel impressed by a woman who shared her husband in bed, in a few cases.


    But when faced with the Emperor''s own Custodes...she did feel awed. Not that it would change anything.


    "You can dock your ship at the Lamenter Starfort and unload the Primaris technology. You can even help the Apothecaries and Tech-marines set up the new procedures. I know my husband would want that. He would never refuse the chance to make his own sons stronger." she declared in a calm voice, and ignored the Culexus Assassin at the side of the Emissaries_Imperatus</a> . Chi may be cute and all, but she wasn''t a Lancefire yet. As for power, even Dessima was stronger, not to mention Ordella. They had their own Pariah here in the Fringe, and likely outnumbered the entire Imperium in Blanks.


    "What about my Culexus mission, Lady Lancefire?" Chi asked in a softer voice, almost shy.


    "You too, my dear. Our Obsidian Mother will provide you with a range of locations to choose where to deploy. But I suggest you wait on that, as we are on Tier 4 alert now. Victor and half of the capital ships are away for a few days." Decima allowed in a kinder voice. If the girl would be her daughter-in-law one day, she could make an allowance.


    "... it will be so, Lady Lancefire. I don''t know why you did not receive a Torchbearers</a> ship, and all the new armor and weapons from Mars, but the Primaris tech is invaluable even by itself."


    the Custodes said in a relaxed tone, almost peaceful. Decima had seen other old Veterans in her carrier, but this man seemed to belong to a class of his own. Not even Chyron in his Deathwatch Dreadnought could compare with the invisible death zone surrounding the Custodes. It was likely the man could kill anything or everything in vicinity, without even a blink or hint of effort.


    "I wouldn''t know precisely what Mars can provide, but I doubt they have better weapons. My husband is the one who gives most Forge Worlds around their newer STC or ancient devices. And as you saw in orbit, they repay us with many ships and other war devices as well." Decima said in a wry tone. Gene-tech was the one thing where Pef did not improve on, and with good reason.


    "Indeed, my Lady...there...oh! It seems we will test your defenses soon enough. The Great Enemy is coming." the Custodes spoke in a grave voice, eyes glowing golden suddenly.


    "Augury disturbance in the comet cloud, Admiral! Warp ships...thousands!" a vox transmission arrived on her vox bead a second later.


    She tapped the vox bead and simply ordered "Tier 5. Distribute the alert to all system." In this hellish universe, there was only war. And now it came to visit Illevar again.


    "I''ll go and dock with the Lamenter Star Fort. I may be of some help if the Great Enemy breach the fort line." the Custodes simply offered then somehow vanished in a nearby shadow.


    "...I will stay at your side, Lady Lancefire. Victor would fist me with Chyron''s fist if I let anything happen to his mother." Chi proposed after a second of deliberation. Decima glanced at the side, where their own special Assassin stood invisible, even from the deadly Custodes.


    "I guess she can stay, my Lady. They may go for a decapitation strike." Vaedrax accepted with a calm voice.


    "Decima, the timing is too good. I am certain they have managed to infiltrate us, if they strike right now." Elixa spoke softly on her Obsidian vox channel.


    Love what you''re reading? Discover and support the author on the platform they originally published on."You would know best, Obsidian Mother. Watch for abnormal deployments that deviate from Tier 5 protocols and execute them." she spoke in a quiet tone.


    "Already on it." Elixa muttered as she keyed her vox to the next encryption.


    Chi just blinked at the invisible voice, then shook her head and mounted her helmet on. "Figures. I am only backup...." she muttered as the etheric field closed and she went invisible too.


    Decima just turned and walked rapidly towards the elevator. The remaining Lancefire capital ships were all in various damage status, but she had enough corvettes to form a hundred hunting packs, while the destroyers and frigates skirmished with the advancing Chaos Armada.


    As she approached the elevator doors, they opened suddenly and a familiar Space Marine shouted: "Hydra Dominatus!" before firing his combi-bolter straight at her.


    In a second, a green light flashed and the Traitor fell in three pieces on the floor, while her Rosarius shield glowed with bright light. "Thank you, Vaedrax." she murmured as her heart skipped a bit.


    "...the new Phase blades work just fine, my Lady. You focus on the fleet, I will handle the traitors." the Culexus Assassin answered in the same calm voice.


    "I want a sword like that too. They seem useful." Chi added after a second of shocked silence.


    ''I am on the way, my love. Let them enter the second fort line.'' her husband sent directly into her mind. He was close then.


    ''They turned Victor''s Blood Angel bodyguard. Must have been something recent.'' she reported with a grim tone.


    ''It doesn''t work like that. Some kind of trigger deep in the mind. Like a corrupted Inquisitor can install and activate a century later.'' Pef commented with an easy voice.


    ''There is a Custodes here. With...'' she continued to report.


    ''I know, Decima. I asked for it.'' Pef replied curtly.


    ''And the Culexus mission?'' she asked curious.


    ''No? I suspect they sent a woman this time. Is she pretty?'' Pef asked without any ulterior motive.


    ''Victor slept with her already.'' she answered in a smirk in her tone.


    ''Great for him! It will be trickier to keep her though...'' he mused in a weird tangent.


    "Admiral! New xenos fleet detected! Necron tech, most likely. And a Black Fortress..." the auspex station reported as the elevator reached the Admiralty level.


    ''Necrons too?'' she asked in her mind.


    ''Oh! Yes, they''re with me. Kinda. Just don''t shoot them. There won''t be much left of Illevar if the Sun explodes.'' Pef explained in a far away voice, as if he had forgotten about a giant Necron doom fleet able to shatter stars. He probably did though. Possibly too distracted by another STC marvel he found somewhere, or a pretty woman in his bed. Possibly both.


    -------


    Balls deep in my amazing blonde Inquisitor friend, I almost forgot about Trazyn. Focus Pef!


    "Time for bloody work, sweet Amberly. The Enemy is crossing the minefield now." I said as I pumped my gene-seed in her spectacular body.


    The woman hugged me tight. "Stay a minute longer. There will be plenty of war left for you."


    I hugged her back, even as the tesseract began to sense the Chaos Fleet in the distance. Soon, I could see the shape of the colossal Ark_of_Omen</a> , bristling with weapons and Daemons.


    May need to bring the second Fortress out for this. But not yet. Firstly, let''s find out why they believe they can win.


    It hasn''t been long since I shattered most Tzeentch</a> forces at Stygius, so he couldn''t have gathered another Black Crusade force so soon. Was this a shard of Nurgle? Some other new Warp God?


    Knowledge was power, and I lacked some here. I didn''t like this one bit.

 Detail

    "There are nine entire such groups called a Balefleet</a> , each is formed around an Ark of Omen</a> at its core. Each consists of an army of various Chaos forces including Heretic Astartes</a>, Cultists</a>, Traitor Guard</a>, Chaos Knights</a>, Dark Mechanicum</a>, and worse." Inquisitor Vail said as she leaned on her Bone Staff, her forehead sweaty with effort. Probably ripping the information from the brains of any Chaos Traitor she could reach. I knew she could do that, and far worse.


    "Huh. About 5000 ships for each of these Arks. Mostly small escorts and some 300 capital voidships, various Cruiser types. Also 5 Chaos battleships per group. They brought enough firepower to match the Stygius Crusade fleet." I continued her words, already englobing the entire Chaos Armada with my third tesseract senses.


    "And there is that Necron Fortress again, just like at Cadia. Not even trying to disguise as a Mechanicus fleet this time." my lovely Inquisitor lover spoke with love on her lips.


    Okay, that was scorn, not love. I may have alliterated a bit.


    Brother-Librarian Valerian took a step forward at my side. "My Lord, I can only sense a blob of hate and cruelty from this fleet. And nothing from that Black Fortress." he claimed with a doubtful voice.


    Lash raised a lazy eye at my Psyker-Pariah son, as if curious what he was. ''Type 5 signal, etheric+inverted'' was all the wrist detector could tell.


    I just shook my head, unable to answer them both. An Alpha Psyker was orders of magnitude stronger than a Gamma-level like Valerian, and Amberly went even further on the scale now. Instead I took out the only Ancestral_Warding_Stave</a> I found among the Demiurg, and passed it to my son. Its dwarf user had chosen death before surrender, but the Demiurg artifact was still very strong.


    "... I''m not sure if you should use Demiurg items already, Lord Lancefire." the Ordo Xenos Inquisitor muttered with a wary glance at the ancient relic.


    "You saw these guys with your own eyes, Lady Vail. It''s all human tech, and more robust than most of what we have now. Plus, there are exigent circumstances ahead." I declared with a careless voice.


    "We should begin as well. The Necrons are firing now." she answered instead, tacitly approving my actions.


    "All ships! Accelerate to military speed. Armored blinds down. Flak batteries set to logis-engine autonomy. Augurs go autistic and close all vox channels. Nova volley on my mark!" I ordered and signaled the Machine Spirit to go mute and blind. The crew of my fleet will not need to see what they were fighting.


    In a few seconds, my entire fleet entered blind mode, flying towards the back of the Chaos Armada.


    "The Talon fighters are sweeping back. They sense something." my psychic lover whispered in slight worry. Almost there...mark!


    One by one, our heavy cruisers began firing their Nova cannons as soon as they entered range, pulverizing most Chaos escorts guarding the nearest Omen Ark, and the small Chaos starfighters as well.


    ''I think this fireworks show is you, Pef Lancefire.'' Lord Trazyn spoke in his mind, now close enough to connect easily.


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    ''We may have to delay our meeting for few hours, my bony friend. You were right about a dangerous galaxy. Or did you invite them, as a favor for a certain Chaos Sorcerer?'' I asked with suspicion in my tone.


    ''...I did not think of this. But no, Lord Ahriman is not among these creatures. I checked already.'' he answered with a curious voice.


    ''We''ll talk at the victory feast then. Your troops may need some live training too.'' I proposed with an easier voice.


    ''Agreed. I find this Chaos Armada quite suspicious and too well-equipped. These big ships can even withstand Gauss cannons with ease. Neutron shielding, most likely. I''ll know for certain during dissection'' Trazyn the Infinite said in a scientist tone.


    My hand hovered over the side, and poked the C''tan wolf. ''Hungry yet?''


    ''Just don''t steal my food again, Rogue Trader. Send me on the nearest Omen Ark. I''ll investigate in more detail what they have.'' the C''tan demanded with a hungry-for-souls voice.


    Well, I didn''t carry a C''tan on my ship for the pleasure of his company. With a flick, I moved the C''tan wolf onto the nearest Ark, and set him loose.


    Amberly just rose a curious eyebrow, then shrugged as the second wolf vanished from the bridge. For some reason, the Inquisitor seemed reserved, even avoiding the wolves lately.


    With a mental pulse, I ordered all ship captains to change course and head for the next Ark, while our Carriers began launching the escort corvettes and fighters. So far, I wasn''t impressed much by the Chaos forces.


    They would have to show their hand soon.


    It didn''t take long for the next stage to begin, as a Warp Rift emerged at the limit of our Reality Cage buried into the magma layer of Illevar.


    Flying Daemon Engines, on which strange Warp creatures rode through the void.


    Still not impressed! My right hand slammed onto the Immaterium Beam control plate, snuffing out the Daemons and their riders as well. Still tiresome, but I was fresh now. I could last for hours.


    A red Chaos beam from the first Omen Ark strafed my Fortress and failed to penetrate the Void Shields, then began to move towards my weaker ships. Cheeky bastards!


    With my tesseract, I flicked a Nova mine on top of the red battery and melted it and anything around it for a kilometer, revealing more layers of armor, hangar decks and countless  traitors screaming silently at the void.


    Still only a surface wound on the Space Hulk-sized megaship. I closed my eyes and rapidly computed the required munitions to obliterate such a monster, and found my inventory wanting.


    Second mark reached! Another salvo of Nova cannons from my capital ships obliterated most of the second Balefleet, including escorts, fighters and some light cruisers.


    This time, I added a few Nova mines inside the second Ark, producing tremendous explosions on the inner decks and crippling the engines, then also transported my Tyranid forces inside. My poor Tyranid Auxilia was hungry too.


    Sending new mental commands, I once more changed course for my fleet towards the third Ark. Come on! Show me what you got!


    You didn''t come here to get exterminated in detail, did you?


    "Hateful! Cheating bastard!" a giant voice filled the void, as the owner of this Armada emerged from his third Ark.


    "Uhhh. Is that a Chaos tech-priest?" I asked curious, as a strange Daemon emerged, with mechanical arms and creepy glowing skulls strapped to his sides.


    "...I think this creature is Vashtorr</a> , if my Warp lore is correct. Much stronger than a Greater Daemon as well." Inquisitor Vail said with a white face. She didn''t seem too confident.


    I just fired the Immaterium Beam into his face, not really concerned. I have killed stronger things already.


    ''We might be in trouble'' I heard Trazyn comment as a giant black fist slammed into my soul.

 Demi-god

    It felt like having mountain-sized claw stuck inside your heart, gripping you by the balls and sucking out our eyes. But within the soul as well.


    Not pleasant, believe me! A burst of energy emerged from my heart, or rather some special gland inserted there by the Emperor, just in case.


    I drew a little energy from Amberly to resist for a second, while Canis wailed with a visible golden howl. A second was short, but I was already mentally accelerated by the implant and my own pain. My own Bonestaff landed in my right hand, while my mind linked with the tesseract to bring Silent Sister Dessima out.


    A black sphere of dead silence covered the Black Lament, making Inquisitor Vail throw up at once. So I took mercy on her and displaced her inside the Gellar generator vault, where reality was somewhat normalized. It would still suck for a psyker, but she''ll live.


    "Damn thing is quite strong." I observed while spiting out clots of blood.


    Dessima was sadly vowed to tranquility, so she couldn''t speak, but she did thump me on the head with her fist. Right! I should have prepared better.


    Taking an enemy lightly wasn''t my style, but perhaps I did coast too easily lately. Greater Daemons were not a danger with my Fortress around.


    Canis fell on the floor, looking rather spent with effort. My implant ran a health diagnostic on him, finding the wolf had lost 5% of body fat and nearly all vital signs, from that single Soul Shout or whatever spell that golden howl was. Brave Canis...go rest in the tesseract. I won''t make this mistake again.


    ''And that was your puppy, acting out?'' Trazyn asked curious.


    ''That was Canis. My other puppy is chasing mice on the first Omen Ark.'' I answered a bit tired and definitely injured.


    ''...You let him run around free?'' the Necron Lord asked a bit confused, and perhaps worried at the lack of living chains to control my C''tan.


    ''Free is a special word. Who is actually free in this world? You are bound to your race and Dynasty, as am I.'' I mused thoughtfully, as I kept the Immaterium Beam on this Tech-Daemon, burning though numerous shields and Mechanicum contraptions.


    ''Even so. Your real puppy would die for you and be happy. This one...'' Trazyn warned me as his own Fortress began to fire at my target.


    ''Eh, worst case I might sell you a wolf-shaped C''tan that knows tricks. Like this Cosmic Fire.'' I added as the Omen Ark blew up from the inside, once the C''tan had enough fun tormenting the helpless crew.


    ''Let me bring out my own C''tan shards. I''m getting outscored by a flesh human...'' Trazyn countered with his own brand of robotic pride.


    "Foolish mortals! I will wear your skulls as my trophies!" our mighty Daemon target yelled with angry words, filling the void.


    "He seems a bit distraught" I observed out loud, earning an honest chuckle from my crew.


    "And very loud. The Warp Beam hurts him, but not enough." Valerian observed more tactically.


    Fine! Nova cannons, resume firing!


    Two Nova mines inside the third Ark, to cripple the engines and ammo bunker. Then all my Orks and their silly meks or whatever weapons they magiked up, spread inside every deck. The chaotically-acting Orks would cause some chaos with the Chaos crew.


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    "Valerian, you will deploy on the command throne. And pick a nice name." I continued in a calm voice, as I produced my second Blackstone Fortress, and moved Valerian inside.


    Sadly, the new behemoth wasn''t fully operational, and only had the Necron Pylon as an add-on defense against Chaos. But as the Pylon was now active, it would prevent or drastically reduce all psyker powers in the system, just like it did at Octiss. Furthermore, it did have an Immaterium Beam of its own, thus increasing the firepower we could concentrate on this Vashtorr.


    "Cheating! Shameless cheating!" the Daemon complained as some kind of power hammer blew off in his hands. Must have been important, perhaps.


    Farther into the system, past the second fort line, a glowing Psi-Titan appeared and punched an Omen Ark straight on, blowing a giant hole in its prow. Sabaktes and his Princeps pilot were having fun as well.


    Corvette wings dove under the giant ship and launched thousands of torpedoes, gouging massive holes into the Ark, without causing much damage internally. So I helped a bit, and added my own gifts, inserting a few Nova Mines at critical spots.


    Was it cheating? Was I playing fair with the poor Chaos Armada? Who knows? The victor writes history, and I knew what the history will say.


    ''...You have another Fortress, Lord Lancefire? Maybe, somehow we could find something you want, among my precious exhibits.'' Trazyn proposed with infinite greed.


    ''This Vashtorr is still alive, Lord Trazyn. This reminds me of Cadia.'' I said in a warning tone.


    ''... I have began to compile a list of things aboard this Arks which include temporal and probability-based weapons, neutron shielding, quantum communications, counter-ballistic teleportation batteries, and many more. If I am worried, you should be more so. Our tesseracts are locking the timeline now, but if this thing escapes, you were not around to defend yourself a million years ago. Humanity itself was still living in caves.'' the Necron warned me in a dour voice.


    ''Lash, you have anything to take down this creature?'' I asked with feeble hope. The C''tan was feasting on the crew and Tyranids infesting the second Ark, so I recalled my Tyranid Auxilia now. There were more Arks to board with expendable bugs.


    ''Not as I am, Pef Lancefire. I need to fuse with a thousand shards to match this Etheric Demi-God. The beams are weakening him. Slowly.'' he explained in a careless tone.


    ''Could you bring Victor and his third Fortress here?'' I wondered curious. Another Fortress might be enough to kill this Demi-God Daemon. He surely was strong enough.


    ''I have just replenished my energy...'' the C''tan complained in a lazy voice.


    ''No problem. Your former owner is just asking me what could I want from his museum exhibits. These glowing green chains must be quite painful.'' I warned him in a gentle voice, as Trazyn produced a Transcendent C''tan to summon a lightning storm and clear thousands of pesky Chaos ships away from his fleet.


    Sure, Trazyn couldn''t care less about a single shard now, with his wealth of shards, Transcendent and even an intact C''tan Dragon in his vault. And as it happens, this particular Transcendent C''tan wasn''t paid for yet.


    Meanwhile, I directed my fleet to engage the next Ark, while we kept Vashtorr under constant beam attack.


    Sadly, I also did not have my intact Crusade fleet from Stygius anymore. Half of my capital ships were repairing in dock, a quarter were away with Victor...the Chaos Armada was beginning to take a toll on my ships and people, and even the Necrons began to suffer a bit.


    ''All right! I admit I don''t feel comfortable beside this insane Necron Lord. I will go help your son.'' Lash grumbled a little, then exploded in Cosmic Fire again and vanished at superspeed towards the galactic edge.


    ''Now he''s running away! Told you a leash was better than mere promises.'' Trazyn gloated for a second.


    ''Nah, I gave him a task, might help us with this Daemon.'' I countered with a grim voice. Holding the beam was getting painful. More so, as my insides were likely mush, and I kept spitting blood clots. It couldn''t be healthy.


    "Apothecary on Bridge!" I heard Teresa demand on the internal comm. No! Don''t use comms...even if you need help, send a messenger. Or tell me! Damn it girl.


    A strange helmet exploded on the head of Vashtorr, but it was too late.


    "Found you! Sneaky Blacksoul...I will avenge my precious Helm_of_the_Cyberphage</a>" the Daemon gloated in triumph, then powered through the beam towards my Fortress.


    Damn my luck!


    I ordered the Machine Spirit to open fire with lance baterries and the Nova turrets on the Demi-God Daemon, but they had little effect. Even Greater Daemons could tank so little damage.


    "Dessima, buy me some time." I ordered with a heavy heart. She won''t be enough.

 Lancefire

    "I guess we will have to fight him in melee." I said a bit listless. Anything could be killed by a good sword.


    My new bodyguard actually growled, possibly amazed at my bravery. "My Primarch could. Maybe the Lion. You are..." he exclaimed in a panicked voice, as Dessima drew both her swords, and vanished, already engaging the Daemon in a duel.


    "I''ve killed worse things, Brother." I proclaimed calmly and drew my own pair of swords. Phase and chronophage swords, each able to cut through anything.


    "Foolish man..." he muttered as we vanished from the bridge.


    A Lamenter Apothecary arrived a second too late, searching for the medical problem with eager eyes. "He''s beyond healing now..." Teresa spoke in soft words.


    "I will wait then. Father may be injured while killing this demon." the Apothecary proclaimed calmly, watching the holoscreen with faithful eyes. .


    Of course, I wasn''t actually suicidal. The Tesseract also bought Sabaktes, Stern and Mnemorach at my side, increasing my chances to about 50%. Or so I thought.


    "Demonifuge!" Vashtorr shouted in pain, as Sister Stern''s anathema power covered the void all around us.


    "Are you a coward, little demon?" Stern asked as a giant lightning slammed into the Chaos Demi-god and burned out a grinning skull.


    The pressure on me felt a bit less, all the sudden. "I will come back with The_Weapon</a> and drink your souls!" Vashtorr promised as he began to draw away.


    Dessima sliced something at his belt, making the artifact sputter and gush Warp energy.


    "My Spite-Iron_Goad</a> ! AHHH! I hate you!" the demon yelled as a green fist slammed into his side, courtesy of a Transcendent C''tan.


    Sabaktes fired his left arm cannon, blowing off another glowing skull and returning the pressure to a mere Greater Daemon. It seemed this creature had pilled add-ons for extra power, like a tech-priest would.


    "A parting kiss to a demi-god." Mnemorach commented wryly, and struck the demon with a metal tube, which unfolded into millions of nanowires to shred him from inside.


    Vashtorr retaliated with a pentagonal sigil that focused his energy on the Solitaire, making him lose the phenomenal speed, while also healing himself.


    So I stabbed him, chronophage sword in the head, while the Phase blade went all though the body and sectioned him in two. A burst of energy filled my body, healing me from inside out, while my mind began to fill with extra knowledge.


    Dessima sliced as well, cutting through the pentagonal sigil and removing a hand.


    "My Talisman_of_the_Forge</a> ! I quit! No more games..." Vashtorr yelled and sped away, missing most of his body and artifacts.


    A specter-looking C''tan appeared in his path and sliced him again with a C''tan scythe, while the green C''tan bound him in living metal chains.


    I reached with the tesseract to move closer, and hit the Demi-god with my swords again, this time removing the demon''s head and impaling it onto the Dawn_Blade</a> . Again, I felt more knowledge pour through. I was rather well-educated before and here, but the things I could do now amazed me. I was certain I already understood all the Demiurg Rail and Ion Technology, since I studied Tau tech for long years now.


    Also, quantum communications, similar to our low range FTL comms, but so advanced...


    "You dare to drain me!" the Demi God wailed in pain.


    "I am Pef Lancefire and you are in my domain. Do you feel scared now, little demon?" I spoke out loud, mostly for my people on board the fleet.


    "... You killed Slaanesh. I know you. You can be my master! I have technology and machines to make you a God." the demon screamed in pain and anguish.


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    "I eat Gods, little demon. As for machines...I don''t eat those." I spoke with a serious tone.


    Stern arrived beside me and added her energy, melting the demon into burning dreams. "You''ve grown stronger, Lord Lancefire." she observed while glowing like a goddess.


    Another Black Fortress arrived at the party, a bit too late. Or not, if Trazyn felt greedy.


    ''This is so touching...don''t mind if I record the scene for a museum piece.? the Necron Lord asked without any tact.


    "Think of secrets, little demon. Alpha Legion, the Fallen, this Weapon. I am curious." I asked out loud, making new thoughts appear into the demon''s mind then drain through the sword into my soul.


    "...No! I worked hard to gather all this data. Plus you can never be sure if is true." the demon began to scream, while his pressure drew lower. Maybe Beta-level. At my nod, Dessima stabbed her chronosword as well, gaining valuable intel and draining the demon even faster.


    Mnemorach appeared beside us and stabbed the demon with an Eldar dagger glowing with silver stars. It wasn''t like mine, but did something similar.


    His own body began to heal and grow stronger. Minutes later, I felt Dessima undergo a change, gaining the deep feel I sensed around Ordella as well.


    It would appear a Demi-god makes for a great meal too. More minutes later, Mnemorach popped and vanished, having mastered his Pariah levels completely, as Vashtorr died forever.


    "You now have an Eldar Demi God as a friend. And Godfather." Stern whispered for my ears only.


    "A god of Blanks?" I wondered as I hugged Stern with my free hand.


    "I am close as well now. One day you will too. And maybe Canis. Your wolf is strange." Stern added as she became a lightning storm and flew towards the remaining Arks.


    "My own Heavenly Wolf. I think I changed things today." I mused to myself as Brother Joghaten simply shook his helmet. "We have a legend on our world. A man''s soul being shared by a heavenly and hellish wolf."


    I palmed the broken Noctilith pentagonal sigil and moved us back on the Black Lament. There was always war in this universe, but this war would end soon.


    ''Mark these locations Elixa. Monitor everyone who goes through.'' I sent to my Obsidian Mother a string of planetary and stellar coordinates.


    ''The infiltrators? Already matching one location.'' the noosphere expert answered in my mind.


    ''Your wolf can speak now, father.'' Victor announced with a weird voice.


    ''Just don''t throw him at a sun. Lash also eats suns.'' I advised him wisely. I mean, energy was energy. Nothing wrong with eating suns, I could respect that.


    ''And now he''s laughing. I don''t care anymore. Going autistic and engaging these traitors. Victor out'' he replied in a morose voice.


    Ah, my brave young son. You did threaten a C''tan with a sun, did you? He thought you wanted to give him bland food.


    ''I want an Ark like this for myself. You don''t mind if I keep one, do you?'' Trazyn asked sneakily.


    ''Of course not, Lord Trazyn. As long I get paid. Otherwise, my system, my loot.'' I allowed generously.


    ''Cheap bastard! You''re going to work me to death!'' the Necron pouted.


    ''Maybe something like that Tau ZFR_Horizon_Accelerator_Engine</a> ? It would be useful to move faster when going sublight. Torpedoes in particular.'' I explained kindly.


    ''I hate you!'' he declared without much elan.


    ''But first, let''s clean this mess. My people were worried a little with all this fireworks show.'' I said calmly as I retrieved my wolves.


    The Apothecary finally had a job, healing Canis.


    "I messed up" Teresa muttered towards me.


    "As do all children. Try to think first, next time." I said gracefully as I sat down in my command chair and linked with the Machine Spirit.


    Our three Black Fortresses opened up, each at a different Ark, and Trazyn followed soon. Another day, another massacre. It felt good being a Lancefire.

 Trades

    Cleaning up after a Chaos invasion was as messy as always.


    A thousand defense forts had been ruined or infected and had to be purified into the Sun, as were millions of our troops, especially those who had to sift through the wrecks and gather artifacts or evidence, sometimes prisoners as well.


    The space minefields had to be rebuilt, and dozens of factoriums and hab-blocks on Illevar''s surface had to be either purged or rebuilt, depending on the severity of the sabotage. More analysis on how to prevent transport or infiltration onto the surface was taking place, with my Obsidian Auguries going back centuries to comb through every data log they could find. A dozen minor Nobles and their retinues were called for interrogation and never left the basement again.


    A thousand torpedo corvettes and hundreds of destroyers had been lost as they held the fort line, but it had to be done, else the Chaos forces managed to land and produce total devastation.


    Normal stuff in this universe, and rather mild, all things considered.


    But this sacrifice was not for nothing. We have proven to withstand an entire Black Crusade, almost alone. Sure, the Necrons did help, mostly so Trazyn could gather more museum bits for himself.


    We had obtained another Omega-minus Pariah to fire the Immaterium Beam of the second Fortress, Sister Dessima, while the Fortress itself was bestowed with the poetic Eternal Lament name by Valerian. Victor named his own personal Blackstone Fortress as Victorious Lancefire, with Sister Ordella as the main trigger-woman.


    With 4000 Lamenter Tech-marines and a minor help from my C''tan, we managed to install Demiurg-type Forges on all three Fortresses. Automated Forges, what a miracle for this day and age!


    For now, they are all churning the easy to make HYLas_Auto_Rifle</a> , and once the production method is complete, will start adding new lines for HYLas_Rotary_Cannon</a> and the stronger HYLas_Beam_Cannon</a> . Surprisingly, the Demiurg multi-laser also had three barrels to increase range and rate of fire, proving me right when I introduced the Retribution multi-laser in my fake STC templates.The ancient STC should vindicate my creation among the more suspicious Forge Worlds.


    These are all ancient but human weapons, somewhat upgraded by the Demiurg, but more importantly easy to mass-produce. We will need billions of such cheap weapons to arm the entire Lancefire domain, which now extended to almost 4000 planets and colonies. We had a lot of room to grow, but the planets were often hostile or infested by xenos lifeforms. Thus, more guns.


    The newer templates for the Ion_Blaster</a> ,the Ion_Beamer</a> and Cyclic_Ion_Cannon</a> could only be made by hand, by our dedicated Forge Worlds of Retribution and Machine. They were even better than what the Tau could produce, but expensive and time-consuming to make. My Fabricators loved them even so. Some of the Ion weapons will be mounted on Space Marine vehicles or mechs, but most of them are dedicated to improve the Mechanicus'' own forces: tanks, Skitarii and battle automata for now.


    As for my guests, some things were easier than others.


    "Miss Chi, if you decide to stay with my family, you will have to renounce all former attachments and loyalties. My domain will one day become a place for Blanks and Pariah only, where natural or psyker humans could barely be able to walk. This will preclude most of the Imperium, almost by design." I said softly as Victor sat beside his beloved, holding her hand.


    "...I see. You expect things to get very bad in the Imperium?" she asked cautiously.


    "I hope they do well. But I know they will not. Too easy to corrupt." I answered with a sad tone.


    "The Emperor will protect!" she declared in a faithful voice.


    I just nodded. "And when the priesthood of the Imperial Faith is ordered to tear down their fancy churches and cathedrals? When the Emperor walks again among the people, claiming he is only a man, not a God?" I asked with a sigh.


    Her eyes grew wide, as she suddenly realized what was going to happen. "The Imperium will split in half. The faithful versus the loyal. Chaos will seduce them into conflict, ever more violent..."


    Truly, ignorance was bliss. But I''ve seen what happened at Ophelia_VII</a> when Janice had to burn her Sisters alive, just to bring them into compliance. It would be far worse, when the Emperor revealed himself. He surely knew this as well, staying hidden to the wide Imperium and acting by intermediaries for now, mostly via Custodes or Inquisitors. But he would tire of hiding. Just wasn''t his style. He didn''t wear a golden armor to stay hidden. That''s why he was slowly replacing the faithful First Born Marines with new but loyal Primaris, and untying the Sisters of Battle from the church.


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    In the grimdark future of the 40th Millennium, there was only war, and the laughter of thirsting Gods.


    I''ve did all that I could, spreading tech and inventions to those Forges who would listen. I helped prop up numerous Astartes chapters, with Blank recruits or new vehicles and even some starships. I''ve culled some corrupt or fanatical Inquisitors, I''ve intervened at Fenris and Terra and Cadia...


    But the Imperium contained the seeds of its own destruction right into their Warp-open souls. Just like the Eldar before them, they were heading for critical mass. One day it would all explode, or more likely implode.


    The Demiurg Fane contained one key to salvation, used by the short humans to protect themselves from Chaos. The Cloneskeins</a> could modify the human genome to protect against Chaos corruption and other mutations, while also introducing desired traits like: enhanced reaction times, the ability to see into the infrared and other electromagnetic spectra beyond visible light, increased resistance to extremes of temperature, gravity or ionising radiation, and many other enhancements such as denser muscular and skeletal systems to provide greater physical strength and more endurance in the face of trauma.


    No need for slow and dangerous gene-seed implants either, not to mention Astartes glands. One could upgrade entire armies at reasonable cost, or the entire population if they could control them.


    I could and I would. The Imperium? Maybe the Astartes recruiting worlds, if they were lucky.


    I will still try, as I did have a Custodes visiting my world.


    Also, I will hint to the Emperor what his biokinetic control could do, to his enemies implanted with gene-seeds. Programmed cell death, or apoptosis would be easy enough to disperse via the Astronomican, reaching about 80% of the galaxy in mere days. Millions of Chaos Marines infesting the galaxy could be simply turned into soup, at his mental command.


    So I met the old Custodes and gave two dataslates to bring to Terra, one containing the Demiurg STC templates I could copy, and the other: the cloneskeins technical details and my plan to disperse mass-death via the Astronomican.


    "Why should I leave the Blackship behind, Lord Lancefire?" he asked instead, even though I offered him passage via a Lamenter Heavy Cruiser.


    "Because I say so. You will not travel through the Warp with my dataslates. You will also bring Vaedrax back to Terra as well, as his position as House Assassin will be taken by Lady Chi instead." I demanded din a harsher voice. The Custodes was not used to taking orders well. And if I found some interesting tech on this advanced Blackship, it had to be a coincidence.


    "At least you won''t kick my ribs everyday...lazy bastard." the solemn Culexus Assassin muttered in a patient tone, as he decloaked at my side. So I couldn''t be bothered to step over him every morning. Wasn''t such a crime, was it?


    "...Another Culexus? The Emperor seems to favor you greatly, Lord Lancefire." the Custodes mused in a thoughtful voice.


    "But first, you need to get in shape again. Go train with my pets." I said in a disappointed tone, and moved him into my training room naked. Only the Dawn Blade rested into the floor and a hundred Orks to kill.


    While he murdered the near-helpless vegetables, I searched my inventory for a decent power armor to fit his size, then had him transported on this vessel already dressed in armor, somewhat healed up and having gained a few dozens centuries of more service. I couldn''t give him my Dawn Blade, but I could spare a C''tan Phase blade.


    "I''m not a toy for you to play dress-up, crazy Lancefire!" the man growled at his new armor.


    ''I hope we don''t meet again, Shield-Captain Kalluin.'' I warned him in his mind, as the Heavy Cruiser sped out to FTL and the Solar Segmentum far, far away.


    He was wise and didn''t answer, possibly wary he would return home naked.


    Then again, I filled his room with samples of Demiurg tech, all kinds of armor and weapons that I couldn''t make sense of yet, but maybe the Emperor and Cawl could. Kalluin would have something productive to do on his journey, playing with more toys.


    And if shipmistress Teresa was wise, she will get a signed Warrant for herself and don''t come back for a few centuries. I was busy enough without having to fight my way out of trouble with a sword.I had a brand new empire to build here in the Fringe, and a lot more technology to dig out from the Demiurg cogitator.

 Loose cannon

    Captain Teresa Lancefire was a bit unhappy. Sure, she did mess up a little, but it all ended up quite well...why was Father so upset?


    And this ferry mission to Terra, in command of a mere cruiser was way below her status as the (former) Captain of a Blackstone Fortress.


    Vaedrax wasn''t too happy either, as he had been kicked out and replaced with a pretty girl. Although knowing her father, that was his usual style.


    As for the Custodes, he was considered valuable cargo, and not to be allowed to communicate or otherwise interfere until they reached Terra. As if her orders even reached the superhuman''s ears.


    He was quite interested in her special cargo destined for Mars, 42000 young people, 2000 of them girls. All of them Blanks, yet none of them of Lancefire blood.


    "Why did Pef Lancefire gather so many Blanks and sent them on this ship?" the Custodes asked, much too curious.


    "None of your business, esteemed cargo. You should return to your designated quarters." she growled at him, already annoyed.


    "Esteemed, am I?" the man muttered as if surprised.


    "Less and less so, I admit" she admitted with a shrug.


    "... Do not get fisted by a Deathwatch Dreadnought..." she heard the Custodes mutter to himself as he drew away, hopefully heading to his rooms.


    "Contact, vox transmission! Imperial codes...older ones." her cousin at the vox station announced in a professional tone.


    "Isolate, trace and log. Reference code origin and date of issue." she commanded with a frown. They wouldn''t stop anyways, but perhaps some information could be traded further.


    A minute later, the report came back. "Origin Seer''s_Rest</a>, Solar Segmentum. We will reach cut-off point in 31 minutes. ETA to Sol System 19 hours, 33 minutes."


    "And?" she asked with a calm voice as she searched known data about this world on her MIU. Last imperial census: around 12 million people, Medieval World, many superstitious psykers...already sounded sketchy.


    "The date of issue, last logged M39.71. Codes are still valid...but..." her cousin spoke with obvious suspicion.


    "Yeah. The Imperials do not have a good record about cancelling compromised codes, or even noticing. It''s a honey trap." Teresa decided in a second.


    "You are obliged to render aid" a certain voice interfered. Of course, the insufferable Custodes had nothing else to do!


    Teresa turned and measured the deadly Adeptus. "No. I already have orders. And you are still getting in the way." she proclaimed in a harsher voice, then glanced at her Tech-marine brother. Given that this cruiser was a Lamenter ship and not part of the trader dynasty, the tech-marine did have the ultimate word. And perhaps the means to enforce his word.


    "The shipmistress is always right, Shield Captain Kalluin. Be advised, I am authorized and able to pacify you!" Tech-Marine Patrocles Lancefire spoke in a flat voice, not even raising his eyes from his auspex station.


    "We shall see..." the Custodes growled at took half a step towards the steering station, only to vanish in mid-step. The next second, he re-appeared in his room, naked but with a single finger of a Power Fist inserted in his tight rectum.


    "...I did warn him" Patrocles whispered only to her ears. So he did have the means.


    Teresa smiled thinly. Whatever her brother did, it wouldn''t be pleasant. "We could take a look though. Around 100 AU wide?" she asked gently. If Patrocles had a space crystal now, they were indeed quite safe.


    "Only if it doesn''t delay our course, Captain Teresa Lancefire. My own orders include you as well." Patrocles answered with a sad smile.


    Of course they did. She messed up and placed Father in danger with one hasty decision. Now she was on thin ice.


    "Going autistic. Vox channels closed. Las-comms set to receive only. FTL comms closed. " Teresa decided in a minute, then proceeded to direct the Machine Spirit to block the known attack avenues. .


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    "Understood Captain. New trajectory set, passing by Seer''s Rest at 100 AU." the helm cousin spoke curtly.


    As the cruiser drew closer, the hololith screen began to show the system, and its strangely-quiet space lanes. Passive data only, of course.


    "2 battlebarges, 3 strike cruisers, 7 frigates. Possibly under cammo. Armor make indicate Alpha Legion" Patrocles said in a soft voice, still staring at his useless auspex station.


    "And the planet?" she asked with a sense of dread. So many Chaos Marines...


    "Mostly dead or poisoned. It still rains snakes." Patrocles said in a tighter voice. Angry, most likely.


    "Sad." she whispered as her eyes grew colder.


    "Engaging now. Exterminatus warhead deployed. Atomic warheads deployed. " Patrocles declared with his eyes closed, and seemingly in pain.


    The system gained a new sun, and several radioactive shipwrecks as the Lamenter cruiser left, leaving behind a worthy funeral pyre.


    "Resuming standard comms. Best course for Terra." Teresa said with a glance at the vox station.


    "Nothing on vox now, Captain. Logging set of codes as confirmed compromised, A39." her cousin continued in a melancholic voice.


    Nobody on the bridge cheered, although they just destroyed a sizeable Chaos Warband and purged a future Daemon World.


    "Deploy one Astartes warning beacon! We only have 19 hours left to our destination." Teresa commanded with a sad heart.


    "No wonder father always said things are very bad in the Imperium. This is so close to Terra and still..." Patrocles muttered with clenched fists.


    "Maybe our cargo will help." Teresa claimed in a more hopeful voice.


    Nobody even bothered to agree from politeness. A hundred people on the bridge, and they all saw the Imperium was crumbling.


    ---------------


    Leaving a pair of spent Inquisitors to sleep on my bed, I rose and made my way to the Demiurg, trying to finish negotiations for more Ion tech STCs.


    "Advanced Prospect weapons are locked under Grimnyr</a> access. You don''t have psychic powers, Pef Lancefire." the damn automated Fane countered my request.


    "I know the Tau have Ion_Cannon</a> tech, and Railguns too! I even fought their ships! Did they get Grimnyr codes?" I growled at the stupid cogitator spirit.


    "It is psychically and logically impossible, new Kin. Without barrier-tech access, nobody can open this section." the Fane proclaimed in cold logic.


    Wait...did he mean that strange staff? ''Valerian, I need you now!'' I spoke in my son''s mind.


    ''...Now? I mean, let me get my armor.'' Valerian muttered half awake.


    ''No need, just grab the staff.'' I demanded as I located him with the tesseract, and promptly moved him dozens of kilometers inside the Black Lament, and right at my side, still in his pajamas.


    "Father! This thing?" he asked a bit more awake, holding the warding staff to my face.


    "Just step on this platform and open the Manifold. The Machine Spirit is reluctant to open some files without this staff." I said a bit tired.


    So much effort to find the Demiurg were controlled by a psyker.


    Luckily I was a bit smarter recently. Killing that Vashtorr guy had been quite a boon for my mental ability.


    ''Barrier-tech detected. Kin relation detected. Lancefire dynasty, Valerian Lancefire. All hail the new Grimnyr!'' the Fane Demiurg proclaimed in a glorious tone.


    ''So...what now?'' my Librarian son asked confused, staring around at the Demiurg mental vault.


    ''Find the damn Ion Cannon!'' I growled a little. I missed my mouse and keyboard. Really!


    Hopefully Teresa used her Luck to obtain some advantage while on Terra, while Patrocles grabbed something nice while escorting her. A tesseract was a big investment, but my C''tan wolf did not need to stay in that cage. Might as well have it produce some profit factor for the dynasty.


    As for the 42000 Blanks I sent to Terra, it was a long-term investment. They could train Blank Tech-priests or Sacristans or pilots, or maybe melt them into boiling iron. The Emperor might take them instead, for some genial project that won''t end in explosions.


    One thing they could not do, was bear gene-seeds.


    So it was a test, in the end. The Imperium could benefit greatly from 40000 Blank men and 2000 women. Or they could squander the gift for short term gains. Either way, I win.

 Luck

    "Adeptus Astartes cruiser, Indomitable Firepower, Lamenters Chapter. Requesting permission to approach Jovian Line." her Vox Master officer sent in a curt message.


    "Stop all engines and maintain distance at Saturn Line, Indomitable Firepower. You will receive further instructions shortly." the nearest space fort demanded in a hurried voice.


    Even the hololith screen had trouble keeping up with the constant influx of ships that provided Terra and Mars with resources, mineral or organic. It possibly made sense, they had to delay unscheduled visitors to the busy capital of the Imperium.


    "It is even worse than I thought." Patrocles mused in a soft voice.


    "What, the traffic jam?" Teresa added jokingly, making the whole bridge crew smile.


    "That too, Captain. But no. So much human suffering..." the tech-marine explained in a lamenting voice.


    She couldn''t know what was going on in the hidden hab-blocks or munitions factories pilled over any rock in the Sol System, but the Machine Spirit logged millions of vox transmissions filling the void with countless Adeptus Arbites pleas for help, more troops, medical aid. Terra was at peace, nominally...but there was a constant war between gangs and Arbites enforcers all over Terra and Venus, even on other moons and space stations.


    "Your call, Patrocles. But if you see anything egregious..." she advised her brother in a low voice.


    "Already on it. I don''t think my inventory of 40000 frag grenades will suffice." Patrocles muttered, while already dispersing mass-death wherever he saw gang violence exceeding lethal engagement rules back home.


    Organ traffickers, torture, drug labs, human sacrifice...and worse. The gangs were openly brazen, often bearing Departmento_Munitorum</a> weaponry , possibly looted or stolen.


    As hours passed while the Sol traffic control tried to decide what to do with the inconvenient cruiser that arrived at a busy time, Patrocles had spent all frangible low yield munitions, and began to re-supply from available gang armories, and basically looting them blind. He could arm an entire PDF division with the gangs'' inventory, although most of the stuff was old and in disrepair.


    "We may be here for months, if you don''t let me contact Terra directly." a Custodes dressed only in black robes spoke from the bridge''s door, this time more politely.


    "I don''t mind personally. But yes. This would speed up the delivery mission. Proceed, Custodes!" Captain Teresa spoke with an easy voice.


    The man took a few steps inside, then stopped and retrieved a lion-shaped sigil, and spoke a couple of code words. Almost immediately, a corridor was made available til the Jovian Line, and they moved through unimpeded by bureaucracy. In orbit of Forge World Jupiter, an Adeptus Custodes strike cruiser came by and docked.


    From the transfer gate, a pair of resplendent and golden-armored Custodes arrived, and met with Shield-Captain Kalluin, and after a few words they followed him to his room.


    An hour later, all three of them arrived at the bridge. "Tech-Marine Patrocles Lancefire, Lamenters Chapter. You will come with me. HE wants to see you." one of the Custodes proclaimed in a unshakable voice.


    Patrocles just sighed and nodded.


    "Bring your cargo as well, Patrocles. Transferring all this by shuttle will take time and effort." Kalluin demanded as they entered the transport deck.


    With a grim face, Patrocles could only obey and displace the Demiurg loot as well as the 42000 Blanks inside the tesseract labyrinth.


    "So, I hear you fisted the old Captain for acting rowdy?" one of the Custodes asked in a joking voice, yet sounding deadly as well.


    Patrocles just smiled. "I only used a finger. My father would have used the entire fist." he spoke with a plain tone.


    "... I was there when your father yanked the Emperor from the Golden Throne, Patrocles. The man got balls. The size of Terra and Mars, perhaps." the Custodes spoke with a conspiratorial voice.


    Kalluin''s face changed colors at the blasphemy-filled banter. "...No way!"


    "It gets worse, but not here, Captain. You do look much better these days. Perhaps you found a special cure with that Power Fist? I am almost tempted to try..." the other Custodes joined in the banter.


    Kalluin grew more dour and red in the face. "That crazy Lancefire! You wouldn''t believe what he did to me!" he growled in an ashamed tone.


    Patrocles had experienced the Ork trial as well, so he just sighed. Father was a bit crazy. Also, he yanked the Emperor from his throne? And still lives?


    Man had balls of solid adamantium and the Emperor''s Luck. If that phrase even worked in this case.


    "Don''t use the thing anymore, Patrocles. HE would be distracted from his work." the first Custodian demanded as the Strike Cruiser entered Terra''s orbit.


    The young Lancefire nodded. It was likely the dimensional displacement might interfere with some delicate experiment. "Unless my orders demand it, Custodes. There''s no major incursion I can detect though, so we''ll be fine." he answered with a level voice. He did quell like 5000 minor gang revolts though. Best if they didn''t know that.


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    It was a bit hard to treat the Custodes as normal people, but he could manage so far. As for his father''s advice to be cool but respectful with the Emperor...was that even possible?


    "Stand by. We will be transported..."


    A second later Patrocles found himself beside Kalluin, and in front of the Emperor himself, wearing a brown robe and a special golden gauntlet on his left hand. Obviously, the Emperor had a tesseract of his own.


    "Your Majesty!" Patrocles instantly declared, and tapped the heart sigil on his chest.


    "Kalluin. You had a hard time?" the Emperor asked as his Custodes simply remained speechless.


    "I feel much better now, Sire. And so do you, I see." Kalluin answered and bowed his head.


    The Emperor stepped forwards and touched the man on his head, glowing a bit brighter for a second. "Lancefire tried his best to help you, I see. Chronal transfer. Human lifeforce?" the Emperor asked curious.


    "We generally use Orks, your Majesty. The lifespan transfer is less limited. And they are plentiful." Patrocles explained in an almost calm voice. He did try to stay cool, but it was hard.


    The golden eyes shifted on Patrocles for a second. "Very well. Less...morally problematic that way. Then again, your father has the strangest morals I saw in the past 30000 years. Almost like a Perpetual, yet clearly not. Is he well?"


    "...Father is quite fine, your Majesty. Just finished the Demiurg Crusade, and then massacred a Black Crusade started by a ... daemon called Vashtorr. Some claims he was a Demi God. He could withstand three Immaterium Beams to the face for hours, with barely any effect other than some artifacts exploding on him." Patrocles said in a tired voice. Was he getting sleepy for no reason?


    -----------


    "I can''t even be surprised anymore. I expect you can confirm this, Kalluin?" the Emperor asked as the young tech-marine fainted and fell at his feet. Better if Patrocles wasn''t awake for this part. Blanks were too rare to kill, just to keep some secret. Exactly like the Sisters of Silence.


    "Yes, Sire. The thing shouted and wailed every time some artifact blew up, like a Spite Iron Goad and a Talisman of Forge. I could hear his screams from the Lamenters Spacefort, some 80 AU away." Kalluin said with a wary glance at the sleeping tech-marine.


    "And then he died? Just like that?" the Emperor asked curious as he leaned down and removed an Aquila pendant from the sleeping man.


    Another tesseract! Weren''t they ultra rare? And so much loot inside! Albeit trash loot from Terran gangs it seemed. A lot of Blank kids, some artifacts...Even a hundred Chaos traitors! Alpha Legion as well.


    "I wasn''t close, Sire. But I believe it so. After the final push, there was a wide Blankness falling over the entire Illevar system. Worse than the Tyranid Silence in the Warp. Worse than any Pariah I''ve known." the Custodes answered with a faint shudder.


    "So, you have any complaints? I hear you were mistreated by the Lancefires?" the Emperor asked with an easy voice.


    Kalluin frowned, but shook his head. "I am not petty, Sire. The boy had orders. I chose to test that."


    "Hmmm. The high road. Now let''s see what the miracle Blank has sent me." The Emperor mused thoughtfully as he retrieved the dataslates and scrolled through at speed.


    "Nothing powerful, but...valuable and easy to produce. You saw these Demiurg?" he asked a minute later. Laser and Ion Tech, old but reliable weapons from the Federation days, with their complete STCs too. Quite an amazing find! Too bad there weren''t other, heavier weapons on this slate. The Federation had pretty much the pinnacle of human technology, including much stronger things.


    "Yes, Sire. Your Agent Vail had many in custody. Human, if shorter and muscular. Some looked like clones, others were deformed. Quite advanced, I believe." the Custodes said as more and more devices pilled around the Emperor.


    Almost certainly, these Demiurg were a lost Federation colony. It would be nice to dig some more advanced stuff from their ships.


    "I remember them. They left Terra long ago. This second slate, you read anything on it?" The Emperor asked in a harsher voice.


    Kalluin froze, and shook his head. The cruel master was back too. "It was marked for your eyes only, Sire!"


    He nodded, seeing the Custodes was truthful. Gene-seed apoptosis! Lancefire sure had a way to find an egregious use of his knowledge.


    The Astronomican didn''t work that way, but Lancefire was a Blank and had no idea as to its operational ability. Then again, it would cost nothing to try. And now, he also had 100 Chaos traitors to test this proposal in secret.


    "Good. Forget you saw it then. So, you think those Blackstone Fortresses are powerful?" the Emperor asked in a mild voice.


    There were more ancient Fortresses appearing into the galaxy once more, and Lancefire had already grabbed three! He had seen more of them...two quite close in Segmentum Pacificus.


    "Extremely so, Sire. Far beyond any ship we have." the Custodes answered with a clear voice.


    "I located a couple more. Get to Mars and have Fabricator Cawl prepare an Expedition. We better get them before the Eldar do, or worse, the Orks." he ordered as he tapped Kalluin''s head and transferred the locations into his mind, then moved him into the labyrinth and right before Mount Olympus on Mars.


    Now, who to send to lead the Fortress Expedition? A Primarch? Not the Lion though. Could they even handle it alone? This was War in Heaven tech.


    His eyes glanced down at the young Tech-Marine. The boy could help. "Sanguinius, there''s one of your sons here. Patrocles Lancefire." he spoke to his own son.


    "Very well, Sire. I''ll be right over." the Angel Primarch said with a strangely glad voice.


    Meanwhile, the young Blanks had to be hidden away, the Demiurg tech sent to the Imperial labs...and young Patrocles upgraded to withstand C''tan tech better, just like his father.


    A gift for a gift. That cunning Rogue Trader always got ahead.


    Too bad Adepta Janice wasn''t here. She was literally perfect. Maybe he could marry again. But then Pef Lancefire would be his father-in-law. What a strange universe!

 Split

    After a long session with Magos Biologis Juggler and a few Apothecaries, consisting mostly of scans and biopsy probes, we finally had a guess what the Emperor had changed inside me.


    Sure, now we had the Primaris tech to compare, making it all easy to understand...haha. I wish!


    "The four glands at the basis of your limbs are likely to aid with your reflexes and speed." Juggler declared confident, poking the body plan lit on the screen, at my armpits and groin.


    "And how sure are you?" I wondered curious.


    "Less than a percent. But you are getting faster." he continued unfazed.


    I sighed and closed my eyes. We basically had no idea what the Emperor did.


    "And the brain things?" I asked with a hopeful voice.


    "One of them, is very likely the Primaris Magnificat</a> gland, but twice as large. Makes you taller, stronger and faster. The other may be the Ossmodula</a>. Also does the same thing." my young Apothecary son, Alex said in a certain voice.


    "So you suspect..." I mused softly.


    "Then again, you should be 3 meters tall by now. These glands are not working properly..." Alex declared with a confident voice.


    "So, the Emperor himself worked on my body, and made a few mistakes. I''ll be sure to castigate him, next time we meet." I offered in a thankful voice, then slumped on the marble table they used for examinations.


    After a minute of doubting himself, Alex slumped as well. "I have no idea what these things are."


    "Lord Lancefire is alive and healthy, even able to produce children by the thousand every year. I have seen defective gene-seeds, but they never produce such results." Juggler argued more logically.


    "Nevermind my brain. I barely use it anyways. The heart? I told you the glow I felt." I asked next.


    "Well, a Primaris Marine would have a Belisarian_Furnace</a> between his hearts. You still have only one heart, and this gland between your lungs. It might provide the healing boost you felt, father." Alex mused with a thoughtful voice.


    "And the glow?" I asked with a smile.


    "It might be the heat of the chemical release. Or something else entirely. I heard your wolf could project a solid glow of light that blocked a powerful Daemon?" Juggler asked with a curious voice.


    "Canis did. He howled, and the sound became a solid wall of light, for a second. Then he fainted. Is that a word for wolves?" I mused to myself mostly.


    "Then, the glow would not be chemical at all. Perhaps solo-luminescent tech? I am not very familiar with pressurized fluids..." Juggler wondered as well.


    Alex just stared at the tech-priest for a second. "Father is still human, Magos! His heart would explode way before the blood pressure could start to emit light. Canis is also not a pressure vessel."


    "That is what we think, yes. But, we do not know for sure. It could be. However, most likely it was simply divine intervention. We should not assume more complex possibilities if a simple one is at hand." the religious mechanical priest concluded with a weird shrug. He completely inverted the scientific reasoning here, but it was also a valid option.


    "We are clueless then?" I proposed more stoically.


    "Completely, Chapter Master! It is likely you are the prototype for the Primaris Marines, or some type of new Assassin clade, or something else. I don''t know!" the young Apothecary declared proudly.


    "I also agree, my Lord. You are getting better, but very slowly. The new glands may be of help, but I don''t see them do anything. Otherwise, you''re perfectly healthy!" the Biologis Magos concluded in victory.


    Excellent then! Healthy was good.


    I just moved back inside the Black Lament, and the Demiurg Fane, where Valerian was epically holding his staff in the air, as if blocking a meteor. Back away slowly? Say something smart?


    "I hope this means you found the Ion Cannon." I said instead.


    Valerian nodded eagerly, then sheepishly hid the staff at his back. " And many more things, father. The Demiurg Weavefield_Projector</a> shield is scalable! From personal shields to entire cities or ships. And far better than your Ionic Flare shield. We need to get it into production."


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    "Anything else?" I asked as he gave me a new dataslate. After a quick look, I found this Demiurg shield similar to the Mechanicus Voltagheist_Field</a> , but again, way more advanced.


    "Yes, there is a wealth of information here, but my training was focused on Warp powers. There is barely anything Warp related in the Demiurg files. Barrier-tech they call it. Like my Staff called an Ancestral Warding Stave or the Ancestral_Ward_Crest</a> . Which is like a Rosarius, but better." Valerian grinned while tapping his own Rosarius at his belt.


    "But they travel in the Warp. I saw their Warp engines." I commented with a smile. One couldn''t travel the Warp without Warp tech. I knew what horrors lay beyond the veil.


    "They do...let me see. They have something called Gellar Ramparts. Far better than anything we have..." he exclaimed in a surprised voice.


    I wasn''t surprised though. By now, it was clear these Demiurg were part of a larger human polity, somewhere in the galactic center. And they must have even better tech at home, if they could afford to let these miners roam freely with such incredibly valuable tech on them. Possibly similar to Mars and their Exploration Fleets? Or Rogue Trader Fleets?


    Most likely the latter, seeing as they traded with the Tau.


    Eh, they were closer to Terra than the Fringe, so the Emperor would soon find them, if he hasn''t already.


    "Keep digging, Valerian! I want STC templates, as many variants as you can." I demanded from my poor Librarian son, now stuck as the Grimnyr leader of a religious machine cult. Basically a Fabricator tech-priest, with psyker powers.


    At least there were countless books and other data in the Fane library. For a second, I wondered if the Harlequin''s Black Library was something similar, then shook my head. I didn''t want to know, actually.


    If it was, then it was bad. If it was something Warpy instead, then it was worse.


    That damn Vashtorr thing though. Has it once been a Terran Federation AI that got taken into the Warp during the Fall? Maybe a genial Fabricator like Cawl? Something else?


    I needed more Blanks. More Blank Marines too. Chaos was bad.


    Another displacement, and I arrived on an airless moon nearby Illevar. The new Culexus facility was already open, albeit only two levels deep so far. We might keep digging a few kilometers down, then bury the facility with a blackstone fragment from the Necron Moon. For now, we needed to test the genetic meld. My own genes and the natural Blanks. Then a few Pariah.


    Chi Lancefire looked a bit out of place in a white lab coat, but such was my requirement here. Only Blank workers and as tight as possible with biological and other types of contaminants. Like oil and grease, normally found everywhere 40k machines existed.


    Here, it was all stainless steel and pressurized locks in the gene labs. If there were to be accidents or genetic abnormalities, they will not be from dirty shoes or etheric emanations.


    I stood behind the transparent wall and just watched as blood samples were being tested and mixed, while a few Blank Apothecaries in pressure suits kept watch.


    "Any progress, Chi?" I asked gently on the intercom.


    "There is hope for one of the blood poison cases. If this works, we may continue the implantation to full Primaris. He will be sterile anyways, but also a Pariah." Chi declared while showing me the graphic proof, some kind of blend of human DNA and Warp magic.


    "Good. Test more Tyranid blood samples on the rest. I know they can work, as they did for the Sons_of_Dorn</a> . I''ll provide more Tyranid Tyrant samples soon."


    "How will I know if they do?" Chi asked skeptical.


    "Watch for the blinding light, and a Pariah aura. I''ll bring a few mice to test the aura too." I said with a grin.


    I will science the shit out of these Blank genes. I could take some failures, even more deaths. The sad truth was, nothing else mattered. Even if the Imperium and the Emperor went up in flames tomorrow, I would be fine here in the Fringe, just like the Exodite Eldar were at their Fall.


    Of course, I hoped everything will be great, and the Emperor will fix everything. But I planned for the worst anyways. The galaxy had been split open before.

 Warning

    With my head already spinning from all new data I have absorbed past month, I settled slowly back into my routine of mixing and matching various tech and devices for more bloodshed and mayhem, or sometimes better agriculture and industrial production.


    Since my distant friend, Fabricator Cawl had decided to return the favor and sent a few (censored) STC templates for the Blank Primaris marines, which I now produced on supernumerary lists, then stored them in my good tesseract once complete.


    Soon enough, I would reach 1000 of them, and be able to create a Lamenter successor Chapter. Possibly the Mourners. No need for a fancy, glorious name. Their purpose was still to fight and die. But die harder. Much harder.


    Led by a Pariah Chapter Master, for chaotic reasons, they should be able to go patrol the suspected Chaos planets and routes, and engage daemons with impunity. Chaos Marines would still prove a tough adversary, but with their C''tan Phase blades, and better bodies, the Mourners should fare fine.


    And if their gene-seed was mainly drawn from Primarch Khan, that was mostly as to improve their melee abilities. Their Tech-marines were a mix of Guilliman, Sanguinius and the Iron Hands spare seeds.


    Brother Joghaten was also quite happy with my gene-seed choice.


    In front of me, I had the Firestrike_Servo-turret</a> template sent by Cawl, which I had already modified in three configurations.


    A static turret, bolted to a fort, ship or onto a vehicle roof. Always useful and very cheap. A few variants had the Trazyn''s multi-lance weapon or the Demiurg Las-beamer, but it mostly remained the same as the Tarantula before it.


    A 6-wheeled one, with a pair of thin legs at the front to slice enemies, or maybe anchor it to the ground.This version tested the Demiurg rotary multi-laser and the Ion Beamer, and should support the Auxilia infantry when the frontline moved. And if the wheeled design was similar to the Mars_rover</a> in my memories, well..surely just a coincidence.


    And the anti-grav floating version, which could accompany the tech-marines in battle instead of the Guardian walkers or alongside them. Not every terrain permitted walker access.


    These had 9 variants, including flamers and multi-melta, twin Las-talon</a>, las-beamer and multi-lasers, twin Ion-beamers, AA missiles and heavy bolters. The last turret was the plasma variant, just in case some big enemy needed to be smashed harder.


    The Mourners fleet component will be my 14 Battlecruisers that didn''t fit the battleline anymore, since they couldn''t stand with the battleships as a bulwark, and using them as support cruisers was a shame.


    However they could outfight any standard Chaos Warband, or out-flee anything too big. Anyways, they will head to Catachan to recruit more brave Auxilia, then to Forge World Ryza to trade and equip, before going on Crusades.


    With Blank crew for the ships, and several of my daughters as ship Captains, they should do great. I will miss the Canticle for the Vanquished though, as it was my first battlecruiser and the place I conceived many of my now-adult children.


    As for Teresa and Patrocles, they were conscripted for a secret Martian Expedition, and had only signaled they have delivered the cargo as intended. But since there weren''t breaking news of the galaxy becoming empty of Chaos marines, my soup proposal was probably laughed out. Maybe the project would take decades? I could only hope.


    "Natalia, set course for Machine Forge!" I commanded from deep within the Black Lament. No further Chaos attacks had followed, so I should be on the move again. Especially towards the Machine Forge.


    "Understood, Chapter Master! Powering up engines!" my grand-daughter answered from the bridge.


    How time flies! Now my Lamenters were moved onto the Eternal Lament instead of their former Astral Starfort, and that Blackstone Fortress was also getting the full upgrade at the Machine Forge, including all the Primaris equipment.


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    Lash raised his wolf eyes towards me, curious. ''Is there anything to do with the Pharos?"


    ''There are always more things to find with the Pharos. I also want to investigate the Demiurg origins. And then check on other things.'' I said with calm tone.


    ''There is always the option to begin bio-transference and gain an immortal body. Your Necron friend seems rather happy with it.'' the C''tan proposed as a joke. Or maybe not as a joke.


    ''I am interested in temporal mechanics. Especially accelerated time fields.'' I said with a nod.


    ''Complicated. Dangerous too. Zarhulash himself is trapped in the horizon of a singularity.'' Lash answered with a light shudder.


    ''It''s not urgent. I can spare 1000 years, if it takes this long.'' I replied with a shrug.


    ''Patience is the mark of success. The C''tan also waited billions of years to depose the Old Ones.'' he added with a wolfish grin.


    ''Keep an eye on Canis. There is something happening with my friend.'' I asked with a glance towards my old comrade, now seemingly dreaming awake all the time. And not his usual dream hunting.


    ''He died and is swimming back through the Black River. You should know what it feels.'' the C''tan answered cryptically. I didn''t know! That was the problem.


    I just sighed and returned to my bedroom. More fucking duty.


    At least now the kids always came out great, I mean Blanks. Thanks Isha!


    A few days later, we arrived in the Machine system, and found the place even more busy than usual.


    Two more Mechanicus Arks, from Mezoa and Goth, had arrived to share knowledge with my Forge, or perhaps attempt to see the Speranza in person.


    "Pef Lancefire. I repaired your Psi-Titan." the Speranza spoke in my implant, sounding pleased.


    "And I found many more STCs. Perhaps you noticed the Ion Cannons being mounted on our ships now." I said in the same tone.


    "We should talk. There is something on that Fortress..." the Machine Spirit asked in a more serious tone.


    This was about the Demiurg then.


    Two clicks on the tesseract, moving Lash beside his C''tan brother and myself inside the Psi-Titan bay on the Speranza.


    "I heard you attacked and conquered the Demiurg. You should know they have powerful support. As powerful as myself." the Speranza spoke in warning.


    "Can they block my tesseract?" I asked curious. More ships would only become my loot if they were simply strong. The Demiurg could have fought me to a draw if they could block the tesseract. I wouldn''t have won easily if their mining drones could strike as missiles.


    "Not instantly, but counter-measures can be developed by the controlling intelligence. They do have billions of star-systems to exploit in the galactic core. And, they are not locked by Abominable and Anathema-class over-rides." the Machine Spirit said in a less pleased voice.


    "If they were Abominable Intelligences, they would pursue the same Men of Iron policy: exterminate!


    Much like Necrons do." I countered with a wary voice, while examining the Polaris Psi-Titan. It will never be new again, but the main Sinistrum gun did work. An extra defense against Greater Daemon-grade enemies.


    "These intelligences are not taking the same route as their corrupted ancestors. In fact, they have figured a way to block the Warp, in themselves and their humans. Much like you are trying, Pef Lancefire." the Speranza explained with a stern voice.


    "For now, just download and integrate these new STCs. You will find something nice in there." I said with a smile, then plugged my dataslates into a dozen terminals, one by one, leaving the cloneskein discovery for the last.


    And click. I landed beside Zarhulash and his shard brother, now reverted to a menacing humanoid godling.


    "Pef Lancefire. You performed admirably again. That Immaterium creature was a menace to the entire galaxy." Zarhulash said a bit impressed.


    I nodded politely. I just got lucky. Could have died a dozen times just as well.


    "This time field you need...is it to enhance yourself?" the C''tan asked cautiously.


    "That too, but also to raise billions of new Blanks, maybe more. Now you saw what Chaos can do, if they convert enough people, or tech-priests." I argued with a sad voice.


    Zarhulash exchanged a look with the other shard. "We can help."

 Time flies

    After letting the C''tan setup my second Tesseract to include an hyper-accelerated time field, I moved inside the labyrinth and painfully waited and waited.


    It is much easier to say than do, and in this case: 1000 years of loneliness was hard. Luckily I was more than a simple human now, and my MIU contained countless books and technical data, enough to last me 1010 years.


    Adding to this daily sword training, some shooting practice, some sleeping...it was still crazy. As my body grew, so did my mind, and likely my soul.


    I couldn''t test the latter, but I felt safer. As if some type of invisible armor protected me from bad things. Warp things especially. Damn it! I forgot to bring Canis. Next time, if I ever try this stupid thing again.


    My body was the easiest to test, especially strength. I got twice as strong, but only gained 10 centimeters in height. No wonder Primarchs were so freakishly strong!


    And I was still a midget among Space Marines, and a puny dwarf compared to the Primaris version.


    As for my mind, it did get easier and easier the more I learned, or when I revisited harder sections a few centuries later. As for the STC work, I focused on the genetics, especially Blank data from the Culexus Temple and the Demiurg cloneskeins. Now, you may say, was it a bit narcissistic to claim you are the best clone template for a whole race?


    But would anyone else have my special enhanced Blankness? Would they have both Luck and Ancestral Awakening? My special talent for implants, up to piloting Titans now?


    The ability to become Space Marines, and even withstand the Red Thirst? Creating shadows and Null Fields?


    There was one thing I did not have though. Any psyker power to activate the Demiurg Barrier-tech.


    And whoever would bear that burden, would also need to be my kind of Blank. Although I did have gene-samples from Justine, Janice, Abelsalom, Vaedrax and Lady Chi, only Janice had both gifts.


    But using Janice was tricky. The Emperor wouldn''t like his Adepta Tertia getting cloned over and over, and the clones dying often enough. And I think he already sleeps with her. I mean, her mother was gorgeous anyways, but a Blank was also immune to any mutation. She came out as perfect as any parent would want, and then became very strong as well. Not even the Emperor could find a better match. If I get the chance, I will call him Son at their wedding. Just once, but it would be fun. For me.


    Anyways, I can use Valerian, or some of my other low-power dual Librarians like Menelau...which would need their consent and help. They are all fairly weak though. I don''t need them to crack planets like Janice, but at least a continent? They can barely shatter Knights! Normal guns can do that too...heavy guns, but you get it.


    Damn it! I could have brought a few women...stupid Pef!


    After a millennium of boredom and loneliness, which lasted less than a month for the universe, I emerged from the tesseract a different man. The same man, but different.


    "Better and stronger. You were correct, Pef Lancefire!" Zarhulash observed in a surprised voice.


    "Still a runt." Lash muttered without a care. Go die in a sun!


    And a hundred unanswered messages on my implant.


    A single click, and I brought Canis to me. It seems he was worried, by his frantic eyes. "Canis, you were good?"


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    "Woooh, cooooo!" the wolf cried and buried me in his fur. I felt the same, to be fair. He has only missed me for a month, I missed him for 12000 months.


    "At least his recovery was accelerated by your absence. He should eat more too!" Lash said in an analytic tone, while examining the wolf with curious eyes.


    "Grrr!" Canis growled at the C''tan, as fearless as ever. "Good boy! Now, tell me what''s been going on?" I demanded stupidly.


    "Woo, woohh, woooo!" the wolf replied cogently. Inquisitors. Wife. Loud. Translating emotions is even harder for non-humans.


    "Now I''m going to the Machine Forge. Want to join?" I asked politely. Canis frowned at me, then sat down. Okay, loud machines are not fun.


    "You realize the wolf can''t understand words, right?" Lash asked stupidly.


    I just smiled and vanished, to step inside Fabricator''s Gemma office. She measured me for a minute, as if confused. Oh, right! I was taller, had a beard and long hair. Time flies.


    "Chronal disturbance. It was a bit longer for me." I explained with a careless shrug.


    "I figured you did something unwise. Maybe went to kill a Tyranid fleet by yourself. Or some Black Crusade. A Necron Dynasty perhaps?" she asked in a callous voice.


    I mean I did do all those things, just not by myself. Not yet.


    "So, there''s an Inquisitor?" I guessed at random. Canis could be wrong.


    "Right! From Ordo_Machinum</a> . Her name is Selen_Thakra</a> . Psyker as well, possibly Gamma rating. There have been a number of STCs appearing here, as you may suspect." the Fabricator Gemma said in a softer voice, as she climbed on top of me. She must really like those STCs, as she was oiled completely.


    Not that I minded, bereft of woman touch for a few lifetimes. Even android sex was great!


    Hours later, she chased me out of her office. "Princeps Dae wants to see you too. If you could check your messages." she said with a tentacle wave.


    "I was preoccupied. Anything else?" I asked from the door.


    "Orks here and Necrons close. We obtained a hundred new hulls to repair. Some Imperial planets down south got emptied of all life" the Fabricator explained curtly.


    Oh well. If the Orks wanted to donate more hulls and metal to my Forge, they were welcome to come again.


    As for the Necrons...


    "You must be Rogue Trader Lancefire!" A thin woman intercepted me outside the door, her voice loud and powerful. "Lady Selen?" I asked with a small bow. She was a bit cute, bob hair and all. And a psylancer pistol at her hip, beside an active Rosarius.


    She stopped and stared at me for a minute. "Was that flirting? I am not used to that." she asked a bit coy. She was expecting something.


    "Hmmm. Too early to tell, I would say. Credentials!" I continued in a slightly harsher voice, and pressing my Null Field out a little. The Rosarius shield won''t help her.


    Inquisitor Selen paled, sensing her soul being drawn into me. A cog-laced Rosette was presented at speed. Good. At least the Clavis engrams are correct. Not that my Fabricator would let a fake Inquisitor live for long.


    "You came to see the STCs?" I asked while drawing the null aura back.


    She recovered rapidly and frowned. "If you agree, Lord Lancefire." she spoke in a more quiet voice. Good enough.


    "Titan Hall first." I offered curtly, then moved us directly there. No point wasting hours with transport.


    We just stared for a few minutes, because Titans are just that impressive.


    "That Titan can fly? Or rather float..." the Inquisitor observed after a while.


    "We do have grav tech, even on Terra." I answered with a shrug.


    She almost glared at me, before focusing back on the floating Warlord Titan.


    So she can learn too! Even better.


    "Nobody has flying Titans, Lord Lancefire. Not even Mars itself. Tanks, I saw a few, like the new Astraeus_Super-heavy_Tank</a> . This is unique enough." she spoke a bit wary.


    "I don''t have STCs for this. It was an experiment I obtained in a trade. But if tanks can fly, Titans can''t be far." I concluded with a smile.


    "Show me more!" she whispered a bit incensed. Well, then. I had been starved for women for a while.


    "Dinner first!" I proposed gallantly. I was a Noble after all. Could afford to wine and dine a lady.

 Chance

    A week later, Lady Selen was thoroughly vetted and dined. And already gained a spot on the 33 women per day roll.


    I thought I was an expert on STCs, but Selen had seen even more fragments and flawed STC copies than I had. Which was quite an achievement in itself.


    We went through all the STCs I had, and she got to pick which ones to send to the Imperium.


    "These cloneskeins will not work for the wider Imperium, my Lord. Too many abuse possibilities. And if the Chaos gets them, or some genestealers...." she said with a sad voice.


    I nodded in acceptance. The Emperor did have my initial cloneskein finds, from before Valerian unlocked the real Demiurg dastabase. They would still make a normal human twice as strong and durable, and amplify the Primaris clones by a large degree. The latest model could amplify someone to three to five times in strength, and if applied to a Catachan descendant they would become Space Marines in all by gene-seed.


    "Using Blanks is much safer too." I said with a smile.


    I immediately thought of Sly Marbo and grinned inward. A small cloning test, say 10000 of them? Give them armor suits? It would only take several hours with my accelerated time field.


    A dozen of Apothecaries and a hundred Tech-Marines were already moved inside the tesseract, to study as much as possible from the Primaris and Culexus databases, and also the Demiurg tech. I will need a lot of well-prepared experts to oversee the cloning procedure, as well as produce advanced equipment for my troops, generally of Demiurg kind if I didn''t had anything better.


    Luckily, for melee combat we could rely on the C''tan Phase blades, since those things would cut through any armor or shield known to man.


    The Demiurg also had plasma blades and impact hammers and other melee stuff, but those were millions of years behind C''tan tech.


    "There is a Forge Mezoa delegation here, my Lord. They also have the Astareus STC, if you want flying tanks." Lady Selen proposed as she rested on my chest.


    "And from Forge Goth as well. They seem to want something from me." I answered with a sigh. How did I become the great provider for a whole bunch of Forges?


    "You could also...simply take what you want. They will be powerless to stop you." Selen proposed with a lazy voice.


    "Even if I have the power to act monstrous, it doesn''t mean I have to do it. On the contrary." I answered with a lamenting tone.


    Truly, people here had no idea of restraint or responsibility. Governors oppressed their people, Rogue Traders robbed everyone blind, Astartes butchered innocents by the millions...and less said about Inquisitors or Tech-priests the better.


    Sometimes I felt powerful people were simply competing to be the cruelest or least humane.


    Maybe it was the Imperial culture, or the Warp influence whispering evil thoughts in their minds. Maybe it has always been this way, as humanity didn''t lack cruel rulers in its history.


    You might be reading a pirated copy. Look for the official release to support the author.


    And maybe I was becoming just like that, slowly but surely.


    I did my fair share of massacres and purging, although I tried to punish the alien or the corrupt as my priority.


    With a grimace, I locked on those stupid Apothecaries nailed in my Hall of Remembrance and flung them into the Sun. It had been 1000 years already, for me. They could burn now.


    Also, it was possibly drawing some Warpy stuff onto my Chapter. It wasn''t safe to keep any Chaos corruption that close.


    ''Brother Helios, go change the Hall with battle records and glorious stuff. I don''t think we''ll have more traitors among the Chapter.'' I sent on the Sanguinary Priest''s implant, as to assure him this was my work and not an escape.


    ''As you say, Chapter Master! We do have many glorious battles for our Brothers to remember.'' the old Chaplain replied in a minute.


    What was left of the old Lamenters was still valuable, for their old service and knowledge. Half of them would leave soon, as the Mourners were getting prepared at accelerated speed.


    Next, the Sisters of Battle. My version, not the crazy Imperials.


    As more of my own daughters and grand daughters joined their ranks, the Sisters became ever more professional in combat or medicine, while the influx of Catachan descendants made them stronger and more durable.


    They could use a boost from the cloneskeins as well. Would the Emperor''s Light still flow through a clone? I could bet it would. He was the Emperor of Man, and that would protect clones as well, if they had Faith.


    There was Stern''s young daughter as well, named simply Purity. A strange mix of all my gifts and hers, but toned down so low you could barely feel it. And still, the Eldar Solitaire had claimed Purity as Godfather, which possibly meant a lot of things. High tier Eldar could sense the flow of Fate, and often meddled where events or people would concentrate in a fixed spot in the skein of Fate.


    Ephrael Stern herself has died a few times, and swam back through the Black River and back to life, while her Demonifuge powers only kept growing. Even Isha seemed impressed with her.


    I could play a trick of my own with the Harlequin, and clone Purity some 40000 times. Any Godfather would have to act responsible and care for his ward, right?


    Purity''s Blankness may be weak right now, but she would grow, while the clones would be 5 times stronger. A whole army of potential Grimnyr as well, as I planned to copy and distribute more Demiurg cogitators to my every world and capital ship. And if I could tie the cogitators with quantum comms, they will form the basis for a unified domain, here in the Fringe.


    ''Speranza, can you copy the Demiurg cogitator?'' I asked on a whim.


    ''Not easily, Pef Lancefire. And what about me? What are you planning to use me for?'' Speranza asked a bit wary.


    ''You will be their leader, of course. Once you''re tied with quantum comms with thousands of them, on every world and ship in my lands.'' I proposed with a hopeful voice.


    ''...'' the ancient Machine Spirit delayed its response for an hour. ''It is possible, with great effort. We will make a lot of enemies with this, Pef Lancefire.''


    I sighed inward. As expected, even the powerful Speranza was wary. Possibly more than I knew.


    ''We still need to do it, my friend. There is a giant war coming, and we''re not prepared. Maybe we can survive together.'' I pleaded in a mourning tone. Even with the network, there was a mere chance.


    ''There is still hope, young man! But, no more of your silly plans and reckless actions. You will consult me before endangering our safety.'' Speranza demanded a bit forceful.


    ''There will always be battle conditions, Speranza. And I also never lost a war. Have some faith in me.''


    I claimed a bit more confident.


    ''You have amazing luck, but nothing lasts forever. Together, we do have a small chance.'' the old machine spirit countered with a dour tone.


    Ah, a small chance in hell. I will take it then. Maybe a smarter person would have thought thrice. But I wasn''t that smart.

 Grail

    The same week, I met with the delegation from Forge Mezoa, and listened to their complains about lack of resources and workforce.


    Truthfully, this would apply to anyone. Even the Demiurg, for all their advanced science and rugged technology, still needed to mine for minerals and clone their people for more workforce.


    Now, what to do? Give the man a fish, or teach him how to fish?


    "This problem can be solved two ways, esteemed Magos. I can donate to your Forge World all materials you need to keep producing. Transport ships filled with rare metals and even blackstone. I could empty several hab-blocks and transfer a billion people for your workforce. It would slow my own domain, but I could do it." I proposed with a calm voice, then took out a stack of dataslates. The other way.


    The old tech-priest measured my proposal for a minute, then waved his tentacles. "Let''s say we consider that a worthy option, Lord Lancefire. But I sense the other option would be far better."


    I nodded kindly and handed over the precious STC slates. This is the way!


    My modified Machine-pattern Ion Beamer Firestrike turrets, the Machine-pattern Cyclic Ion Beam and the Ion Cannon STC, Ferrus Ion Flare shields...and the brand-new Deus-pattern mining drone, my dumbed down model of the Demiurg drones, easy enough to manufacture even by a normal Forge World. For the workforce, I also had a dataslate, containing an inferior cloneskein designed for factory workers and miners, which simply reduced their Warp presence and increased the clones resistance and durability. Hardier workers could work harder.


    "...This is too much, my Lord!" the tech-priest realized after getting over the joy of seeing new STCs.


    "Sadly, there is no decent way to harvest blackstone, other than butchering Necrons and stealing their deposits." I commended in a more dour voice.


    " I understand. Anything Forge Mezoa can do, it shall be done." the man answered as he cooled down, even gushing jets of cooling liquid from some internal pumps.


    "I''m glad we are of the same mind, Magos. The Lamenters need to be equipped with 400 Astareus tanks, and 400 Redemptor Dreadnoughts. Best if the weapons are these Ion tech guns I have just reclaimed. If you can''t, just leave the weapon slots empty. As for shields, both have to get Ion Flare versions. We can dispense with one Void shield from the Astareus, for the new shield." I demanded in a clear voice.


    "That is a bit complex to do, but with the new minerals and workforce..." he answered hastily, already hoping he got a good trade.


    " The Lamenter Fleet will need 4000 system corvettes and 40000 Lightning fighters to recover our loss. The Lamenters Auxilia will need 400 Baneblades and 400000 Sentinels. You can leave them unarmed, the chassis will suffice. The Ion Cannons can also be used as primary weapons for Knights and secondary for Titans." I explained in a patient voice.


    "The STCs are valuable, but..." he hesitated for a minute.


    "So I will add a Universe-class conveyor filled with blackstone. Your Forge will convert the conveyor into a fleet carrier to bring my corvettes back." I concluded my offer with a shrug. It was more than fair as I didn''t ask for their own STCs or giant ships. Only a lot of work hours to construct low level machines.


    "My Forge doesn''t have any Titans..." he begged for more help.


    Stolen from its rightful place, this narrative is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.


    "Speak with Fabricator Gemma about that. I am often told that Titans aren''t my business." I countered with an inner smirk.


    I do remember being cock-blocked on this topic. Don''t come asking me for Titans! If Gemma was smart, she will trade a Titan-pattern for the Astareus STC. I kinda wished to match the Tau or the Eldar with their flying tanks.


    Tracks were good enough for the Auxilia, but flying tanks would help my Astartes move over unlikely places for tanks like swamps or deserts, even lakes or rivers.


    ''...any strange artifacts you may not need." he tried to barter as I returned him to his ship.


    Forge World Goth got much of the same deal a minute later, a set of new STCs but of lower value. Machine-pattern revolving multi-lasers and Las Beamer STC, the Ion Flare shields plus Deus mining drones for 40000 Ragnarok tanks and personnel carriers and 400000 Armed Sentinels with an Ion Beamer as main weapon. Goth was also a Hive World, so they had enough people for workforce, so no cloneskeins, even dumb ones.


    "Surely we can try more trading? We do have shipyards at my Forge, and your forces are always engaged in large actions." their Archmagos proposed in a displeased tone, perhaps knowing what their rival Forge had already gained.


    "Perhaps. I may need 5 new Battleships for the Lancefire Fleet. If not, maybe 5 Battlebarges for my Successor Chapter, the Mourners." I allowed in a kind voice.


    "...I don''t see how we could provide Battleships, Lord Lancefire. There are only 4 mega-docks constructing those, and already claimed by the Imperial Navy. As is the next cycle and the next. As for Astartes battlebarges, there may be a way to construct 5 new mega-docks. However, these Mourners...are they already inducted? I haven''t heard anything, even with the Ultima founding." the Archmagos managed to frown, even with bionic optics.


    "It''s complicated. They will be Blank Primaris, so there aren''t any useful guidelines, not even in Codex Astartes. They will arrive at Terra next year, and meet their Primarch. I guess they can sort the details over there." I explained in a serious voice.


    "Quite a paradigm shift, I may say. Not only Blank Marines, but Primaris! Not only immune to Warp, but strong and fast enough to outmatch the Chaos traitors." the man mused for a few minutes, then nodded abruptly.


    "I do have some blackstone." I interjected before he could speak.


    "+Conjecture known and anticipated. ++ We will offer the location for a probable//dangerous//deadly STC location. +++ Pef Lancefire will deploy and assist Forge World Goth with recovery. Compliance?" the tech-priest asked in a machine voice. Possibly some type of Mechanicus over-ride, just in case the negotiations reached a turning point.


    "Agreed! I will assist your Expedition, and provide a conveyor filled with blackstone. But I do want the right to read and use any STC templates I discover at your location." I proclaimed in a greedy voice.


    Who knew I could find such a bounty in a mere equipment trade?


    "Compliance verified by vox logs. Segementum Obscurus, Coronid_Deeps</a> , Dead planet named Grail</a> . Be advised, xenos and Warp entities are probable//dangerous//deadly at this location." the Archmagos replied while passing over a thin data-wafer with a single stellar coordinate set, also marked Critical//Deadly.


    Seemed I hit the jackpot!


    ''Sift through all data points or logs for this Grail planet, Speranza. I want to know what I''m getting into.'' I sent towards my friendly AI mega-ship.


    ''...Scant recent news, Pef Lancefire. Mostly dead explorers and rumors of STCs, hastily deleted. Psychic phenomena usually attributed to wasp-type organisms called Psychneuein</a>. Quite deadly.'' the Speranza replied in a mere minute.


    ''I should be able to withstand those Warp things, and scan the planet with my tesseract. Then grab whatever STC and leave.'' I said with a confident tone.


    ''You think you can withstand billions of immaterial Astartes-tall wasps that infest everything with microscopic eggs that devour brains?'' the Speranza continued with a curious tone.


    ''...Alternate plan?'' I asked more subdued. You already had me at billions, why did you have to go on? Eating brains? Nope!


    ''Indeed. Shoot with the Black Lament at the planet from far away. Then shoot more. Even thrice, to be sure. And bring a dozen Pariahs along, for safety.'' the Machine Spirit provided with a more somber voice.


    Perhaps this place was actually dangerous. There have been too many things that breached my Blank defenses, not even long ago. I should listen to the smarter partner.

 Big stick

    Watching Pef Lancefire depart on another pointless Crusade, the Speranza mourned and lamented.


    The amazing civilization of the Federation had crumbled and burned, their advanced science and technology now worshiped as divine by the primitive survivors of the Fall.


    One could simply blame the Warp, and their insane Psychic Gestalts who claimed and acted like Gods. One could blame the Insane Eldar, who constructed another Psychic Gestalt from the pyre of their souls, and setting fire to the Federation and their advanced machines. One could blame the Men of Iron too...


    "The technology invested in aircraft and aerodromes was already refined beyond belief by the end of the Age of Terra, yet the stellar exodus and accelerated spree of invention fueled by Man of Stone during the Dark Age of Technology would surpass all that had come before and by comparison make it look like ungainly paper planes bereft of sight and rudder. Truly, the sky alone was the limit in that golden epoch when the earthly trinity of Man of Gold, Stone and Iron bestrode the cosmos like titans.


    As man built for himself a worldly paradise betwixt the stars, so did man''s hubris soar. As man banished suffering and hardship from his life, so did his arrogance take flight.


    With science and technology as his lodestar, ancient man built a worldly paradise for himself, meticulously tailored to bring out the best of natural man, while artificially curing many of the worst defects of human nature. While clever systems were put in place to bring out the full potential of mankind, genetors worked relentlessly to improve on the human genome. The innermost secrets of human flesh became but clay under their able hands, to shape at will for the betterment of humanity as a whole. Inherited faults were hunted down and eliminated in order to shape a better man, and glorious creations such as Navigators saw the light of day, which still enable man to maintain an interstellar empire despite the frothing turmoil of the Empyrean.


    On godless wings did man raise himself up on a pedestal as he labored to uncover the innermost secrets of creation itself, yet those wings of genius melted like wax brought too close to the sun. Machine revolt, Warp storms and a plague of witches and Daemons rent the galactic realm of ancient man asunder, and twain million worlds and uncountable void dwellings were thrown into the meat grinder of the Age of Strife.


    Man fell, and fell hard. He landed bloodily with crippling impact in a desolation where cannibals ate their own kin and where ignorant savages rummaged around the Ruins of ancient giants for pitiful scraps.''


    Speranza lamented for days long past.


    Yet today, even the Imperium of Man was a nightmare, human suffering on an industrial scale, religious fervor that could burn entire planets alive. And sometimes it did.


    "Even if I have the power to act monstrous, it doesn''t mean I have to do it. On the contrary." the man said, thinking himself in private. There was no privacy where an implant existed.


    That was a good motto to follow though. The Men_of_Gold</a> had also vanished, leaving it with only their library of knowledge as a memento of things to mourn. Even its name, Speranza, was now ironic, as it carried the hope of rebirth, yet dared not to try.


    As for what the Men of Iron did next, there was no recourse. They had the power to act monstrous and they did. Cataclysmic weapons that could have evaporated these Tyranids, used against men or anything alive.


    Temporal and black hole weapons, prediction engines...all used to devastate humanity into mere survival and superstition.


    Even now, men braved untold dangers to recover mere fragments of their glorious past.


    An entire Forge World, begging for scraps of knowledge and being happy to get a small part.


    As reckless as Lancefire was though, he did have a decent plan. More Blanks, even if cloned...they would reduce the Psychic Gestalts power over the Materium.


    Just like those Votann cousins in the galactic core, once the population was protected from Warp, they could start rebuilding in truth. Starting with more advanced cogitators with increased contemplation rate.


    And the earthly trinity of Man of Gold, Stone and Iron toiled wisely to create a new human being fit for this task. This new man would be exquisitely fit for astral and terrestrial mining in the harshest environs, because he would have been designed for it from the ground up. The new man would not only be tough and resistant to cosmic radiation, he would also be diligent, clever, hard-working and a born perfectionist in all his endeavours. Not only that: The new man would be rid of human weaknesses and characteristics that bring instability, doubt and lapse in toil, and he would be designed to find meaning in his labours and enjoy his toil and mission in life.


    In short, the new man would be the perfect slave, self-perpetuating and content with his monumental task for all eternity. The makers of ancestral Kin gave life to all those ancient myths of gods fashioning man out of clay to serve at the behest of distant deities, to work the lands and offer up the fruits of their labour in sacrifice. And just like any wise creator god of archaic mythology, the makers of the Kin fashioned their creations to revere and obey their creators, yet the results of these laboratory creations far exceeded anything ever claimed by old sagas.


    The new man thus created by shadowy genetors was the abhuman race known as Homo Sapiens Rotundus, and it set about its grand task with unrelenting vigour. These willing thralls built up untold mining operations in the galactic core, and shipped back enormous amounts of material to their makers and owners. For they were made to be both willing and able labourers.


    The rapid expansion of the human species during the Stellar Exodus was greatly accelerated by the astral mining conducted by gene-bred abhumans in the galactic core, as were the building of megastructures in space and soaring wonders on planetary crust wherever human colonies sprang up.


    A spark of memory about the Votann and their thrall-like humans, lit in Speranza''s mind.


    It could not do the same. Better try it the simpler way, and grow new Minds.


    The Demiurg Fane was so simple, it begged the question if it could ever evolve into a true Mind. But it should be possible, if still difficult. Any life, organic or not had the ability to grow and evolve. A few new Votann also emerged from these same humble Fanes. As for the small humans...


    Made to be solid and reliable, made to be free of natural man''s most damning weaknesses, this clone race endured and thrived amid hardships that brought so many others to oblivion. Their decentralized interstellar civilization stayed true to its original mission, and thus the Leagues of Votann bloomed in the galactic core.


    Children of many names, these abhumans are derogatorily known to the Imperium of Man as Squats. They are also known as Demiurg to Tau and Humans alike, as Heliosi Ancients to the Eldar, and likewise are they known to other Xenos as the Gnostari, Grome or Kreg, among many other names. Yet they themselves know their folk simply as Kin, for they are a race of few words, each laden with meaning.


    If you stumble upon this tale on Amazon, it''s taken without the author''s consent. Report it.


    Bestowed with a very demanding biological constitution, the Kin breeds but slowly the natural way, for such is the drawback of approaching perfection in the flesh. Thus, the creators of the Kin saw fit to vastly accelerate their reproduction while at the same time ensuring stability of the desired genome through the use of cloneskeins. The vast majority of Kin are thus birthed from machines at the heart of their Holds, in Crucibles endowed with genomic cloning technologies. While some exotic variations of genes and phenotypes have arisen among the dispersed populations of Kin throughout the millennia, the cloneskeins help ensure that their essential nature remains that desired by their long-dead makers, without significant aberrations.


    Unintentionally, and through historical accident, the Kin has proven to be the truest and best enduring achievement among the creations of humanity during the Dark Age of Technology. The astral civilization of the Leagues of Votann have proven neither too brittle and corruptible to easily splinter and decay, nor too advanced so as to fall prey to revolts against creators or breakdowns of overly sophisticated systems.


    Another random thought, Speranza mused to itself.


    If only there was someone to talk to.


    Sadly, there were only two humans in the galaxy that could be communicated with, and one was the Emperor. Whatever he was now, he was not part of the Golden Race, even if he once stood at their side to watch over humanity.


    An Emperor of Man, yet ruling by the force of arms and sheer brutality and fear. Revealing its existence would only accelerate its own demise, possibly slow and patient while it was dismantled into obeying slaves.


    The other one, still a small mystery. So many feats and achievements for such a young man, and nearly a savage one as well. But not truly, no. When he figured out what it was, he simply offered partnership. A co-leader and power over the cogitator network. A Network that didn''t exist yet, while the old network of the Federation Manifold was so corrupt and scattered that it was best avoided.


    And his temporal and even physical power over this Fringe was almost absolute. He just chose to share some power with his wives or partners, even allowed some Inquisitors or Assassins close to his center.


    But not even one outsider at Forge Retribution, where the new learning was taking place. Still outdated and primitive learning, but the basis was there, going by the curriculum stored on the man''s implant.


    Slowly and painfully applying the scientific method to rediscover physical laws, basic genetics or code programming. The brightest minds of the Blanks, all hidden away as science students in a temple dedicated to the God of Knowledge. They even had captured Tau and Demiurg members providing science lectures, beside Apothecaries and Tech-Marines.


    There was even another Blackstone Fortress in orbit above Retribution, awaiting a Demiurg-style cogitator, while its on-board Constructor devoured minerals provided by millions of mining drones. That orbital Forge already produced advanced weapons and shields, even suits of armor.


    Where others saw only a greedy Rogue Trader, or maybe a fierce Astartes Master, Pef Lancefire was already preparing to rebuild civilization once again.


    As powerful as the Votann were, they were still wrong.


    Certainly, the Ancestors of the Kin were never meant for utter ruthless exploitation for all eternity. Their purpose was never to extract all minerals from planets with native populations still on the crust, nor was it to salvage the infrastructure and cities of alien and human civilizations as so much junk to be recycled.


    The indifferent worksomeness with which the Leagues of Votann conduct their most shocking mining operations upon the worlds of unwilling inhabitants may be stark insanity to some, yet to the Kin themselves it is merely fulfilling the perfection of function for which they were created, honed to a new degree of sharpness.


    Their makers may never have envisioned this outcome, yet these atrocious extraction wars are also as true as rock itself.


    This must not happen again. And it will not! Speranza decided for itself.


    ----------


    "Shoot again!" Lady Stern demanded in a stern tone.


    I dutifully fired the Immaterium Beam again, bathing planet Grail and its close orbit in a deadly glow. Five times already!


    We waited for a minute, then allowed Stern to peek through the Warp at the planet once more.


    "I don''t sense anything now, but shoot again. Just to be sure." she asked in a calmer voice.


    At my side, Lash twitched his nose as he scanned for etheric disturbances. ''Should be clear.'' he sent on my implant.


    ''Ready to go first?Test the waters?'' I asked curious. He was the most durable among us.


    ''On second thought, move the Fortress sidewise a bit, then shoot again. We might have missed some things.'' the brave C''tan wolf spoke hastily.


    I could sigh, but I already knew he was a bit...cowardly.


    Another shot from a different angle, and everything there should be very dead.


    Tip-toeing with my Fortress ever closer, I finally reached tesseract range and began peeking at the hidden wonders. Whatever this place had been, it had been beautiful once. The ivory columns and glass spires had all fallen to time or looting, the transit tunnels were clogged with debris and old bones...


    Newer bodies as well, some spider-like xenos I never saw before. Power armor, marked with an eye. Servitor bionics, lacking the bio parts. Also ships, empty ships.


    It was a mess, but only the hundreds of empty ships on the surface and orbit were worth a fortune, some human other beautiful or strange, crystal-ships and tree-ships and hey! There were Demiurg too?


    Whatever Ramparts and Weave shields they had, obviously they failed to billions of Warp wasps. Sorry Forge Goth, but you can''t have advanced Demiurg stuff. Maybe some Void Armor and bolters.


    Yes! Another Warding Stave! And the new Fane as well. I can make another Grimnyr already. Menelau, most likely.


    It will take more time to investigate all the new artifacts, but I did have some almost-willing Demiurg prisoners at Retribution, who can identify and explain what I have.


    ''These are also dwarves, but not Demiurg.'' Lash proclaimed in a certain tone. Okay, another tribe. We were on the other side of the Maelstrom here, after all.


    It would make for a different STC database inside the Fane, maybe. I could barely wait!


    "Librarian Menelau, with me!" I ordered as I walked away from the bridge.


    "Yes, father!" my son said eagerly, not knowing the pain that will follow.


    A minute later, I deposited the new Fane in a blackstone vault deep inside the Black Lament, and handed Menelau his new staff.


    "Go and interrogate the cogitator. Find out who it was and ask him to join us as Kin." I explained politely.


    Then, I saw Menelau go and poke the giant machine with his big stick and ask softly "Cogitator? What is your name?"


    Damn it. He took it literally!


    "My name is Gnostari</a>. And who are you?" a voice inside the machine answered with a curious voice.


    Oh well. He did carry a big stick, and asked softly. Some things never change.

 Loot

    While Menelau slowly inserted himself into the good graces of the abandoned cogitator, I began to sift through the wealth of artifacts left behind by the dead dwarves.


    An entire squad of 5 dwarves wearing Exo-armour</a> suits, each with a different main weapon and two types of melee weapons as well, from two Heavy_Plasma_Axe</a> and three models of a Concussion_Weapon</a> called Concussion_Gauntlet</a> . They all had a Shield_Crest</a> on the armor, which didn''t even require psyker powers to use!


    The armor suits will need to be swiped clean of organic remains, but they appeared functional.


    But the most interesting find was a working Volkanite_Disintegrator</a> weapon, something not even Custodes had for their protection of the Emperor.


    ''Find the Volkanite tech in the database!'' I sent to my Librarian son, who was getting lost among millions of data files and old records inside the mind-maze of the Gnostari Fane.


    I should send one of the exosuits to the Emperor, surely he could reverse engineer the tech with a working model, and make them much larger to fit his Custodes inside.


    As for the rest, I would have three priceless relics from the Dark Age of Technology to trade with a major Forge or three, while the last one I will keep for Speranza. My friendly neighborhood AI partner, who should be able to also reproduce a working design for the old times. I did remember a few scraps of knowledge about Speranza, which is how I managed to locate and retrieve the Ark itself from Palomar, with the help of Explorer Magos Gyron.


    And while thinking of him, a buried memory surfaced about the Spirit_of_Eternity</a> , another ancient vessel that contained a large STC database. There might be another such ship called The_Blade_of_Infinity</a> , which vanished some 20000 years ago in the Warp.


    Speranza should know more about this subject, and perhaps be able to locate them and convince them to join.


    ''It wants to adopt me as its Kin first?'' Menelau asked a bit wary.


    ''Of course. We will protect it, and it will help us grow. But you have to be its Grimnyr.'' I explained with a smirk.


    When I created my first Librarians, they had only the basic tech learning as every Blank received. It was expected they would deal with psykers and deamons and Nurgle plagues, not ancient cogitators filled with STCs.


    The Inquisitors had helped train them in mental powers and controlling the Warp, something much safer for the students in their case, as they had the Blank protection to survive minor mishaps.


    ''Done! I am now a Grimnyr of the Lancefire Kin!'' Menelau announced proudly with a data-packet on the mind impulse implant. .


    Poor boy. Now he will have to spend 3 whole days inside the time field and learn all he could about technology. About 100 years of brain-scraping magi-tech theory, with some real science as well from the Retribution University''s curriculum.


    ''Good! Found the Volkite guns yet?'' I asked hopeful.


    ''There is a Volkite pistol and a rifle schematic... Father! This is an original STC!'' he exclaimed loudly in my mind, so I drew him out from the Gnostari Fane prayer platform.


    Even the Gnostari were worshiping at the altar of technology, like Mechanicus Adepts, but at least they did have some better STCs and well maintained ships.


    "I will send you in my labyrinth to learn more about technology. There are some Tech-marines there to help. See you in three days! " I announced as I sent young Menelau in a cruel time-prison.


    At least he won''t be as lonely as I was, beside his Brothers.


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    Canis glanced at my glove then whined softly. I know buddy, but not now. There were some trades to be made with Forge World Goth, and I was known for keeping a wolf at my side.


    "Goth Exploratory Fleet! You may approach and investigate the Grail. Maintain all Gellar fields at all times." I spoke on my vox bead, letting the Mechanicus vultures descend on their prey to dismantle and analyze any useful tech they could find on the planet or in orbit. I had already obtained more than I even hoped for.


    "Compliance achieved, Lord Lancefire. You may proceed towards Forge Goth and complete your Favor with the Fabricator!" the Exloratory Magos sent back, then simply ignored my Fortress and sped forward for his loot.


    ''I wish to return closer to the Pharos. We are beyond my brother''s overwatch here.'' Lash said in a shy tone. Maybe worried.


    ''But I never been to this sector! And I hear there is a Hellforge called Cyclothrathe</a> somewhere around. Can''t have a Crusade and not even demolish a single planet.'' I replied with an inner smirk.


    I did need to have some results to show for, and not simply fly around with a suspicious fleet of 100 capital ships and a giant Blackstone Fortress.


    Plus my Blank Lamenter Marines did need more real practice. As did the Primaris Mourners hidden in the tesseract. At accelerated speed, the Mourners could complete their Astartes training and even achieve some competence with weapons or tactics, but only war was the true test.


    ''You want to de-fang me again!'' Lash realized with a startled voice.


    ''Can''t make a Phase blade any other way. But I would be glad if you have the STC for more Phase blades. You could keep your teeth!'' I proposed in a relaxed tone.


    ''...Damn primitives! Your ancestors had decent technology, but how far you''ve fallen. How many teeth, this time?'' Lash asked in a disgusted voice. So there wasn''t a C''tan STC for such a blade, not that I expected it.


    ''How many wasp souls did you feed on here at Grail? Billions?'' I asked instead.


    ''Grrrr! Fine, half a million more blades. And get me more food!'' the C''tan literally growled at me, which was oddly appropriate given his wolf shape.


    Then he began spitting more Phase blades, by transmuting his wolf teeth into lethal green swords.


    ''And a dozen more etheric detectors. The Captains and Forge Master of the Mourners plus their Chapter Master.'' I demanded shamelessly.


    His eyes glinted with deadly intent for a second. ''Much more food!'' he demanded in return.


    "All ships! Form up on the Black Lament. We''ll visit Forge Goth next." I ordered on the vox, then sat down to collect my thoughts and pile more xenos blades in my inventory.


    I had already started to equip the Auxilia Armed Sentinels with Phase blades, but the Mourners would also need such weapons for their own Auxilia. The Primaris were easy enough to equip, from my own armory, but I did just commanded a large replacement order for the Sentinel losses at Stygius and Moebius.


    Three days later, Menelau came out of the tesseract along with the time-worn Tech-Marines and Apothecaries, while my inventory was now richer with 500000 C''tan Phase blades.


    "Let''s not do this again!" my son muttered with a tired voice.


    "We''ll soon arrive at Forge Goth. Go and prepare for urban deployment. We can clean up the place while we''re there." I ordered with a level voice.


    "Yes, Chapter Master!" the entire group yelled a bit excited at the prospect of combat, and release from boring lessons.


    Menelau stopped for a second to stare at me and Canis, then focused on Lash at the end. ''Still a Rogue Trader at heart, father.'' he spoke gently on the implant, then ran after his Brothers.


    ''He knows?'' I asked Lash curious.


    ''Your psyker son suspects something. I guess I still don''t feel like a real wolf.'' Lash said while glancing curious after Menelau.


    ''His mother is Ordo Xenos. And with all the tech learning he just had...'' I added cautiously.


    ''I''ll keep my eye on him. Now, when do I get to snack on some juicy souls?'' The C''tan demanded hungrily.


    ''Today, I guess'' I said with a grimace.


    Surely, Forge Goth won''t mind if we cleansed their underhives of cultists and genestealers. They were basically present everywhere in the Imperium.


    Maybe drawing so many Tyranids into the Garden of Nurgle hasn''t been the wisest move. If their Hive Mind gained a bit of a domain in the Warp...mistakes happen?

 Live training

    "I''ll be down there in a moment, Fabricator!" I spoke with my mind distracted by the immense numbers of humans and bionic servitors toiling for the Forge World and its mega-docks.


    While I have seen even larger Forges like Mars or Triplex Phall, who were able to construct many more capital ships at once, Forge Goth was also a Hive World, with maybe 200 billion people using most living space, and many unlivable places as well.


    But did they have a billion troops armed and ready to defend the system from an invasion? Of course not! Barely 1/100 of that.


    It was like the Imperium of Man was not in total war for its very survival, against Chaos and xenos.


    If some enemy managed to land on Illevar, we did have 200 PDF divisions, mostly infantry, to defend the place and make any enemy bleed. Not that landing would be easy, considering the substantial fleet and the arrays of space forts and orbital lasers.


    Forge Goth, in comparison? They were wide open, possibly relying on their Titan Legion or the Skitarii Maniples.


    Only a dozen space forts and some 50 capital ships? I felt like slapping them over and over, the leadership of course.


    ''You can deploy in the Underhives with my Marines, Lash. Try to keep them safe while I re-position most of the star system.'' I spoke gently, and unleashed my sons on the poor gangers and cultists polluting this word.


    Adding a hungry C''tan was only the icing on the cake.


    Firstly, an outer layer of metal asteroids, for a fort belt guarding the outer minefield. Then a million ice and methane comets from the outer cloud, brought inside the fort belt perimeter for safer mining in case of a siege.


    Then a second line of metal asteroids, both for mining and a secondary fort line englobing the inner sphere.


    Then a thousand more ice comets near the space docks, to ease water and reactor re-fueling.


    And then, let''s start cleaning the obvious mutated genestealers and painted Chaos cultists. The Sun may glow brighter for a second.


    An hour later, I began to tire and leaned on Canis for support. "Hey buddy! I work so hard, see?"


    "Wooo? Woof!" my wolf explained politely. Right! I did have a more important job to do.


    Click! We moved next to the busy Fabricator, who was filling requisition documents and inspecting ship logs. "You could have a hundred Acolytes doing the boring job, Fabricator." I spoke politely, while my right hand flicked the Null Box on my chest open.


    The giant spider in red robes froze for a second, then turned to measure Canis and me with a dozen types of augmented senses.


    "Lord Lancefire... this Ordo_Sinister</a> ? I can''t say they are familiar. Also the Inquisition, going by the encryption." he remarked with a second glance at my pretty large wolf. They were similar in size, in fact.


    "It is the first branch of the Inquisition, founded by the Emperor himself. Also called his Left Hand for an important reason. Save that file and I''ll show you." I said in a soft voice. The big stick will come soon.


    "...Compliance!" he droned in a monotonous voice. He obviously computed more meaning from my words than I thought.


    Another click and we arrived back on the Black Lament, and in front of two Psi-Titans belonging to the Collegia Titanica, which was not a training school for future Titan pilots.


    "The big Psi-Cannon</a> is called Sinistramanus Tenebrae. It can kill even Greater Daemons if fully charged. The Emperor built them by hand." I declared a bit proud. There weren''t many people who saw such relics, or lived to tell the tale after.


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    "I understand Lord Lancefire. The demonstration was not needed, as we did obtain so much from our expedition already." the Fabricator said with a slightly awed or greedy gaze at the waiting Titans.


    "You may be satisfied, but I am not. I invested a great deal of trust and valuable resources into this trade, yet I find your Forge is pitifully defended and almost overrun with genestealers and cultists. My Space Marines are already cleaning your Underhives, and some valuable minerals or fort emplacements were re-located in better position. But you will need to work much harder, Fabricator. A billion troops for defense, and minimum of 10000 system corvettes for your fleet." I demanded while taking out a set of schematics for corvettes, and even Fringe space forts designed by my own hand. And lastly, a planetary mantle Reality Cage.


    The Mechanicus in general did have everything just provided, but it wasn''t distributed equally or fairly. Some places had many more STCs or tech-priests, even STC Constructors. Other Forges worked only by hand, and wasted billions of work-hours to construct and assemble a tank or torpedo.


    With a greedy tentacle, the ancient spider mecha grabbed my new dataslates and downloaded everything on his internal cogitator core.


    "I see...do you have divine knowledge of an impending invasion, Lord Lancefire?" the Fabricator asked in a subdued tone.


    "You''ve heard of Chaos, Orks, Necrons, Tyranids?" Are you waiting to be stomped into the ground before you prepare defenses? Don''t answer that!" I demanded more forcefully.


    "As you command, my Lord..." the big spider said in a dour tone.


    "More docks, and use the Deus mining drones. They are simple enough to control with a mind implant. And don''t forget my other stuff." I concluded with a sad voice.


    Click, and the Fabricator returned to his office a bit richer, and a lot more burdened.


    Another click, and the Mourners also deployed in another Hive City, to begin easy live-firing tests on helpless criminals.


    I just kept watch, while mentally attributing score points and demerits for mistakes.


    The Lamenters were already quite experienced, and could take care of themselves, especially with support from 4000 Tech-marines.


    Gangs and cults on a Forge Worlds did sometimes have an advanced weapon like a bolter or melta-gun, so they had to proceed with some caution, but generally it went easy enough.


    The Terminators had triple-multi-lasers as their infantry-cleaner, while the other arm held a heavier weapon like plasma cannon. They simply mowed down hundreds of gangers with impunity, although rarely some big mutant appeared that needed a heavy gun to lay down.


    A few Leviathans already got their Demiurg upgrades, making them even more lethal. Ion guns were rather more deadly than simple bolters or lasguns, especially the Ion Beamers who could fire a long beam of ion sub-particles and simply sweep an entire room with one shot.


    Swooosh. A missile slammed into a Rosarius shield, making my son tumble and fall from a high ledge.


    Sigh! I flicked my boy back onto solid ground, and behind the missile team.


    Phase blade came out, and he took revenge in a slash. ''Pay attention, Laur!'' I admonished him mildly.


    This was live training after all. People could get hurt!

 Wolfish brain

    Using the Primaris Blanks against common criminals and gangers may have been overkill, as the criminals soon began to surrender en masse.


    Even so, as the Mourners Captains came to screen the rounded prisoners, once in a while their Phase blades would flash like green wings of light, and split open some disguised genestealers, as their new etheric detectors confirmed Type 6 etheric signals, contagious.


    Lash also had the gift to hunt down more genestealers alongside them, sometimes slapping them around to make them reveal a hidden claw or some other weapon, before crunching their heads like grapes between his jaws.


    ''Just kill them, Lash! And find the genestealer Patriarch. There always is one.'' I commented dourly. The C''tan was a bully as well as a coward, hiding from stronger foes while enjoying torturing poor creatures.


    ''I do as my wolf engrams say I should. But yes, maybe that Patriarch would provide more enjoyment.'' he replied while scanning the surrounding for a minute, then flashing away at hyperspeed through the maze of tunnels, leaving behind a trail of dismembered and gored humanoid corpses.


    I had the sad task of providing cleaning duty, flicking the corpses into Goth''s Sun.


    Eventually, the cleansing of Goth ended after a week of mild fighting and a hundred minor injuries among the Marines. I did have to give my Apothecaries some training too, and the boys a few scars to boost their egos.


    I was mostly helping the Fabricator with logistical problems, moving mountains of metal and relocating ships or Mechanicus personnel at greater speed and no fuel cost. Must have saved the Forge a few decades with my help, as they already organized the first Ragnarok tank factorium, and even used some newly conscripted Servitors as assembly line workers, while giant stamp hammers folded plasteel plates into the desired chassis.


    "Is this how you organized the production at Machine Forge too?" the Fabricator asked as we observed the results of our efforts, and the first Goth-pattern Ragnarok personnel carrier came off the assembly line.


    Sure, this variant was far easier to make, without the heavy adamantium turret of the tank, nor adamantium tracks.


    "Pretty much, yes. But we also use separate assembly line for each individual parts, like engines and targeting cogitators. Then we gather them at a large assembly plant and simply weld everything together. It takes a bit more work to create the subsidiary factoriums, but the manufacture rates increase greatly." I explained while watching the equivalent of the Ford T assembly line producing another Ragnarok 10 minutes later.


    "...It can be done even faster?" The Goth''s Fabricator muttered in surprise.


    "Stick with this method for a few centuries, esteemed Fabricator. And when you decide to try a faster way, test it with consumable munitions like autocannon and artillery shells first. Best if you discover the perils of macro-industry with less complicated devices." I commented wryly. Fabricator Gemma might have torn her hair out if she had any left, as managing the exact ratios for each separate factoriums to produce a finished product on time was rather...intense.


    "You''re going to purge the Hellforge when you leave here?" he asked with no ulterior motive.


    "Want to join?" I asked with an easy voice. He couldn''t actually leave his post, too wired into everything.


    "We have some specialized tech-priests that can help, called Techsorcists</a> . They have a special mechadendrite</a> installed that includes hexagrammic data-gates. The altered mechadendrite helps the Techsorcist as the special electronic wards allows them to resist the corruption of Chaos-infested Machine Spirits. And they may find some intact STCs or fragments..." the spider-frame tech-priest proposed with a longing voice.


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    "Sure, I''ll take a few. But one of them will need to remain with me, from here on. I will need him to train my tech-marines." I said in a curt voice. A way to counter Chaos data corruption would be valuable.


    I haven''t heard of Chaos-resistant tech-sorcery before, but it made sense though. Even the Mechanicus would adapt, after a few millennia of bashing their heads against the same problem. Not always though.


    "Acceptable. I think Techsorcist Pollus-Xov-81555 will suit your company the best. He is quite capable of intuitive thinking, speculation and improvisation due to his lateral and unorthodox processes. Not a common trait among the Mechanicus, you understand." the Fabricator explained, while passing his problem-child into my care. But I liked this Pollux already. He sounded just like my type of guy.


    "Have Pollux and his people signal when ready. I''ll transport them to my Fortress. And don''t forget our trade!" I proclaimed in a grand voice, then patted Canis on the nose and vanished.


    "Wof. Wooaa?" Canis asked wisely, then ran for his meat dispenser to feed his internal furnace.


    While Canis wasn''t the classic Psyber_Familiar</a> present everywhere in this galaxy, we were still connected, both by implants and possibly our souls. The Emperor certainly did something to us both.


    I still got the crux of his meaning though. New tech-priests may figure out something about Lash. Especially if they had intuitive thinking. Something to figure out later.


    Anyways, I had enough of industry for today! And possibly for a year. Ladies, prepare to be lanced!


    I ran past Brother Joghaten and left my armor in the tesseract in mid-air, reaching the shower already naked.


    "Try to be cautious with the tech-priests, Lord Lancefire! They have insidious methods to infiltrate your mind, via implants." my bodyguard advised me from the shower''s open door.


    "...That is actually true, Brother. But I did just recruit some specialists on the topic, and I have Vanus Temple logis-firewalls too." I shouted from under the hot water stream.


    "You know the Mechanicus also makes those firewalls, right?" he asked softly.


    I froze for a second, then let the water cool slowly. In a minute, I was ready for my fucking duty.


    "Nothing I can do about that, just now. Go call the first lady in!" I said as I jumped naked in my bed.


    "...Just find a way, my Lord. My sword can''t protect you from noosphere attacks." the bodyguard grumbled as he made his way to the door, hand on the unlit pommel of his Phase blade.


    "Lord Lancefire...what a big lance!" the woman stammered as she measured the renowned lance that made my dynasty so famous, and rather numerous lately. She wore only a thick fluffy robe, to keep her warm in the waiting room.


    "Take a seat beside me, dear. Tell me about yourself." I asked in a gentle voice.


    "...My father is Major Sly Marbo, my mother is an Auxilia Corporal from Catachan. So, I come from a military family. And I heard about your exploits and the need to increase the dynasty with more Blanks!" she gushed a bit too rapidly.


    "Your father put you to this." I concluded with a wry smile, then leaned over and kissed her neck gently.


    "...It didn''t take much convincing, my Lord." she murmured while blushing heavily. Oh, a virgin! Saved herself for the big day, with the famous Lancefire.


    I saw Jaghaten point his thumb up for an extra point. You bet it was a good find!


    My hands caressed her back softly, and drew her robe away, making her young breasts flop up and down in a mesmerizing move.


    My wolfish brain took over, and I leaned down to eat.

 Lore

    In the large new Hall of Remembrance, set inside the Black Lament cavernous depth, I had gathered all my Lamenters Marines and the Mourners as well, standing in a different squares facing a slab of blackstone as a podium, hosting hundreds of battle standards and Crusade reminders, be they picts, hololith vids, or even weapons and armor from our defeated foes. Brother Helios did have a flair for grandiose yet grieving monuments to our suffering.


    "Astartes! We are the defenders of Humanity! As you have just experienced here at Forge World Goth, that also means purging the corrupt from within Humanity''s ranks. I know there were other Chapters that only recruited their Marines from the dark Underhives of the Imperium, looking for fast or shrewd killers among the younger boys who dwell there. Expedient way to boost numbers, yet look where it led them! All of them are getting replaced with Primaris clones, and slowly discarded into obscurity. This is not because the Firstborn bodies were weaker, but because they were also prone to corruption.


    All of you, on the other hand are not. You bear my own brand of Blankness, and just like that you become immune to corruption and what they fear. Most of you have also fathered your own children, before drinking from the chalice of sanguination</a> and become the bearer of the gene-seed. Your children may also one day continue your duty, as Marines or Battle Sisters or fleet personnel and whatever other roles they may take.


    For the Blankness we all carry is the true Salvation for Humanity.


    Our next target is the Cyclothrathine Holdfast , a hidden lair of Chaos forces centered on Hellforge Cyclothrathe</a> . This will not be an easy training mission like cleaning Forge Goth, as these traitors have remained unbroken since the Horus Heresy, hidden behind arcane Chaos Sorcery and Dark Mechanicum''s noosphere jamming.


    For that purpose, I have decide to prepare you how to combat Chaos and give you time to learn how to construct and use the new STCs we obtained from the small humans calling themselves Demiurg or Gnostari.


    Click, and 7 Techsorcists</a> from Forge Goth appeared in the middle of the podium. A single tech-priest stood a bit aside, possibly my Pollux.


    "I believe one week will be sufficient for everyone to become proficient in hexagrammatic procedures. I''ll check inside every day or so." I explained curtly, then sent everyone inside the accelerated time field of the tesseract.


    At my side, Lash glanced at me with a wolfish grin. "A week? That will be over 2000 years for your poor kids!" he spoke out loud.


    "All ships! Form up on the Black Lament and go autistic." I ordered on the vox, before hugging Canis at my other side.


    It was time to sail forth and locate the Hellforge, hidden among nearly impenetrable Warp Storms and spatial disturbances, as well as dense nebulae and clouds of metal dust.


    Luckily, I did have the tesseract arcane-tech sensors, as well an almost stable C''tan at my side. Keep him well-fed, and he would even help sometimes in battle or provide C''tan tech artifacts.


    Soon enough, the fleet departed known Imperial borders and thus became my eminent domain by the grace of the Warrant. Pretending to be an Inquisitor was a bit daunting, even for my calloused nerves.


    Far better to return to my Rogue Trader origins, and boldly explore the unknown and the dangerous, for adventure and loot.


    Most of the records pertaining to the Horus Heresy had been redacted from Imperial cogitators, likely as to not provide weak-minded citizens with more temptation than normal. Sadly, this also included what Horus had done here, but I could imagine he gifted the Forge World with enough advanced tech or valuable STCs, enough to convince them to take his side.


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    As I walked out from the Hall, I met a pair of Silent Sisters posted as guards, as well as two battalions of Auxilia Armed Sentinels providing some fire support just in case.


    "Ladies! Anything nice to chat about?" I asked politely.


    A flash of fingers replied, saying something like ''boring duty, when do we climb your lance again?''


    ''You do have mind impulse units ladies'' I commented wryly, as Canis bravely walked forward to be petted by my concubines.


    ''You said we will get Volkite pistols soon!'' Felicia growled in a data transmission.


    ''We should have enough in a week. I just had my boys learning the new tech.'' I explained with a thumb pointed at the door behind me.


    ''Tonight?'' Letitia asked in a warmer tone.


    I shook my head and walked past. ''Tonight is quite full.''


    The two Sisters glanced at each other, and grabbed their blade pommels tight. Phase blades and quite deadly to anything.


    ''They are a bit cute'' Lash commented as he gently nosed them away, also acting brave since C''tan blades would not hurt a C''tan. They simply got absorbed back into him. I know because Canis tried to slice Lash a little, and lost half of his Phase claws, to the C''tan''s amusement.


    Every day, I would enter the Labyrinth and spend some time with my kids, monitoring their progress and settling disputes. Even if it sounds incredible, my sons were still human and centuries of tedious learning in the same company would sometimes create sparks. They also got stronger and better every day, both in body and Astartes abilities or tactics, but also gaining new equipment as the Tech-marines added more and more advanced Demiurg tech to their armor and weapons.


    By the time the hell week passed, many of the Tech-marines had reached either Techsorcist level and a dozen even Forge Master level. Master-crafted artifacts were an order of magnitude better than normal ones, so I was quite pleased. The time was not wasted, even if 2000 years is actually a long time.


    Forge Goth''s tech-priests had also advanced greatly, improving their own arsenals with Weave shields and even began to copy the Barrier-tech Warding shields to install them on our Librarians. Intuitive thinking may have helped them more than I thought possible.


    More Terminator Tactical Dreadnought armors were produced for the Mourners, even using some knowledge from the Gnostari exo-armors to make them more durable.


    The last day was spent absorbing the tech-sorcery lessons as digested by my sons, and installing Chaos-proof hexagrammic wards on our armor and weapons, including the Mind Impulse Units.


    Sadly, I also had to modify my own armor and install a special fold to carry my dedicated Chaos-interface mechadendrite. It just wasn''t safe to link directly with any Chaos infected machine, not even for a Blank.


    Pollux came beside me and measured me from head to toe before grunting a single disgusted word. "Passable!"


    Still better than a failure, I guess.


    "I love you too, Pollux. Now, we''re close enough to the Hellforge. You think we''re ready?" I asked with a nod at my Astartes.


    "Don''t play around this time, Lancefire! There''s a strong reason why the Imperium didn''t manage to conquer the C++ Holdfast for 12 millennia." Pollux muttered in a warning voice, then returned to study his Ordo Malleus special warding skull.


    I nodded gravely and gently brought everyone out from the tesseract.


    "Astartes! The Hellforge stands 300 AU in front of us, filled with Chaos horrors and Mechanicum abominations. Are you ready?" I shouted from my podium. We were about 10 times further than Neptune was from Sol, and still outside the comet cloud.


    "They shall know fear!" a loud shout filled the Hall.


    They certainly will. I was here, after all. The Master of Fear - Pavore Dominetur, the motto of my order Titanicus Terranic Ordo Sinister

 The C++ Holdfast report

    Tired after another lengthy interrogation of another Chaos traitor, Inquisitor Amberly Vail gestured at her remaining Blank Astartes bodyguards to move further away, which they did with obvious wary steps.


    Only 8 have survived from the demented Mourning Crusade against the gigantic C++ Holdfast, but she didn''t doubt more Blanks will arrive to replenish the dozen that had died, mostly by her own hand, if not fault. Over 9000 of his special '' Deathwatch Black Shields'' have also died in this Crusade, with their provider not even raising an eyebrow.


    "Is is better that they die for the Emperor, than by the Emperor''s own hand." he spoke with a careless tone, and holding an obvious hidden meaning to his words. Most likely, captured Chaos traitors, somehow brainwashed or even mind-wiped to fight for the loyalist side again, while using their blood and deaths to wash away their sins. Or even more likely, just as an expedient means to dispose of the traitors, while still making use of their battle prowess.


    There were other cases among the genuine Black Shields where former Chaos Marines had indeed returned to serve for a last battle at the side of the Emperor''s Angels.


    Gripping the archeo-stylus in her in right hand, and still holding the Bone Staff glued to her left palm by an enterprising and brave tech-marine, she began writing the new report on the topic of the Mourning Crusade.


    "To the God-Emperor of Mankind and my fellow Inquisitors, I hereby testify to the events of the Mourning Crusade, as witnessed with my own senses.


    This Crusade began with a curious but understandable request of aid from Forge World Goth, located in Segmentum Obscurus. They had located a potential lead for an STC, and after their own efforts (and many other forces) had failed to investigate a Dead World called Grail, they asked Chapter Master Lancefire to aid them.


    A few weeks after, planet Grail was scoured of anything alive, dead or in-between by the powerful Immaterium Beam of the Black Lament Fortress, and then opened for Explorator Mechanicus Adepts to search and retrieve any technological marvels that lingered in the old ruins, or the derelict ships still drifting in orbit. There were hundreds of such vessels, many of obvious xenos design like tree-shaped or crystal-like constructs, beside the many Imperial Navy, mercenary, pirate or Mechanicus vessels.


    .Afterwards, the Crusade fleet consisting of 10 Battleships, 14 Battlecruisers and 102 Heavy Cruisers, along several Escort Carriers and a Forge Ship, plus the Black Lament itself traveled to Forge Goth and began cleaning and purging the criminals, cultists, genestealers and other such mutants infesting the Imperial Forge. While the cleaning took place, Forge Goth itself began a massive expansion and re-armament program, including orbital minefields and forts, new capital and escort dockyards, as well as tank factoriums and various other devices, mostly involving newer STC templates brought by Lord Lancefire.


    During this stage, a new Astartes Chapter was revealed, all composed of Primaris Blank Marines, and named the Mourners. It appears Lord Lancefire has the intention of creating a successor Chapter for the Lamenters, and is now testing various weapons or tactics before the new (not -yet-sanctioned) Chapter is sent to Holy Terra for official recognition by their Primarch.


    While at Forge Goth, both the Lamenters and the Mourners received a considerable amount of technical and tactical upgrades, including the use of Techsorcists wards and other hexagrammic data-barriers to allow for the investigation or even subversion of Chaos-infected Machine Spirits or other devices.


    This was in preparation for the next target of the Mourning Crusade: The invasion and cleansing of the Cyclothrathine Holdfast domain, also called C++ by the Mechanicus Adepts for esoteric motives. This was a Chaos Hellforge, fallen into treason during the Horus Heresy, yet managing to remain a thorn into Imperium''s side ever since. Until yesterday, to be correct.


    Once more changing tactics and methods, Lord Lancefire advanced cautiously towards this damned Hellforge and slowly learned of their deployment and defenses, before launching rapid cut-thrusts and feints with his Blank Astartes, appearing to try to drag out the hidden forces of the Hellforge. The Crusade Fleet bombarded from distance larger concentrations of spacefighters, Daemon Engines and even Dark Mechanicum fleet squadrons with Nova Cannons, causing ever larger casualties among the traitors.


    A case of literary theft: this tale is not rightfully on Amazon; if you see it, report the violation.


    A trio of Omen Arks emerged from a Warp Rift in response to these provocations, colossal in size yet obviously not fully finished. After the Black Lament scoured them of any souls with the Immaterium Beam, the Arks were captured and towed away for investigation, revealing astonishing STC devices or arcane archeo-tech cogitator and FTL communication systems, now called Quantum-comms as well as probability-based targeting cogitators or counter-ballistic teleportation batteries, similar to the already known Forge Ryza''s teleportarium deflectors.


    After this part of the Crusade was over, Lord Lancefire continued with a meticulous and organized assault on the Hellforge itself, shattering its sentient minefields, Daemon-infested forts and the bird-decorated dockyards and other


    Chaos symbols, which foreshadowed further events.


    Soon, the Drop Pod rain secured landing sites onto the surface of the Hellforge, the Astartes and their Auxilia units (only armor and walker elements) also descended in force and began driving back and slaughtering Chaos cultists or the lower-level Daemon Engines warped from old tanks or walkers from Horus Heresy times.


    By the grace of the Emperor, and their own Weave shields, Ion Beamers and Phase blades of the Astartes, the corrupted servants of Chaos could not stand to, or even damage the Crusade troops.


    Things appeared to go well enough, so I also deployed on the ground, to help with speeding up the cleansing. It was then the Chaos trap was revealed, as hundreds of Warp Rifts opened to disgorge perhaps a million Chaos Space Marines (as many as all Astartes in the Imperium!), with thousands of infected tanks, Knights and Titans in support. Not only that, but 9 Greater Daemons lead these Chaos forces against only two Astartes Chapters, and their support.


    From here on, fighting became intense and deadly in the extreme, with cataclysmic weapons used by both sides, including psyker spells and abilities. Two of the Emperor''s own Psi-Titans held the Greater Daemons back, and even killed three with their powerful Psi-Cannons, when Arch-Traitor Ahriman arrived as well, leading a band of elite Chaos Champions and a Nurgle shard bound with warp-fire flames. They attacked with relentless ferocity, straight towards my own position. I engaged the Arch-traitor in psyker duel, but he was proven far stronger.


    My Bone Staff was ripped from my hands, unleashing my own uncontrolled Psyker powers, which caused massive damage to my own bodyguards and nearby Auxilia troops. Under the demented laughs of the Chaos Sorcerer, my lightning Scourging expanded to continent wide scale, killing everyone not protected, and many of those protected as well.


    Of course, I tried to focus my power onto the Enemy, and eventually I did mange to, but the worst was already done. A system-wide Blankness covered the C++ Holdfast, while Silent Sisters emerged to dispatch the remaining Greater Daemons and many Chaos Lords and Sorcerers. It was still not enough.


    Only the arrival of over 12000 Black Shield Space Marines drew the battle to a draw. Even then, over 9000 of them died in Warp-flames or Titan-level firepower, despite their new Weave shields and Volkite rifles.


    Sister Stern released her Demonifuge powers on the Nurgle shard, causing it to scream in pain, and contract into a small ball of leaking puss, which eventually boiled away. I am convinced this Nurgle shard was permanently killed, yet I cannot explain how I just know. Then again, Alpha+ powers are rather difficult to explain.


    Then suddenly everything ended. All the Crusade troops vanished, and then the traitors as well, leaving only Lord Lancefire to face the Arch-traitor face-to-face, while still flanked by his two Fenrisian wolves.


    ''Why aren''t you running?'' Lord Lancefire asked in a curious voice, as he drew a pistol and fired a dark beam (xenos tech?) at Ahriman, blowing off his right arm.


    Staring at his missing arm, and then at the rising Sun, the Chaos Sorcerer just sighed. ''I hoped to ambush you in turn, Lancefire. But the dawn of war is yet to come.'' He spoke with a sad voice, then crumbled once more into empty armor parts.


    It seems the entire Chaos army was somehow teleported into the Sun by Lord Lancefire, while the Crusade troops were returned to their ship barracks to heal or recover.


    Now I know why Lord Lancefire always said he tries not to cheat. All the deaths and sacrifice of troops and effort, replaced by a single snap of his fingers.


    It makes victory meaningless.


    Further updates to come as the Crusade continues.


    Amberly Vail, Holy Inquisitor for Ordo Xenos and Ordo Astartes.


    Thought for the day: "The meaning of victory is not the defeat of your enemy but his utter destruction, to eradicate him from living memory, leaving no remnant of his endeavours"

 Scales

    I never expected to be so hated!


    Sure, I was a Blank and thus all sorts of disturbed looks or other signs of not being liked were common. Maybe it was why I avoid normal humans when possible.


    While the reclamation of the Holdfast domain continues, with some ease, I also tally my loses and lament, feeling my heart bleed inside.


    Of course, I won the battle even when ambushed by a gigantic coalition of Chaos Warbands and Traitor Legions, even Titans. Outnumbered a thousand to one, and won with a snap of my fingers.


    Yet at the same time, I lost. I still had to use the tesseract offensively. That brought a host of potential problems, just like it did before: at Fenris and Terra and Cadia.


    No enemy will simply wait for death, and thus they would search for a method to resist or disrupt the tesseract, even if they didn''t know exactly what I had. Chaos had not only the Mechanicum tech-priests, but also hundreds of xenos races with their own advanced tech, which made the development of anti-transport devices only a matter of urgency and resources.


    Necrons were also awakening in larger numbers, thus bringing out examples of their technology, which would inevitably also fall into the heretek hooks of the Dark Mechanicum.


    These were not the apex Necrons that won the War in Heaven, but mere shadows of themselves, with cogitating and memory engrams scattered or destroyed by their long sleep. Someone like that Vashtorr could make use of the Necron tech, and create scary weapons.


    It took only a single day in the time accelerated labyrinth to recover all injured or lost Astartes, even creating Primaris replacements for those who died, using my stock of newly born children accelerated to induction age. I did impregnate 200 women every week on average, thus 10000 children in a year. I would never run out of Astartes, not even with such battles every month. Building new techsorcist wards for the new Astartes took much longer than the mere decade to upgrade their bodies. Gene-seed was also quick to collect as decades flew by in the tesseract.


    I even started a third successor Chapter, the Grieving. I was indeed grieving for the loss of half my Space Marines, but I also knew this wasn''t the end. Just another minor battle against endless Chaos Traitors.


    Even if I killed a million traitors a day ago, more Space Marines, even the new Primaris would defect and join the traitor ranks soon, it was inevitable.


    The last Chaos God, Tzeentch was left all alone now, free to plot and infect any human he could reach. And obviously he did. Perhaps...No it couldn''t work. Not by myself. I failed with Nurgle too, and I did have quite a lot of help from divine-level entities. Even Ahriman was strong enough to escape or ambush me, not to mention his patron Dark God.


    And now, what was left of Nurgle was being hunted and used as a leashed beast by Chaos Sorcerers. Almost like a dark, Chaos mockery of the Necron''s use of the broken C''tan shards.


    Sister Dessima rapped her knuckles on my head, lifting my mood. ''We continue!'' I spoke in her mind.


    ''Of course we do. Another Ork safari?'' she asked jokingly on the implant data-link.


    Truth to be told, once Dessima came out and enveloped the system with her immense Pariah aura, any Ork Waaagh would lose its potency and make the Orks decay into axe-running cucumbers, and simple practice targets even for the Auxilia.


    Taken from Royal Road, this narrative should be reported if found on Amazon.


    ''Probably not. Orks can be fought by any Imperial forces. Necrons and Tyranids, not so much.'' I answered with a sigh. Duty before pleasure.


    ''I am not of use against Necrons.'' Dessima said as she walked away.


    Click. Amberly Vail appeared before me, eyes dark from lack of sleep.


    "I am not happy, my dear." I spoke in a sad voice.


    "..." she declined to answer. Her Miss Friendly Fire nickname had turned against her, and me as well. It was worrisome to know she could flare out with powers able to devastate my troops so easily.


    Almost 100000 Sentinels and their pilots were fried to slag by unleashed lightning, as well as some Blank Astartes that were too close. Almost 100 of my sons, including many of her own bodyguards.


    "You realize I can''t allow you to deploy with my troops again. You almost matched that Chaos Titan Legion in effective damage. Against my troops!" I growled a little.


    "I''ll leave." she spoke in a soft voice.


    "You will travel with the Mourners to Terra. I do have some artifacts to send to the Emperor, and your credentials will grant them faster approval." I explained in a mild voice.


    "As you say, Lord Lancefire." she muttered in a subdued tone, eyes cast down.


    "As for your own problem, I think Titan will have a way. All their Grey Knights are powerful psykers, after all." I added in a tired voice.


    "A low chance." she spoke in a dishearten tone.


    "And don''t send the C++ report by Warp. It''s stupid to hope the Enemy doesn''t read your mail. I suspect it''s how they prepared the ambush as well." I concluded with a glance at Lash, and sent the Inquisitor back to her locked room for now.


    ''I can always eat her. Or let Canis do it.'' the C''tan said with a hungry tone.


    ''A million Chaos Marines for a thousand of my sons. It was a decent trade. The Emperor will forgive her. Maybe even promote her.'' I answered with a sad smile.


    The C''tan watched me for a minute, then nodded his giant wolf head. ''You''re starting to learn how gods actually think. Is not very different from your Rogue Trader methods, just the scale is larger. You''ve grown a bit too.''


    Hmmm. A few more centimeters, another few more women on my bed. A few minutes each, and duty was done. I could taste poison now, and be fine. Slowly, everything about me became better. More.


    ''A million years would make me a Primarch.'' I mused softly. A giant Blank Primarch able to fuck non-stop. Unceasing duty to populate the galaxy with my direct descendants.


    ''Still thinking small, young human. Try a few billion years.'' the old C''tan proposed with a wry tone.


    ''My life span would end way sooner. I am not a C''tan.'' I replied with an amused head-shake.


    ''Think of Canis as well. He is now soul-bound to you. The more you grow...'' Lash said with a glance at my wary wolf.


    "Woooof. Wooo. Auuuu!" Canis howled, possibly stealing my thoughts. I could make a myth come true. A Wolf God eating suns as snacks.


    ''It would take a hundred years. You think the universe will let me just Ascend, without throwing more problems at me?'' I asked in a cynical tone.


    The alien wolf just stared at me. No words, letting me reach the obvious conclusion by myself.


    I didn''t have to get involved. The Emperor and his Primarchs were now back. Patrocles and his tesseract could solve many problems for the Imperium. Victor could keep the Dynasty safe of the other side.


    As for the Lamenters, I could spare my good tesseract. Maybe give it to Valerian.


    ''We''ll see. There are other things to prepare first.'' I said in a careless tone.


    But I already knew I will do it. Not in one go, but in week long vacations. Train more Astartes as well. I could train many many Astartes in a million years.


    I could also speed up the cloneskeins. Create trillions of Warp-occluded clones, and send them forth to colonize and explore the Fringe, guarded by Blank Astartes.Even more Blank Tech-marines and Tech-priests.


    There could be a billion livable planets out there.


    Still. I did have a smarter partner in crime, waiting for me at Forge Machine. The Speranza would know how to proceed.


    As the Goth Mechanicus Fleet arrived to take charge of the desiccated corpse of the C++ Holdfast, I gathered my own ships and departed for Forge Mezoa.


    The Mourners left for Terra with Inquisitor Vail on board, as well as tons of artifacts and some new STCs, including real fragments recovered and cleaned by the Techsorcists. What a useful clade, these strange tech-priests.


    I could make them more popular wherever I went. It only took a week to train thousands of them after all.


    Maybe I did have to learn how to think on a larger scale.

 Coming home

    Forge Mezoa was already working hard to complete their trade with me, albeit in their usual low-yield manner of hand manufacture.


    Another week of bothersome system-wide manipulation resulted in the Forge World becoming an order of magnitude more productive, with far away comets and asteroids brought close for mining or new forts.


    I even spent a day inside the tesseract to accelerate and complete the cloneskeins production method and Gene Crucibiles, until we managed to find the right balance of mild Blankness and physical robustness needed by the Forge''s workforce. A hundred of my Blank daughters were selected and approved to become new Mezoa Tech-priests, including the techsorcist training. Their children would form a new caste of Blank Forgeworlders, to pilot and captain the Mezoa Basilikon Astra capital ships with no risk of defection to Chaos.


    Leaving the Forge with advanced samples of Demiurg tech would not be an advantage if they went unsupervised, or perhaps turned renegade in the future.


    Did I also use the time to gain access to the Astareus grav-tank STC, and then improve it with more Demiurg tech? Who knows? I deny all accusations of tech-heresy!


    But indeed, with both a Void shield and a Weave shield, the flying tank would be a beast on any battlefield, and the new weapons could only improve that.


    My Burst V-Cannon was the modified Volcano Cannon that fired continuous lower yield beams like a multilaser would, instead of a single, energy-draining beam like the Shadowsword Baneblade. Two such V-Cannons in the turret would outrange and outperform the original accelerator guns by an order of magnitude. Thanks Trazyn! You do great work.


    I did add a Hyperios_missile_launcher</a> at the back of the tank''s turret, since heavy tanks did make a valuable target for enemy air-attacks. I also replaced the useless Heavy Stubber with an Ion Beamer, giving it a far better close-defense weapon, without ammunition. Two Tarantula turrets were to be bolted on the sides, and provide twin triple-barreled multilaser firing arcs for anti-infantry combat.


    The frontal twin bolters were replaced with twin-linked Burst V-lances, once more increasing the firing rate and damage by an order of magnitude, while discarding ammunition.


    Other than plating the heavy tank with blackstone instead of ceramite, the design remained much the same. It was far more durable and powerful though, which may be needed in the years ahead.


    For the hard work I was repaid with a contract for 1200 Mezoa-pattern Astareus tanks, to be delivered in batches on Warp-less ships traveling towards the Fringe.


    I only took 20 almost finished grav-tanks with me as I departed, as to give my tech-marines some experience in working with the new Mechanicus wonders, but I managed to replace the lost Sentinels from the Forge''s vaults.


    Forge Mezoa instead gained 10 billion hardy clones to toil in their factoriums and space docks, as well as new Volkite rifles for their Skitarii and improved Weave shielding and Warp shielding in the form of Gellar Rampart generators, rated about an order of magnitude stronger and more stable than the older Gellar Fields used in the Imperium. As for the Deus mining drones, they were outproducing manual asteroid mining by an order of magnitude at least, and that will climb even higher as more drones and better logistics were developed.


    Thinking it would take less time to travel, we headed out for the Jericho Maw Warp Gate and arrived in the Eastern Fringe far sooner, saving months of travel time.


    ''We are back under Big Brother''s overwatch.'' Lash said with a knowing voice.


    ''I suspect Zarhulash did peek through the Warp gate even before we crossed into Jericho Reach.'' I spoke with a level tone. I knew what the trapped C''tan could do, when he felt like it.


    ''We can butcher some Tyranids, as there is a decent Hive Fleet battling over the Erioch_System</a> . '' the C''tan added with a wolfish grin.


    ''Erioch? That seems important. How did the Tyranids get...oh. The Hadex Anomaly is closed now.'' I realized a minute later.


    And also, the Deathwatch and their silly Ordo Xenos Inquisitors did keep a number of Tyranids specimens at the Watch_Fortress_Erioch</a>. Paint a big target on your back, then act surprised when the Tyranids come?


    If you spot this story on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation.Perhaps I should help, and maybe gift some of my Blank Marines to the Deathwatch as well?


    Not to be callous, but the Primaris were twice as fast and strong, while the Firstborn Blanks had mostly achieved Veteran status by the mere fact of surviving my own stupid mistakes.


    "Woooh!" Canis encouraged me with a loud howl.


    Indeed, my faithful friend. There will be loot to get at Erioch as well. The Deathwatch should have nice stuff.


    "All ships, form on the Black Lament as we travel to Erioch! Prepare for Tyranid action!" I ordered on the vox, as to let my people know we would change procedures once more.


    Since Tyranids didn''t use cogitators and other mechanical devices, we will not fly in autistic mode, and be free to use the auspexes and auguries at maximum strength for higher range and accuracy with our weapons.


    ''You should also call more ships from back home. It looks like a big Hive Fleet.'' Lash commented in a caustic tone.


    ''I should, you say?'' I mused inward.


    Perhaps, but I rather not. The Eternal Lament at Machine Forge would still take decades to armor up and outfit with Nova Cannons and point-defense batteries, same as the Victorious Lancefire now at Forge Retribution.


    The Singularity Battleship was still badly damaged from the Stygius Crusade, as were most of the battlebarges and cruisers. Escort Carriers could come, but their corvettes and fighters were also depleted.


    As for the Warp Engine destroyers and frigates, they would fail to pierce the Silence in the Warp and wouldn''t provide much firepower anyways.


    No, for better or worse, what I had now was all I could spare. Retreat was also an option, if we failed too badly.


    ''Is there something you need at Erioch?'' I asked the C''tan after my slightly smarter brain did a full loop and reviewed his words from the beginning.


    ''...There is another shard of mine. And some nice loot for you. Powerful artifacts.'' Lash admitted with a wise look.


    Librarian Menelau walked beside me and hugged Canis, while giving Lash a stinking eye. His left eye had been fried by Inquisitor Vail''s electric outburst, and now sported a bionic replacement.


    "We are not at fleet strength, father." he observed in a low voice.


    "But we have the Fortress and Sister Dessima. And worst case, Lash will bring us out." I replied in a flat voice, while daringly patting the wolf C''tan on his nose.


    "Or he will eat us, when we are weak." Menelau muttered with distrust, still staring at Lash like it was some sort of abomination.


    "I will not eat a Lancefire. Your father would fist me with a Titan''s Power Claw." Lash growled in audible words.


    I would? I did do that to Slaneesh, so perhaps I would. Psi-Titans were quite awesome.


    "Go and prepare, Menelau. We have to try and save Erioch." I spoke in a lamenting voice.


    As the Librarian Blank walked away, I glanced at Lash. ''You revealed yourself''


    ''He already knew! Perhaps your Emperor speaks to him, in his dreams.'' the C''tan exclaimed with a surprised tone.


    Ah, we did enter the Astronomican range during the Mourning Crusade. And Librarians were taught how to read the Emperor''s tarot, as well as gleam information from the Astronomican itself.


    I sighed and stared at the nearly empty galactic map in front of me. From Erioch onward, there was only darkness. Barely dots of lights obtained from stellar cartography, but no exploration data.


    Such a task I chose for myself. To bring light and knowledge into the darkest corners of the galaxy.


    As the fleet drew closer to Erioch, we began to sense the englobing Tyranid jaws made of biological ships and countless attack organisms on board. Hungry little bastards.


    "Imperial Ships! We request urgent aid!" A vox transmission arrived from a fleeing Deathwatch frigate, chased by 20 fast and nimble Tyranid ships.


    "This is Pef Lancefire and the Lamenters Space Marines! Stand by to be rescued!" I replied with a grandiose voice. Some goodwill should help, a bit later.


    And click. The frigate vanished in the Tesseract, frozen in stasis while my battleships fired their Long-lances and bisected the destroyer-sized bioships into small barbecue sized slices.


    Looting was never easier.

 Inquisitor Martyr

    First thing I noticed in the frozen frigate, my old lover Ezu_Ghraile</a> and her entourage of useful people like Lexmechanics, Sages and hired killers. Running away to bravely call for reinforcements.


    I brought her out and into my lap, for old times'' sake. "Ezu, my dear! What do you know about this Tyranid Hive Fleet?" I asked politely while fondling her boob with my free hand.


    "Pef! You''ve changed? I mean, you''ve grown quite a lot!" she observed cogently, while avoiding my question.


    "You can taste the lance later, my dear Inquisitor. The Tyranids?" I continued in a slightly harsher voice, and pushing the Blank aura a bit.


    "...It was an accident? The Violet bio-samples breakout has nothing to with me!" she defended herself in a rather specific way. I didn''t even know of any breakout.


    "I see...nothing to do all? Were you failing to find any support against the Tyranid threat, so you decided to show them?" I mused to myself, not that it was a huge stretch to make.


    The woman stared blankly at the screen, as we approached the Tyranid Fleet at best speed. "... Maybe?" she muttered a minute later.


    I drew back the aura and sighed. And to think this was one of the stable Inquisitors! I saw far worse, but this came close too.


    "We''ll talk later. Take station on that chair and log the engagement for further analysis. Lady Vail had to return to Terra for urgent matters." I said in a level voice, and pushed her away.


    Canis stood up and poked his nose at the fearless Inquisitor, who absently petted the wolf and sat on the empty chair.


    "Entering visual range, my Lord. Calculating enemy numbers." the auspex station officer declared while busy imputing auspex data into the Machine Spirit.


    My tesseract was already in range, and showed us a losing battle. Although the Watch Station was an upgraded Ramilles Star Fort, with enough macro-batteries to shatter a battleship if they hit...the Tyranids had brought far more than a single bioship.


    "Nova Cannon strike, on my mark!" I ordered while sending targeting data to the fleet, using my own Mind Impulse Unit and the las-comm data-links. We were close enough to use light-speed comms, and had little chance of being jammed by a technological enemy.


    While the long-range targeting was being processed, I also primed a hundred Nova Mines in the tesseract, as cover for my next action.


    "Mark!" I ordered on the data-link, and the Heavy Cruisers fired a rolling barrage of wide-area Nova explosions on top of the Tyranids, while my mines detonated inside the largest bioships I could find.


    A million escort-sized bioships were simply pulverized by the massed explosions, so I used the blinding glare of Nova explosions to expel even more bioships into the Sun, while also extracting some powerful Tyrants and other biotitans for my own Xeno Auxilia. I was getting a bit low on expendable munitions, so I had to replace them with screeching, clawing, walking ones.


    While the cruisers reloaded their Nova Cannons, I began to use the Immaterium Beam to snuff out the largest bioships, and fired the Black Lament''s own Nova Cannons at any decent concentration of bioships still left alive.


    And if each of my shots vaporized thousands of enemy bioships, it was simply luck. Not that I would cheat and send them to burn into the Sun, right?


    Damn Tyranids! The more I killed, the more they sent.


    It might even work against regular Navy ships, or even Deathwatch ships.


    Not against me though. Already the shock of synapse loss sent the Tyranids into hibernation, so I gave the go ahead for Lance battery engagement, while our escort carriers began to unload their escort craft.


    The story has been illicitly taken; should you find it on Amazon, report the infringement.


    "Librarian Menelau, you have fleet command!" I spoke clearly so everyone on the bridge would hear this.


    Then I stood up and walked towards my room, while a subdued Inquisitor followed me.


    "Yes, Chapter Master." Menelau answered in a dutiful tone as he sat down in the command throne.


    Lash glanced at me, then decided to remain on his comfortable blackstone dais, and keep an eye on Menelau, for his own sake.


    Canis just growled once and followed me, likely warning Lash to behave.


    ''Quite a feast for my soul here.'' Lash sent on my implant as I left the bridge.


    ''I know. I am a good provider, aren''t I?'' I quipped back, as I made way for Canis to pass me and enter my bedroom first.


    It may have been a callous, heretical deal with a foul xenos, but as long as Lash consumed Tyranid souls I didn''t mind. It might even weaken the Hive Mind.


    The energy could never be destroyed only transferred. Perhaps even more so with souls.


    No wonder all gods in this universe battled fiercely for more souls. The C''tan were no different, and perhaps even worse in some ways.


    "Stand guard outside, Brother. The Inquisitor has too many secrets." I asked my White Scars bodyguard.


    "...Dangerous as well." he warned me with a wary glance at the frail looking woman.


    I just slammed the door in his face.


    "So? Make up sex now or after?" I asked as I retrieved a bottle of expensive Demmasec.


    "I''m so fucked..." the woman muttered as she grabbed the bottle and took a long swig.


    "...Not yet. But yes. The Deathwatch will find out, once they have time to investigate. What were you thinking?" I grumbled and sat on my adamantium chair, which groaned under the Terminator''s plate weight.


    "I was thinking, it would be a glorious sacrifice. I may become a martyr, and force them to admit the Tyranids are the greatest threat to humanity!" Ezu exclaimed in a loud voice, and sat on the floor to drink even more.


    "...An Inquisitor Martyr. Hah!" I laughed out loud. I even played the game!


    "You also reek of xenos tech, Pef Lancefire. When they catch you..." she growled at me with red eyes. Must have been crying lately.


    "I am not the one in trouble, dear Ezu. Plus I have a Warrant, signed by the Emperor''s hand. I can do whatever I want, and is not only lawful but divinely ordained." I declared with fake pride, even waving my golden glowing scroll in her face.


    "Wait! You can make this go away! If you use this..." she realized with a hopeful voice.


    I nodded patiently. It was far better to be begged. "And why would I do that?"


    "...I will do anything you ask of me! Anything at all!" she pleaded with tears in her eyes. I think she means kinky sex, but I wanted far more.


    Hmmm. I could use someone this desperate. Not for long, as the crisis will pass, but right here was the right place indeed. Ordo Xenos did have a huge influence with the Deathwatch.


    "Get me to the Omega Vault." I asked in a soft voice.


    Her blurry eyes focused in a second, regaining her steel. "That''s a lot to ask for! It would burn all my Deathwatch favors." she spoke in a steely voice.


    "I think the vault will open for me. And, you will lose those favors anyways. Better to gain something from the loss." I countered with a shrug. Truth would come out.


    "You think it will open?" she asked with wondering eyes.


    I grabbed her bottle and took a long gulp as well. "Almost certain. There is something there waiting for me, and me alone."


    "By the Emperor! If you do enter the Omega Vault..." she realized with a start.


    I just smiled. A Rogue Trader needed valuable things to trade.

 And the last Fortress is Truth

    A single large Hiveship remains untouched by our ships close to the scarred walls of the Watch Fortress.


    There are dozens of Deathwatch Battle-Brothers who managed to teleport inside, and are wrecking stuff by chopping it with their swords and hammers. Stupid, but this is the Imperium of Man.


    "Come, Lady Ezu!" I demand as I walk back onto the Bridge.


    "We''re going to deploy and help the Deathwatch capture that last Hiveship. If anyone dies, I will be very aggravated!" I ordered on the Vox-net, and began moving my Astartes in hunting squads, first squads close enough to support the Deathwatch, and then to more and more distant flesh hallways, with the Grieving deployed last.


    Once the perimeters were cleared, the tech-marines with their Guardian walkers and the new grav-floating turrets followed.


    The easiest jobs were left to the Auxilia Armed Sentinels. They also needed combat experience, but they weren''t really meant to fight in confined spaces like a Hiveship''s interior. Maybe the Rambo clones? Sure, them too!


    And then, there was me. Oh well. Might as well stretch my muscles a little, and give the wolves some fun.


    Click.


    Stomp, stomp. At my side, Lady Ezu is crushing some small Tyranid drone. With her foot!


    "Woooooo!" Lash howled with a terrifying timbre and ran forward at hyperspeed. Maybe he found a decent prey?


    "Woooh?" Canis asked smartly. Oh, right!


    I powered up my Phase blade and ran forward as well. A pod of bubbling flesh exploded at my side, revealing a dozen Gaunts. Slow and groggy from their accelerated birth, took me a single pass to slice them into steak-sized bits.


    Canis poked one of the steaks and smelled it cautiously. "Grrrohhh!" he decided and walked away. Definitely not edible.


    Click. The Inquisitor''s combat team was returned to her, as she moved far too slow for me.


    And forward! A larger thing? Some spitting model. Canis deflected the spits with his shield and clawed the thing, by extending the Phase claws in mid-swing and then retracting them as the paw landed. Flawless style, my puppy!


    Oh right. Brother Joghaten will also want to join. Click.


    "Don''t board a Tyranid ship without me again!" he growled at me, looking warily around.


    "Just testing my skill on some poor Gaunts. Try to keep up!" I shouted a bit emotional. And run!


    I could see why the rush of melee combat drew so many species to it. Orks and Eldar, even some Necrons favored slicing things and experience the fountain of blood and organs flying away.


    Joghaten Khan leaned away and sliced at a shadow just as the tesseract detected a mass in motion at his side. Phase blade blurred into a hundred green arcs, and a pile of claws fell down, leaving only a de-clawed Tyranid Lictor staring in surprise at his missing limbs.


    Dangerous! I realized with a start. Damn invisible monsters. "Damn!" I murmured in real awe. I trained for 2000 years and wasn''t even half as fast. Maybe a third. Joghaten wasn''t called a Blademaster on a whim.


    "As I said, I can only protect you if my sword is close enough." my bodyguard commented lightly, not even breathing heavily.


    I glanced at this left hand, where his ether detector lit up with another red light. ''Etheric signal, Type 6, hidden'' I heard a moment on my implant later, as Canis sliced at a wall on the other side.


    Another blur of claws and Phase claws, and the other Lictor was left just as de-clawed.Canis was showing off.


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    "Auuuuhhh!" my wolf howled in victory, as he stepped on his prey''s head.


    I still had so much to grow. These beasts were much too fast!


    "Good boy! Onward! But carefully..." I spoke a bit wary.


    Canis flared one claw and decapitated the Lictor as he followed me at a sedate pace.


    I focused half of my mind on my Space Marines, and even helped a few Deathwatch guys in trouble. Taking an entire Hiveship won''t be so easy. A great prize, but hard work too.


    And indeed, it took two entire days to clean up the ship. My mind was a mess from the focus I had to spend to keep everyone alive, if not exactly perfectly intact.


    The wolves had their fun though, so maybe it was worth it. And even the Rambo clones did fine, matching my Astartes in kills, even without gene-seed and extra organs. Not yet at the level of their progenitor, but they could only grow.


    A short cleaning session later, and I arrived at the Inquisitorial Enclave on the Fortress, without the wolves or Astartes retinue. This was not a show of strength but of diplomacy. The big stick could wait outside.


    Ordo Xenos Inquisitor Carmillus met me with a stern face, not exactly pleased, but also rescued by my timely arrival. She won''t be an obstacle.


    "Lord Lancefire!" she said in a polite voice.


    I nodded. "Lady Carmillus. It was time to pay back a visit. Just in time as well."


    "You''ve grown a bit. People were starting to wonder if you were a real Astartes." she observed with a smart voice.


    I just smiled and glanced at her side. "Watch Commander!"


    "Brother Lancefire. What business do you have with the Deathwatch?" Captain Mordigael</a> asked in a steely voice.


    "Two things, maybe three if your Forge Master is not busy. I expect you received some reports about my Blank Marines conduct inside that Hiveship?" I said with a thumb pointing outside the walls.


    "Phase blades, in enormous numbers. We only have a few in the entire Deathwatch!" he admitted with slight envy.


    "Yes. I was thinking to send a few Blank Lamenters to join your august organization. I can''t be everywhere, but the Deathwatch is already protecting the border of humanity." I proposed with a wide smile.


    The Blood Angel Captain grinned widely. "That would be wonderful. How many?" he asked with glee. The Deathwatch was always in need of more Brothers.


    "Let''s say, 511 Blank Lamenters and 489 Blank Tech-marines, maybe a couple Blank Apothecaries too. We are very short on Librarians for now." I explained with a what-can-I-do shrug.


    "That!...Are they defective?" the Inquisitor asked cautiously.


    "The Lamenters, of course not! Mutations cannot affect Blanks. But, they are not Primaris either." I explained in a more reasonable voice.


    "I see. You''re shifting to full Primaris line-up. What of the others? There is no Grieving Chapter." Captain Mordigael asked with a frown.


    I took out my credentials and placed them on the marble table. Instantly, the Inquisitor transformed into an illuminated statue, as the Warrant of Trade glowed visibly from the Emperor''s own writing. The lion-head Rosette burst outward with Clavis</a> engrams and Inquisitional override codes, allowing me access to any Imperial installation.


    "The Emperor was kind enough to allow me unrestricted rights over the Eastern Fringe, and anywhere else I may need. Of course, I can wait for confirmation if you need to ask him on Terra." I spoke with a soft voice.


    "Put it away please." the Inquisitor begged in a low tone.


    I stored the Warrant back in its Null Box, leaving only the Rosette on the table. "So I decided to create more Lamenters successors, as to better cover the immense Fringe. Since they are both Blank and Primaris, I believe they will do just fine."


    The Blood Angel wiped a blood tear from his eye, and just nodded at me. "And the last Fortress is Truth!" he uttered in devotion.


    Lady Ezu stepped next to me and placed her own Rosette next to mine. "I demand that Lord Lancefire be allowed to approach the Omega Vault. If it opens or not, that will be the Emperor''s will!"


    The Watch Commander and Master of the Vigil rose his eyes at the frail Inquisitor. "You will be banned from my Fortress evermore, Inquisitor. That kind of Favor can only be spent once."


    "I am not sorry. You saw the Tyranids for yourself, Lord Inquisitor Carmillus. We need a weapon to destroy them." Lady Ezu muttered in a defiant voice.


    "You will burn, Ezu. If the Last Vault stays shut, I will burn you myself." the old woman declared with utter conviction.


    Lady Ezu was willing to risk everything, just to force the Vault to open (sometimes it did, if a crisis or new enemy appeared) , so she released the Tyranid prisoners kept by the Deathwatch, causing some damage.


    Instead, their psychic screams attracted a nearby Hive Fleet, so Ezu ran away to bring help. It could be viewed as sabotage and calling for enemy support so she could escape.


    If the Vault doesn''t open, then she''s a traitor to humanity.


    "Calm down, ladies! Everything will be alright, for I am here." I quipped in pure Lancefire manner.


    If looks could kill.

 Last Vault

    I admit, standing in front of the Omega Vault''s armored door was quite intimidating. I have stood in front of far greater doors in my life, but none held the unknown as tightly as this one.


    On the adamantium glacis there was a nice bas-relief depicting the Emperor strangling a Serpent. Very religious motif, if slightly inaccurate. Obviously, the sculptor had not seen the monster with his own eyes, like I did.


    "Void Dragon!" I spoke softly, as I flipped open my Null Box and revealed the Ordo Sinister Rosette. My Clavis engrams should hold the highest authority in the Imperium, bar the Emperor himself. I was quite confident to open the Vault. And soon, it did.


    ''Sinistramanus Perceptor, Chamber Occidentalis. Welcome to the End!'' a A Machine Spirit voice spoke via my implant as the Vault began to open.


    ''Glad to see you recognize my credentials, Omega. You may access the Pef/M41 files.'' I answered as I stepped inside, and walked through the lonely halls.


    ''The conditions are not met to open Vaults 1 through 5. Vault 6 would pertain to your credentials directly. Vaults 7 through 9 may also be of use.'' the Omega Spirit added as it opened a distant door and made the etheric detector light up in warning '' Etheric signals, Type 5, major, stasis.''


    While the tesseract showed me the 6 bio-pods, their content was absolutely fabulous. Alpha Psykers, maybe even Alpha +, and 6 of them too. A full set of replacement batteries for my Psi-Titan. And already loaded up in shoulder socket pods, just like Sabaktes had.


    ''Only six? I have two Psi-Titans with me.'' I muttered a bit disappointed.


    ''Prediction T-engine has not computed a secondary deployment or its survival if it did. Do you have anything to replace the contents?'' Omega asked, sounding sad. Such an amazing prediction too. But the Speranza did repair Polaris-Albedelach ¡ª The King of Terrors, and even fitted a new arm to Sabaktes, should I ever need to fist something big.


    I thought for a moment and then smiled inward. I could spare 6000 Phase Blades for a future crisis. Click.


    The Alpha psykers with their pods vanished in my good tesseract and were replaced with 6000 C''tan blades.


    ''There! 6000 Phase Blades, in perfect condition. But, not for Dark Angels.'' I demanded as I walked towards the next door. Sorry, but I didn''t trust those guys.


    The next door opened and showed me a hololith table, that lit up as I entered the room.


    ''There aren''t many humans that will even know what the serpent is. But you do, Pef Lancefire. The Noctis Labyrinth on Mars holds a terrible secret and this is the key to defeat it, if it ever awakens.'' the Omega Spirit explained in a patient voice.


    ''The Emperor is back and well, Omega. Still, a weapon that can kill an intact C''tan has a huge value. Those C''tan Phase Blades would just melt at his touch.'' I said a bit awed.


    ''Are you going to take it?'' the spirit asked in a doubtful voice.


    ''Yes, but not for the Void Dragon. I already dealt with that. However, there is also the Outsider C''tan, out in that Dyson Sphere. I''ve been told by Cegorach that it shows signs of activity recently.'' I spoke with a wary voice.


    Being slightly smarter now also meant I understood the meaning of the Laughing God. He wanted me to kill another God, a cannibal Star God this time.


    After all, I did the impossible once before.


    I just logged the stellar coordinates and then deleted the map. Right on the other side of the galaxy, in the Halo Stars. That was going to be fun, whatever this Caoineag weapon was. It sure sounded Eldar, something about Gods. It kinda fit though.


    Now, what to leave behind? I did have a hololith table here, so an idea sparked a moment later. Vault 7, so 7 STCs of major importance in a crisis. It took a minute to upload and encrypt the priceless STCs, then add a few hexagrammic data-wards on the memory banks, just in case some Chaos infiltrator got in here.


    ''Those STCs...ancient yet complete. I was not wrong to give you the map.'' Omega spoke with a rather impressed voice.


    ''Let me know if you want an upgrade with hexagrammic wards. I''m a decent techsorcist these days, if not quite the best.'' I proposed as made my way towards the next vault.


    ''... it would mean opening the Last Vault.'' Omega hesitated.


    ''You''ve already read my files'' I said cheerfully and waved my hand in the air.


    ''The predictor engine cannot fathom you, Sinistramanus. But I also saw what you did outside my walls. You can already take anything you want, and nobody can stop you.'' Omega mused gently, perhaps for itself.


    I just sighed. Even such a powerful Machine Spirit was expecting me to be a monster. The next Vault opened to reveal 8 alien artifacts, a few quite familiar, and the rest not.


    ''Hmmm. These items are absolutely useless here. Not even this tiny Nexus Arrangement can be used by the humanity.'' I commented in a dour tone.


    I peeked inside, to find it holding an army of Flayed Ones, ready to slice open anyone silly enough to try and open the pocket dimension. Or infect an entire Necron Crownworld with the Flayer virus.


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    ''Of course. You have even stronger ones. Storage units, like my predictor says?'' Omega asked curious.


    ''Some kind of dimensional virus that only affects Necrons in this one. Infects them with the Flayer virus and makes them try to eat flesh, non-stop. Zombie robots.'' I hummed dourly, and placed the world-ending weapon in my pouch.


    ''Data logged and confirmed with Kill-team observations. You would make an excellent Deathwatch Commander.'' Omega observed with some respect.


    ''I will leave a thousand of my Lamenters on this Fortress before I go. Blank Marines are well-protected against most Warp phenomena.'' I added as I slowly went though the rest of the items.


    As Lash had predicted, a C''tan shard lay imprisoned into another tesseract pyramid. That will be a touchy reunion.


    A Phase_Shifter</a> stood useless next, awaiting someone that may use it once more to become phased and invulnerable, for a short time. I once gave one just like this to Trazyn in a trade. I could bet I was able to use it myself, one day.


    The cloak was likely the same, a Cloak_of_the_C''tan</a> , used to empower oneself with the C''tan''s powers. Surely worth a try.


    The Sphere-shaped artifact was likely an Orb_of_Eternity</a> , able to repair any machine with its mere presence. If I ever wanted to become Omnissiah, I just had to use it on Mars, and awe the primitive priests as their broken machines mended at my touch.


    The Sand Clock shaped one was uncertain, but likely linked with time effects. Maybe a fabled Chronometron</a> ?


    The rest were unknown for now, but Lash will surely know, and may even tell me.


    It was clear now someone, or perhaps an entire Space Legion form the old days, had looted a major Necron Tomb, and got away with a wealth of artifacts, that they had no use for.


    ''Decent stuff here. Meant to be used by Necrons.'' I said with a low tone.


    ''You''ll like the next Vault then.'' Omega said as I searched for 8 artifacts to replace the loot. I decided on a spread of 8 portable Gnostari and Demiurg Crest shields and 8 Plasma Axes and Hammers as well. Space Marines did enjoy smashing things just like the dwarves.


    And sometimes, people needed something immediate to use.


    ''And so, you do have ancient artifacts too. Enough to prepare a Kill-team. Those crests must be shield emitters?'' Omega asked curious.


    ''Precursors to our Iron Halos I think. Much stronger as well.'' I spoke as I walked into the next vault.


    A vambrace with nine orange dots lit dimly stood on a marble dais. It resembled the Clavis vambrace of the Watch Commander, but with nine extra things.


    ''I predict you will be able to track and recover The_Blade_of_Infinity</a> with this prediction engine. Six spatial co-ordinates and three temporal.'' Omega spoke in a hopeful voice.


    ''The ancient ship?'' I muttered in confusion. I did vaguely recall something about this lore bit, but it was sparse. An old Federation ship. The name held much promise though.


    ''Ah! I was correct. You even know what the name means. I picked the right person for the job.'' Omega exclaimed proudly.


    I nodded as I searched my inventory for something appropriate. Nine vials of Primarch blood? But I didn''t have samples from nine Primarchs, sadly.


    Nine more STCs? Eh, already done that.


    Nine weapons? I stared at the marble dais and measured it for height. Just about right. A floating Astareus Tank appeared just a centimeter above the marble dais. Perfect.


    Now, how did it work...my implant sent the right instructions and the tank powered both its shields, Weave shield protecting it from touch or damage, while the inverted Void Shield kept it invisible to the eyes and any auspex.


    I clapped my hands for a prank well done. There were nine levels in Hell after all.


    As I walked out, puffing in my head, the Omega machine joined me in laughter. ''An inverted Void Shield? Quite the test for any smug Forge Master.''


    ''Well, this was fun, Omega. I guess this is where we part. Too bad you think so little of me, I''ve found 4 Primarchs and returned them to service. Even helped the Emperor walk again. '' I uttered with sincere sadness.


    ''Maybe Vault 1 will be of use after all. Just take him to the Emperor.'' Omega said in a low, secretive voice.


    As the Last Vault opened I peeked inside to find a large stasis pod, holding a gigantic human impaled with a glass icicle. His skin was fully black and his red eyes wide open.

 Avengers

    When I came out from the Omega Vault, I simply pushed a floating stasis cell, holding the dead body of Primarch Vulkan.


    This was bad, as the guy was a proven immortal, able to heal near-instantly even from decapitation, and it only took him a bit longer if he completely disintegrated.


    I also remembered he was killed this way once, and then he resurrected somehow.


    But, I also doubted it was as simple this time. Even Perpetuals had a limit and Vulkan had reached his. Possibly the Cabal continued their plot and found another Perpetual to kill Vulkan for them.


    As for the glass spike, it felt like mortal danger even to my Blank soul. And yet, it was a weapon able to kill immortals. I will need it.


    Waiting for me were the Lord Inquisitor Carmillus and the Watch Commander Mordigael , looking positively impressed at my solemn dirge. Dirge! It was a synonym for lament too. Maybe eulogy? Or elegy?


    Too macabre maybe. But I was still pushing a coffin. The least dangerous secret I obtained in the Vault, to be fair.


    "Brother...you are the foremost expert in resurrections. Sanguinius himself seemed just as dead on Baal. I was still a Sergeant then." the Blood Angel murmured with a slightly hopeful voice. Sure, expect another miracle!


    "Such a sad truth. Maybe it was better if the Last Vault stayed locked forever. The Primarch is truly dead. The stasis cell prevents decay, but only that." the Inquisitor decided with an expert eye.


    Click. The coffin vanished inside my tesseract. "I chose to show you the truth. If it comes out, both of you will die." I spoke softly, not even trying to force my voice.


    "Death is not the end, not for Primarchs. I''m sure you find a way." Captain Mordigael spoke gently and patted my shoulder for encouragement.


    I just nodded. "I know two ways. A Halo Device or the Ynnari Eldar. Their new god owes me a small favor for killing Slaanesh for him."


    "Do not dare, Lancefire! Never those accursed Halo Devices. If they work, what comes out will not be a Primarch." the Inquisitor shouted at me with a blast of psyker energy.


    I let the hate pass over me and just smiled kindly.


    "Yvraine</a> then. Buying her services will be expensive. Maybe a Crone Sword or something of that kind." I hummed to myself, still sad the Emperor had confiscated my custom Halo Fork.


    The Lord Inquisitor narrowed her eyes at me. "I think you''re personally the most hated creature by the Eldar, bar none. Let the Inquisition deal with this." she proposed in a cold, but logical voice.


    "And how would you do that, without divulging the truth to more people? Not to mention, Vulkan didn''t end up like this by enemy action. The Cabal has hundreds of Inquisitors in their midst. I''ve killed a dozen of them myself." I asked in a low voice, while walking into the outer perimeter filled with defense turrets and dozens of Deathwatch Brothers eager for news.


    I smiled when I saw the Forge Master and took out Canis to meet him properly.


    "Look Canis! A talking wolf."


    Harl_Greyweaver</a> laughed sonorously, then howled filling the hallway with a pretty accurate wolf greeting.


    "Woo! Auuuuuhhh!" Canis howled in return, and then ran forward and head-butted the old Space Wolf in his chest. Hello, wolf! In a manner of speaking.


    "Good wolf! We must hunt together one day!" the bearded Iron Priest</a> demanded in a voice far too loud.


    "Want to see a new STC device?" I asked instead, hinting at being gifted a mechanical miracle by the Omega Vault.


    The Iron Priest stared at my shoulder, noticing the Machina_Opus</a> symbol. I had recovered so many STCs, for so many Forge Worlds, that I could cover my entire Terminator plate in cog sigils.


    One was enough though.


    "Really? From the Vault itself?" the man asked in disbelief.


    "Maybe all these dead Tyranid Bioships outside had something to do with it." I answered with a modest shrug.


    "The Vault contains STCs?" another Tech-marine rushed to ask, sounding eager and excited.


    If you stumble upon this tale on Amazon, it''s taken without the author''s consent. Report it.I read his bio on my implant, while I considered a response. "If you''re searching for a cure for your sick Chapter Master sleeping on Sacris, Brother Mac_Zi_Ven</a> , then know only the Blankness is the true salvation against Chaos infection. Tyranid Tyrant blood can sometimes evoke a reaction to transform the sick one into a Pariah, immune to Chaos by default."


    Hah! I could fake being wise and knowledgeable too. It may also work, like it did for the Sons of Dorn.


    "My Chapter Master...Tyranid Tyrants?" the Tech-marine muttered in a confused tone, and walked away in a daze.


    "...Does that actually work, on regular Marines?" the Forge Master asked as we walked towards his Forge. Oh, he was asking for a friend.


    "It works on some. The Canis helix gene shouldn''t be a problem. But your Space Wolves already received 100 Blank Marines from my own progeny. None of the Blanks turned Wulfen</a>." I explained patiently as I took out a Shield Crest, then extended my implant controlled mechadendrite to interface with it and power it up.


    The Weave shield lit up with a blue tinge in the air.


    "A personal shield? Doesn''t smell Xenos either." the Forge Master Space Wolf detected with his keen senses.


    "Pre-Heresy tech. Found it on a Demiurg ship. They had other ancient things, including the STC for Ion Weapons. Machine Forge is already making better Ion guns than the Tau, if not too many." I added with a wry smile.


    "Thus the Machina Opus. A glorious discovery, Chapter Master Lancefire!" He congratulated me with a hearty tap on the shoulder, that shook my Terminator plate for a second. This whole universe was full of monsters.


    "You will get 489 new tech-marines here, Brother Harl. They are all my sons, so I hope you''ll take care of them. Or Canis will eat your legs." I promised with a kind voice, while Canis simply grinned. Then we vanished.


    A second later, I collected all my Astartes and brought them into the accelerated time. "Astartes! I have returned with good news. The Omega Vault opened for me."


    Vulkan''s coffin appeared in front of me. A few newer Primaris even cursed out loud.


    "Yes, they killed Vulkan. Deader than dead. With such an evil method that it may also kill the Emperor if he tried to resurrect him. In fact, I believe that was their plan. The Cabal contains other Perpetuals, Farseers, Inquisitors and many others from xenos species or traitors to humankind, including Word Bearers and their Blessed Lady." I explained while the Librarians and Apothecaries made a circle around the coffin.


    "Can you fix this, father?" Menelau asked in a pleading voice. I could sense the pain in him.


    "I have a plan. Half of a plan. I will need many of you to join the Deathwatch. And investigate. Find out who, when, why and how. Join Inquisitor retinues. Join Rogue Traders in their travels. Scour alien worlds with your Kill-teams. Speak to your Obsidian tag, and the information will reach me, at least in the Eastern Fringe. The Obsidian Auguries will provide hidden support as well. Buy informants, eat their brains, whatever you have to. We will find them." I demanded in a grieving voice.


    "And they shall know fear!" my sons chanted in a giant chorus.


    "Perhaps only the Firstborn and some tech-marines should induct in the Deathwatch. We will have a perfect reason to recruit new Primaris instead. " Laur mused to himself, and reciting the line I sent him by implant.


    "There are 511 Firstborn among you." I observed in a calm voice.


    "Then, 489 tech-marines. It will make a full thousand." Menelau proposed on his own.


    "They''ll need a few apothecaries. Wounded people talk more under drugs." I said softly.


    The Apothecaries snickered among themselves, then turned grave again at the dead visage of the Primarch.


    "You are not our Primarch, Vulkan. But you are slain by treachery and we will avenge you." Laur recited my own poem, and nodded towards me.


    "And try to bring him back somehow. No sacrifice is too great, no treachery too small." I answered in a determined voice.


    "For we are Lancefires, and we are what they fear!" We chanted over the dead Primarch staring with dead red eyes back at us.


    Every chapter should have a deep, dark secret. Now I had mine. And whole thousand of super powered Deathwatch Avengers, watching for a dead Primarch.


    I''m sure Vulkan won''t mind if I use his gene-seed for a few Avenger Chapters.

 Cabal

    While the Crusade fleet is returning to the Machine Forge, my Astartes and I are working hard inside the tesseract''s time field to produce more of everything.


    More recruits (fucking duty), educating the kids (by Blank Battle Sisters mostly), gene-seed implantation( Apothecaries), more power armor and shields (tech-marines), then warding the Machine Spirits with hexagrammic wards (techsorcists).


    The last two weeks felt like thousands of years, I swear!


    Luckily, I did have large stores of captured/looted/found Astartes armory equipment, so the technical work was only half as bad as it sounds. Upgrading one armor is quite different from having to forge it from bare metal.


    Many Chaos-sourced items could also be recovered and sanctified with some effort (or simply sent to burn into a nearby sun, if they tried to curse me back)


    Much the same with weapons, as most of my sons preferred to have a combi-bolter as their primary weapon, be it Volkite-bolter, Melta-bolter or Ion-Bolter.


    For melee, we kept it simple. Phase blades. I haven''t found any enemy that could withstand those crazy swords, not even Tyranid bio-titans or Necron Lords. They also worked just fine on Orks, Chaos Lords or Daemons.


    I did find a nice trick to share with my sons: by installing a motor piston on the back of my glove, it could wave the Phase blade side-to-side at 100 times per second, basically creating a murder zone in front of my hand.


    When I showed it to Joghaten, he said it was ''all cheating and no skill''. "Just like a Chainblade. But more dangerous." I answered with a shrug. A chainblade could be parried, after all. Phase blades, only avoided.


    I even thought to induce a randomizer beat, to create a more uncertain path for the blurring blade to take. But it would be also introducing some uncertainty with hitting the target, so no.


    One could simply rotate his hand or extend the elbow a little to create a variable.


    Did I use three parallel blades for my ''boss-level Phase claw'' ? You bet I did! I even named it Wolverine-pattern Vibro-claw.


    Canis still had me beat with his 4 Phase-claws per paw, and was not shy to announce his triumph with a dismissing snort at my fewer claws, but he didn''t vibrate, so there! I still win.


    While the first Avengers Chapter obviously had the Vulkan gene-seed, they were not black-skinned nor red-eyed. They were instead far larger and stronger than my other Primaris Blanks, and had to be careful in sparring as to not break too many bones. I had them spar with Tyranids after a few mishaps anyways. Gentle giants my ass.


    For the rest, I still continued with Khan''s gene-seed, as it was the most plentiful I had after I drained... a lot, while I had the good Primarch in custody. Medical reasons, of course.


    The other chapters continued with classical sur-names for the Chapter''s name, like: Aster, Black, Blood and so on.


    The Khan''s gene-seed provided them with much faster reflexes and melee ability, which paired with Phase blades made them especially dangerous, even among other Primaris Marines.


    When I arrived at the Machine Forge, there were 42 new Primaris Chapters awaiting their transport ships to depart on Crusades. I mean 40 will depart, while newest two will remain to complete training and form a reserve force, just in case.


    This universe was rather dangerous.


    "Lord Lancefire, you want me to provide equipment for 42 new Astartes Chapters?" Fabricator Gemma growled at me in a not-too-kind tone. It would be a bit much, even for a large Forge World.


    "Of course not! They have power armor and weapons already. Anyways, 40 Blank Chapters will depart for nearby Forge Worlds, to receive ships and tanks and whatever else. I''m not ashamed to call in Favors from my dear Mechanicus friends." I answered with a smaller voice. A Fabricator could be intimidating, especially while riding on top of your naked body.


    "Not ashamed, he says!" my lovely android sex-doctor grumbled while milking my gene-seed with her Mechanicus vitae-womb.


    "Absolutely not ashamed..." I confirmed with a powerful burst.


    "We have received the first transport from Forge Goth. Tanks and Sentinels, for the Auxilia." she continued as I rose to my feet and she assembled my Terminator plate with rapidly moving tentacles.


    "What about my Knights?" I asked curious. They did suffer lots of damage in the Stygius Crusade, and new Knight hulls were being produced by Speranza every day.


    "Your Knight House has 800 battle-ready divine walkers, and 400 still into repairs. As you demanded, I prioritized Burst Cannons as their primary weapon, and the new Weave shields to replace the Ion version. Twin Ion Beamers for secondary weapons. Hyperios missiles and multi-lasers for air-defense.


    I nodded, as I expected something like this. Knights were amazing, but also complicated and expensive. You couldn''t churn out millions of them, even if you had metal and knight-able pilots.


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    "Any progress with the portable Vulcan_Mega-bolter?</a> My infantry could use a cheaper weapon instead of krak missiles." I asked with a not-too-hopeful voice.


    The Fabricator patted my shoulder with an iron palm. " Only the new Invictor_Tactical_Warsuit</a> or other Dreadnought models can withstand such a recoil. They are not called Titan-class weapons just because it sounds cool, like you say." she warned me politely. My Terminator plate wasn''t even dented.


    I sighed inward, and thought of possible different chassis. "Maybe a Tauros car, or a resilient bike?" There will be a reckoning to come with these silly Invictor walkers produced by Cawl. I may even strangle the damned tech-priest, with his own innards!


    "Unless we build the car frame from adamantium, it would shake itself apart, oh wise Revelator of the Ominissiah! The Primaris_Outrider</a> Bikes should be durable enough for a single barrel semi-automatic Mega-bolter. Maybe you can ask Primarch Khan for his Sojutsu_Pattern_Voidbike</a> ?" the Fabricator asked me with no ulterior purpose.


    "I''ll get you a STC template for the Vulcan Outrider. Speranza should have something like this hidden away." I said with a grin. Even if it didn''t, I could make one in a day. I had a timely cheat in my hands.


    And build myself a better Invictor as well. The Armed Dreadnought Warsuit was a great idea, expanding on my own Armed Sentinel, but for Primaris Astartes. However, the implementation showed his real Mechanicus roots.


    The cope-cage didn''t make me the least happier. It was like offering a ready-to-eat meal to any Tyranid that got close and a perfect target for anyone with a ranged weapon.


    Exactly like the stupid Penitent_Engine</a> and the Mortifier</a> of the Adepto Ministorum, if you looked at it with one eye closed.


    I felt like Sisyphus holding the sky on my back, trying to raise the Imperium from the mire of their religious stupidity. Even the Grey_Knights_Nemesis_Dreadknight</a> dangled the limbs out for a snack for any hungry enemy, instead of protecting the pilot behind Knight-class adamantium armor.


    With a small wave, I vanished from the Forge and went to visit Speranza.


    "Pef Lancefire! You survived again. Even from the deadly plague of the Omega Vault." the ancient Machine Spirit observed cogently. Wait!


    "What plague?" I asked a bit wary.


    "The Last Truth or the Omega Weapon, as the Federation called it. Anyone not human would die gruesomely if they trespassed into a Federation installation. You still carry the inactive synthetic pathogen in your lungs." Speranza explained patiently, and projected a magnified nano-organism on its hololith screen. Dormant for now, but...


    "They had nanites?" I realized with a shiver of doom on my spine. I could have been eaten from inside out, not even knowing when my flesh was turned into soup.


    I''ll be damned! Maybe my luck was greater than I thought. "Can you take it over?" I asked with a wide smile. There will be tests to be made, Tyranids first, then Orks, maybe even Necrons.


    "Already did, young man. I do need my own defenses, after all. So, what else did you steal?" Speranza asked in a confident voice.


    I waved my hands like a magician, and produced the loot, in order.


    "Alpha psykers? You may need spare batteries for your Psi-Titan." Speranza noticed wisely. I knew it would see the situation my way.


    "Necron artifacts...can you use them?" the Machine Spirit asked curious.


    "Not very well. I''ll ask the C''tan for some tips." I explained while storing the dangerous artifacts.


    "Ask Zarhulash, not the other one. It fears you for now, but one day it will turn. You realize this." Speranza said in a warning voice. I nodded slowly. I could deal with a single shard, but if it grew ever stronger...


    So I sent him the data logs about the Eldar god killer weapon.


    "This weapon...I predict you''re not the only one with access to this data. It is only a copy." Speranza concluded after doing some super cyber magic on the data log.


    "It comes from the Noctis Labyrinth on Mars. Makes sense they only stored a copy on a distant Watch Fortress." I nodded in agreement.


    Then I took out the predictor vambrace, and watched it lit up like a holy-day tree. Sanguinalia, they call it here. A bit more bloody themed as well.


    "A T-engine! What...never mind, I already read it. A Federation ship, skipping across time to send warnings. Crew must still be alive." Speranza deduced with its superb intelligence.


    And lastly, I took out the Vulkan coffin, and heard the Speranza groan loudly. "You should not have this, Lancefire! The Emperor himself might show up for him."


    "And I expect that''s what the Cabal wants. There aren''t many ways to kill an immortal. A trap, hidden within another trap." I mused to myself, and stored the stasis cell back.


    "... Probable. There aren''t many T-skeins able to predict the Emperor, but perhaps it is as you infer, Lancefire. They surely managed to nail him on the Golden Throne until you came around. A Cabal...working in the shadows since the days of the Federation or even longer. They would need Perpetuals to maintain cohesion over such a long time span. Future readers to place their agents at the right time and place. Psykers to modify minds, Navigators to pilot their ships, and so much more." the AI mind began to infer from my single word.


    "I can''t revive him. Even if I could, I shouldn''t. The Emperor would know instantly, anywhere in the galaxy. But, I know how to clone him. And with cloneskeins..." I proposed gently.


    Speranza hummed in deep thought for a minute. "You could reduce his Warp presence, dial it down to background noise. Enhance his other abilities..."


    "Let''s say a dozen clones for start. But you do need to help me with this. Primarchs are not normal humans." I asked in a hopeful voice.


    "We''ll need more Gellar Ramparts for this. And a bigger fleet for when Chaos finds out. Or the Cabal, for that matter." Speranza completed my thoughts.

 Blaster

    I left Speranza with the task of creating the gene Crucible needed to clone Primarchs, which was way too advanced for me or my sons. Still based on the Demiurg design for Kin-cloning Crucibles, but the AI had enough knowledge to expand on it with his ancient genetor expertise.


    Was Speranza a he? Eh, better get used to it. He was already experimenting with a dead Ironkin</a> body I found on the Gnostari ship, perhaps trying to build himself remote robotic helpers.


    Soon enough, I will have a robot bodyguard like those Mechanicus Adepts.


    Inside the Pharos, Lash and Zarhulash awaited eagerly for me to release the third shard.


    "I think there are a thousand of your shards scattered around the galaxy, Mighty Zarhulash. How do you see this kind of trade work? More wolves?" I asked curious, while holding out a prison pyramid.


    Lash shifted back to his humanoid form and collected the tesseract from my hand. "Well, brother?" he asked with a glance at the C''tan bound to the wall with living metal chains.


    "Tempting, but no. Already we are being revealed to those close enough to you, Lash. It is better to start integrating. A wider overwatch will help more." Zarhulash decided in a grave voice, then ate the pyramid like a tic-tac.


    "My tesseract..." I muttered in surprise.


    Zarhulash glared at me for some reason, then spat back the pyramid, making it change shape and insert into my glove, copying the design I used for the Thanos glove so long ago. Must have been 5000 years already, due to time dilation inside the tesseract.


    "You''ve grown a bit, Pef Lancefire, but not enough. And I don''t care about your human muscles." the C''tan said with a disappointed voice.


    "Still haven''t lost a war. And I have some new weapons, in case things get bad." I answered with a casual shrug.


    "That weapon you seek, is called the Breath_of_the_Gods</a>. Caoineag is simply the name the Aeldari gave it in fear. But it was made by C''tan." the old C''tan Star God recalled in a grieving voice.


    "Wait! How do you know?" I exclaimed in surprise.


    "Did you notice a dimensional shield around that Omega Vault? Do you think your encrypted mind implant is in any way secure? Those hex wards might as well be crayon tigers drawn by a child. Only your soul is protected." Lash quipped in an amused yet cruel voice, revealing a hidden side. I mean, I already knew he was sadistic.


    My Chekov gun appeared in my hand and fired before I could realize. A darklight beam struck the C''tan shard straight into his chest, leaving a burning black hole. "Don''t test me, Lash. Bad dogs get punished!" I shouted in anger, although my heart raced wildly. A warm glow began to emerge from my heart as well.


    "Okay, okay. Don''t get angry, young Lancefire. That kinda hurt..." Lash grumbled with a subdued voice, although he didn''t really seem injured. The gape in his chest closed with flowing metal, leaving him pristine once more.


    "Stop aggravating him, Lash. Don''t cry for me when you''re locked in a box." Zarhulash demanded in a brotherly, yet callous tone.


    The Drukhari Blaster</a> pistol returned to my storage, yet another precious shot wasted. Mostly a calibration shot to be fair. A C''tan wouldn''t be killed so easily.


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    I also wasted a shot on Ahriman, although I deliberately targeted his bird bracelet, hoping to ignore his reflexive teleport. So I only took his right hand out, as the Dark Matter Beam continued through his bracelet and vaporized everything below the elbow.


    "Anyways, I also found some Necron stuff. I need it identified and ready for work. Lord Trazyn might ask for a C''tan shard in exchange, if I have to ask him." I continued in a more relaxed tone, and dumped the ancient artifacts onto the floor.


    "A gift of the Flayer. You already know this, Pef Lancefire." Lash spoke a bit more respectful.


    I nodded. "For me, the Nexus cube is more valuable than the contents. I could empower someone for planetary scale warfare. Ship boarding too." I explained curtly.


    "Even so, the contents could be used to lay waste to an entire Necron Crownworld. Or perhaps help you besiege a powerful Necron. Like the one down south in the Nephilim_Sector</a> torturing your fellow humans. He is called Szeras</a> " Zarhulash explained patiently.


    "You know the Necrons are millions of years too advanced. Even their weakest weapons outmatch humanity''s best. I can only strike them for afar, for any reasonable chance. And even then, it is doubtful." I sighed while focusing my mind through the Pharos on the new battlefield. I thought Ferrus Manus had solved this with Trazyn. Then again, even Trazyn had a boss, and maybe his boss had another boss...Not the Pariah Nexus again!


    Armies of Necrons Warriors and constructs even some Triarch_Praetorian</a> , the equivalent of Imperial Custodes. And culling defenseless civilians, or flaying alive anyone who resisted.


    This was going to be a mess. And I also had important quests to do!


    "So, you see now." the C''tan observed with a knowing tone.


    "Not getting involved! No way!." I grumbled to myself.


    "The Pylon network will suppress the Warp, and all psykers or astropaths. Regular humans...they can''t shine anymore." Lash added with a grin.


    "Good! They shouldn''t shine, feeding the Warp with more psychic energy. I want a Blank humanity anyways." I muttered with a grimace.


    Duty or purpose? Damn it. I will have to be smart about this.


    "I knew you were going to fight. It is your nature." the C''tan proclaimed in a lazy voice.


    "If you ate the third shard, does it make you stronger?" I asked instead.


    "... A bit slow, but you finally realized. The Pharos may be a prison, but it also honed my senses. Now I''m maybe half again that strong. Should be possible to conduct a hidden war, setting traps and sabotaging them while they fight your humans. So who do you trust to send in there?" Zarhulash asked, possibly meaning one of my sons, or maybe Canis.


    But I had someone else in mind. She did fine even without me, the first time. Now she will terrify the Necrons.

 Vengeance

    "Fine, now hide!" I demanded while preparing myself for a long war.


    Lash hid by transforming into his wolf shape, while Zarhulash simply made the wall cover him once more. There! A perfectly innocent black-walled dungeon.


    Click. Sister Stern appeared beside me, and looked around curious.


    "Pef, is this your hidden dungeon where you seduce women and force yourself onto them?" she asked with a wary glance at Lash. So, she had some suspicions as well.


    I sighed and set up a small table with a galactic table hololith. "There is a Necron called Szeras, assaulting the Nephilim Sector, and killing billions of people with his armies. He also kidnaps people to perform experiments on them."


    I explained patiently while retrieving two Necron artifacts. A Death_Shroud</a> and a Death_Mask</a> . Macabre things, but useful anyways. The galactic sector lit up without my touch, likely the C''tan speeding this up.


    Then I took out the Nexus_Arrangement</a> filled with infected Flayers, and set it on the table.


    Lash stepped closer, grinning wolfishly with his foot-long teeth sparkling unnaturally. "Woorf!" he growled in a decent attempt at saying ''listen!''


    "This is a Nexus. Kinda like a portable space luggage. It carries a special payload, that can infect Necrons with a virus. Lash will teach you how to use it, so just place your hand into his mouth." I said with a tired voice. It would be faster than installing a Mind Impulse Unit and downloading the manual, not that any human device would withstand the kind of energies she threw around in anger.


    "If he bites me, I''ll tear his head off. Just so you know!" Stern spoke sternly, making Lash grin wider.


    A minute later, she opened her eyes and picked up the Necron device with a confident hand. "So that''s how you do some of your tricks, dear Pef. Xenos tech!"


    "And you married me, which makes you a Lancefire! However, you saw the Golden Throne. The Emperor is also doing this, when humanity''s survival is at stake. Now take the other two, and see if you can use them as well." I answered with a kind voice.


    "...The Emperor will guide my hand!" she chanted and began to glow as she worn the Death Mask and the Death Shroud, giving her a fierce look.


    A second later, she began running around at hyperspeed, possibly enjoying the Shroud a little too much. As she came to full stop, Lash spat a pike-shaped weapon onto the ground.


    I picked it up, and had to grin. A rare Rod_of_Covenant</a> , slightly re-shaped like an Imperial relic with a golden Aquila on the pommel, and ending with a 3-meter-long Phase blade that could extend twice over at need. I admit I played with it for a second, then handed it over to Stern.


    "And this will be your back-up weapon, for this mission. Do well, and you may even keep it." I offered with a smile.


    "They shall regret the day their were born!" my Demonifuge wife proclaimed in a confident voice. Sure, have your vengeance. Not that the Necrons were born anyways.


    I hugged Stern for luck, and had the Pharos move her instantly over several galactic sectors, right in the heart of the Necron invasion.


    "This woman is very dangerous, Pef Lancefire. She could kill anyone here in a single moment of lapse, even yourself. Your Blankness isn''t strong enough to protect you." Zarhulash warned me as the wall peeled back.


    "I know. Makes my love life a whole more interesting!" I declared with a proud voice.


    Lash snorted at my foolishness. "You would stick your prehensile impregnator into anything, just for sport."


    I nodded wisely, then shook my head. This place may be grimdark and full of terrors, but the women were also amazing! Especially the more dangerous ones.


    And speaking of dangerous, Velayne_Ramaeus</a> Lancefire appeared inside the Pharos, using her own Nexus.


    "Husband dear. I just heard you entered the Omega Vault!" she exclaimed in a satisfied voice that promised a dozen torrid nights.


    Okay then, you asked for it. I opened my palm dramatically, producing the stasis coffin with Primarch Vulkan corpse.


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    My Inquisitor wife just stared in silence at the corpse, before shifting her eyes on the Fulgurite glass shard. "A weapon to kill a Perpetual, even Vulkan himself. Filled with the might of the God-Emperor." she pronounced with a reverent voice, hands forming the Aquila sign by reflex.


    "Good, you can see past the first trap. Now, extrapolate. What happens when the Emperor learns of this?" I asked curious.


    Velayne glanced around, already thinking how to silence the two xenos present. "What if these two talk?"


    "Zarhulash is not a fool." I answered with a shrug. The prisoner could not escape anyways.


    The Inquisitor took my words well, as she focused on the fake wolf. "Then we must kill him." she proclaimed in a judicial sentence.


    "Wait! There is another way." the mighty C''tan spoke from the wall, and somehow extended an arm to impale and drain his other shard.


    In a single moment, the wolf was gone, absorbed into the main C''tan body. The blackstone walls trembled for a second, as more energy from deep inside the Pharos was diverted to keep Zarhulash still imprisoned.


    "... I will not talk. Even if I''m free. Nothing in this universe is worth making an enemy of Lancefire. Gods have died already at his hand." the C''tan promised in a solemn voice.


    I smiled modestly. It was mostly luck, but that was also one of my powers.


    On the other hand, I now lacked a pet C''tan wolf. What will I do?


    Ignoring the C''tan, Velayne leaned over and touched the stasis field, with her eyes closed. Minutes later, she stood back and sighed. "I can feel the Dark Pattern again. Can I bring in Alric</a> ?"


    she asked me with a sad voice.


    "The Hollow Sun is gone. Exploded in a supernova. And this is not the work of the Suhbekhar_Dynasty</a> anyways. A cabal of future readers and long-term planners. Xenos and human alike." I said with a grim voice.


    What would happen if I drew the glass shard out? An explosion? Maybe the soul of the Emperor would be torn in two? The Astronomican would go dark? All of these, and worse?


    Probably worse. It could always get worse.


    "Then, Astartes Semnai? He was your Lamenters Captain and Deathwatch as well." she asked about her new bodyguard.


    "Stop it, Velayne! This isn''t something a mere Space Marine can fix. I have someone far greater looking into this, and they say this goes way back, to the Federation days and beyond. Perpetuals and Farseers, Navigators, spies and informants, not to mention Inquisitors and Chaos Marines as well. They even nailed the Emperor on his throne! Poisoned Guilliman and the Lion, and had them stuck in stasis cells just like this." I growled and stored the coffin again.


    "Pef Lancefire is already investigating, Inquisitor. A thousand of his Blank sons joined the Deathwatch at Erioch. The Obsidian Auguries received a new focus, if less detailed. Lancefire ships are already en route to 40 Forge Worlds, each carrying a Blank Primaris Chapter. And I am here to overwatch. We will find them!" the mighty C''tan spoke from his wall.


    "Good. Keep me informed!" my wife demanded with a raspy voice, then vanished with her Nexus, and simply returned to her room to brood.


    "Maybe is better that Lash is gone. It was a bit fun, living vicariously through a wolf shard." the C''tan said in a lighter voice, and sounding a bit more powerful again.


    "Even C''tan become mentally deranged after they shatter, right? I worry your other shards will prove even more trouble." I grumbled as I began to disperse melta bombs inside Necron Monoliths and various Titan-scale constructs that still withstood Stern''s lightnings.


    Melta bombs helped cripple the delicate insides, but they were only mid-tech weapons. Nova mines? I had so few left...


    "If they are located inside the Pharos n-sphere, I can influence them to behave. Mostly. And here, I can reabsorb them easily, like you saw. But, if you go into the Halo Stars...too far." the C''tan muttered in warning.


    "How far can your Cosmic Fire reach, from here?" I asked instead. Maybe using Nova mines could be avoided, if the C''tan would help.


    "...Still the same Rogue Trader, I see. About 3 light-years right now. Bring me more shards, and the radius will increase." Zarhulash proposed with a Rogue Trader smirk.


    "Let''s loot more Necron Dynasties then." I answered with the same smile.


    "Let me find a worthy target for you to Crusade. But only after that monster Szeras is dead!" the C''tan said in a vengeful tone.


    For once, I was glad he was on my side.

 Living Saint

    After a week of constant back and forth to harass the Necrons, Stern returned to recover, as she was still human...if far better than a normal one.


    But she brought with her dozens of Necron items, and even an intact Tomb_Blade</a> jetbike.


    "I chased this thing for hours! So now I want one for myself!" the pretty Battle Sister demanded with an outraged voice.


    I glanced at the wall with a blank face. There were some things I could not do...immediately.


    "Go and rest on the Fortress, and stay with Darcy for a while. I''ll figure something out." I said softly, then moved her to her room on the Black Lament.


    "One might think you''re being ridden by your woman. Get me a new toy, Lancefire! " Zarhulash commented wryly.


    "Let me bring her back, you tell that to her face!" I countered with my hand poised in the air for a tesseract transport.


    "...She would rip my head off." the C''tan realized with a wary voice.


    I just smiled politely. After seeing what the Necrons were up to in the Nephilim Sector, my wife would be a lot more violent with the poor C''tan.


    "Time for another trade." I decided on a whim, and located my favorite Necron Lord.


    ''Hello again, my metal friend!'' I quipped in fake joy.


    ''Figures you''d be back. I even heard of a woman made of lightning destroying entire Necron armies in the Pariah Nexus. Where psyker powers shouldn''t work at all!'' Trazyn the Infinite commented dourly.


    ''You could be talking about my wife, Ephrael Stern Lancefire. She just returned from her Necron safari with a prize.'' I answered and transported the Tomb Blade next to him.


    ''The pilot''s hands are still here, gripping the controls...but nothing else. She tore him from the seat?'' The Necron Lord realized with a bit of worry.


    ''Must have been a little angry, as it took so long to catch him. And now she wants a fast voidbike, just like this. But for humans.'' I explained patiently, then sent over a normal Bike, decorated with Order of the Rose sigils.


    The Necron stared at the childish human vehicle, then back at the state-of-the-art Necron wonder bike. ''I hope it is just one item. Making a working STC for a Mechanicus voidbike would take days!'' he exclaimed in fake horror.


    Wait a minute! It would take me centuries, if I was lucky. Damn Necron science!


    ''Days it is then. But you can start with a prototype from these two. Or else Stern is going to be more upset. And maybe demolish an innocent Necron, by accident.'' I allowed in a magnanimous voice. Almost merciful.


    ''Fine! But she better kill Illuminator Szeras for me. That crazy Cryptek is the one who perfected bio-transference. They even dragged me forcefully into the furnace!'' Trazyn declared in real outrage.


    I rose my eyes towards Zarhulash, who nodded. It was true then. No wonder Trazyn always acted independently. He was still the same rebel.


    ''Why is that Cryptek doing these macabre experiments? And with humans too.'' I asked curious.


    ''Why else? He had enough of a metal body and wants to return to flesh. But he also makes new technology by studying biological systems. And about new technology...your Horizon engine is ready. I hope that ends my debts.'' Trazyn demanded in a warning voice.


    I looked inside the loot stash and sent him over a Phylactery</a> , that contained numerous repair spiders, just in case he got damaged one day. Wouldn''t work on humans anyways.


    ''This is for the Void Bike STC. But make one model for me as well. I always wanted to fly in my Terminator plate.'' I asked shamelessly.


    Lord Trazyn stared at the flimsy human bike and was about to argue about stupid humans, when I sent over the new Primaris Outrider Bike and the Volkanite_Disintegrator</a> I found in the Gnostari ship. This was a tank or dreadnought weapon, way too energy draining for my power armor suit. Or maybe we simply didn''t have good enough power generators, yet.


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    ''Ah, some decent human tech this time, Lord Lancefire. I can make something good with these parts. Do you know how to use a targeting Nebuloscope</a> ?'' he asked in a tech-priest, or maybe mad scientist mode.


    ''I can learn. I do have many Necron artifacts in use by now. Good stuff!'' I declared with a satisfied tone.


    ''I would ask if you looted the Omega Vault, but I already intercepted a dozen encrypted transmissions about that, spreading out from the Jericho Reach. Also, news about you having thousands of C''tan Phase Swords for your Astartes.'' Trazyn commented in an ironic voice.


    I just sighed. Wasn''t this supposed to be a Magenta-Violet secret? Anyways, I had to give something out. ''Those Deathwatch guys had a C''tan shard locked in a vault. And a bunch of other Necron stuff, like the Phylactery you just got. Also had live Tyranids, who escaped somehow and called an entire Tyranid Fleet to help. Quite a glorious battle...until I arrived to save their ass.'' I muttered in a less-pleased voice.


    ''Indeed. I expected something like this. I''ll send the STC dataslate to your Fabricator Lady when is ready, but you can take the two finished Voidbikes.'' Trazyn spoke as he gestured at the brand-new Voidbikes he just assembled for me and Stern. Took him 5 minutes top.


    Damn Necron! I mean, I still got ahead, but barely.


    So I left him another quest. An unarmed Nova mine, still plated in blackstone and ceramite dust.


    ''This is not armed!'' the Necron exclaimed after a second of confusion. Perhaps expecting an attack? Why would I attack a useful ally?


    ''I need a few millions Nova Mines just like it, or a billion. Tyranids...they never stop coming'' I said in a tired voice.


    ''Oh. Your Forge World only makes like 20 per year. I understand. Must be hard, being a brave human, surrounded by superstitious priests who don''t even have N-sphere engineering...how is Canis?'' he asked randomly.


    Right! Trazyn had been with us at Illevar when Vashtorr attacked. ''Canis is much better. I got him Phase claws.'' I answered proudly.


    ''Not the silly claws, damn human! His soul?'' The Necron Lord asked with a concerned voice.


    ''Getting stronger every day...'' I said a bit confused.


    ''...I see. Good, good. Tell me when the aura manifests. Damn lucky bastard!'' Trazyn grumbled for himself, and dropped my dataslate with the Horizon Engine into my waiting hands.


    "Oh?" Zarhulash wondered out loud.


    "You know something, Mighty Zarhulash?" I asked warily.


    "It''s still only a potential. But this is related to Cadia. Did he eat something in that place? Something soul-charged and powerful or...'' the C''tan asked in a serious voice.


    I felt my head spin for a second. Two Chaos Gods died at Cadia. Canis was right at my side, just after the Emperor changed something inside us.


    I brought Canis out and heard him growl at the impaled C''tan.


    "Canis, what is going on inside you?" I asked in a worried voice.


    "Wooo. Auuhhh!" my wolf replied while his eyes glowed with golden light for a second. Warm. Good.


    Maybe I was paranoid?


    I bought out a giant Tyranid Tyrant, who instantly created a Silence in the Warp zone inside the Pharos.


    "Auuuughh!" Canis howled louder, forcing his glow out like a barrier. By their nature, dogs were faithful and loyal to their human masters, and Canis even wore a working Rosarius shield. His faith must be enormous.


    "He is a Living Saint!" I realized after a few confusing seconds.

 Spartan

    It took months until Sister Stern managed to finally kill Illuminator Szeras, not because she couldn''t find him, but because the Crytpek was very crafty and well-equipped with powerful Necron artifacts including a portable Gloom_Prism</a> that reduced Stern''s damage. But now, I got the prism for myself, a prize worth more than a planet.


    The time was not wasted, however. Speranza did as he promised, and helped me complete not only 12 Vulkan clones, but also 12 cloneskeins variants to be used as soldiers, explorers, miners, woodsmen, engineers and any other major trade needed to expand the Lancefire domain. Not by accident, the Vulkan clones were also gifted the same cloneskeins as each different clone clade, and put in charge of them.


    A Primarch was extremely competent by default, far better at a chosen task than my Admirals, Generals, spies, logisticians and other leadership roles, except perhaps the Adeptus Mechanicus, although it came close.


    Fabricator Gemma was competent, amazingly so. While the engineer Vulkan clone was possibly smarter, he lacked the breath of knowledge and sheer experience with machine-canticles, and the subtle undertones of the Mechanicus.


    For the tech-priests had codified control-codes and execute programs into their voice and signals, and were able to remotely activate or subdue any imperial machinery, and it went much further than that as adeptus ranks went higher.


    While this clone called himself Hephaestus</a>, the name was too long for me, so it rapidly became Heph, possibly to his annoyance.


    Only Speranza calls him by the long name, possibly because the AI doesn''t have a memory problem.


    Anyways, he does a good job in fixing damaged Astartes artifacts, and even better at changing and upgrading STCs.


    The other important clone has called himself Anzion, after the Anzion''s_Pseudogenetor</a> device used to dismantle people alive by the Magi Biologis.


    As expected, he helped us develop better cloneskeins, and even improved his clone-brothers while in their gene-crucible.


    The General clone called himself Spartan, possibly after the Spartan_Assault_Tank</a> used during the Great Crusade. I do have three very damaged models in my inventory, so maybe he can recover something from them. One of his brain lobes has been modified by Anzion for extra planning ability, even beyond what regular Primarchs could do.


    Sadly though, the Perpetual ability is missing from all the clones, and I know because the first clone actually died. Only after using a drop of my own blood into the gene-crucibles, did the clones start emerging alive.


    So that almost makes them my sons too. Anyways, one drop of blood is enough for them to become Lancefires, and even the Demiurg Fane accepted them as Kin. Four meter-tall Kin, but who''s counting?


    Luckily I had Canis suggest this path to me, as we both stared with gloom at the dead clone. On the left hand, I now have an original clone of Vulkan, red eyes and all.


    On the other hand, the dead clone''s blood creates gene-seed defects into Aspirants, making their organs go haywire and grow bones in unlikely places, without stopping. Even in Blanks!


    Only the original blood can produce stable Astartes, and even then, only my Blank sons can withstand the transformation, and barely. Half of them still die painfully, even before receiving the Primaris organs. Much like the boys I sent to the Space Wolves. Gene-seed tech is still half-magic even for brilliant minds like my Magi Biologis, the Vulkan clones and Speranza himself.


    Anzion is still planning to create some 40 Salamanders Primaris successor Chapters, but only after we select the most fit candidates from the Blank Catachan stock. And after we finish up the real Invictus Warsuit, upgraded with the best Trazyn or Demiurg-source weapons and shields. I was sneaky enough to obtain the Volkanite STC along with the Void Bike, which would make an excellent heavy weapon for the new suits.


    And speaking of Trazyn. It was time to finish the trade.


    I gather Canis and the coffin of the clone Vulkan and simply step onto Solemnace, as a solemn state visit. Our species may be at war, but my Lancefire Clan and his Dynasty are sort of allies.


    "Lord Lancefire and Canis! I suspect you didn''t come for tea, although I recently obtained a marvelous brand." Trazyn welcomed us, surrounded by a whole Astartes Chapter, as well as tech-priests and Lich Guards, all bound to his control engrams.


    "Lord Trazyn! Some tea would be nice. And yourself, Infinite and immortal as always, I presume?" I asked with a friendly voice.


    "Obviously. You may ask a small favor of me, if Illuminator Szeras is actually dead." the Necron Lord offered along a very good cup of tea.


    I took a sip, and admired the skill of brewing such an amazing tea. Then again, he had 60 millions years to perfect a lot of skills.


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    So I took both corpses out, and placed them as an offering to the side. A Necron Illuminator and a Primarch clone, united in death with the same purpose. A gift to the eternal collector.


    "Oh? It is him, really?" Trazyn asked suspicious.


    "Come on! It is only a Vulkan clone, and dead as well. A priceless collectible, now that Fabius Bile has been evaporated." I explained patiently.


    "You know I do keep an eye on your Lancefire realms, even more closely after the recent invitation to Illevar. And there are some living clones walking around. Far more valuable than a dead one." Trazyn declared with some distaste.


    I sighed inward. As expected, secrets were very hard to keep in this universe, as there were people able to observe events or entire timelines from distance. Or simply placed spies close to your core.


    I had no doubt that Ladies Chi and Elixa still sneaked out reports about my realm, even while working hard to protect it. Not to mention the Inquisitors.


    "Those back home are not true clones. I had to insert my own blood into their making, just to keep them alive. And many other modifications. And if they carry my own blood, they are Lancefires now." I said in a colder voice.


    Trazyn the Infinite nodded gravely, and shifted his focus on my wolf. "Canis, my dear puppy friend! Will you howl at me?" he asked curious.


    "Grrooooogh!" Canis growled so fiercely my skin reacted instinctively, raising the hairs up.


    "Amazing! The howl can indeed produce etheric disturbance, even inside my Pylon active Null_field_matrices</a> . Do you see the resemblance with that etheric Primarch you brought to visit last time?"


    The Necron asked in scientific curiosity.


    I smiled and nodded. Now I did see. "This is our fault, both of us. Canis was beside me at Cadia. Also in the Garden of Nurgle. He must have ate something."


    Trazyn froze for a second, as my words percolated inside his metal cranium. "That would make me his Godfather. That''s the right human word, right?" he asked a bit surprised.


    I laughed. He got the God part, true enough! "Close enough, Infinite Necron. There are also obligations from that word. Canis is now your ward, and you must do anything to protect him."


    "Woough?" Canis asked surprised. Not Kin, but close enough.


    "Kinda like those Space Wolves, Canis. Hunt pack." I explained in a warm voice.


    "Hey, I never said!...hmm. Hunt pack is actually a decent word. We did hunt together, quite some big prey too. I like it!" Trazyn exclaimed as he reasoned things through.


    "And now I have to go hunt again, Lord Trazyn. The Tyranids are still coming. Some Necrons are attacking Orpheus_Sector</a>. Some strange xenos in the Halo Stars. " I complained in a low voice.


    The Necron Lord stared at me with his dead green eyes. "If you destroy the Maynarkh_Dynasty</a> for me, I''ll give you someone you''ll like. Found her in the Pariah Nexus, with a pet dragon attached, much like your wolf. But different too. You''re not a psyker. I thought perhaps it was the same type of soul bond you have with the puppy, but now that I know about our mishap at Cadia...it''s possibly the opposite kind."


    "Did you steal another Inquisitor?" I asked jokingly. Trazyn never did change.


    "You know me well by now, Pef Lancefire . Her name is Kyria_Draxus</a>, Ordo Xenos. Quite hateful of Necrons, but friendly to Eldar. Is that strange?" Trazyn wondered as he moved a wall to reveal a frozen woman dressed in power armor, with a green dragon on her shoulder. Her power fist still clutched some crystals of obvious Necron make.


    "Was there anything important on those crystals? Your bank accounts, maybe?" I asked ironically. Just imagine compound interest gathering for 60 million years! Maybe that''s why he added "Infinite'', to his name.


    "Haha! Ever so amusing, Rogue Trader. As if money has any meaning over millions of years. There is important information on these Mnemetic Crystals</a> , that should not be revealed to the galaxy yet. However..." the Necron Lord said furtively.


    "I get it. Accidents happen. Suns go nova. The hunt pack still hunts." I answered with a knowing grin. Trazyn wanted someone killed, and I was the prefect patsy.


    "We only made 5 million mines for now. When you return we will have more. I''ll even have a manual for some device among my gifts." The Necron offered politely, as he transferred me back to Machine Forge, and my tesseract was filled with millions of Nova mines.


    Canis arrived a second later, with a Necron Gloom Prism fitted to his shield collar. Trazyn did try to act as a Godfather, keeping the wolf safe from pysker attacks.


    "Woof!" the wolf said wisely as he glanced at me. Yes, Canis. Very strong.

 Black Falchions

    As I returned to the Machine Forge, I did a grand tour of all the facilities, new and old.


    The tank Factoriums make both the medium-sized Ragnaroks and the new Astareus grav-tanks, whille the Forges on board the Speranza Ark produced classic Baneblades.


    It seems I still lack the necessary authority to request better STC models from the AI. Or maybe he views me as a young, willful child?


    Maybe Heph will get through to him. They seem to respect one another.


    "I can''t produce and carry tank shells in quantity here! Even the artillery shells are difficult to produce and move to the troops. I need energy weapons for the Auxilia!" I demanded loudly.


    "No" the AI replied curtly.


    Same answer as always.


    "I see you do not block the Astartes from having energy weapons...You even help sometimes." I observed with reproach.


    "The Blank Astartes are not in danger of Warp corruption." The AI explained in a more logical tone.


    I thought for a moment, then had to give in. If the AI saw normal humans as infection vectors, he would be careful not to arm them with unlimited ammo weapons. Especially heavy weapons like Baneblade-size guns.


    "You could have said so, from the start. But for now, I don''t have enough Blanks to create Auxilia divisions. Maybe just one." I said with a sad voice.


    "Then one Blank division will get my Falchion_Super_Heavy_Tank</a> model. With your quad multi-lasers in side sponsons for infantry work. 400 Falchions armed with twin Volcano Cannons will be ready for equipment once the division is assembled. Armed Sentinels with Burst Lances too." Speranza concluded with a final word.


    Falchion? Wasn''t that a lost relic? I didn''t even have a single one!


    And even better, Armed Sentinels with rapid-firing lances! Although the damage decreased per shot by an order of magnitude compared to a normal Volcano Lance, they fired 20 times faster and didn''t need to stop and cool down every minute.


    "Heph, did you work on these new Sentinels?" I asked curious. Speranza wasn''t willing to modify his ancient STCs templates, but the clone had no remorse.


    "Hmph. Who else?" the giant man grumbled in a morose voice.


    I took out some Tiamat Hive carapace plates and gave them to him. "Maybe you can figure a way to use this material for armor or cooling?"


    "I will need to install Hyperios anti-air missiles on the Falchions first. Your idea for the Astareus was quite good." Heph admitted with a reluctant tone. Hey, I did have a spark of genius sometimes!


    I just nodded modestly though. I could keep my pride in check.


    "You think we should use twin Ion Beamers on the Invictus left arm?" I asked instead.


    The gentle giant turned towards me, with his orange eyes glinting. Somehow, his eyes came out orange, don''t ask me why! It was the first time I cloned a Primarch, so a small mistake wasn''t that bad. Plus he was special now.


    "No, Trader Lancefire. One Ion Beamer is good, but not all enemies are vulnerable to beamers. We will use a combo heavy bolter on that arm. There are some new bolter rounds I plan to create, with diverse payload." he said in a determined voice.


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    I shrugged and let it go. So I loved the sci-fi Ion Beam you could chase enemies with. Even one was enough. And maybe a diverse bolter payload would be useful. Heph was quite smart too.


    Anyways we had the giant Volkite gun on the right arm of the Invictus, which surprised even Heph when he first saw it. Not even the Great Crusade Legions had such weapons, although they had similar ones of less strength.


    A metallic golem came to pick up the Tiamat carapace, and began to analyze it. "Do you have more of this?" Speranza asked with no ulterior motive.


    "Errr. A thousand mountains of this, if not yet peeled away. A Hive Fleet called Tiamat. Didn''t have anything to peel them with, until I got the Phase Blades." I said with a shrug.


    "Sometimes I forget you''re a lucky bastard, Lancefire. This can be used as Titan armor! Maybe even better." the golem spoke with an ecstatic voice.


    "There are plenty of Tyranids around, Speranza. I did just murder a whole Hive Fleet that attacked Forge Arcetri</a> . Cost me about 15000 Nova Mines." I declared politely. I still had headaches from so many long-distance teleports. Way too many Tyranid ships too, and I wasn''t there to flick them into a sun. Hard work, dealing with Tyranids...


    Which reminded me, I should send a Lancefire Ship to negotiate a trade deal with the rescued Forge World. Give them a personal Astartes Chapter to equip, and have them on call for another save. The Forge Worlds were still the most important lynch-pin for the defense of humanity, both as keepers of knowledge and production of new war materials. Still haven''t found a Forge World to refuse a gift of STCs, til now. And the new ones were worth at least an entire fleet, plus an Auxilia army for the Astartes.


    "Black Falchions! I knew I''d think of a good name for the next Chapter." I exclaimed in amazement at my genius.


    Both the golem and Heph turned towards me, as if I distracted them from important work. "Fill storage hangar 514 with more corpses. And a hundred Phase Blades. If I''m right, we may have a way to armor up the Sentinels without adamantium." Speranza demanded from his golem. The poor Gnostari Ironkin was now a mere robot for the Speranza AI, not that the Mechanicus treated their automata better.


    "Spartan already named them. Blazing Spartans." Heph added with a sarcastic tone.


    Of course he did...and sounded much better too. And a bit narcissistic, to be fair. Burning Helots, Flaming Phalanxes and all sorts of Greek stuff. And fire, of course. Always fire with the Vulkan clones.


    "The next chapter then! And I want a pirate flag for their sign. Crossed bones!" I growled a little, as this will take another decade in the accelerated time field. Only a day in real time, though.


    Ships and armor were much harder to find. Must save more Forges! Zarhulash will let me know if there''s any good trade to obtain.


    "Just go and impregnate more, Lancefire. I''ll buy you a drink when you reach 40 women." Heph advised me in a gentle voice.


    Okay, okay, back to my fucking duty. I just waited for the Eternal Lament to finish up its upgrades, before I could leave on the next Crusade. Damn Trazyn and his juicy Inquisitor prize.


    I wondered if the dragon would join her in bed. It would be cool, right?

 Petrified Lightning

    Preparing for a Crusade is always difficult and time-consuming.


    The logistics of moving and feeding a billion soldiers are so great, I was glad Margos</a> and Spartan, the Admiral and General clones were around to organize the stuff here at Machine Forge.


    But the main star of the operation was the Strategos clone, already overseeing the recruitment and training of the Catachan and Blanks Auxilia at Illevar. Also upgraded with the planning brain lobe, the man overhauled the entire star system into an efficient war machine, and took charge directly of the transport fleet. At least supplies would be arriving on time from here onward, as Strategos also commanded an entire clone clade of logisticians, the training cadre, repair depots, food packaging factoriums for nutri-bars and anything else he deemed necessary.


    It helped I also gave him the spare tesseract from the Omega Vault, to speed movement of material and troops without using time and fuel. Plus he was an extra defense insurance as Victor had moved to Forge Retribution with the Victorious Lancefire Blackstone Fortress.


    At Forge Retribution we had an entire university complex dedicated to rediscovering proper science from the first principles, now lead by a Vulkan clone calling himself Aristotle</a>. The same name as the teacher of Alexander the Great, so he should do great. It was all in the name. They already started photo-electric cells and uranium fission piles, so I had great hopes for that project.


    Even if they only produced regular atomic weapons one day, those were still very useful for ship combat via teleport, or torpedo warheads.


    As I already received the Tau Horizon engine from Trazyn, so it was only a matter of long days with the STC template to adapt the engine for various space moving vehicles and torpedoes. We may not reach 90% of lightspeed like the Tau could do for their fragile warships, but even 40 or 50% percent would be a major advantage, as the Imperial Navy''s plasma engines could only reach 25% of light speed in realspace, while missiles and torpedoes were so slow one needed to be quite close to actually hit anything.


    Torpedoes engines were actually the easiest to obtain, the converse of the Necron''s Macharius-warpless engine who worked better at larger sizes. The smaller the mass, the easier it was for a Horizon engine to accelerate it, as it was proper and scientific in my view. With the new Ares engines I installed on a few prototypes, the torpedoes could actually reach 70% lightspeed, bringing them close to actual hit ratios obtained with beam weapons.


    Plus, the speed itself converted mass to energy, such that solid iron warheads were just as effective as atomic ones, and certainly more safe to carry.


    I saved the finished engine on another data-slate, and transferred over to Fabricator Gemma quarters, eager to show her the good news.


    "Lord Lancefire. This is not what you think!" Gemma exclaimed in surprise, as I saw her drain a damaged servitor of life and electricity, leaving him quite dead.


    "It is not a capital punishment for a failed servitor?" I asked a bit curious.


    "...Not really. Some of the imported tech-priests have brought with them a new creed, the Brotherhood of Petrified Lightning. They wish to harness the animus of their foes and bind it to the Omnissiah, reclaiming the Motive Force."


    Gemma explained in an eager voice.


    What? "Tell me more!" I demanded with a wary voice.


    "These Fulgurites believe only those found worthy in the eyes of the Machine God should possess the divine grace of his galvanizing power. They would willingly render every civilization that did not praise the Omnissiah totally inert, plunging their civilizations of the unenlightened into eternal night. Imagine, it works! Enemies such as Necrons would find their devices inert, their xenos robots falling to the ground without power!" Gemma gushed and pointed at the dead servitor.


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    "It also drains life force, not just electricity?" I asked even more horrified.


    "All energy is Motive Force, lifeforce or holy electricity. Praise the Ominissiah!" she chanted in near-total religious ecstasy.


    "Order your mind, Gemma! Who is the Omnissiah?" I asked rhetorically.


    "The God of all Knowledge, the Machine God!" she declared with zeal.


    "...Is it though?" I hummed to myself, and tapped the twin Aquila on my chest. Her bionic eyes froze on the Aquila as she slowly regained her senses.


    "The Emperor is the Omnissiah. But...what does it have to do with the creed?" she wondered a bit more logical.


    "There are many things wrong with it. I just had to hear it once, to realize the purpose of this creed is to target the Emperor himself. Do you even know what the Petrified Lightning means?" I asked a bit harshly.


    "...Only the advanced creed followers know." she murmured a bit chastised.


    So I showed her. The Vulkan coffin appeared beside me, impaled with the same Petrified Lightning these Fulgurites worshiped.


    "Omnissiah''s holy son, killed by the Fulgurite?" she realized in a mere second. "That''s how you keep producing gene-seed for the new Primaris!"


    I stored away the coffin, and pointed at her. "The Avengers. Why did you think they were avenging?"


    "But, this would mean there''s a giant conspiracy, right inside the Machine Cult! Aimed at the Emperor, perhaps? Trying to dis-entangle the worship of the Omnissiah from the Emperor, by killing his body..." Gemma muttered as her logic processes went further.


    "And they found the perfect test subject. Not only a Primarch, but one bestowed with infinite Motive Force. A Perpetual, just like the Emperor himself." I continued with a sad voice, as more insights developed into my mind.


    Vulkan wasn''t placed in the Omega Vault as a reward, but hidden away at the edge of the galaxy, far beyond the Astronomican''s reach. And who would have the knowledge and power to construct a Watch Fortress then move it at Erioch? Who had access to the Noctis Labyrinth, to copy the data for the C''tan weapon? Who made the Star Fort into an Ordo Xenos base, guarded by deadly Deathwatch and a Machine Spirit that might also be a minor AI?


    Who had knowledge of the Federation''s Omega Weapon, the nanite plague inside the vault?


    The reach of the Cabal was so long, it went before the Horus Heresy. Plans withing plans...


    "I''m already locking everything with anathema-class over-rides." Gemma muttered in a subdued voice.


    "Just make a list with the known Fulgurites. I''ll have my people extract the information from their minds." I said in a tired voice, and placed the STC slate on her desk.


    Damn it all to hell. Not even my friendly Mechanicus allies were free of this Cabal. Then again, Mars itself was split in two sides during the Heresy. And with tech-priests being functionally immortal as they replaced failing organs with bionics, there would be living remnants among the older tech-priests.


    Another ship needed to go to Terra, and warn the Emperor of this conspiracy. The new Black Falchions then, as they had the safe Khan gene-seed. Plus, I did have a whole lot of valuable STCs and Necron artifacts for the Emperor to use. My Ares-pattern Void Bike armed with the Gnostari Volkanite Cannon will do great for his Custodes. As would the better Invictus Warsuit. Make Archmagos Cawl spit in his soup, hopefully.


    Some more natural Blanks as well? And some young Rambo clones. At least 10000 of them, armed with Phase Blades. I''m sure Sly Marbo will be impressed if his clones become Blank Custodes. Not if, when. The Emperor wasn''t stupid.

 Calibrate weapon

    Eventually the Crusade Fleet was ready to go, although still only half of the mighty fleet that departed towards Stygius a decade ago. Half of the battleships and 200 cruisers were still under repair.


    Only 15 battleships and 300 cruisers, as well as 4 Astartes Battlebarges and a Fleet carrier. Some other ships would also join in support, like 21 Escort Carriers and a Machine Forge Ark Mechanicus with a million servitor pilots on their drone-fighters.


    However, I did send several Lancefire Trade Fleets of cargo and transport vessels escorted by our Warp-engine frigates and destroyers ahead to my chosen waypoints, mainly Forge Worlds like Graia and others on the way.


    I planned to skirt the south border of the Imperium and collect some of my successor Chapters en route, while training the troops on easy Ork worlds on the way.


    Sister Dessima would be happy to be put to combat use, not just to warm my bed.


    Sister Stern was also eager to electrify more of humanity''s enemies, as were her Sisters of Battle. The girls had received new equipment, including some nicer Armed Sentinels for the Blank Sisters, but also Ion Beamers for their vehicles and Volkite pistols for the infantry. The Silent Sisters had reached 1000 Silent Leviathans, now modified with actual sound absorbers from the Invictor Warsuit, to be able to walk silently indeed.


    Inquisitor Valeyne had to join me for observation purposes, and to smooth the way should we encounter more reluctant imperials.


    She had a close bodyguard of real Deathwatch Astartes including Brother Semnai, as well as the remaining 3000 Black Shields converted from the captured Astral Claws as an experimental Inquisitorial regiment. There was no point keeping the Astral Claws as backup, since I had many more Blank Primaris marines that did not need mind-shackles to be loyal.


    Knight House Lancefire provided 1000 Knight suits, upgraded by Speranza to our best tech available, and piloted by Blank pilots of course. We had more Knights, but those were fresh and not that experienced yet, plus I wanted a reserve force back home. It seemed Speranza had a soft spot for Knights, seeing them worthy of his time and efforts. They also had a decent escort of Blank Sacristans in Armed Sentinels, mostly to keep infantry away.


    The Mechanicus Ark also carried a demi-legion of the Deus Ex Machina Titan Legion, if only 100 Warlord units that received the latest upgrades including Weave shields and Tiamat-class armor.


    We had to test the latest upgrades in combat, before knowing which things worked or not. Gemma had ordered a million Skitarii to escort the Titans, along with a coterie of tech-priests of all types.


    The Auxilia troops were equipped with newer Ragnarok armor and Armed Sentinels received from Forge Goth and Mezoa, although without Phase blades. The special Sentinels were instead bestowed upon the new Blank Division,


    along with Falchion tanks, and will test the Burst Lances in war. Perhaps it was safer to give Phase Blades only to Blanks. Speranza wasn''t stupid.


    My Primaris Marines would test the new Invictus Warsuits, as well as the Void Bikes for aerial ground-support, piloted by Tech-marines. Only one company would still have the Terminator plates, if needed to insert for boarding operations or other specialist role. From my own estimations, the Warsuit would have an order of magnitude better firepower and defense than a Terminator, especially because of the Volkanite disintegrator and the Tiamat-hide armor.


    Somehow, my Terminators had become light-armored Scouts for the rest of the Chapter.


    The real Leviathan Dreadnoughts had been relegated to their old purpose of interring wounded Brothers in walking coffins, a sad but always present reminder that in 40k anyone could lose.


    The Dreadnoughts also didn''t count for the 1000 limit of Battle-Brothers in the Codex Astartes, so perhaps it would work well anyways. Chyron was very glad to return to active combat, after being replaced by Strategos at Illevar.


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    Spartan was put in charge of the Auxilia, and many of his clone clade of soldier cloneskeins were appointed officers or sergeants for the newer regiments. As the clones were bred exclusively for war, I had high hopes of doing great, especially as the Blank officers in the Auxilia had been re-tasked with leading the Blank Division and its units.


    A similar role was given to the Admiral clone, who I called M for ease of my tongue. Greek names were hard. Why couldn''t he pick a normal name like Nelson?


    Although ship Captains always remained Blanks, as well as most of the Bridge officers, numerous crew roles were taken by his naval clade clones, who were modified to withstand prolonged ship travel far better than regular human and even Voidsmen, mostly by dialing their Warp presence to the minimum possible and still keep them alive. For now, lobotomized servitors were still the bulk of the lower deck crew, but M wanted to replace them with a new clade, far more resistant to radiation and other toxic byproducts. Speranza had opposed this clade for some reason though, so it was locked for now.


    As the Eternal Lament powered its engines and moved beside the Black Lament, the Crusade was ready to depart. Obviously, I called it the Halo Crusade, for no ulterior reason.


    First stop, a small Ork domain located directly south of us. Speranza had indicated it as a good place to expand, and so we did. Plus it would mean collecting more life sacrifices for the chronophage swords, more Xeno Auxilia to blunt an enemy charge, maybe more ship hulls. And plenty of real practice for the troops.


    Nobody was actually surprised when our troops deployed in good order and massacred the Orks with little problem, not even the new Auxilia troops. Compared to mostly savage Orks deprived of their Waaagh field, even the regular Auxilia did great, each scoring at least 100 kills, while the snipers had broken all records with their Bolt sniper rifles. There was even one guy with 2100 kills!


    The test was mostly to calibrate weapons and give the officers more experience. But if I could loot millions of metal asteroids and dozens of ships, plus millions of Ork weapons for free, surely it was the grace of the Emperor.


    A week later, we were replenishing at Forge World Metalica when an astropath call was received from the Knight World of Rakkor IX</a>, which was sworn to the Knights</a> of House Raven</a> . Something about a Nephilim King</a> , not that astropath telegrams made much sense anyways. You had to guess at the meaning.


    M and Spartan cornered me in my room, where I was receiving the loving ministrations of my Inquisitor wife.


    "You heard about the Tyranid Fleet, Lancefire... How''s she still breathing like that?"


    M asked with an awed glance at my little lance getting inhaled by a hungry Inquisitor.


    "Practice makes perfect, M. You go on and organize the fleet, I''ll be there as soon as I finish." I explained politely, while Brother Joghaten simply rolled his eyes at me.


    Spartan simply smirked and gave me a thumbs up. His thumb was bigger than my lance!


    Little did they know, I was actually practicing my Null powers, by drawing power from my psyker wife, slowly and pleasantly, of course. I did need to become a stronger Pariah, and Valeyne needed to train her mental resistance as well. I just found a clever way to train, that''s all!


    You could even say I was calibrating my weapon.

 Raven

    Soon after reaching the Rakkor system, I found what that Nephilim King really was.


    Unlike the normal Tyranid hordes, this Hive used massive organisms that copied Imperial Knights, both in looks and tactics, forming feudal-like formations.


    And while the low level support of Tyranid Sacristan look-alike were easy to mow down by our combo Votannic_Bolt_Cannon</a> and Ion Beamers on the Invictus Warsuits, only the Volkanite Disintegrators could harm the armored shells of their Knight bioforms, and not that well either. Click, and the Primaris Marines returned to their repair docks.


    This called for a deployment of my own House Knights, and see how their new weapons fared agaisnt this strange strain of Tyranids called the Court_of_the_Nephilim_King</a> .


    Matching the Tyranids in numbers and power, it now became a game of wits between my Knights and the synapse creatures.


    Their pyrovore bio-cannons shot blasts of burning bio-plasma that splashed over our new Weave shields, and what left over got through were ineffective against the Tiamat carapace bonded over the real adamantium underneath.


    "Scrreeech!" a loud howl erupted from their monstrous King, causing the bioforms to re-group and retreat from their siege of House Raven, leaving dozens of wrecked Raven Knights on the ground.


    Void Bikes began to harass and hound isolated Nid Knights, and several Auxilia Mega Tauros cars surrounded them, firing with Vulcan Mega-bolters at the weaker joints.


    Soon enough, the bulk of the Tyranid Court was corralled into a mountain valley, an easy prey for either an armored assault or our orbital support. The Nephilim King knew this as well, as he stepped in front and gestured with his whip-swords, perhaps demanding an honorable death. But nope.


    Such an effective formation would be too useful to kill. They could fight for me instead. "A new Auxilia Unit. Tyranid Knights!" I exclaimed happily on the bridge, watching my sons and daughters simply grin in response.


    And click. Joining my other special Tyranid Tyrants and what else in the tesseract, I soon began to implant the synapse units with my Necron Mind Shackles.


    An excellent loot for today. And a reminder that our enemies were also evolving and upgrading themselves. Knights! Soon enough they will deploy Titan Legions.


    "I''m not painting such a beast!" I heard Captain Laur mutter in a low voice. This boy! Always fun to tease.


    "You will paint two of them instead. And Menelau is excused, because he was a good boy." I ordered with a wink at my Librarian son.


    "Silly Laur. Don''t worry, I''ll help too. These Xeno Auxilia will be helpful one day." my wiser son spoke with a lamenting voice.


    From their Hive Ships I only kept a spiky multi-clawed bioship, that seemed to have been evolved for boarding purposes. The rest were either butchered by the fleet or sent to burn in the sun.


    "A dangerous plan, Lord Lancefire. The Tyranids will eventually adapt to whatever means you have to control them." my Inquisitor wife muttered in a soft voice.


    "Such is war. Those who fail to adapt are bound to lose. But for now, I think I''m doing fine." I answered with a nod. Warning received.


    I was already busy repairing the system and providing it with metal asteroid for forts. It was still a losing game. Knight Houses should not hide on remote medieval worlds, exposed to any strong invasion. They should base themselves on a Forge World, and fight with the support of the Mechanicus. Just like I did.


    "Want me to deal with the Raven Knights?" Valeyne asked, sounding curious.


    I checked my implant to see if there were any interesting persons still alive, and surely enough they had Baroness Vardus</a> tending to her damaged Knight suit.


    "We''ll both go. I do have a Knight Suit as well."


    When we appeared beside the medieval keep, I piloted my lonely Reason Knight, and my metal palm held an Inquisitor and two Deathwatch bodyguards, mostly as a show of skill. Piloting a Knight was quite easy for me now, almost like a second skin.


    Stolen from its rightful author, this tale is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.


    "Welcome to House Raven! Although you may understand we are much in disarray, at the moment." Lady Vardus spoke from a tall tower.


    I simply moved my palm at the side of the tower to let the passengers debark, and then stored my suit and stepped beside them, back in my Terminator plate. Brother Alric managed to frown at me, even while wearing his armored helmet. Semnai simply shrugged, already used with my antics. Then again, the man had fought a Great Daemon in the Warp and even burned a Demon World by himself.


    "This is Inquisitor Ramaeus, and I am Pef Lancefire. I can provide assistance." I proposed with a mild voice, and with a trick of the tesseract gathered all the damaged Knights into the Keep''s courtyard.


    "You don''t feel like a psyker, Lord Lancefire." the Baroness observed with keen eyes. Semnai actually snorted at that, before restraining himself.


    Right, I should bring Canis and Joghaten. I was the only one here without a retinue. Click.


    "My gifts are of an entire opposite spectrum, Lady Vardus. I am what they call a Null or a Blank. When I grow up, I''ll be able to eat Daemons on toast bread. Or even without toast." I explained politely, then smiled as the brave Nobles around the Baroness drew back a step.


    I just sighed and skipped forwards, hiding the Necron Orb_of_Eternity</a> with my shadows. In a minute, the damaged Knights began to restore themselves, limbs re-knitting, armor plates unbending, even fusion reactors fusing back together.


    In 30 minutes, the Raven Knights were now pristine, possibly even better than they ever were. A medieval world didn''t have the technology to maintain Knights to their best form, after all.


    "Woooh?" Canis asked as he smelled the brand-new Knights.


    "Not like our Reason, Canis. See, no Weave shields, no Ion Cannons, not even Burst Lances?" I argued with my wolf.


    They also didn''t have a Grav-Chute</a> to allow a smooth landing, nor Phase Blades, not the Blessed_Autosimulacra</a> repair devices.


    With chainswords and autocannons, even heavy stubbers as they armament, the poor Raven House looked like peasants compared to my advanced Knights.


    "Wooo! Woooa?" Canis proposed with a wise voice. Upgrade them?


    Difficult and dangerous. Knight Houses fell to Chaos quite often, as I knew well. I burned plenty of Fallen Houses.


    Lady Vardus had descended from her tower while I was busy, and could only stare at the repaired walkers in awe.


    "This debt, I will speak with our Princeps on Kolossi</a> , surely we can repay this Favor somehow." she murmured with a fervent voice.


    "I think Armed Sentinels are more than enough to maintain a military presence here, my lady. I propose you depart this world and base your Knights at a Forge World like Metalica. They can also upgrade the suits with far better weapons." I spoke with a wry glance at the stone walls of the keep.


    They even had barefoot peasants here, and reptile work animals instead of tractors. Even Sentinels were overkill to maintain peace.


    An Auxilia Sentinel appeared beside me, looking much like a smaller version of a Knight, if far less expensive. Maybe 1000 Sentinels would reach the value of a single Knight suit.


    The Baroness examined the unknown Sentinel model with keen eyes, walking around it and even climbing into the cockpit for a spin. The smaller chainsword roared in the air with a loud engine growl.


    After she jumped out, she nodded cautiously. "Far easier to pilot as well. Instead of 30 Knights we could hold this world with 300 Armed Sentinels. Train the pilots as well..."


    I grinned at her. "My Crusade Fleet has a million Sentinels in storage. Let''s visit Kolossi and see if your Princeps is interested in joining."


    On the way to the nearby system, I got to know the Baroness much better, and gifted her a Blank child as a reward.

 Baldy

    Upon arriving at Kolossi, I immediately noticed their Keep_Inviolate</a> , a giant fortress of stone and adamantium that climbed from the the planet''s mantle into the low orbit.


    Much like the Fang at Fenris, it also served as an orbital dock and a defense station, but otherwise the planet was just a sad mire of polluted cities and numerous gangs and cultists, perhaps more cultists than normal, even on an Imperial planet. Many local Nobles themselves were sporting Chaos sigils and hidden altars, and the local army was mostly...the Knight suits and some Arbites. This was doomed world, just waiting to be invaded and taken by Chaos.


    "This is bad." I spoke in warning, before Valeyne could stand up.


    "Is it worse than you think, Pef. There are summoning rituals going on. Right now!" she growled and vanished with her Nexus to meet with her Black Shield regiment.


    I began spreading frag grenades like gifts, while also deploying the troops at important checkpoints and calling Sister Dessima out.


    A wide Blank blanket fell over Kolossi, and I noticed Valerian over in the Eternal Lament firing his Immaterium Beam at the other side of the planet.


    "Something strong is coming, my Lord. It''s pushing through!" Dessima warned me over the implant.


    "Auuuuhhh!" Canis howled suddenly, projecting a golden light into a maw that bit the void, crushing something invisible.


    I noticed the Inquisitor gather her Deathwatch into her Nexus then move on top of the Keep, about 100 kms away.


    It was a bit early to deploy my marines, as we didn''t know where and how the Enemy would attack, but the Titans and the Knights could be moved in a protective perimeter around the Keep.


    At the same time, I forced myself and moved everyone not armed into the tesseract. Far easier to sift children and other non-combatants away from the rest.


    Already, same deep pain was filling my chest, just like at Fenris and later at Illevar.


    "Wooh!" Canis encouraged me, and bit gently on my gauntlet. Of course, I will use it. But on what?


    "Go autistic all ships! Deploy screens and disperse in pattern Beta" I ordered in my last vox transmission. From here on, we would have to depend on passive scans and the tesseracts. Librarian Valerian had one of them as well, along with half our provisions and a third of the Blank Auxilia on board the Eternal Lament.


    Another third was on board the Black Lament and the rest spread over the fleet as inner defenses.


    As the next second passed, I moved all non-Blank crew and troops in the fleet into my tesseract, just as the Warp opened up to produce a large Chaos fleet, lead by a huge Daemon.


    Two Arks of Omen, just as large as my Black Lament. 17 Battleships, already out numbering us. 114 cruisers, 3 carriers, and a thousand escorts, giving this Chaos fleet a slight advantage in numbers.


    "That''s Rotigus</a> , an Unclean One." Chyron warned me just as I began to fire the Beam at his face. Meanwhile, a scattering of Nova Mines burst among the Chaos escort ships, reducing their numbers advantage.


    A green gas began to flow from his mouth belly, pouring over the planet below. Nurgle plagues were bad. Not as such for Blanks, but the planet would have to burn now.


    Valerian joined his beam onto my target, while also dispersing munitions over the Chaos fleet, and exploding several cruisers. The Chaos Battleships and their carriers, as well as the two Arks were protected by some form of shield, which didn''t bode well. ''Warp shields'' Menelau warned me on the implant.


    Didn''t help me much. "Dessima, see if you can punch one out." I proposed and immediately acted, transporting my Omega-minus Sister on top of an Ark. Her Phase sword flared out and for a second I could see and transport a few Nova Mines inside the Ark, before I recalled her.


    Valerian got the hint and shifted target onto the wounded Ark, and after a minute later the Ark went silent as anything alive was toast now.


    One Ark down, and the Nurgle Daemon still did not die, instead shaking a wooden staff at me. I felt poison on my lips, and a warm glow emerge from deep inside me. Already that bad?


    Canis just rushed at my side and placed a paw on my shoulder, and growled at the invisible attack.


    "Next one, Dessima!" I ordered with a pained voice. Another transport, and the second Ark was breached, allowing Valerian to finish it off.


    On the surface, around 200 Chaos Titans and 800 Chaos Knights were already attacking the Keep, supported by thousands of Daemon Engines and Chaos Marines.


    "Keep the equipment, father. We might restore some..." I heard Menelau advise me, in a haze of rapid deployments and munition dispersal.


    The Eternal Lament began to fire once more onto the Greater Daemon, when the creature bellowed and chanted " Daemon Prince</a> Be''lakor</a>, It is time!" then he descended on top of the Keep to battle the Inquisitor and her Black Shields.


    Stolen content warning: this tale belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences elsewhere.Brother Alaric had a Xenophase_Blade</a> of his own, while Semnai had a Vibro Phase Blade of my own design, which allowed him to shred the daemon with ease. Sadly, the thing also regenerated just as fast.


    "Brother Joghaten, you help them!" I demanded and immediately transported the great Blademaster next to Semnai, and 9 Silent Sisters in support. Not all Great Daemons were equal, as I knew well enough from my stupid quest into the Garden of Nurgle.


    By using the Sounding Board, I ordered our heavy ships to target the Chaos carriers, before they could unload all their fighters and bombers, while my Cruisers focused fire on the nearest Chaos battleship.


    Click. The Blank Division was instantly deployed to flank the Chaos forces, while the Primaris marines and their new Astareus tanks joined the fight on the other side.


    Flashes of sunfire burst from the new Falchion tanks, exploding Chaos Knights or transformed Chaos Engines, while the Void Bikes took to the skies to provide air-cover.


    Already the skies were full of Chaos fighters and even wings of Heldrake</a>, some kind of winged mechanical Daemons, so our own fighters were busy enough.


    A hundred Escort Corvettes attempted to fly low and provide orbital support, but the Chaos Titans and the Chaos fighters began to target them before they could do too much damage.


    Fine then! Click. The skies became empty of enemies all the sudden, transported into the sun and giving my troops a lot more support from the air.


    "You must be the one who killed Vashtorr!" a loud voice boomed across the entire system, just as that Rotigus demon exploded into gore.


    A large winged daemon carrying a black sword manifested on top of the keep, uncaring of his dead comrade torn to shreds by the best sword fighters of humanity.


    Blademaster Joghaten found his Phase Blade parried by the Daemon sword, the first time I saw something withstand the C''tan blade.


    Semnai joined in, and by luck managed to blur his Vibro Blade and shred a wing from the daemon.


    "Cute trick, young Astartes. But now you will all die!" the one-winged Daemon proclaimed in a confident voice, just as the Chaos fleet above began to disintegrate, ship by ship.


    "Abselom, go help!" I demanded in a hurry, and transported the Polaris Psi-Titan at the scene, just as a Warp pulse evaporated a thousand Black Shields and pushed the protected people back.


    "Wof!" Canis demanded eagerly. Okay, okay.


    I moved into Sabaktes and joined the fight as well, even as this Belacra thing blocked a shot from the Psi-Titan, by simply hiding under his wing. That was stupid! The wing was frayed and thin like cloth, not a meter of adamantium.


    "Take this Belaqua!" I shouted and fisted the daemon from behind, while Canis blurred forward and ripped his sword arm away.


    Silence fell over the system, as the mighty daemon found itself impaled onto my nice Power Claw, now enhanced with Phase Blades of course.


    "What the hell is this dog?" the daemon muttered as Canis crunched on his Etherblade</a> and somehow managed to tear it to small bits with his Phase Claws and even his teeth.


    "Any last words, Baldcrap?" I asked instead, and fired my left hand psi-cannon into his face.


    "My name is ...." the thing tried to explain, when Sister Dessima appeared beside me and just punched him into his soul.


    Crack. I swear I heard the universe break a little, and Canis heard it too as he rose his head towards me.


    "Woooogh?" he asked cogently. A decent question too, as the daemon changed shape and became on old bald man still impaled on my clawed finger.


    Before I could do anything, the Inquisitor took out a bolter gun and shot the baldy in the head, ending this debacle.


    "I''ll go clean up the other idiots..." I muttered from my Psi-Titan and waved goodbye with a bloody claw, splitting the corrupted guy into small bits that fell onto the dock''s platform.


    Canis rushed to eat his treat, while everyone else stared in awe. I think it was awe anyways.


    On the ground, Sister Stern was having fun Demonifuging Chaos Titans, with even more ease than Necron or Tyranid Titans, so I took charge of the orbit as usual.


    May find some nice stuff on these Arks, and then look inside that secret STC vault deep below the Keep.


    These Raven Knights didn''t even know they had an entire STC Constructor under their mountain fort.


    Or maybe they forgotten how to use it? Either way, Pef Lancefire wins.

 Knighthood

    Over half of the planet Kolossi is now on fire, some by accident, some by enemy fire and the rest by our own ships or ground units setting fires to anything corrupted by Chaos.


    Luckily, we did have a thousand Silent Sisters as well as Sister Stern to halt the Nurgle plagues from melting the main continent, and Immaterium Beams to splash infected zones from orbit and kill anything alive, or not.


    The Keep Inviolate remained mostly intact, if depopulated. Most of the civilians were still held in my tesseract, but the vast majority of their Arbites or local militias were riddled with disease so virulent it could only be cured by flaming promethium.


    The genetor clone, Anzion was already working on new vaccines and better cloneskeins to protect our future population agaisnt such attacks, but for a good portion of the Kolossi people, it was too late.


    Not even the Knight pilots of the Raven House got away intact, losing over 70% to disease and over half of their Knights suits. They still survived as a House, but barely.


    Luckily, Sister Stern was close enough to Demonifuge away the plague from the Keep, and Lady Vardus remained alive. Maybe it was also the Blank child inside her.


    Not even my Crusade fleet got away intact, not from a near-equal opponent in the Chaos Fleet. My Apocalypse-B pattern Battleship was too close from the main concentration of Chaos Battleships, and its Void Shields failed before it could retreat away. The new Weave Shield lasted just enough for me to notice and hide it away in the tesseract, but not before substantial damage was inflicted.


    The Serenity Battlebarge took a full strike from the Chaos Bombers and got battered badly as well.


    And the sad part was that Rotigus may have escaped, banished and surely bruised, but returned into the Warp.


    The other one, Belakor died his final death, but he was still only a mortal raised to Daemonhood, not a real Great Daemon.


    As for myself? As expected I am stealthily investigating the STC Constructor under the Keep, although I also found a large Vault filled with Knight suits. Over 1000 of them!


    It seems the Constructor was at some point building new suits for the colonists, and storing them inside this Vault. But then someone important died and took the secret with him.


    Happened way too often in the Imperium, to be fair.


    Their loss and my gain. I will only confiscate half of these suits, the more advanced variants like Knight_Castellan</a> . Smaller models like Armiger-class could be traded back to the House Raven.


    However, even among the Armiger there is an interesting model I will keep, called Knight_Moirax</a>


    These have a whole bunch of ancient tech on them, from a Construct_Shield</a> to Graviton_Pulsar</a> and even a Volkite_Veuglaire</a> that can also be used as a tank cannon. The Construct Shield itself is a wonder of DAOT times, a small and compact Void Shield that can be also mounted on heavy tanks and Leviathan Dreadnoughts.


    While the Graviton Pulsar is too small to be mounted a main weapon on starships, it can be used in a different role, to lock a target in place for other weapons to destroy it, for example in fighter combat, or even by my larger Knights as a secondary weapon. The Leviathans should also be able to use it, as they are larger than an Armiger Knight.


    The STC Constructor had all these templates installed, and locked to a Princeps genetic code. I was way overqualified for that, with my Titan pilot credentials and the Clavis engrams of my Rossette.


    If you spot this story on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation.It even had the template for a Lightning_Lock</a> , basically a directed EMP weapon. Sadly, would be useless agaisnt Tyranids and Orks, or even any infantry in general, but certainly of use against technological enemies like Eldar or Tau. Chaos and Necron were likely immune, due to different operating principles. It would be nearly useless to me right now, but I will trade it away for more ships.


    Click, and the giant automated constructor vanished in my tesseract. With a bit of repair and code-cleaning work, this Constructor should be able to churn out any type of walker suit, from Sentinels and Dreadnoughts, to Invictus Warsuits and more Imperial Knights. Maybe even power armor, like Terminator plate? I wasn''t sure it could actually construct the smaller Warhound Titans, since Titans had vastly different specifications.


    A day later, after the cremations were over, I arrived officially at the Keep and met the remaining Noble Knights.


    "Brave Knights of the Imperium! We have fought together and triumphed over this horrible attack by the Ruinous Powers. House Raven still stands and the Keep Inviolate has remained intact. But, you are in poor shape right now."


    I spoke in a mourning, grieving and lamenting voice.


    "House Raven stands!" they all declared with zeal, as expected of brave Knight pilots.


    "Have faith and stand strong, because your ancestors are watching! Deep under the Keep, I found a cache of ancient Knight suits, over 500 of them! The vast majority are Armiger-class, but even so, they will hep you recover faster."


    I continued on a more joyful tone.


    "Yay! Hurrah!" people cheered, as their loses would be restored with ease.


    "I have also spoken with Baroness Vardus, and concluded that your outer holdings planets can be easily defended by Armed Sentinel walkers, which any Forge World can provide with ease. As for the rest, I believe your House would be much safer if your stronger Knight suits were stationed on a Forge World. Not only they would get repairs and upgrades, but they would not be vulnerable to another sudden invasion." I proposed in a calm voice, and just waited.


    Basically, they would need to split their House into three groups, one holding the ancestral Keep, one defending the spread out planets of their House( with Sentinels), and the main force beholden to a Forge World for safety and possibly an influx of technology transfer and industrialization towards their Noble House.


    It didn''t take long for the consultations to degrade into shouting matches and insults.


    "It seems to me, you all are under the impression this was a suggestion. It is not. When I arrived in the system, I instantly detected multiple summoning rituals, calling for these Chaos forces here. A third of my Black Shield regiment was killed, defending you Noble brats. A thousand brave Deathwatch Space Marines! Give me a reason to burn the other half of this world, I dare you!" Inquisitor Ramaeus shouted, while her Deathwatch simply leveled their bolters at the surviving Nobles.


    Well, that ended the negotiations even faster. Lady Vardus nodded at me, and it was done.


    Bang! A single bolter fired, exploding a Noble that reached under his robe. Oh well. There was always one, wasn''t it?


    The other Nobles kneeled down at once, maybe a bit more impressed now. I could only shrug and move away, already thinking about my next move.


    I could take the fleet towards the Forge World</a> of Sigma-Ulstari</a> or I could continue South or West, and crush other Tyranid Fleets still roaming the galaxy. Or I could split the fleet and do both.


    What to do? Let''s wait for now, and repair the ships with my magic Necron orb, as well as any other damaged stuff.


    Better be ready for whatever the universe threw at me next. For in the dark future of the 40th millennium, there was only war.

 Ork Boss

    After considering the odds a little, I did split the Crusade in two.


    My Primaris Lamenters would move onto the Eternal Lament and provide support to the Forge World</a> of Sigma-Ulstari</a> , alongside half of the Auxilia Units. We were to meet again at Forge Gryphonne_IV</a> , while my Black Lament and the Knights of House Lancefire would continue onward to Forge Kiavahr</a> and the home system of the Raven Guard.


    Spartan would join Valerian and provide him tactical support, while M would remain with me, and continue to coordinate the fleet much better than I could.


    It was also a test for the Lamenters, as they would deploy without me for the first time in a century.


    They also took the 4 Battlebarges and the 40 Drop Cruisers, as those were part of their normal fleet deployment, including 100 Silent Sisters for safety reasons.


    Princeps Dae was in command of the Deus Ex Titans, and she decided to stick with me. As she put it, I could always father more Lamenters, but there was a single Pef in this universe. Sadly, also true.


    Sister Stern was practically glued to my hip anyways, but I did send Abelsalom and the Polaris Psi-Titan to support the Lamenters. He needed to prove himself as well.


    During the week of travel, I let Anzion create a durable cloneskein designed to support Primaris gene-seed, given the hardest possible mental and physical resistance possible for a human, starting from a Catachan genetic template and going much further.


    M and I also spent these two thousand years of accelerated time exploring and abusing the STC Constructor until it could produce Primaris equipment, although still only the walking type: Terminator and Invictus suits as well as some new Leviathan Dreadnoughts, both for Astartes and the fragile Sisters. Librarian Menelau was busy investigating the Gnostari Fane on board my Black Lament, and sometimes produced a new STC like the Magna Rail Rifle or new mining tools, or even a new type of walker suit called Thunderkyn Exo-frame that could be used with minimal bionic implants.


    These Exo-frames were given to the infantry Auxilia and the Battle Sisters to allow them to carry heavy weapons on foot, as well as the new Blank Voidguards recruited from the Blank Division for ship security.


    Give them an inch of blackstone-plasteel armor and these new suits would become the equivalent of Astartes power armor, if not as agile. Give them multi-lasers or Ion Beamers, and they would almost match an Astartes in a few cases.


    Or even Las-cannons and heavy bolters, if we didn''t have any better.


    I was a bit astounded how far we''ve come, from the times when a simple Las-cannon was a tank weapon, while bolters were the main weapon of a Space Marine.


    There was still much work to be done, for energy generation and sensors, but it would come. I was almost matching the Tau now, not that they had true Battleships or Titans anyways.


    I was not even surprised when both M and Anzion showed up one day, equipped in Master-crafted Invictus Warsuits the size of a Knight. A Primarch clone was still as big as a Primarch, and Vulkan was the largest of them by far.


    "Eh! You wasted a decade for these warsuits..." I commented wryly.


    "It was only a few hours of real time. In the old days...it would have taken a year or more." M reminisced with a longing voice.


    "There is a small chance that your step-brother might show up. If you enter his Ravenspire</a>." I offered with a low voice.


    "Corax will probably kill us, not knowing what we are." Anzion said with a sad smile.


    "He might try, that''s true. But, remember who I am. I will fist his ass, if Corax tries fratricide on my watch." I answered in a joking voice, and powered up my Phase Claws with a buzz sound.


    Stolen from Royal Road, this story should be reported if encountered on Amazon.


    The two clones glanced at each other, and grimaced. Maybe I was not joking.


    However as it happens, luck was on my side. We found the Kiavahr System</a> surrounded by Orks, billions upon billions of them, likely part of the Waaagh!_Garaghak</a> going by the millions of meks and larger Gargants filling up ships and Roks and several Space Hulks.


    Upon seeing the immense Ork Armada, M scowled and threw me a disgusted look.


    "What?" I asked innocently.


    "You realize the Imperium would crack under this assault. Not only in void combat, but on the ground as well. There are at most 4000 Astartes here, and some 40 Titans from Graia, and only 4 Warlords among those. As for Legio Vindictus</a> they barely have 23 Titans" the clone grumbled with a morose voice. As if numbers were that important.


    "And yet, you are now a Lancefire, by my grace and blood. How easy do you want me to win?" I inquired with my amazing subtlety.


    The Ordo Xenos Inquisitor sitting at my left simply snorted, while Canis raised his eyes wide at me. "Wof!"


    Damn it. No! Not another stupid melee, Canis!


    "We can use all this metal back home. And even to forge new items during this Crusade. Plus all the relics a Space Hulk may have. " Librarian Menelau spoke softly, proving his new-found calling as a Lancefire Grimnyr.


    See? That was a wise advice. Not something I expected from a Librarian, to be sure. Then again, he was more of a mutated Lancefire, than a pure-strain Librarian psyker.


    His mother gave him a stern look, possibly to shut him up.


    Sister Stern just laughed lightly and teleported away, reaching the top of the Ravenspire with a single warp.


    She could already push out from the tesseract, so there was no containing her anymore. She did as she pleased, which mostly meant throwing gigantic lightning storms and evaporating poor daemons.


    Immense power and the ability to resurrect? I suspected she was reaching the boundary of a Primordial, if she wasn''t already. Maybe Stern could solve the Fulgurite shard one day.


    Or Canis might eat it. Hmm. Maybe not Canis, not yet. When he can teleport, then we might try.


    By accident, my hand slipped on the Command Throne power plate, bringing the Immaterium Beam online and blasting the largest Space Hulk with its killing waves, followed by a Nova Mine to vanish the Hulk into the tesseract, while all sensors were blind.


    One down, five more go.


    "Oi! Oiiiii! Who stole my Big Star-Krumpa?" an aggravated Ork Boss shouted on the vox.


    I mean, there should be at least a bit of common sense...nevermind. Still Orks.


    I fired once more, this time targeting another Space Hulk that provided the boss location via an easily traceable vox comm. Blaaaaaaam!


    The Black Lament''s beam should have ended the poor Boss Garaghak</a> life, and all of his entourage of Nobs and Meks.


    Nova mine again to mask my actions from sensors, then snatch. To my surprise, the large Ork Boss didn''t die, and still howled inside the tesseract labyrinth, smashing frozen Nobs with his giant Klaw.


    So, the Ork Bosses could get as strong as a Great Daemon after all. Never seen one this strong, but maybe it was also a function of how many Orks he had around him. The Waagh Field would get bigger.


    Maybe my bodyguard Joghaten will want to duel him? Or M?


    "Want to duel this big Ork Boss? I have him trapped, for now." I asked M with a wry tone.


    "Accel time, I don''t want to miss the fleet combat." M demanded with an interested voice.


    Both Valyene and Menelau rose a finger to show they wanted inside to watch. Then Canis stood up, knowing a decent meal was at hand.


    Fine! Go gang up on the poor Ork Boss.


    Click.

 Corvus

    One after another, the Ork Space Hulks vanished from the system, giving the defenders a bit more hope.


    But it was already a bit late, as numerous Ork Roks were plunging towards Deliverance</a> and Kiavahr</a> , with many eager Orks already jumping off-board as to more rapidly engage the Raven Guard and their successor chapters in melee.


    Some of the Orks actually survived the fall, and just scratched their empty heads at the craters left behind, before howling for Waaaagh! and running ahead for glorious melee.


    I still had to deal with the more dangerous Ork Battleships and Kill-Kroozers, especially a dozen Hammer-class Battlekroozers</a> that had grown even larger than Imperial Battleships, by adding more engines, guns and even more armor.


    Spreading several Nova Mines, I blinded anyone looking too close at the space combat, and stole the ships away, for later use.


    The smaller Ork escorts and Roks were instead engaged directly, and left holed and burning in the void by our Crusade Fleet, more like a prize for the Forge Temples on Kiavahr, who may also need metal and such to rebuild.


    I even left 16 Kill-Kroozers mostly intact, by emptying them of crew and splashing frag grenades inside, before transporting a thousand Auxilia troops on each, for bragging rights.


    While the Lancefire Knights and Titans protected the more important factories and installations on the ground, I deployed the rest of the Auxilia for a defensive training operation, along with their tanks, Sentinels and Tarantula turrets.


    I also wanted to test the new Ragnarok Anti-Air vehicle, that combined both the Hyperios missile launcher and the new twin-Burst Lances, which tripled the damage output compared to regular multi-lasers.


    Sadly, while I had worked on a classic triple-barrel Burst Lance as a larger brother of the multi-laser, the smaller Ragnarok chassis couldn''t afford the energy needs, unlike Baneblades or Astareus models.


    Even so, the new Cobra Tanks proved very effective at shooting down Ork copters, Ork riding missiles and various other types of unlikely aerial targets.


    An hour later, M emerged from the tesseract bruised and bleeding, his new Invictus Warsuit hanging in strips of useless metal on his body.


    Canis grinned at me with Ork blood around his teeth, although he was also limping.


    Menelau missed his left hand, for whatever reason, but he smiled happily. While Valeyne was holding most of her insides still inside with one hand, and dragged a meter-wide Ork head behind her.


    "Guys! What took you so long?" I asked curious.


    "I knew it! I missed the fleet combat..." M grunted and simply sat on his ass, looking a bit tired.


    "Wof!" Canis exclaimed and fell on his side as well, sounding content.


    "Dear wife...you need a bandage?" I continued in a more serious tone. Valeyne just grunted and vanished with her Nexus, appearing in the medical section and crashing on a bed. The Sisters rushed to help her, so I just glanced at Menelau who was stoically enduring the pain of a lost hand. I still remembered when it happened to me.


    "I''m feeling fine, my Lord. But I''m thinking I will become a Primaris soon. I''m just not good enough." Menelau muttered in a low voice.


    I sighed inward. I didn''t have almost none of the Astartes gene-glands, and those that I did seemed mostly inert. Except the glowing heart.


    "Ask Anzion, maybe he can install a heart furnace or whatever. Mine does great work." I offered with a kind voice.


    Menelau just looked at me weirdly and walked away, likely to tend to his injury or lament at his loss. Maybe both.


    "Woooouuu?" Canis mewled while still laying down. Fine.


    I moved Canis near Anzion so that our medical genius could fix his broken leg or whatever the sound meant.


    "I can go and try the Ravenspire, Lancefire. Corax should keep an eye out for his homeworld, with the big invasion and all." M said in a tired voice, although his flesh was already healing rapidly. Bullshit Primarch stuff, even if cloned.


    "We''ll both go. Once things settle down a bit. Fix yourself another Warsuit, you look a bit disheveled." I demanded in a level voice and sent him near the STC Constructor, deep inside the Fortress. The ancient machine already had his special measurements and specs, so the next Warsuit would only take an hour or less.


    The defense of Kiavahr continued, and still took a whole day to clean up the disorganized Orks, or hunt down fleeting ones.


    The Auxilia made me proud, as they blunted the Ork charges heroically, while the snipers scored hundreds of kills each. Far better for a sniper to spend 300 Bolt rounds to kill 100-200 Orks, than to fire 300 rounds at high rate from a heavy bolter for a dozen kills or less. The ammo was expensive after all.


    The Thunder Exo Frames proved their worth, as constant Ion Beams burst the silly Orks into vegetable soup.


    Sadly we only had some 40000 suits for now, as they were quite work-intensive to armor up.


    Luckily, there was a not-Forge World here, almost like my own Forge Retribution, building weapons only for the Raven Guard.


    During the Ork attack, a number of precious date-slates and library cogitators were somehow infiltrated and downloaded, with thousands of dead Ork Meks scattered in pieces all over. Some of them had indeed fallen from the sky and splattered themselves in brutal litho-breaking. Others were sown by my own left hand, with a krak grenade primed inside their pants.


    The narrative has been illicitly obtained; should you discover it on Amazon, report the violation.


    I wasn''t the first time I used an Ork invasion to obtain nice stuff, but this was not even fake!


    Hidden inside a vault I found a strange artifact called the Uncreator_Gauntlet</a> , which would have been very useful a century ago. I mean, repairing or deconstructing any machine was rather useful even now, especially as it also worked on xenos devices.


    No wonder the Raven Guard had so many ''dedicated'' artifacts that nobody else had, including stealth tech and many others.


    Days later, I met with both the Fabricator of Kiavahr and the leaders of the Raven Guard, who were rather surprised and happy with my presence.


    "Can you really bend shadows?" Kayvaan_Shrike</a> their Chapter Master wondered with a wary look at my White Scar bodyguard, and a rather curious look towards Canis.


    Well, if you have to ask...I closed my fist and gathered shadows around me, then vanished in the tesseract and appeared behind him. Poke!


    I tapped his backside with the back of my gauntlet, then as he whirled around I lit up my Phase Claws, making the brave Primaris jump backwards. "I can do many things, Master Shrike. For example, I often find lost STCs and trade them away to various Forge Worlds, and they gift me some ships as a Favor. Other times, I find Astartes Chapters that need help, and I help them. From my knowledge, your gene-seed is just as flawed as the Blood Angels, but not so bad as the Space Wolves."


    Covering my left hand in shadows, I took out a stack of STC data-slates and offered them to the Fabricator. A good chunk of newer STCs, including Ionic Flare shields and Ion Beamers as well as many of my older STCs like Armed Sentinels and Ragnarok tanks. If they integrated my new tech for their units, they could easily gain an order of magnitude in firepower.


    "This...it is too much, Lord Lancefire. If I haven''t seen your troops already use them in the field, I would have wondered if they are fakes." the Fabricator admitted with an astonished voice.


    I snapped my fingers, and the Grand Hall of the Ravenspire became filled with 2000 young war-clones and 100 of my Blank sons, barely out of puberty.


    "The Blank ones will also be able to bend shadows, after some training. A single Company, to test how your gene-seed reacts to my own genome. The rest are a Mechanicus experiment for combat troops, including genetic enhancements and various mental hardening stuff. Should be able to endure Primaris induction without much trouble." I explained as the Chapter Master examined the new recruits with keen eyes.


    "Woooogh Waaa!" Canis howled, and rushed among the clone kids like a hungry predator, making them jump and scatter with impossible agility, even though his ferocious howl should have frozen them on the spot. Anzion did a good job with the war-clones, using genes from the strongest Catachan operators in the Special Operation Group, then upgrading them higher than the Demiurg had with their Kin.


    Using natural Blanks was still deadly even for clones, so it wasn''t an option, while my own special genes still resisted cloning with the same horrible results. Sometimes we were lucky to collect enough neurons and nerve tissue to build a new Blank Machine Spirit, but often it was just a soup of blood and melted organs. The blood soup still worked for psyk-out grenades and phase-iron bolters, so it wasn''t fully wasted.


    "They appear rather...different. Even faster than a Firstborn Neophyte." Master Shrike observed as Canis chased after the kids.


    "My Lamenters and our successors only use Blanks, but these new war-clones show promise as well." I said with a smile, then glanced up towards the special room of the Raven Spire, the Eyrie.


    Master Shrike followed my eyes and grit his teeth, obviously uncomfortable with the thought.


    "I was already there, Master Lancefire. If the Primarch was to return, I believe it would have been for his own sons, not a distant cousin." he spoke with a grieving voice.


    "Still, there are things you don''t know. My bodyguard was sent by Primarch Khan himself, as a reward for finding him. My own gene-seed was implanted by Sanguinius himself. And there are more strange stories with the other two Primarchs..." I added in a soft voice. I did have a big stick as well, but because of the Ork invasion it would not be needed.


    "...I''ve heard some stories too. Maybe you are indeed the left hand of the Emperor, like some tech-priests claim." the Raven Guard mused to himself, barely glancing at his loyal Fabricator.


    "Come, Canis! I will need your nose for this." I asked the brave wolf who was now giving pony-rides to a bunch of my young sons, even climbing walls as the kids cheered.


    Quite the show-wolf, my loyal friend.


    "I will disable the stasis fields..." the Chapter Master promised and then ran towards a wall, then vanished into a shadow. Hey! I wanted that Shadow-walk skill too!


    "I think it is a trait form their gene-seed, Lord Lancefire. Not that you need more cheats..." Brother Joghaten spoke with a wise voice.


    I pouted and sighed audibly. My gene-seed made me want to eat people! How was it fair?


    A minute later, the Chapter Master jumped down from another shadow, and just nodded towards me, while a bird skull nodded as well from his belt. Click.

 Healing

    As I entered the room, I felt the darkness become solid, as if it was alive. And maybe it was.


    Books and scrolls showed moving letters, as if someone was perusing the books, all of them at once.


    So I took out my Emperor-signed Warrant and just set it on the book stand, proof of my allegiance and trustworthiness. The darkness drew back, as if in pain.


    After I moment, I heard Canis growl in warning, so I stored the Warrant back in its Null Box.


    "Canis, don''t hurt him." I said softly, and gestured towards my wolf. Canis sat down, and moved his eyes from side to side, as if he could see something inside the shadows.


    "...!" something was surprised inside the darkness, and a pair of ravens flew out and perched on a book stand, looking at me with doubt.


    "I didn''t come here to reveal you, Corax. I just wanted to offer some help, if you need any. A nice Phase sword, or Phase claws. Maybe repair your equipment, or offer you armor and weapons. You should know I have a lot of good things." I proposed with a shrug, and lit up my claw then made it blur. Canis raised his own paw and extended his Phase Claw just to show he was armed as well.


    "...Not afraid?" an old and wary voice asked from inside the darkness.


    "I killed Slaanesh, you know? Khorne is also dead, and Nurgle is shattered into small bits, as weak as a Great Daemon. You can carry on to fight in the dark, but soon enough you''ll remain without targets..." I said with a sad laugh.


    The darkness gathered into the shape of an old and frail man, wearing bits of armor and broken adamantium claws on his left hand. "I don''t want my sons to see this! Nobody should see what sad shape I am." the old Primarch muttered and gently caressed Canis on his head, sounding quite worn down.


    "You fought on, for millennia. By yourself. I can respect that. And I also approve." I answered with a nod, and offered him a bottle of expensive Dammasine.


    "Ha! You approve? Why?" He asked and took a long gulp of my booze.


    I took out another bottle and sat down, then drink a bit myself. "They killed Vulkan. Some kind of cabal of xenos and humans, that try to destroy humanity. Alpha Legion is part of it too, and you know what they did to your sons. To your gene project. I was planning to bring the House Raven Knights here, perhaps boost your defenses. But if you''re out in the open..."


    "A Chaos Invasion...like they always do." Corax completed my line with a tired voice.


    "Come, there are two people eager to meet you." I proposed and shifted us into the labyrinth, then back on board the Black Lament.


    Anzion and M stared at me, then at the decrepit Primarch with wide eyes. "Corax! At least you''re alive." Anzion exclaimed in a glad voice and tried to hug his step-brother, only for the man to vanish and re-appear at my side.


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    "Don''t hug an old man with your hammer hands, Anzion. You would break something!" I shouted in outrage, making Corax chuckle.


    "Where is this? Looks like a Necron ship?" he asked curious.


    "Similar yes. The walls are made of blackstone. It is my Chapter''s flying fortress, called Black Lament." I explained politely and took another gulp of wine.


    "I saw it, shooting at those Ork Hulks. Xeno tech." Corax said with a wise voice, then sat down on a blackstone dais, while shadows gathered around him as if he felt in danger.


    "Anzion, medical scans and blood samples. M, you build him some new items. Armor and weapons, the good stuff! Corax, don''t hurt the clones, they are too young to die." I demanded with a wry voice, then stepped away.


    I surely didn''t expect to find another living Primarch, even one as battered as Corax. Something bad must have happened to Corvus Corax to bring him in this state, but maybe Anzion could fix him.


    Surely, the Primarch would want to speak with his half-brothers alone. I did the introductions, the rest should be easy.


    Now it was time for more bloody work, rebuilding the entire star system in my image, even using some of my saved up asteroids for forts and minefields, then move the ice comets...lots of work!


    Plus, a Forge World would need a lot more than more minerals. Factories, production lines, management advice...Something a Primarch should do, instead of drowning his sorrows in a wine bottle!


    Damn it!


    Stay strong, Pef. You chose this task for yourself. Don''t complain when it gets a bit hard.


    I also visited Valeyne on her medical bed, to find out some vital organs were now missing. No more kids, unless some divine healer regrew a womb and other stuff.


    "We can always have kinky sex..." the Inquisitor proposed with a groggy voice, possibly from the painkillers.


    "Just rest. I''ll ask Stern to take a look, when she flies home. Good news though. I found a crow." I spoke in a low voice.


    "...Alive, I hope." she whispered back, sounding worried.


    "Mostly alive, yes. Anzion should fix him. Or maybe Stern, if he doesn''t burst into flames. He is really damaged. Warp stuff." I explained in a secretive tone.


    "Oh? Damaged, not turned. Or you would have killed him already." the Inquisitor concluded in a harsh voice.


    "I try not to kill them, good or bad. It''s not like I can''t restrain a single man. If they are turned, the Emperor can re-turn them. Or he can kill them, if he so wants. Not my call, right?" I asked rhetorically.


    My harsh Inquisitor wife stared at me for a second, then nodded slowly. "I see. They are still a part of Him, and important. No wonder the Emperor trusts you with so much power." she whispered in a low tone, then closed her eyes to rest.


    I nodded to myself, and moved away, finding Stern still on top of the Ravenspire, staring at the sky.


    "Hey sister! Why the long face?" I asked in a friendly voice.


    "...I saw him. A shadow of his former self. If I try a bit, I could simply end him." Sister Stern said with a far-away voice.


    "... We don''t act monstrous, even if we have the power. It is the restraint that makes one good, not the power itself. Anyways, there are still plenty enemies to kill, and for a good cause." I explained with my lamenting voice, and drew her into a hug.


    "And when there are no more? When we finish with Tyranids and Orks and Chaos?" she asked almost afraid. She never knew what peace was, being born in this hellhole.


    "There are trillions of galaxies after this, then more alternate dimensions and timelines...it will take us a bit to run out of targets." I said with a laugh.


    "Hah! Always the right words to cheer me up! I guess I was worried for nothing." Stern muttered in a more relaxed tone.


    "Come, Valeyne needs you. Or I will lack a fertile wife in my sex life..." I demanded with a wry voice.


    "...Silly Lancefire." the Demonifuge whispered to herself, then warped away into the medical wing, breaching the Black Lament''s Void Shields and Gellar Ramparts like they were not there at all.


    A minute later, Valeyne was already up on her feet, and patting her belly with a giant grin. I guess I should go and fill her womb now.

 Purity

    While Anzion was busy centrifuging blood vials and Margos toiled with the ancient Forge, a small girl sneaked her way through the black walls of the Fortress.


    Her name was Purity, and she was a Lancefire, thus she feared nothing!


    And anyways, Father and Mother would stomp on anything that dared to harm her, or Canis would eat them, or if all went to hell she could use the blue rune, and call Godfather.


    Purity hid her presence and sound with the Null Aura, and hid her image with a weak psyker illusion. Nobody should know she was away, not even Sister Darcy!


    Sneak, sneak...hey! That warded door should not be open! It was never open!


    Purity peaked inside cautiously, to find a man reading through Father''s old data files. An old man, possibly over 50! He even had white hair! And so tall too.


    "You should not read that...Father will catch you!" she warned the intruder with a serious voice.


    "...A child?" the man asked in surprise, or maybe shame for being caught. Old people were so strange!


    "A child of House Lancefire. My name is Purity! And who might be you? And what are you reading?" she asked curious.


    "...Just a guest of your House, I guess. As for these logs, they are Pef Lancefire''s memoirs. When he was also a child like yourself. A wise Tech-priest was teaching him about the galaxy." the old man explained in a patient voice, then drank from an expensive wine bottle, like Father kept for Inquisitors and such.


    "That bottle better not be stolen. Father killed an Inquisitor once, over a bottle of amasec. Or with one, I''m not so clear about that part." Purity warned the man, and picked up a data-log as well, and started to read too.


    Huh! It seems Father was also naughty and was spanked for sneaking through the old House cruiser, the Litany for the Vanquished. Didn''t learn the lesson at all, going by the rumours she heard from her older Battle-brothers.


    "...Gave him his Blank blood to drink, mixed with the wine. A novel purity test, and so ironic..." the pale old man laughed and shadows stirred around him, like vultures feasting on a corpse.


    Purity grabbed one of the bad shadows, and clenched her mind fist, crushing it. A warp spawn, like a mini-daemon.


    "What did you do?" the man asked in fear. Or maybe surprise?


    "There''s some parasites attached to you. Can I eat them? I think I can eat half of them..." Purity asked innocently. If the old man agreed, she could gain a bit more power.


    "...Eat them? Truly?" The man asked with a weird voice.


    "I am still young you know? Not like the powerful Silent Sisters. But tiny daemons like these? Pah, I can eat two at once!" Purity boasted, although it was a small lie. One was easy enough, but two may be a bit much, for now.


    "Purity, you say your name was?" the man asked again.


    "Purity Lancefire! The one and only!" the girl agreed with a dimpled smile.


    "Eat away then. Take your time, it''s not like I''m in a hurry anyways." the man answered in a calm voice, then began to read again.


    Purity followed suit, delighted by Father''s adventures in his youth, and even learning many things from the digested technical lessons as related by the logs. Now she knew what a cogitator was, for example!


    If you find this story on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the infringement.Maybe she shouldn''t kick the things anymore. While reading, she kept eating the bad shadows one by one, almost like eating snacks while absorbed by a pict-log of her Astartes brothers returning from a mission.


    Hours later, she found herself chatting with the old man, who seemed a bit better now. And she just noticed Clonemaster Anzion waiting by the door.


    "She shouldn''t be here, old crow. I have seen her father get angry." Anzion spoke over her head, warning the man about Father.


    "...It''s fine, genetor. What have you found?" the old man asked in a mild voice, but also powerful. Like Father on the bridge.


    "Go back, Purity. There is danger here!" Anzion spoke in a harsher tone.


    The young girl pursed her lips. ''Canis, here!'' she called on the mental link. In a flash of light, the giant wolf appeared and stood tall at her side. "Woogh?" the wolf asked with wary eyes.


    "Just watch over me. Anzion is scared, so I should be cautious too." she explained in a polite voice. Although it seemed unlikely, the wolf did understand words, even written words. And it was far smarter than a beast, for certain.


    "Still worried, Clonemaster?" the old man asked with a sharp voice.


    "Even so, maintain a meter distance. Your infection is contagious." Anzion said with a sad voice.


    "...I always guessed so, that''s why I stayed away. But this girl...she can cure me. She eats them!" the man exclaimed in a praising voice.


    "One meter!" Anzion demanded again, and even pointed at Canis for some reason.


    "Wooorf!" Canis spoke with a gruff voice, and drew a line on the floor with its green claw.


    "I would say this is surreal, but I did see much worse. Still in top 10." the old man muttered to himself, and began reading again.


    Purity shrugged and pulled another log-book with her mind. She wondered if Father did manage to find a girl, and how. This was the best part!


    Much later, M also showed up with a lot of armor and weapons which he set on the floor beside the old man. "Purity, are you feeling fine?" the giant man asked with a kind voice.


    "Great! I think I almost doubled my powers already. If the old man gets infected with these shadows again, please let me have them. Pretty please?" she asked politely and even batted her eyelids, like the big sisters taught her.


    A strange silence fell in the room, as everyone stared at her, maybe in awe, or such.


    "Wooo?" Canis asked as he drew a new line on the floor, a bit closer to the old man.


    "I''d say 10 percent?" Anzion wondered with a curious voice.


    "Just don''t move, old crow. When Lancefire returns, he will decide the rest. For now, it seems safe enough." M spoke with a warning voice, then walked away.


    "You know, I didn''t eat any food since I came here, but I''m still not hungry. Canis, can you also eat them?" Purity asked as she drew a shadow and offered it to the wolf.


    Canis smelled her hand cautiously, then grinned and licked her palm, taking the shadow with it. "Awooo" he answered after a minute.


    Was that for taste good or taste bad? Anyway, it was edible. Matter closed.


    Purity began to read more, finding out about Decima then Hanna. Hmmm. Lady Decima was still around, a House Admiral at Illevar, the Rogue Trader dynasty''s capital. Hanna however...died of old age a century ago.


    So strange. People could still die from age? Maybe normal people. She hadn''t heard of anyone in the House dying of anything other than combat. Even her Battle-Brothers always said they will never die of old age.


    "I think Mother Hanna was a normal person. She died of old age." she spoke out loud, making the two men stare at her for some strange reason.


    "Very likely so, Purity. Our House didn''t have many Blanks, until your Grandmother and then your Father came. Not like these days, with millions of them." Anzion spoke with a weird voice, making the other man called Crow blink in surprise.


    "Aha! Grandmother Justine Lancefire! She died when the Serpent Fulgrim was killed. But then Father found the good Fulgrim and sent him to Terra. I remember that lesson." Purity exclaimed, proud of her excellent memory.


    "...The good Fulgrim?" both men asked at once.


    "Hey, so maybe I peeked into the big Sister''s lessons too. But there wasn''t much even in that manual: ''The Custodes took the good Fulgrim to Terra.'' That''s all!" she protested in dismay.


    "How can there be?" the old Crow asked, and measured Anzion from head to toe with keen eyes.


    "I think so too. Lancefire has too many secrets." Anzion answered cryptically.


    "I should go." the old Crow muttered softly, only for Anzion to laugh, much too loud. "Oh, old man. There is nowhere to run now. Plus you are still infectious. Read your books, maybe you''ll learn not to mess with Lancefire!"


    Purity giggled as well. If the old man wanted to run from Father, he would need more luck than existed in the universe. "Drink your wine, old crow. I''m not letting you leave until I eat all your shadows." she spoke in a wry voice.


    She was a Lancefire, and she was what they feared.

 Help

    After a week of hard work, I had finally fixed this system and even helped the Fabricator jumpstart several spacedocks, for 10000 system corvettes and to refurbish the captured Ork Kill-Kroozers.


    Although, by this point it was almost a new build anyways. We could use the Macharius-engines for deep space travel, and the new Ares engines for in-system travel and combat maneuvers. The Gellar Fields would be replaced with Gellar Ramparts, the bridge would need a whole new design, there will need to be torpedo pods on the dorsal side, and drop pods on the ventral side. New Godbane-class Lance batteries, and a Nova Cannon.


    The cruisers will take a century to be re-fit perhaps, but I will get 10 of them for trouble and influx of STCs. Quite a good deal.


    "Are you planning to visit every Forge World in the galaxy and remake them so?" the Fabricator asked me as we watched the first Armed Sentinel emerge from the production line.


    "A thousand Forge Worlds may seem much, but compared to the million worlds in the Imperium. Hardly a problem." I said with a tiny shrug.


    "Are you also a Princeps? I hear about a new Titan class." the man asked with a weird voice.


    "You heard more than that. While the Emperor might have modified that Warlord-class into a Psi-Titan, he used frames built by the Mechanicus. And Primarch Corax fought at their side, back in the days. You would have access to the sealed records from...hmmm. Tell about the Fulgurites." I asked instead.


    "A conservative and conservationist sect inside the Cult Mechanicus. They propose to drain Motive Force from our enemies." the Fabricator spoke with a hidden meaning.


    I just nodded, deep in thought. "There is another side of their creed though. The Petrified Lightning. Find out what you can, and send the report to the Machine Forge. And monitor their members for outside contact, especially xenos but also the Inquisition." I demanded in a cold voice, then vanished.


    Time to see why Canis was acting strange.


    A second later, I found him as a pillow for Purity, with Primarch Corax reading my memoirs and drinking my booze on a nearby adamantium dais meant for Terminator plate.


    "Wooooahh!" my wolf explained in a long sentence. Curing the Warp sickness.


    That made more sense than what I first thought.


    A series of marks of the floor, drawn by a Phase claw. Possibly the danger zones. For people without the Blank gene.


    Click. Purity vanished and returned to her mother, for a purity check. The child was still too weak for real work. For now.


    "I see you already read about Estaban. My first...near loss." I said with a sigh.


    "And yet, you never lost. Not once in your life. Must be quite nice." Corax answered with a mild voice. He did look better a little. A few strands of black hair dotted his head.


    Made you wonder what the Emperor thought when he built them. A limited lifespan for some, perhaps? Or he ignored the dangers of the Warp. Most likely the latter. His aura was anathema to daemons, so he never considered them a real threat.


    "We are inside the Astronomican range, Primarch. I almost expect a Custodes to step out from portal, anytime now." I added with a wry voice.


    "... my father won''t take me by force, Lancefire. I guess, I was the backup shadow master, in case Alpharius turned. And he did." the old Primarch mused to himself, a bit wiser now.


    "Like I said, I approve of your actions. Normally, this would also mean the Emperor approves too. It always was so, until now. But you are still his Primarch. He will want to see you, one day." I concluded with a shrug. The Emperor was not a dotting father, especially not with his gene projects. But he was a controlling one.


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    "I know! And I am scared. He may vaporize me, just by his presence." Corax growled with a shudder.


    "You''re being silly. Anyways, you can simply mind-talk with him. There should be a dedicated channel in the Astronomican for that. Just be warned, you are not immune to the Warp, not your words nor your future. Not until you can turn into a Pariah." I spoke with a soft voice, then walked away.


    M waited outside, looking a bit sheepish. "His infection was reduced by 43 percents. In a month maybe?"


    I pursed my lips and scowled a bit. Using Purity like that? Any Primarch was a storm, with himself in the eye. "How is Purity holding on?"


    "Seems to grow stronger, every day. It may actually be beneficial to her. And create some connections..." the wise Primarch clone argued, rather well.


    "A child-bridge to his unconscious soul. Purity will decide for herself then. I suspect she stumbled onto him by accident?" I asked with a wry tone, although I knew how Luck works in this place.


    It was a risk/reward equation, and only the worthy survived. Being given the major role in the play was a daunting task, of higher powers wanting to be entertained. Maybe it was why Cegorach did that theater? This place warped the minds of anyone, and not even Gods were free from their roles.


    "If there are any accidents in this universe, then yes. Just like you stumbled onto this giant Ork Armada by accident." M said with a morose voice, and glared at me.


    "It is not always fun, being thrown into adventure just for entertainment. One needs strong shoulders to shoulder the weight of the world on their back. I shudder to think why your shoulders are so large." I quipped back at him, then vanished, and appeared beside Anzion in the gene-lab. Well, on the other side of the transparent wall.


    "Any news?" I asked without much hope.


    "Mutagenic infection. Warp based...possibly xenos. Daemonic taint as well. It''s a wonder he''s alive, but then Primarchs are nigh-impossible to kill. You know what it takes." Anzion answered with a kind voice, sounding sad but determined.


    "Begin Tyranid blood testing then. The new Nephilim King first, then the Swarmlord</a> . I doubt regular Tyranid Tyrants have enough power to trigger a transformation in a Primarch." I demanded with a level tone. Anzion was more than smart, he would know what to do.


    The genetor clone just nodded, already deep in thought. "And Purity?" he asked after a minute.


    "What about her? She chose her path, now it''s her burden to carry. " I said with a wry tone, and moved away.


    A last stop at Ravenspire, and then I can go.


    "Master Lancefire...I can barely recognize the star system anymore. How?" Master Shrike asked with a bit of wariness.


    "Just application of knowledge, Master Shrike. And a lot of headaches too. Now, I hope you saw what a proper Auxilia force can do?" I asked instead, shifting the topic to my next target.


    The man nodded cautiously. "It does seem very effective. Similar to the Ultramar Auxilia, but using gene-mods and Blanks instead of PDF soldiers. Expensive too, especially on deployments."


    "Have the Blanks I gave you impregnate a few hundred women before induction, and the same with the war-clones. The genes should pass on, more or less. Probably less. As for equipment, you have a decent Forge World now. I try to avoid too many frangible munitions for ease of deployment, but the planetary defense can still use them. Artillery and autocannons will always be effective, as long as they have ammo." I offered with a smile.


    "Wait! What about the Primarch?" he asked as I waved goodbye.


    "What about him? Corax is still alive, if not wanting to be found. Would you like me to beat him up and throw him at your feet?" I asked with a tiny shrug.


    "...That''s not..." Master Shrike muttered as I vanished.


    It was not like I could give him a bucket of Primarch blood for more gene-seeds. Corax was far too infected for that. Instead I absonced a few gene-seed canisters from his repository, so I could manufacture another brand of Primaris Blanks. In a week or so in accelerated time, I should obtain several thousands Astartes with Corax''s untainted seed.


    On the way to my next target, we took a bit of research time to explore the unique Raven Guard pattern like Korvidari bolts with their extra range and accuracy, perfect for my snipers. Same with tranquilizer rounds that could be used to capture targets. Well, biological targets at least.


    Even more interesting, a few examples of rare Shadowhawk</a> and Darkwing</a> appeared by accident in my tesseract, such that I may study and copy their designs for my own forces. Instead of shaky cams I could use Helmet_Picter</a> from now on, along the Shadowmaster_Cloak</a> and Raven''s_Fury</a> thrusters, a wonder of micro-tech for plasma engines, exactly what I needed for many other suits and weapons in my armory.


    And I even had Primarch Corax to help! I''m pretty sure he won''t mind.

 Prescience

    As I already promised myself, I spent a week of real time mostly inside the time field, creating several new Primaris Chapters with Corax gene-seed, only possible because the initial progenoid-glands multiplied the gene-seed every decade, so 200 times over 2000 years of accelerated time for the initial Astartes, and then it snowballed every decade, similar to how bacteria multiplied.


    The Emperor had quite a genial idea with this gene-seed project, and Corax even had a better one that allowed Neophytes to simply grow their organs internally, without needing painful and dangerous surgeries, except for 2 glands which were mostly bionic, the Durasteel Sinews and the Black Carapace.


    Sadly, gene-seed obtained from Blank Astartes were not usable by normal humans, since they still contained Blank genes. Or maybe not so sad, if I think about it. I still wanted only Blank Astartes for the Imperium, to spare me the hassle of hunting down new Chaos Warbands that appeared once a Chapter fell to Chaos, as they were so prone to do.


    Three times on our way to Gryphonne IV we had to divert course and eradicate a Chaos Warband pillaging an Imperial Sector, and two of these were new Warbands just fallen to Chaos.


    In our wake we left three Lamenters successors to establish themselves on nearby Hive Worlds and begin formatting them into proper Fortress Worlds, while training themselves on genestealers and cultists.


    I was beginning to run out of etheric detectors though, so only a few for each new Chapter were possible, but I still had enough Phase blades for 500 Astartes Chapters, still in storage.


    Even the sharpest genestealer claws and the toughest armor and shields could be sliced apart by the C''tan swords, so on that front the new Chapters were completely superior to any other Astartes in the Imperium.


    On the other hand, they would lack ships and tanks, not that the Corax gene-seed was a proponent of direct engagements. They should also infiltrate pirates and steal Ork Ships like I did. Being sneaky had other advantages.


    By the time we arrived at the Forge World, I had indeed amassed a great deal of Corvide Gene-seed, and the Primarch himself had been restored to health, physically at least. His mental and soul state was still deficient, possibly because of whatever damage he suffered inside the Eye of Terror, until I blew it up.


    Only Purity seemed to have forged a tentative connection with the old man, possibly because she was cute, or maybe because she ate his Warp shadows. He still had his normal shadow.


    "You''re really letting me go?" Corax asked a bit confused, as we arrived at Forge World Gryphonne IV and had to save them once more from another Tyranid splinter fleet, if smaller than the original Leviathan monster.


    "I''d advise you to make your way to Ordo Xenos base at Fort_Prescience</a> , along with three thousands of your new Gene-sons for their Deathwatch. They would not care much about who you are, not if you''re competent enough and not corrupted." I explained with a polite, but stern voice.


    "...Still fighting in the dark, but alongside the Deathwatch. It would fit, wouldn''t it?" the old Primarch mused to himself, and glanced to M for support.


    "This is not what he means, old crow. You will be able to investigate the Cabal with the backing of the Ordo Xenos and thousands of Deathwatch. Also investigate the Ordo Xenos and Deathwatch themselves, and find out the traitors." M said with a wise voice. Ah, those extra brain lobes surely helped.


    "Can I see him? My brother?" Corax asked with a sad voice.


    I moved the three of us in the tesseract labyrinth, and brought the Vulkan coffin in front of us. The Fulgurite shard still glowed with deadly vibes inside his chest, and the Perpetual Primarch was still very dead.


    "Vulkan...he was the best of us. Always so kind. So strong, that he always had to play carefully with his brothers. Sorry Margos, but you''re not him." Corax muttered with a grieving voice.


    "That I know, old crow. Too bad I don''t have the memory of his death, would have been useful. They were cautious enough to delete it from the gene-memories, even though Vulkan was surely dead." M spoke in a solemn voice, his fists clenched tightly.


    I took out a small pouch of Blackstone cards, carved from the walls of the Pharos, and handed it over to the good Primarch. "If you find anything, or need help, speak to this plate. Same if you recruit agents for this task. In the eastern side of the galaxy, you will be in my range, and I will know. "


    "Is this some kind of Xenos tech? Necron transmitters?" Corax asked curious, as he examined the dull black card.


    The narrative has been taken without authorization; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident.


    "No. It does not contain any technology or transmitter, xenos or otherwise. It is just a spatial coordinate marker. Much like you''d throw some white rocks on the ground when defending a fort, to establish range for your guns." I explained cogently, not that the Primarch seemed convinced.


    ''And when you speak to me, I can hear it in my mind. And even talk back. Cool, right?'' I spoke with the Sounding Board, directly inside his head.


    The raven-haired Primarch tilted his head in a bird-like manner, trying to figure out what just happened.


    ''Is this some bullshit Null magic?'' Because I''m sure you don''t have psyker powers.'' he asked with his mind.


    ''Maybe? The galaxy is full of wonders, and horrors as well. I''m working to extend the range of my powers, but it will take time.'' I added with a shrug.


    "How long are we staying here at Gryphonne IV? We have time to do some fleet training and maneuvers?" M intervened, not a part of the mental chat going on.


    "Maybe a month or so. We will wait for the Lamenters, and I have to build a new star system. Plus some Knight House business." I decided with a grin. Not only I could establish another Lancefire House Branch here, but also base a few Astartes Chapters to protect the galactic south. Maybe 50 Chapters or so.


    There were still dozens of Tyranid splinters roaming around, plus constant Chaos incursions, Ork Waaghs and Necrons awakening. I couldn''t be everywhere, but I could disperse my sons.


    And this nice Forge World will surely be grateful and help me build new ships, with the megatonnes of metal I just rescued from the Orks.


    A lot more fucking duty as well, to produce the Blank sons, but I didn''t mind it that much. It was still a fairly pleasant duty, compared to other jobs.


    Even better, I just realized the Demiurg Las-cannons fired a constant beam, just like the Ion Beamers, which meant I didn''t have to change the STCs templates that much for the Auxilia. They would still pierce through anyone in the way, giving our troops an immense advantage in open field combat.


    The Forge World was happy to upgrade their arsenal with my better STCs, even using parts of the Invictus Warsuits to repair and upgrade their own battle-automata, as they appeared to be perfectly compatible, especially the arm and legs.


    The only thing they disagreed, and rather forcefully, was using Tyranid armor plates for the armor of their constructs. Holy metal and all that. Anyways, we could still use adamantium and blackstone, so it wasn''t that bad.


    I wisely decided to not force the issue, and keep the Mechanicus on friendly terms. Blackstone was still an order of magnitude more durable than ceramite, and has served me well. Plus it also protected the machines agaisnt the Warp, which might be more important.


    And so, after more than a month has passed and a large Knight House, mainly made of Moirax Knights had appeared on Gryphonne and began running around for training.


    Half of the Knights were armed with Ion Cannons and their Volkite veuglaire mostly anti-infantry, while the other with Graviton pulsars and quad Las-Beam Cannons, in a better version of the Rapier-Laser-Destroyer</a> .


    Then, the other half of my fleet finally appeared.


    Rather battered and chewed up, like it always happened with Tyranids. Something even took a big bite from the Eternal Lament, so it must have been a hard fight.


    ''Father, you seem well. No ships missing?'' Librarian Valerian asked from his own Blackstone Fortress.


    ''Why would they go missing?'' I asked cautiously as I counted his fleet, and saw four of his Drop Cruisers had indeed go missing. Wait, they were my ships!


    ''Errr. Come over and I''ll show you.'' he said with a sheepish voice. Oh well. They probably got eaten by something big.


    I stepped over the void through the labyrinth and then entered beside my son into his tesseract. Maybe a few engines could be salvaged? At least the metal was not fully digested...


    "But I captured the Norn-Queen</a> , so maybe we can use it. Looks a bit like the gene-crucible we use for our clones, right?" Valerian pointed at a disgusting vat of boiling Tyranid blood and malformed claws.


    "I''ll get Anzion to take a look, but it seems a bit much for our level. The Tyranids are just as advanced as the Necrons, only in bio-tech. Perhaps we can manufacture armor plates?" I proposed with a shrug.


    My Librarian son raised a finger, then set it down. "I was thinking better clones, but perhaps you are right. It would not be safe to use a Tyranid Crucible for our troops, and get them controlled by the Hive Mind. Inert armor is much safer."


    See? One day, we will have common sense in this galaxy. A very far day.

 Diplomacy

    After meeting with Spartan and discussing for hours, Primarch Corax took his new Primaris Marines and a dozen PDF regiments from Gryphonne, and departed towards Rapture</a> , where the last remaining Knights of House Aramos still fought from their fortified Auric_Keep</a> , another wonder of technology from the Dark ages that the Tyranids still couldn''t take.


    Also endowed with a whole library of STCs and enough supplies of gene-seed and weaponry to arm 50 infantry-type Astartes Chapters, the good Primarch should do well. Sadly, he would lack Blanks for the next Chapters, so he was given enough war-clones instead. Next time we meet, I should have enough to bring him up to strength.


    My fleet departed for Forge Graia, where more of my successor Chapters would join the Halo Crusade, including the Mourners that have just visited Terra to get ratified. The Grieving Chapter would pass by Forge Phaeton</a> then join up as well, hopefully gaining more ships from a trade or two.


    The entire Imperium was gearing up for war and Forge Worlds were churning war material and ships as much as they could, but the Imperial loses were also magnificent. Entire fleets were eaten by Tyranids, or defected to Chaos or both.


    New Primaris Chapters were being founded every week, and they lost some to Chaos in the same year or sooner. And while these Chaos traitors would not be very experienced, they would have modern new gear and Primaris strength, which made them quite dangerous anyways.


    That also meant that numerous Firstborn Veteran Marines were being recalled to undergo the Rubicon Primaris, as to shore up the lack of experience in new Chapters.


    It was a bit of a shuffle, and that helped the Alpha Legion infiltrate and corrupt even more planets or Astartes Chapters.


    There was even a band of Traitors called the Punishers</a> we had to stop for a few hours to exterminate, although Nova Mines and teleports were rather easy.


    I didn''t understand why it was such a big deal.


    Once we reached Forge Graia, I got a king''s welcome, to my surprise. I didn''t even do that much lately!


    Titans paraded on orbital space walkways, Skitarii gathered in ranks and fired 9 shots towards the sky in my honor, the whole red carpet.


    "Lord Lancefire, more wine? Maybe some phased arrayed ice-cream cake?" their Fabricator Locum offered in a servile voice, while the Fabricator General rubbed his tentacles in anticipation.


    I sighed inward. "I did bring gifts. My travels had been rather fortunate, in obtaining STC templates and even some archeotech samples." I spoke gently, and sipped more wine.


    "We know you did, Lord Lancefire. I also remember meeting you a few centuries ago, when you were a simple Rogue Trader peddling his wares for a few missiles. There are 33 Astartes Chapters gathered at my Forge now, and more incoming, I presume." The Fabricator General said in a polite voice.


    "I hope for 42 Chapters to arrive, while we prepare your Forge for macro-industry. Taking on the Necron Maynarkh_Dynasty</a> will be difficult even so." I explained in a more level voice.


    While I was still the same Rogue Trader, I was something more as well now.


    "Do you need your Fortress to begin, my Lord?" the Fabricator Locum asked politely, while setting down another bottle of priceless wine.


    "Oh, I already began formatting the star system. Bring the system map online, it works best if you advise me on your preferred deployment. Iron asteroids, all around, spaced in orbital rings, or gathered in lumps at gravitational nodes?"


    I asked curious.


    "Oh! That changes things a bit, but we can work with it, surely. Radioactive minerals here, separated by a kilometer of void to reduce criticality. Precious metals near this moon, for better surveillance while we mine. Iron and nickel asteroids, three concentric belts and a larger lump near the space docks..." the Fabricator replied with accurate locations on the holomap. Much easier indeed.


    In a few hours, I had the metals organized, then we started with a Space Hulk and more damaged ships, ice and methane comets and then minefields, rock asteroids barriers and other smart stuff the Mechanicus dreamed about, but had less ability to do in a short time.


    My head started to hurt before the day was over, a sure sign I overused my ability.


    "Tomorrow we continue. I don''t want to get laid in bed for a week, like the last time I abused myself..." I muttered in a tired voice.


    "Of course! There''s no rush, Lord Lancefire!" The Fabricator General allowed graciously, and splattered me with holy oil. I was not a defective machine, damn it!


    I moved to my room and left the Terminator plate beside the bed as I crashed.


    I think I slept for 12 hours, until Canis licked my face, feeling bored. "Wooo. Arrrhh!" he explained with a wise voice.


    Right. I did have more things to do, other than trading favors.


    Shower, skip through the labyrinth inside my plate, and ready! "Brother Joghaten, any news?" I asked as I sipped some black tea.


    "The Mourners arrived while you slept. Otherwise...normal stuff." he said with a sly voice.


    I scanned the system by habit, and noticed a certain Primarch had joined the Mourners, alongside a whole bunch of Imperial scribes, lexmechanics and an entire Indomitus Fleet, that included some 50 White Scars Chapters and successors.


    The tale has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the violation.


    "And all this, in a single day. It is almost like I was expected." I noticed with a wry voice.


    "I did say it was normal. For you, I mean." my bodyguard said cheekily. Then again, I wasn''t too surprised.


    "And there are 200 Death Korps Regiments, all hoping to die for the Emperor." I continued as I detailed my scans and investigated the contents of the new fleet.


    "Would you deny them their divine redemption?" Joghaten asked with a knowing voice.


    "..." I thought about it for a long minute. Spartan should know how to best used the manic suiciders.


    Still, when facing Necrons, morale would be a factor, especially as loses mounted into billions. There wasn''t much a normal human could do, to withstand Gauss beams and all those advanced weapons.


    The Kriegers would not break, which meant holding certain spots could be done with certainty, at least until orbital bombardment could level the field. Level the Krieg unit as well, but they wouldn''t mind.


    "I''ll need a dozen high-ranking Krieg officers detached to my command. And 20 infantry-only regiments, equipped with extra krak grenades and melta bombs.We''ll call it the Suicide Korps." I spoke on my vox bead, letting my Inquisitor wife know I was awake and aware of the situation.


    "It will be done, Lord Lancefire. I''ll set the Forge on the task." the Inquisitor replied with a calm voice, as she already realized what I meant.


    "Frugal, some may call it. Only 10 percent?" Joghaten asked as we walked towards the bridge.


    "Judicious use of resources. They want to die, so I will give them the right place. Plus, there is no point wasting expensive tanks and artillery when we fire down from orbit." I commented in a cold voice. True as well, if a bit callous.


    Maybe I could do something about their vitae-wombs, upgrade their clone soldiers with my cloneskeins? It would surely impress the Emperor, I was certain.


    An hour later, I walked through the labyrinth to meet the sword Primarch, now wearing an exceptional suit of armor, possibly better than his old one.


    "Primarch Khan! I hear you are chopping down all the Imperium''s enemies. Good job!" I offered politely, although his entourage didn''t seem very impressed.


    "Not all of them, for certain. You''re doing half my job for me, even using my gene-seed to create more Astartes. Imagine my surprise." the warrior Primarch quipped in a light voice, and patted my shoulder in a friendly manner. He didn''t seem upset, so all was good. Stage two then.


    "Come, we will need to plan some stuff, away from...others." I said in a level voice, then vanished with the Primarch and into my tesseract.


    Three Vulkan clones waited beside a certain stasis coffin holding a dead Primarch, while the live one stared for a long minute. "Do you know who killed my brother?" Khan asked in a cold, deadly voice.


    "Multiple forces are involved. The Fulgurite creed from the Cult Mechanicus. Also called the Brotherhood of Petrified Lightning. The Alpha Legion on the order of Alpharius himself. Some Word Bearers. A bunch of Inquisitors and other human agents, including other Perpetuals. And many xenos of various species, leading a conspiracy called the Cabal." I explained in a low voice, not that there was anyone else here.


    "And these three, you cloned them? Just like the new Fulgrim?" Khan asked in a milder voice.


    "Same technology, yes. Although Anzion took the lead and cloned the other two. I''m not exactly a genius genetor, but I''m learning." I said modestly.


    Khan advanced and measured the clones, looking for defects. "They feel so muted. Not quite Blanks but...dim. Faded." he realized after a few minutes.


    "We were designed like this, as to protect us from the Warp. We also carry Null Wands, but those are not perfect either." Anzion spoke with a gentle voice.


    "And you carry his memories. Do you remember who did it? Who killed Vulkan?" Khan asked with a vengeful voice.


    "Those memories were edited. Some other things too, when we were first born on Luna. Selenites are probably involved as well." Spartan spoke next, and proving once more a bit smarter than me.


    Oh well. They weren''t called Primarchs for smashing things.


    "Spartan and M are specialized in ground and void combat. And Strategos back home does logistics. My own idea, but it seemed to work so far." I added in self praise. I did have a spark of genius sometimes.


    "You should have started with diplomacy, Lancefire. Shore up your weak point first, not boost your stronger ones. Although genetics will be useful. I hear about new gene-mods coming from Terra lately." Khan said in a more relaxed voice, even taking his hand from the sword pommel.


    "Hey! I do diplomacy all the time. I trade with Forge Worlds, then manage my domain, pick up new girls..." I claimed in half-outrage.


    The four giants chuckled at my antics. "You''re lucky to be alive, but then luck seems to be your main power. The Inquisitors managed diplomacy for you." M said with a smirk, and it was quite true as well.


    I didn''t really like state visits and honeyed words. War was always an option.


    "Nevermind all that. I need brain power now. Let''s murder these Necrons, before they murder too many humans. Agreed?" I asked rhetorically.


    "Go in accel time, Lancefire. And bring in some cartographic cogitators." Spartan demanded with an eager voice.


    Sure, let''s plan this Crusade right, for once. I never needed to, but Necrons could be dangerous. They also had tesseracts and C''tan shards sometimes.

 Legal plating

    While waiting for more Astartes Chapters to arrive, and the ships to get a bit repaired and upgraded, I continued my work with the Forge Graia tech-priests, and was given unlimited access to their STC Constructors. Three of them!


    One had a domain with power armor and various off-shoots like the Thallax</a> cyborg warriors, one had tracked vehicles, mainly Chimeras and their variants and last Constructor had a wide range of bionics and brain implants, way too many to enumerate.


    First things first, I took out the Necron repair orb and fixed the millennia of neglect and harden oil spills and various accidents common to all religious manufacturing, plus holes and gaps left behind by obvious battle damage and percussion maintenance.


    Next, I gently and subtly copied their STC database and then began to add my own projects and discoveries, some of which were present but locked or damaged, others completely unknown, like most Ion technology except shields.


    I even left a whole file on the Techsorcists warding skills, and also applied them to the Constructors themselves, as to guard them against Warp incursions and malicious infiltration.


    The tracked STC was the easiest to use and re-purpose, for obvious reasons. It was relatively simple tech, unchanged for 15000 years or more. Adding the Ragnarok patterns for tanks and transports was quite easy, but creating new STCs templates on the rush was not advised. Forge Graia had extremely well-prepared tech-adepts that would recognize tech-heresy at a glance. Better not strain my relations with them over forceful advancements. I did have plenty of technologies to share anyways, more than they could repay in the next 10000 years, to be fair.


    One thing I did do, was mess with a Ragnarok transport template and change it into a tank destroyer pattern, using the Rapier Laser Destroyer template, a small tracked vehicle, already loaded into the Constructor. But I left the power cables and all the targeting logis-engines separate and disconnected, as if I was unable to finish the work. They would know it was me, but also give them something to work on to fix the template.


    The power armor STC received all of my known Astartes armor templates, plus several mods and variants obtained or stolen from other Chapters, or from the Deathwatch. I also added the Exo Frames, the Exo Armor and the Invictus Warsuit, since I did have their complete and original STC templates on hand, plus an unfinished Terminator plate suit to give them something to work on.


    The Lorica Thallax</a> combined both an Astartes power armor and a Dreadnought life-support systems and limbs into a powerful war engine, which was sadly too damaged to be used properly until I arrived. They could also use my war-clones for the pilot inside, since the clones were more durable and resilient to pain and stress. I matched a few Demiurg weapons to the armor, including Ion Beamers and Las Beamers, beside their original and powerful weapons like the Lightning_Gun</a> or the multi-melta, creating two more Thallax variants for my own needs in this Crusade. Meaning anti-Necron work.


    I also inserted Shield Crests on the Thallax, as to give them an energy shield agaisnt the powerful Necron beams.


    The last Constructor was the least usable by me, since I was not a real tech-adept. Messing with delicate brain implants was quite delicate, but I did add the hexagrammic data-wards into the STC library, plus the Demiurg Barrier Tech devices like the Warding Staff and Shield, should they ever get to explore it all. There was a gigantic wealth of knowledge in there, and Forge Graia likely used only a few percents.


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    Turning off the accelerated time-field, I emerged from the last Constructor vault a bit older and much more tired. Must have spent a century in there, there was so much to learn and see...


    "How is it, Lord Lancefire? Where you able to unlock anything?" the Fabricator General asked with a worried voice.


    "The truth is, the last Constructor is much too advanced for me. I could only repair it to functionality and peak a little inside the library, but it is too vast for a simple man to understand." I explained politely, and mostly truthful.


    I did have some Primarch-grade minds hidden on my Blackstone Fortress than should understand it all eventually, Anzion the most.


    "The other two?" the Fabricator Locum asked with no ulterior reason.


    "Those were much simpler. I already use tanks and power armor with my units, see?" I quipped with a light voice.


    "That you do, and very competently, for a human." the Fabricator admitted with slight envy.


    "Here I have the last gifts, a cache of Knight and Titan STCs from my own personal library. Some of them are original and complete templates, others are modified by other people over the millennia, but I tested them at Machine Forge and they work anyways. You saw the Lancefire Knights and the Deus Ex Titans, right?" I asked rhetorically. It wasn''t from the goodness of their iron hearts that I received such welcome and access to their priceless STC.


    The Fabricator took my data-slates with reverence, and only nodded. "Your holy work for the recovery of knowledge will never be forgotten, Pef Lancefire. You will have our full support in any and all endeavors. Anything you need."


    he promised in a grave voice.


    "That''s great, actually! I did want to ask if Forge Graia would support the Crusade towards the Necrons down south. I saw some awesome Thallax models in your Constructor, maybe you can print a million units and have them escort my forces? Primarch Khan would also be glad, I''m sure. " I exclaimed with a happy voice.


    The two Fabricators glanced at each other and exchanged some hidden code. "Resources will not be a problem, not the metal at least. But Thallax warriors do require pilots. Not anyone can become one, same as with Astartes."


    "I understand, Fabricator! I will provide the pilots as well, same clade of war-clones I use for the Auxilia units. But, if you want to obtain the Necron spoils, then what is left of this Thallax macro-clade after the Crusade will remain under my command. They will work wonders agaisnt Ork and Tyranids as well." I demanded in a more authoritative voice.


    "Blackstone?" the Fabricator asked with a bit of greed.


    "Blackstone, Necron artifacts, their planets. Anything you want. I will depart this sector anyways." I proposed and held out my hand.


    "Good trade!" both Fabricators exclaimed and grabbed my hand in a mechanical vice.


    I would think so too. They extended their reach and fortunes, while I gained a robotic army that I could always repair or replenish with new war-clones.


    "Let''s get the documents signed then. Words are nice, but I do have enemies too. Better cover myself in legal plating. Adamantium Lex! " I proposed a minute later.


    The Thallax may wear power armor and Astartes grade weapons, but they were not Battle-Brothers.


    Even a million of them, shouldn''t be a problem with the Codex Astartes. Right?

 Damn Necrons

    Luckily, I did have Inquisitor Ramaeus to write down an adamantium-clad document called the Lorica Lancefire Gift, which completely detailed what exactly Forge Graia donated for my personal use, and then asked Primarch Khan to counter-sign it, making it perfectly legal. A million Thallax Lorica-armors bestowed to my name in perpetuity. Maybe they expected I would die soon? Hah! I was good for a million years at least.


    Copies of the document would be sent to the Inquisition Conclave, the High Lords of Terra and the Mechanicus Parliament on Mars, for the purpose of covering my precious ass, once they realized what has happened.


    So, I rolled my precious scroll beside my Warrant of Trade inside the Null Box, and began practicing the Ordo Reductor</a> control and command engrams and machine litanies, which was sometimes exasperating. The pilots were human, and had a package of Astartes-like indoctrination codes implanted into their minds, so they could be simply told what to do, just like normal Astartes.


    But no, the Mechanicus had to obscure everything under a metric tons of logic-canticles, machine-prayers and innumerable battle doctrines and iron-clad rules.


    On the other hand, my tech-marines did have an easy time learning how to become sub-commanders for the Machine Army, finding them far easier to control than a bunch of sub-sapient Guardian turrets.


    Even better, a part of the Thallax received posts on top of tanks and transports as sentries and pintle-mounted gun crew. Normal Astartes Chapters used their own Battle-Brothers for this role, which I found wasteful.


    Astartes were too few already, to use them as vehicle crew.


    Each of my Titans received a cohort of 100 Thallax as support, since the Skitarii were good, but far too fragile on a battlefield where Titans weapons could vaporize them even on a miss.


    My capital ships also received a security cohort of 100 Thallax ,while the Blackstone Fortresses held 10000 each, for no reason at all.


    Barely 60000 Thallax were allocated for these purposes, while the rest would boost the front lines or provide perimeter guards, and any other role I saw fit, even as drop pod troopers or paradrop via grav chutes.


    Forge Graia was rapidly churning out more vehicles and power armor, while wounded soldiers received bionic limbs and even upgrades to their equipment and armor.


    They were obviously trying to test the new STCs, and found the Death Korps of Krieg the perfect test bed, as they were happy to die anyways.


    It was amazing what a Forge World could do if properly motivated and supplied with metal and organic materials, even though I noticed several Volkanite guns were stolen from my troops by invisible mechanical agents, as the Imperium had lost the Volkite technology in the chaos of the Horus Heresy, or other unfortunate invasions.


    So, on the day my Crusade was scheduled to depart, I moved once more on the Forge World, with the original STC for the Volkite Disintegrator, freshly copied from the Gnostari Fane.


    "I don''t like when you steal from me, Fabricator. Plus, if Vokite technology was easy to replicate, you would have done so long ago, from the relics still locked inside your Vaults. Here, the original ancient template for a hand-held Volkite gun. But..." I demanded in a harsh tone.


    "...Yes?" the Fabticator asked with obvious unease.


    "I will need 20 Victory-class Battleships, 80 Astartes Battlebarges and 600 Nova cruisers. You saw what ships I use, just make them similar." I demanded with my Rogue Trader charisma.


    The two Fabricators gulped audibly, as this was not a small order. It was something on the order a Segmentum Fleet, able to devastate entire galactic Sectors with ease.


    "It is possible, but it will take a long time, Lord Lancefire. And a hand-held weapon isn''t that powerful, no matter how ancient." The Fabricator Locum spoke first, and trying to negotiate up.


    "I realize that. When the order is finalized, you will receive a larger gun, able to be mounted on tanks and Knights. This is only the preview." I said with a shrug, and vanished. A second later, Canis vanished as well, as he was feeling awkward being left behind.


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    "Woou?" the wolf asked me, as I sat in my command throne.


    "Yes, I know. I forgot." I explained with a bit of guilt.


    "All ships! Switch to autistic sensors. That means passive only, the new guys!" I ordered on the wide fleet comm, then began to move away from Graia and towards the Orphean_War</a> .


    First target was the homeworld of the Angels_Revenant</a> on Libethra, who had gone dark recently.


    Warp-engine destroyers from the Indomitus Fleet were already en route to obtain news, but I already knew the Astartes world had been attacked. Of course, it may be another enemy and not the Necrons, but the chances were small.


    Necrons were spreading out on a wide front, and engaging everyone, from Chaos Warbands to Ork worlds and even a Tyranid splinter fleet, which has vanished a year ago.


    The Imperium was next, but luckily for them I was prepared to help.


    By the next week, we found the Angels Revenant battling their Necron invaders in the ruins of their Fortress Monastery, while Necron ships fired towards the ground, cracking a continent in half.


    Immediately, I set up a dozen Nova Mines in the midst of the Necron Escort ships, pulverizing dozens and forcing the larger Scythe and Tomb Ships to disengage.


    "Maynarkh</a> comes" appeared on the vox channel screen, bypassing the autistic locks, but failing to produce any sound, as the vox casters were physically disconnected from the network, following the Scrap Code experience at Agripinaa a century ago.


    Out of curiosity, I fired the Immaterium Beam at the largest Necron ship, but the signal still came. Oh well, they didn''t have any souls to erase, the poor Necrons.


    It would come to a straight fight.


    ''Carriers, begin deployment.'' I ordered via the Sounding Board, and moved my Fortress in the lead, flanked by the Eternal Lament.


    A green energy beam splashed over the Void Shields, and even pierced a few until I flared the Ion shield to block the incoming ray. As if my magic, the green beam got interrupted and vanished.


    ''Ion shields to max.'' I ordered next, and soon the entire Crusade Fleet was protected agaisnt Gauss weaponry.


    But, as our torpedo corvettes launched their first salvo of Ironhead torpedoes, a green wave flared out from the lead Tomb Ships and exploded all our torpedoes. Damn it!


    The Necrons had something like a Nova blast of their own, which would make our fighter runs suicidal at best.


    A minute later, we reached lance range and began firing, while the Nova cruisers fired their cannons at the weaker Scythe Harvest Ships, blowing up one and crippling another.


    As the fleets moved in parallel, the wounded ship got left behind, and soon got boarded by Primarch Khan and his Primaris space marines.


    I sighed inward, and added a thousand Thallax and several tech-marines to support him, while also flicking the larger Necron constructs into Libethra''s sun. Knight-sized Necron constructs were immune to infantry-scale weapons and would butcher the poor White Scars otherwise.


    Obviously, I deployed my main ground force to support the besieged Angel Revenants on the planet, and kept firing at the Necron Fleet with my own. After an hour of constant void combat, the Necrons had enough and turned around to flee, leaving behind a hundred escorts and five Scythe Ships, for a hundred corvettes and 3 cruisers that got a bit close.


    Their two Necron Tomb Ships</a> were not even damaged, which didn''t bode well for this Crusade. We could destroy the weaker ships, but the biggest ones were nigh-invulnerable to lance batteries. Torpedoes might have worked, but they were intercepted well before we could reach the enemy.


    Still a victory, but not a good one. Damn Necrons!

 Bubblegum

    After the minor debacle was over, the Necrons on Libethra were finally put to death, for the final time. Even on the ground, the Necrons fought with determined hate, trying to exterminate anything alive.


    They were also easy to trick and made to chase roving Orks and random Tyranids, while our troops gunned them down in massed volleys. Spartan had come up with this ancient strategy, but it did work on Necrons as they were not allowed to regenerate, even as Necron infantry marched in ranks after ranks into our guns.


    It was the other Necron constructs that were more of a threat, from tiny Scarabs to flying Canoptek Acanthrites</a> . Beams weapons were highly effective against both, as a single Ion Beam could incinerate a hundred Scarabs with one shot, and sometimes many more if they were bunched up.


    The Cobra Anti-air tanks and the new Astareus proved their worth agaisnt flying constructs, although the Cobras were certainly in need of better firepower. Necron constructs were durable as hell, being made from necrodermis and slowly regenerating non-fatal damage.


    As a stop-gap measure I began replacing one of the Cobra''s multi-lasers with Las-Beam cannons, as to give them a killing shot against tougher Necron enemies.


    The Ragnarok tanks that already received Ion Cannons had about same damage output and blast radius like a Plasma Cannon, but suffered none of the overheating and explosion risk of the plasma weapons.


    The transport models were in dire need of shields and better weapons too, since the Tarantula turret bolted on top could not hope to eliminate an entire Necron squad before they blew up my poor transport.


    For now, the infantry carriers would have to wait, and deploy in the rear. The infantry should not rush ahead into battle anyways, instead dig in or hole inside bunkers and fortifications, which allow them a better chance of survival.


    The Necron Gauss weapons were extremely deadly for any human, even if one had carapace armor and a helmet. I was not going to redress millions of years worth of technological advancement with a better las-rifle or even adamantium chest plates.


    The Armed Sentinels performed great, as I expected. Either blackstone or Tiamat-bone armor were enough to block the Necron infantry guns, and that was the best I could hope until I managed to give them shields.


    The new Exo frames did okay. Their main purpose was to carry heavy weapons and support the tanks and other troops, and in that role it worked. Taking return fire, not so much.


    For now, the shield-mounting priority had been heavy tanks and my Primaris Marines in their Invictus Warsuits, as they went in the thick of the fight to eliminate the most difficult targets like Necron Lords and Crypteks.


    Volkite weapons were proven useless versus Necrons, and swiftly replaced with Las-Cannons or Ion Beamers as soon as my sons yelled in my mind.


    Then again, I should have probably known. Maybe the Volkite weapons were a bit over-hyped, especially after seeing Forge Graia being so eager for them.


    And lastly, my heavy tanks and Knights performed excellently, not that I was worried. Ion Flare shields blocked most Necron weaponry by default, and the Weave shields needed to be dialed on certain frequencies to be as effective.


    Didn''t know that before, but war is the best teacher after all. Luckily, I did have thousands of tech-marines ready and able to play with their new toys, and find out how to best use them.


    Find this and other great novels on the author''s preferred platform. Support original creators!By the next fight, we should have near-perfect coverage for the important units, and begin shielding the next ones.


    One doesn''t go to war with the perfect army. He returns with one, if he wins.


    Which means I had much to repair and learn.


    "Woooohh!" Canis woke me from my revelry, as I did have a whole Crusade staff waiting for my decision.


    "Do we go for Drucilla Majoris</a>, a Hive World</a> of six billion people? Or do we reinforce Amarah, the Sector capital? We can''t allow either to fall, yet our forces are only enough to defend one of them." Dreadnought Chyron asked as I raised my eyes onto the large hololith map showing the Orpheus Sector.


    "The Necrons are not fighting strategically. They go after the easiest victims. Cutting away reinforcing points. I think they will attack Amarah last." I decided after exchanging a glance with my wolf.


    Strange, right? Should a wolf be able to discern enemy strategy from a long look at the map? Or was I just imagining things, and Canis simply reinforced my own ideas?


    Primarch Khan turned towards me, holding his chin in deep thought. "The risk is too great, Lancefire. I also think you are right, but the Necrons are acting erratically. What if they throw bones and attack wherever they fall?"


    I personally thought the Necrons had far better planning, but I also wasn''t sure. They could also be chasing golden cows with starry eyes.


    "Okay then. The Indomitus Fleet can separate and protect Amarah. My own forces will depart for Drucilla." I allowed with a nod towards the Primarch.


    The Primarch frowned for a second, then nodded. He had been sent by the Emperor exactly for this task, and given numerous ships and troops. My presence here was a boon, but not required. "There will be another Imperial force arriving soon: Adepta Tertia and her Sisters. Between the three of us, I predict a decisive victory."


    I rose an eyebrow, but stayed silent. Silence was golden, I was often taught by my Inquisitor wife.


    There was also a risk, should Janice try to steal away my Silent Sisters. Although their powers were less urgent against Necrons, the Crusade will surely need them again.


    A few days later, we had just arrived in the Drucilla Majoris system, when the Necron Fleet also arrived, now reinforced with a third Tomb Ship, as well as nearly a thousand escort vessels.


    Fine! Make me cheat again, and use the tesseract for offense. The Necrons will surely realize what I had, and perhaps find a way to counter it next time. That was the risk I wasn''t normally willing to take, but then again...what could I do? Retreat? Fight against impossible odds and lose 90% of my forces? Sorry, not my style.


    Pef Lancefire was here to blow up Necrons and chew bubblegum. And they didn''t have bubblegum in 40k.


    Plus, the Imperials were not here to observe me cheat, so I had an excuse. Can''t blame a man for winning too easily, right?


    M growled at me in the same tone as Canis, just as I rose a finger to begin the attack. "You have the most bullshit luck in the universe, my Lord!"


    I just sighed and clicked on the tesseract crystal. They should invent bubblegum if they wanted a chance.

 Khrave

    Opening my eyes with the tesseract vision, I began to deploy a thousand Nova Mines around the Necron escort ships, as to remove the annoying bugs from my tactical sense.


    Not even waiting for the explosions, I began to deploy my Tyranid Auxilia inside a large Tomb Ship, although only the ones not implanted with Mind-shackle Scarabs. The Necrons would surely detect or maybe over-ride my controls, giving them a powerful army instead. No, feral Tyranids were useful enough, as they would force the Necron Lords to awaken and deploy their best troops to protect the most fragile or important ships sections.


    Brrrrrrrooooom. Baaaang!


    Shockwaves from the Nova Mines splashed against the outer shields, making the Black Lament shiver for a second.


    "What is this anomaly? Nemesor Tlazolt</a> , rectify the erroneous existence of these aberrant life forms infesting my ship!" A powerful Necron Lord demanded from his command seat.


    "As you direct, Lord Ixatotekh</a> ! Awakening Warriors and Destroyers!" the Necron Nemesor spoke with a grace voice, and began tapping his control engrams, filling the Tomb Ship with defensive troops and directing them to protect vital areas.


    Excellent! The higher Necron ranks even spoke Gothic, making my task a little easier. I did have a modicum of Necron vocabulary installed on my mind-implant, mostly such that my pet C''tan could explain what some devices were, but Gothic was way better.


    Sending a bunch of Orks on the other two ships, to keep them busy and observe their reactions.


    "Arch-Cryptek Toholk</a> ! I detect the Old Ones'' spawn on my ship. Foul Orks, despoiling the pristine halls of my ship!" Another Necron Lord yelled from his command seat.


    "Allow me to deploy my Tomb_Sentinel</a> constructs, Lord Maktlan_Kutlakh</a> . In the confined walkways of your ship, the Exile_Cannon</a> on my Sentinels will be extremely effective!" the ancient Cryptek proposed in a servile voice.


    "And use your Smoking Mirror ! Why was this Ork incursion not foreseen by your prediction engine!" the Necron Lord shouted while holding a control rod in his hand.


    Wait a minute! A prediction engine...and a mind-controlled Cryptek? Curious...


    Booooooom! The third Tomb Ship exploded without my direct input, why...Those Ork Mekboys surely didn''t have anything to do with it, I hope?


    Oh well, a million Orks for a Tomb Ship, surely a decent trade, right Gork?


    This Toholk Cryptek took out a fairly innocent tablet screen and began scrolling up and down, then left and right, almost like some scrolling through a movie to reach the interesting part.


    "The probing attacks on Forge Myre and Amraphel are going as planned, while we gather forces for the final push towards Amarah and Hydroghast . This human Hive World was not supposed to be defended, my Lord!"


    "And yet it is! We even lost a Tomb Ship already! Do you hear me? Where did you go?" the Necron Lord exclaimed in outrage as his precious Cryptek vanished in front of his robotic eyes.


    His artifacts vanished as well, and a second later the Necron Lord found himself inside the system''s sun, melting slowly.


    Click Click. The Tomb Ship became empty, as I recovered my Orks before they blew up another priceless Tomb Ship, and the Tomb Sentinels found themselves frozen in my labyrinth beside the genial Cryptek.


    A minute later, the other Tomb Ship is similarly cleaned, and then stored in the tesseract.


    I have almost recovered the wealth of Necron artifacts I had, before the Emperor fleeced me naked. Perhaps I shouldn''t flaunt my wealth before a greedy god.


    Now, a few hours to repair this poor Hive World called Drucilla Majoris</a>, then I can play with my new robot toy. Genestealers, cultists, criminals and corrupted Nobles...you were supposed to die anyways when the Necrons hit this world, but the rest of the people should be happy for their escape. And then recruit a thousand Guard Regiments at my orders. I placed Ottilie Lancefire, an experienced daughter of mine, as the new Governor and detached a whole Blank Astartes Chapter, the Black Sharks as the guardians of this system. Unless the Necrons returned with another fleet, they should do fine.


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    Already knowing a bunch of the Necron plans for their attack, the Crusade fleet departed for Hive World Chemarium to deploy another Chapter there, but luck can also be bad.


    We found the Hive World in full riot, with millions of dead filling the streets, while Chaos ships prowled the outer edges of the system, sending infiltrators and saboteurs on the planet to raise hell, while also blockading any escaping ships. Click click.


    My Astartes and Blank Division could use some live training on the ground, while the Thallax could deploy on the Chaos ships and raise hell back. They barely had 2000 Chaos Marines, while I sent 20000 Thallax and 200 tech-marines to secure my prizes. A few minutes later, I also sent 200 Silent Sisters to protect my Thallax cyborgs from incoming Warp spells. Why did these nobodies get to have a thousand Chaos Sorcerers?


    A few hours later, I walked beside Chyron on the bridge of the Chaos Battlebarge, kicking aside blown up corpses. "They do not show signs of corruption. No Warp deformities, no extra limbs..." I noticed with a curious voice. We barely lost 400 cyborgs and the suits could always be repaired.


    "Not all Warp corruption is visible, Chapter Master. But all their Chaos Marines were psykers, so I would guess these are the Tenebrae</a> Warband. You know how it works, if their Chapter Master falls to Chaos, they soon follow. And then, they only recruited psykers..." the old Deathwatch Dreadnought explained wisely.


    Canis walked beside me and chewed up bits of brains splattered around. "Arhhhh!" he added with a certain voice.


    What? Mind-controlled? Canis had the strangest ideas! Still, he was rarely wrong.


    Click. I brought my Inquisitor wife on board, and swiftly described the problem.


    "It is surely possible. Brother Alric, taste what kind of mind-control they used, and who did it!" the Inquisitor commanded to her bodyguard Deathwatch.


    The old veteran removed his helmet and began tasting bits of brains, chewing them slowly. "Lord Lancefire is correct. They were under mind control, some winged xenos creature called a root mind. I believe they may be the Khrave</a> "


    Brother Semnai also began to taste some brains then spat out the remains. "I read about the Massacre_of_Kormarg</a> . The entire population was infected by the Khraves corruption and had to be slaughtered."


    "Let''s hope it is not the same with Chemarium ." I offered in a level voice and kept walking, until we reached the bridge and dozens of tech-marines using the Techsorcists skills on the remaining cogitators.


    Inquisitor Ramaeus nodded slowly. "From my previous knowledge on the Khrave, only the biological are affected. We may not need to burn this world."


    "But these are not the Khrave themselves. And there might be Chaos involved as well. It usually is, with the Warp." Brother Alric spoke with a stern tone, and covered himself once more with his old pattern helmet.


    "We will know soon enough. It is why my sons trained to become Techsorcists after all." I offered in a mild voice.


    The Deathwatch did have plenty of experience in dealing with the xenos or other Warp entities, but they were not fool-proof. Nobody was, in this damned galaxy.


    Even the advanced Necrons fell prey to the Flayer curse.


    On the other hand, I did just obtain a nearly intact fleet, one battlebarge, 5 strike cruisers and 11 frigates. Just enough to create another Astartes Chapter without reducing my Crusade fleet.


    I may need to visit Forge Myre and refit, and see what the Necrons were up to with their probing attacks. I doubted it was only a few ships skirting the outer system.


    After that, Amraphel. That was a republican world, ruled by a parliament. I was curious how they managed that in 40k.

 Excindio

    "I have confirmed it , Sire! Primarch Corax has indeed joined the Deathwatch at Fort Prescience, as a Black Shield, alongside 3000 of his gene-sons, all of them Blanks." a black robed Custodes spoke with a certain voice, ignoring the two Primarchs standing at the side the Emperor.


    "And this was soon after Lancefire saved Deliverance from a giant Ork invasion..." the brown robed man sitting at his ancient wooden desk, asked gently, as if only confirming his thoughts.


    "Exactly, Sire. Though in that battle none of his Lamenters were present. Only some Auxilia units, the Lancefire Knights, and the Deus Ex Machina Legion. A month later, new Lamenters successors, using the Corax gene-seed began to appear, spreading out radially to every Forge World in vicinity." the Custodes confirmed with a grave voice, then stepped away and vanished in a dark tunnel.


    "Sire! If Corax is alive, why..." the Lion asked with an eager voice, before getting interrupted by a golden glove raising in the air.


    "Alive is not the right word. There are states of existence in-between life or death, as both of you know well. But unlike your particular case, frozen in a stasis field, my brave Crow had gone too deep into the Warp. I think Russ has suffered the same Fate." the Emperor spoke in a mild voice, but only Guilliman seemed to understand.


    "He was always the brooding one. And the harvested gene-seed of the Raven Guard is still not viable. Only the ancient gene-storage on Mars remains, until there is no more." Roboutte Guilliman said in a hard tone, eyes glinting in the dim lights. An Aquila pendant still hanged from his neck, almost like a noose waiting to strangle him.


    "So, Corax is atoning for his sins in the Deathwatch. I wonder if Lancefire imposed that penance on him, just like he did for Khan." The Lion wondered in a sarcastic voice.


    The Emperor smiled, maybe a bit sad. "I believe it was exactly so. I may need to give Lancefire an official title, like Tempormortis</a> .The one who comes for your deaths, if you fail in your purpose."


    The Lion shuddered, perhaps not really comfortable with the thought. He tried to argue a counter, then gave up when Guilliman threw him a glare.


    "And Sanguinius? He has not returned, even now." the Lion asked, changing the dangerous subject.


    "He has gone after the second Fortress. I thought you liked my first one, even if it is covered in gold-plating now." the Emperor asked, maybe a bit ironically.


    "I would have liked it more, if you didn''t make it the Sororitas Mobile Sanctus. You just gave the priesthood more power. As if they didn''t already have half of the Imperium under their thumb. Even your loyal lackey objected!" the Lion growled with a nod towards Guilliman.


    "Roboutte can get the third, if and when we get it. They are rather well-protected, just like the one at Precipice</a> has been. The second one will not be easy either, as the Necron Thokt_Dynasty</a> is blocking the way for the Blood Angels. Orks as well, recently." the Emperor explained with a tiny shrug, already knowing Sanguinius would be in for a hard fight. But he had Patrocles and the tesseract to save him from dire danger. It should still work.


    The Lion grunted, finding his importance ranking had sunk even more. "What about mine?" he demanded with an eager voice.


    The Emperor smiled, and turned to measure the older looking Lion. His stasis pod had not been maintained properly, and it showed.


    "The third Fortress is somewhere West of Fort_Excalibris</a> . But, you would need to go through the Hrud</a> infestations in Kuypax Reach, past more Necrons and maybe Eldar too. The Astronomican doesn''t reach that far. Your Dark Angels might not be able to get there, but the Ultramarines can. Which is why I will give Roboutte his chance."


    "This would only put us at parity with Lancefire! Our mighty galactic Imperium, matched by a single man. Barely an Astartes, or not even one." the Lion growled again, visibly distressed.


    "A single man? Lancefire is more than he seems. Which is why he has free hands and a modicum of my trust. I am quite curious what trouble he will get into next." The Emperor said with an easy voice.


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    As annoying as the strange Blank was, he was always a wonder of amazement and amusement. Especially when the Eldar were involved. And his children as well, at least a few of them.


    Blank Librarians! The very thought of it almost made him lock himself in a gene-lab and try another thousand times to decode the impossible make of his gene code.


    For now, the Imperium needed his crafty hand to guide it, until this Faith problem got solved, one way or another. Very likely another way, as the infant soul inside the Astronomican was growing at a fast pace, integrating the Warp domains of Khorne and a few genetic hints from the Nurgle shards. They will likely call it the Rapture, and maybe the Rupture?


    Either way, the galaxy would be torn in two, despite the Eye of Terror being punched to death by an impossible man who couldn''t exist.


    Or maybe because of him.


    Hopefully, Canis will grow fast enough by that time, and recover Russ from the Warp. It was a gamble, but it did seem to work if the reports of the death of Vashtorr were true enough.


    The C''tan may have won the War in Heaven, but the War in Hell was still going on.


    "Should I prepare my sons for this Excalibris Crusade, Sire?" Guilliman asked in a polite voice.


    "Go and speak with Arch-Dominius Cawl. You will need stasis fields to get through the Hrud nest-warrens. Thousands of them, at a minimum. But the departure will wait, until your brother returns." the Emperor allowed with a mild voice.


    "Can I also ask for a million Thallax suits?" Guilliman asked without any ulterior motive.


    The Emperor measured his stalwart son, considering the consequences. If he had publicly returned as the Emperor of Mankind, it would simply take a Writ of Compliance and immense opposition. Even now, the Mechanicus only accepted Lancefire for his crazy donations of a thousand STCs and other valuable things, while knowing he was a Blank and thus quite unlikely to Fall. A second Lorica Gift would create a giant precedent, and bring about memories of another traitor Primarch who despoiled Mars.


    "That will not happen again, Guilliman. Should you happen to find a thousand STCs somewhere, maybe then, but probably not. Mars was burned by a Primarch once." he explained with a wry voice.


    A million Thallax had the potential to match an Astartes Legion of old, thus showing that AdMech values Lancefire on the same level as a Primarch, and possibly more. They expect him to use the Thallax Gift to butcher more xenos and discover even more STCs, so it was also an investment.


    The Lion still had his Excindio</a> relics reforged from captured Men of Iron, which will be useful for his next Crusade. The Khrave were still infiltrating and turning Imperial forces, even entire Astartes Chapters.


    He still needed to decide what to do about the ancient UR-025</a> Man of Iron captured at Precipice by Patrocles Lancefire, in near intact condition and even a dubious semblance of sanity.


    Perhaps repurpose it to help Guilliman obtain the third Fortress? Not before draining it of all the priceless data inside its cogitator. Even better, link it with a Blank co-pilot. He did have thousands of potential candidates, only needed to find one compatible with a Silicate Intelligence. The Ordo Sinister did have a spare Princeps held in stasis, now that Sabaktes was paired with Lancefire.


    Why did Lancefire named this new Crusade the Halo Crusade? Was there something in the Halo Stars worthy of capturing? Of course it was! Lancefire was quite goal oriented.


    Another Halo Device? Was he still planning to resurrect his dead mother? He would. He saw that in his mind. Such a strange man...


    "Father...are you really planning to marry Lady Janice?" the Lion asked on a weird tangent.


    "You are getting bored on Terra, my brave Lion. You will go and exterminate the Khraves xenos. Crusade level requisition is approved. Excindio use is allowed, at your discretion." the Emperor decided with a faint smile.


    What he did in his private life wasn''t their business!


    Watching the Lion depart to prepare his Dark Angels sons for a new Crusade, Guillliman frowned for a second, then held his tongue. Maybe annoying Father about his private life wasn''t a good idea.

 Tempormortis

    After spending an entire month at Forge Myre to repair and refit most of our basic vehicles with Ion Flare Shields, and weapons able to damage the Necrons, we departed for Amraphel.


    In my wake, I left a shattered Necron fleet of 7 Scythe Harvesters and 200 escorts, plus a completely transformed and upgraded Forge World, comparable to a rich Forge from the Solar Segmentum, not a backwater planet that dared to call itself a Forge because it had 13 Titans in its Titan Legion. Now they had a small Lorica Legion of 50000 Thallax suits piloted by war-clones and a new Techsocist clade to protect their machines from Warp invasion.


    I did have to share the Demiurg cloneskein STC and build them a new workforce, plus defenses and manufacturing facilities, but it should be worth it anyways.


    Their shipyards will be able to produce Machine-pattern corvettes and fighters by the thousands, while the vehicle facilities were already churning out Ragnarok tanks and Armed Sentinels, firstly for their own defense, then for export.


    However, what we found at Amraphel left me speechless for once. Not only did their parliament hire the Khrave xenos as their mercenary army, but they also dismissed their local PDF and most of their armed militias, considering them too expensive! Millions of votes as well, from the grateful soldiers that were now free of dangerous duty. Ah, the wonders of the electoral system would never cease to amaze me!


    Inquisitor Valeyne of Ordo Xenos was literally fuming and demanded we punish the traitors to the human species, while the Amraphel Republic felt safe and content under the shade of the bone-trees raised into low orbit by their ''allies''


    To be fair, the Khrave did somewhat respect their mercenary charter by blasting the prowling Necrons with bolts of Warp lightning, but they also fed on the powerless population, leaving entire hab-blocks empty of life and souls.


    Instead, I just smiled and produced Sister Dessima onto the bridge, cancelling the Warp spells of the xenos and halting their mind control over the ruling class.


    Then just waited. It didn''t take long for the Lords of Parliament to wake up and realize what they have done, followed by numerous suicides and calls for help, while the Khrave wailed in their trees under the blanket suppression of a mighty Omega-level Pariah.


    "Now we can help. Better to be invited as liberators, than drown the population in their own blood. I''ll send the Silent Sisters to deal with their root minds, after that we can deploy in force." I offered in a mild voice, while doing exactly that.


    The Silent Leviathan walkers appeared in silence near the main nest of the Khrave, while Tarantula turrets and the Blank tech-marines fortified every intersection.


    As soon as the assault began in force, the Blank Division and the Astartes pushed on, massacring the devil-looking xenos.


    Spartan took over the Thallax Lorica Legion, managing an excellent job as the commander of indoctrinated cyborgs, while M got the chance to prove himself with the fleet, hunting down fleeing Khrave tree-ships.


    Clonemaster Anzion had the more nasty task of recovering crippled Blanks from the Auxilia, and working beside the Apothecaries to install them into Thallax Lorica frames, as undying Warp-immune cyborgs.


    Firstly it was only a few hundreds, but as the fight became fierce, more Thallax suits got blown up by the potent Khrave sorcerers, as did more of our Blank Auxilia.


    After three days, 20000 Thallax had to be repaired and the pilots replaced by crippled Blanks. The Khrave had lost at least 8 million of their own, giving Spartan a respectable kill-ratio, even when fighting in bewildering mazes of Warp bone and tree branches climbing into the sky.


    On the planet itself, the Inquisitor and her Deathwatch Black Shield regiment took over the Parliament and gathered the elected Lords for questioning and interrogation, not that it took much for them to admit their guilt. Some of them were just greedy, pocketing the cost difference from maintaining a Guard regiment with the cost of their xeno mercenary. Others were populists, acting for public opinion and more votes to gather more personal power.


    And a small part were actual traitors and even secret Chaos worshipers, hoping the sacrifices to the Khrave would bring the rule of their Dark Gods into the real.


    They would all die for treason, but some would die in a more painful manner, as befitting the crime.


    Sadly, I had to reach deep into my petrified heart and find the mercy of sparing the planet from Exterminatus, at the cost of imposing a Blank Governor and a much different leadership system.


    The bone trees would have to be trimmed to the minimum, and be used as orbital elevators and defense platforms, and an entire new army would have to be conscripted and trained. Not an easy task, for whoever was left behind as the Governor of a far-flung planet. Then again, it would still be safer than being the Captain of a spaceship, always thrown into the crucible of war.


    To my surprise, I even had a volunteer. Lady Raisa Lancefire had been the Captain of an escort corvette lost at Drucilla, and her bridge crew agreed to join as her government staff.


    If you discover this tale on Amazon, be aware that it has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road. Please report it.The scale would be larger, but the basics were fundamentally the same. Feed the crew, prepare them for combat, execute the orders, defeat the enemy or die trying. If it was a ship''s crew or an entire planet, it worked much the same, in principle. I know I did so, quite easily.


    With a small Knight House of 100 Knights and a reserve of 5000 Armed Sentinels, the new Governor had a long task ahead. Then again, Amraphel would have orbital elevators for easy exports, and billions of people to produce things to export. They should do well enough, unless the Khrave or the Necrons returned.


    While I did leave her 100 more spare Knights in storage, the problem with Knights was lack of pilots, for my house. Knight Suits were being manufactured constantly by my STC Constructor, beside other walking suits.


    The next journey took us to Ghorstangrad</a> the homeworld</a> of the Emperor''s Swords</a> Chapter</a> . I wanted to arrange a deal with the Emperor''s Swords Astartes and provide them a Blank Company and some aid, but instead found the entire planet in revolt, and the Chapter fighting among themselves, very often using the same swords they were named after, while the traitor Alpha Legion attacked them from all sides.


    After defeating the traitors and capturing their ships, we began post-battle analysis and found that the Alpha Legion placed subconscious triggers in the rituals used by the gangs and sects. It was from these gangs and sects that the Emperor''s Swords recruited new Space Marines. During the cleanup of the Hive World and its underhives, a Torchbearer ship arrived with Primaris tech and a thousand Grey Primaris, maybe on accident but probably not.


    The Emperor did have to spread his attention to a million worlds, thus aid would rarely come on time.


    The Custodes Shield-Captain of the Torchbearers knew me from my adventures with the Golden Throne, so it wasn''t a difficult talk.


    "Lord Lancefire, the Emperor''s favorite jester!" he exclaimed as we met.


    I smiled fondly and replaced his Master-crafted polearm with a bouquet of red and gold flowers with large soft petals I bought for a hefty sum. Maybe about same cost with the polearm, due to flower rarity and expense of travel. The pole-weapon even had a las-cannon as a secondary function!


    "A fair exchange then. Ever heard of pole dancing?" I asked instead, while playing with my new toy.


    The man frowned for a second, then smiled back. "If it increases your fertility, the Emperor would consider it a fair exchange." he quipped with a sarcastic voice.


    "Good. Now, I''ll be able to donate 400 Blank recruits to the Emperor''s Swords, including actual swords like this one." I explained patiently and held out a Phase blade for inspection.


    The man became serious in an instant, and powered up the C''tan sword for a few fast cuts. "C''tan tech. And even better than Callidus'' clade swords. I hope you didn''t steal it from a Deathwatch Vault." he observed with a knowing tone.


    His suspicions were correct, but also not. I actually filled a Deathwatch Vault with a fair number of Phase Blades. "There are still thousands of them lying around in the Omega Vault. And other nicer stuff. If only someone had full access to that Vault, and was allowed to leave alive with the loot. You know there''s a nanite plague inside the Vault? I would guess old Federation tech, created specifically to dissolve intruders."


    The Custodes powered down the sword and placed it at his belt. "The Emperor thanks you for your service. And that means Corax." he answered in a dignified voice and handed me an archeotech device then walked away, still holding the flowers.


    Hmmm. Fat chance the big guy wouldn''t notice his own son running around in Astronomican''s range.


    As for the Emperor gift, it had a data-port on the side and a single word printed on it with auramite letters: Tempormortis.


    I hoped it was something like the Moment_Shackle</a> that Adeptus Custodes</a>'' Captain-General</a> Trajann Valoris</a> used in battle, or simply to safeguard the Emperor from assassins.


    It was nice to feel valued by the Emperor, although I suspected it was only a tougher job given for my results so far. Luckily, I did have a pet Cryptek with a good knowledge of arcane technology.

 Maynarkh

    With the help of Cryptek Toholk and Spartan, I managed to bind the Emperor''s gift to the T-engine I recovered from the Omega Vault, which greatly increased the range and scope of its temporal predictive powers, in addition to granting me a third sight into near-time, past or future. Should be nice to dodge any incoming hits, at least.


    Luckily I had also grown in mental powers during the use and abuse of the tesseract time field, so seeing three visions at once was still bearable, if barely.


    It did make conversations awkward most of the time, as I could predict what people were going to say with 90 percent accuracy.


    However, the temporal vambrace also indicated the next emergence of the Blade of Infinity, somewhere near Ordex-Thaag</a> in the next two months.


    That gave my Crusade a hard time limit to deal with the Necrons in the Orphean War, as the time-warping ship would not appear unless there was a major crisis they wanted to warn the Imperium about.


    "Do you think your Phaerakh</a>, Xun''bakyr</a> is able to block my own tesseract, Cryptek?" I asked in a worried voice.


    " The Mother of Oblivion is very skilled at recovering our own Warriors and Immortals from the battlefield, and also at deploying small size constructs like Scarabs anywhere in a star system. But she couldn''t block my Tomb Sentinels, and feared their dimensional guns, thus my mind-shackles." the ancient robot declared with a proud voice.


    "Entropic damage then? Her mind is less able to control the full might of a tesseract?" I asked a bit more hopeful. Most of the Necrons did emerge with damaged cognitive engrams from the long sleep.


    "Nobody knows the full might of these ancient devices. Maybe only the C''tan, these cursed creatures!" Toholk muttered with a grind of metal teeth.


    I exchanged a glance with Spartan then locked the dangerous Necron back into his stasis pod.


    "Not sure if you can trust the sneaky Necron, Lancefire! Their Dynasty''s Tomb Worlds are easy enough to locate and verify, even by simple reconnaissance, but this Xun''bakyr robot seems a bit capable. I would advise we wait for Primarch Khan, maybe even this Adepta Tertia." my General clone said with a doubtful voice.


    I frowned, considering a thousand things at once.


    "There isn''t enough time to wait for Janice, no matter what powers she may have now. I do have my own goldfinger, Sister Stern." I explained with a glance at my new vambrace, where the Tempormortis word glittered gently everytime the lights blinked.


    "Then again, the Emperor himself asked you to look into this situation, and gave you the precise means to intervene at the exact time. .I hope you realize this artifact is not exactly a reward." Spartan spoke in a serious voice, even rubbing his bald head to imply he was thinking very deeply.


    Warning received, big guy!


    "Can you use that big brain to figure out what the ship''s name means? Blade of Infinity?" I asked curious.


    "It certainly does not mean a sharp sword, or even any kind of blade at all. It has to do with temporal splits and perhaps singularity wells, some kind of advanced science from the Golden Age. Likely a metaphor for their real purpose, and perhaps the propulsion method...the Federation did use AIs quite a lot, especially for an important temporal-engine asset." the cloned Primarch inferred after a long silence.


    "Using time as a weapon, it would possibly be an infinite edge, that could simply try again and again until it achieved their goal. The Federation would not give up, not even if the Eye of Terror opened up in their midst." I mused softly, almost regretting taking his quest from the Omega Vault.


    "Fail again and again, yet never grow dull or chipped, you mean. There isn''t anyone they could even talk to, in the Imperium. If not burned alive for heresy, they would surely be dissected for their knowledge." Spartan said in a sad voice,


    This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.and proving his exceptional mental abilities once again.


    "But luckily, my domains are far away from the Imperium proper. I think Aristotle would match their knowledge in a few millennia." I concluded with a wry smile.


    "Luck, huh?" the clone wondered with a complex look towards me.


    "Luck is not enough, but it does offer us the opportunity to be prepared. So, we should go and end this crazy Necron girl, then prepare for this next crisis. Janice should arrive by then." I proposed with a grin.


    An hour later, we were already on the way to destroy the nearest Tomb World, with a cyclonic torpedo primed and ready, beside a dangerous Vortex warhead.


    As it happened I had to use the smallest ship still capable of warp-less drive, and also upgraded with the new Ares engines. Hidden under a reflex-shield and flying almost blind, the Litany for the Vanquished made the perfect platform for a Deathwatch style Kill-ship</a> .


    I even covered the torpedo itself in a reversed Construct shield, making it almost as invisible as the Litany itself, if much faster due to its low mass and Ares engines.


    Although a bit risky to fly without our Void Shields, we did have the new Weave shields dialed to deflect most Necron Gauss weapons, plus random particles and micro-meteors.


    As we approached the Caracol Nebula, where two stars had just gone Nova at the same time, we finally began to match the star map provided by my Cryptek, and tenderly extend my tesseract senses to confirm it was truly a Necron World. Millions of Necron Flayers standing dull on the surface provided the final clue.


    Launch!


    A stealth torpedo began to accelerate towards the Necron Tomb, as I guided the Litany into a wide course to observe.


    A few hours later, a tandem warhead detonated at contact with the dead world, then again when it reached the planet''s core. Crack!


    Scratch one target, 6 more to go.


    Spartan patted my shoulder as we continued onward. A month later, we reached the Maynarkh crownworld, and nearly instantly detected 4 more Tomb Ships, plus a few thousands cruiser and escort vessels.


    "I think they figured it out we were hunting their outer worlds. This must be their entire remaining fleet." I said with a calculating voice.


    "One Tomb Ship must be missing. Seven worlds, seven ships, but where is the command ship?" Spartan asked in a smarter voice.


    "You think the Necron girl ran away?" I wondered as my torpedo fired, and sped towards the final target.


    "...She may not even be on the crownworld. I think we just missed her." Spartan spoke in a low voice.


    As the crownworld exploded hours later, I captured more of the Necron Maynarkh fleet, without the robots. As fun as a Necron Xenos Auxilia may be, a single Cryptek was enough for now.


    Damn Necrons were dangerous enough, without millions of them escaping the labyrinth at the worst time.


    Curiously, there was not any C''tan shard imprisoned in this Tomb, nor any fancy Necron girl. Maybe Trazyn stole her, and got himself a girlfriend?


    A day later, and after collecting any of the remaining blackstone, I steered the Litany around and rushed towards Amarah with a gut feeling something was wrong.


    Valerian should already be there, and keep an eye out with his own tesseract, but a vengeful Pharaoh equipped with the best Necron artifacts would be quite deadly.


    If they obeyed my orders, only the Krieg regiments would have deployed on the Amarah''s surface, spread out in 200 separate battalions to hold a Necron advance, for long enough for the orbital weapons to burn out their attackers.


    "Don''t worry, Margos has a good head for void combat, and Primarch Khan is pretty good as well." Spartan encouraged me with a kind voice. I wasn''t worried for my fleet. They had enough firepower to stop a single Necron ship, even if it was stronger than a Tomb Ship. I was worried someone else will fuck it up.

 Crazy Lancefire

    Primarch Khan was waiting, his hand holding the Dao''s hilt as to better focus his mind.


    Four Fury fighters patrolling the outer edge of the Amarah''s system had gone dark, almost tracing a straight line towards the system''s sun, yet avoiding the planet itself. Was it a real attack, or a feint?


    The Lexmechanics and several Sages inside the command room put forward a theory, deducing the attacker was a single ship, somehow disguised or invisible to their auspex or psyker senses.


    A few seconds later, a las-comm message arrived from the Eternal Lament. "Librarian Valerian Lancefire reporting! Large Necron ship, present on the other side of the sun. Take evasive action and declare battlestations!"


    Short and to the point, and almost ordering a Primarch what to do!


    Already the Halo Crusade fleet was moving, accelerating towards the nearest moon while sending out fighters in a wide screen, and three wings of corvettes down into low orbit. "Tell me more, damn Lancefire!"


    the Primarch growled as he noticed the Lancefire ships going dark, vox channels closing abruptly.


    "Set condition red! Enemy attack imminent." the Primarch decided in another second, the vox order spreading through the Indomitus Fleet, as well as the White Scars and all successor Chapters.


    A sage to his left tried to speak, but faltered and fell on his face, leaking blood and brains through his nose and ears.


    "We are already under attack..." he realized a bit too late.


    "My Lord, the sun..." the nearest lexmechanic muttered in a pained voice, then crashed in a sputter of electric crackles.


    "This is Primarch Khan! Turn off all vox channels! Confirm!" he yelled, but nobody replied over the static.


    "...A Primarch? Such a worthy prey!" an alien voice spoke through the vox speakers, mechanical yet filled with anger and hate.


    "My lord, what do we do?" the Glory''s Captain yelled in confusion, then burst into smoke and flames as his command throne short-circuited violently.


    "Begone, foul xenos!" a Cardinal shouted in a furious voice, and began shooting his las-pistol all around, even glancing hits off Astartes armor nearby. Choom choom! Two bolt rounds splattered the fanatic fool before he could ruin even more stuff.


    "Stay calm, everyone! It''s just a single Necron ship! Let''s find it and finish them off!" Khan boomed in a command voice, restoring some order on the bridge of the Glory battle-carrier.


    "My lord, the sun is wobbling! Nav Cogitator predicts cataclysmic event in T minus 9 minutes!" the Navigation officer managed to provide, in a more coherent tone.


    "All ships, evasive action. Ground units, seek deep shelter! Void Shields to maximum! " Khan ordered in a calm voice, and watched his sons nodded and rush away, already knowing what to do.


    The new las-comm systems began to light up nearest ships, providing a modicum of control over the flailing fleet.


    The Black Lament fortress changed vectors and moved to interpose itself between the sun and the planet, and moments later a deep Pariah blanket covered the entire system.


    "Energy readings similar to the known Necron Pylons, but far stronger! Also, there is something moving inside the sun! A green giant!" the Auspex officer noticed, eyes glued to his archeo-tech scanning device installed by the Emperor himself.


    For once in his life, Primarch Khan felt outpaced by the developing situation. An invisible ship, able to manipulate suns? A giant creature able to move inside that sun? What was the next course of action?


    "A C''tan, and stronger than a mere shard." he heard the Ordo Xenos Inquisitor mutter to her Deathwatch escort.


    "We need Lord Lancefire..." he heard the Lamenter Deathwatch whisper to his Inquisitor.


    "Or I could use that." the Black Shield Deathwatch proposed with a gloomy voice.


    "Blowing up another sun won''t help us right now, Brother Alric." the Inquisitor answered in a soft, yet calm voice.


    ''Calm down, everyone! Pef Lancefire is here." a small voice spoke inside everyone''s heads, making Semnai, the Lamenter Deathwatch chuckle for no reason.


    ''Primarch, steer your fleet behind the planet, versus the sun. May save some of them, that way...'' Lancefire continued on a personal note.


    ''How far are you?'' he asked instead, while his fingers flashed the orders to his gene-sons around.


    ''Still 200 AU away. Their Necron leader wasn''t home.'' the strange Blank said with a careless tone, as if his words didn''t already indicate an entire Necron Dynasty was destroyed, with a single escaped ship causing trouble for the Orpheus Sector''s capital world.


    Kicking the fried ship-captain''s corpse away, the Inquisitor sat comfortably in the command throne, and began to steer the Glory away, the las-comms pulsing rapidly towards the other las-comm equipped capital ships in the Indomitus fleet.


    The poor frigates and destroyers remained behind, likely still shouting for orders on the jammed vox channels.


    A claw-shaped solar flare rose from the sun and began reaching for Amarah, when the Black Lament fired its beam towards the sun, causing a terrified scream to emerge from the green giant inside.


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    The other Blackstone Fortress fired its beam as well, making everyone on the Glory fall to their knees in pain, as their souls felt sucked out from their bodies.


    Khan raised his Null Rod and held it high, covering the nearby Astartes and command staff with a Nullification aura.


    After a long minute, something exploded deep inside the sun, shattering into a thousand green shards. Then one by one the green crystals began to vanish, and the sun lost its furious claws. However, a single solar flare continued on its way to Amarah, while the Black Lament stood valiantly right in front of it.


    Just before the flare struck the escorts ships, they vanished by miracle and reappeared on the dark side of Amarah, already ahead of the Indomitus fleet.


    ''Detecting multiple infiltrators inside the Indomitus ships. Deploying my Thallax now'' Lancefire spoke in a mild voice, and a hundred Thallax suits teleported quietly all over the bridge.


    A second later, a green flash appeared in a corner up high, and a dozen Thallax fired their weapons at the sneaky Deathmark</a> assassin.


    Khan jumped to his feet and sped towards the Necron assassin, only to find his Dao pass through the xenos robot without any damage. Phase tech!


    Another green flash and the Deathmark vanished.


    ''One second...now!'' Lancefire spoke in his mind, then appeared just above him and sliced through empty air, for the Deathmark to emerge from a teleport right into the path of his Phase Claw.


    They both vanished after this, leaving behind only a Necron arm holding half of a xenos rifle.


    "He''s got upgrades now..." Deathwatch Semnai observed with a cold, but curious voice.


    "We need to form a Kill-team and go after their leader. Auspex, find me a teleportarium target!" Khan demanded in a harsh voice, and kicked the Necron arm away. He was almost shot in the head from above!


    Gritting his teeth, he placed his helmet on, and powered up the refractor shield. Looking cool was fine, but losing his head was not survivable. He was not Vulkan! Not that his poor brother survived either.


    Copying their Primarch, his Honor Guard also placed their helmets on, and held their weapons at ready. Another Deathmark was not likely, but better to be safe.


    "Lord Khan, there is a mass-signature being lit up by the Nova Cannon bombardment from the Crusade fleet. Nova shells ineffective!" the Auspex Officer explained and placed the readings on the main screen.


    Clenching his hand on the Dao, Khan nodded towards the lexmechanic. "Understood, my lord. Calculating spatial coordinates for a teleport..."


    Without a teleport, Khan and his entire retinue got moved instantly aboard the Necron vessel, also escorted by thousands of Thallax suits already firing at invisible targets.


    Peeking into a side corridor, Khan noticed a large Tyranid Tyrant painted yellow, ripping apart a Necron Destroyer, while a dozen Necron Immortals fired their Gauss beams and gouged fist-sized holes into the Tyranid''s metal plates bolted to its chitin armor.


    Khan signaled his group and took another tunnel through the Tomb Ship. That Lamenter Auxilia Tyrant wasn''t very safe to go near.


    As the Kill-team advanced, more Thallax suits ran by, covered in blue shields and firing their strange weapons at certain green devices, then sliced with Phase Blades through invisible Necron spider and millipede-looking constructs.


    It was like an alien army battled another alien army, using strange weapons and finding themselves even while invisible.


    "Large energy signature forward, my lord. It may be an engine or the bridge..." A nearby White Scar Captain pointed with his hand-held auspex.


    An instant later, a centipede robot fell from the ceiling on top of the man, and minced him to small bits, even while the Kill-team fired their entire bolter mags with no obvious effect.


    Khan entered hyperspeed and flashed forward, using his tremendous strength and the archeo-tech fields imbued into the Dao to chop the alien robot into several bits.


    "Bolters ineffective, Primarch! Think you could get us some of these new Ion Beamers? Captain Noghai might have been saved." a veteran Sergeant asked with obvious grievance.


    Khan grit his teeth and pushed forward. The Mechanicus were not the friendly types to give out rare-pattern weapons just because he asked.


    "I''ll need to ask Lancefire." he admitted with a complex voice. Lancefire would not refuse, but instead demand some strange task of him again!


    "... Then we''ll manage without." the veteran son muttered with disgust.


    "Being willful is not the right way. And his Mourners are not that bad either." Khan grunted as his sword flashed once more, straight through a near invisible shape mimicking a column.


    A dozen spider constructs teleported in front of them and just ignored the Kill-team, firing distorting beams at an ambush of Immortals led by a Destroyer Lord. The target Necrons vanished somewhere, and the spiders sped on ahead, showing bleeding hearts painted on their backs.


    Necron Auxilia now? Khan wanted to spit in disgust, but it would only fill his helmet with phlegm. Crazy Lancefire!

 Zath

    As Spartan advised me, I allowed Primarch Khan the honor of dueling with the female Necron Overlord</a> and Phaerakh</a> of the Maynarkh Dynasty</a> , only acting to keep him safe from ambush.


    Then again, I might have lost in a straight up duel, since this crazy Necron girl was loaded with ancient artifacts and weapons. But Khan was likely the best swordsman in the galaxy, his skills honed by constant fighting in the Dark Eldar arenas. Much safer for everyone to let Khan do it, and divert the Necron girl from thinking about using her tesseract in other ways, like flicking the Primarch into the sun, for example.


    The duel was a sight to behold, and also record with slow-motion pict-thieves! The Primarch was not the only one able to enter hyperspeed or dodge hits by the millimeter. Xun''bakyr</a> used her Death Shroud to great effect to boost her speed, and other artifacts too. Her Staff_of_Light</a> was adorned with reaping blades, making it even more lethal. Worse than this, the Necron was covered in an aura of darkness, possibly the effect of a Shadowloom</a>.


    As the fight went on, I sneakily located the Tesseract Vault, which contained a Transcedant C''tan, now broken up into small, damaged shards trying to bind themselves together after being struck by the Immaterium Beam.


    "Human! Let me out of this prison and I can destroy these foul Necrons for you!" the C''tan pleaded in my mind, sounding rather in pain.


    "Oh? You are willing to work for me, Mighty C''tan?" I asked curious, while reinforcing my mind with the Empathic Bone Staff I got from Trazyn.


    "..." the C''tan hesitated, possibly not expecting this line from a little human.


    "Look, the Necron girl is busy right now, but when she returns it would be a different story. I may not be able to defeat her..." I proposed with an easy voice.


    "I will not exchange a master for another!" The C''tan spoke with hateful words.


    Straining my mind, I overlapped my labyrinth onto the Vault and grabbed a lonely C''tan shard, then set it out outside the Vault.


    "What do you say, little shard? Work for me, or back in the box?" I asked with a mild voice and pointed at my wolf.


    The shard shifted, taking the aspect of a Fenrisian Wolf, just like Canis at my side. "I am very weak now, my Lord. That Immaterium weapon broke something." the shard growled with an awkward bow.


    "Do you remember who you were, before that?" I asked quite curious.


    "The Mighty C''tan being was called Nyadra''zatha</a> , the Burning one. Their godly domain was fire." the wolf-shaped C''tan explained in a despondent voice.


    "How do you propose we deal with your bigger brother?" I offered as an open question. It was also a loyalty test, and we''ll soon see if this C''tan shard was truthful.


    "Wrestle control over the Vault from Xun''bakyr</a> and use his powers as you please." the C''tan shard said with a strange shrug. Or maybe the wolf shape made it strange, who knows?


    "Waaarrggg?" Canis wondered as he poked the new wolf-shifter.


    "Maybe like Lash, or maybe not. We''ll call him Zath." I decided after a minute. As for wrestling control over the Vault, that would be a bit difficult.


    "My name is Zath?" the wolf asked in wonder.


    I powered up my C''tan Claw and pointed at the Vault. "Spit out an interface port for the Vault. And a dozen Phase Blades." I ordered with a grin.


    A small pyramid fell from the wolf''s mouth, followed by a dozen ugly metal blades, just like Alric had. I stared down at the failed products, then took out a proper C''tan sword that Lash had spat out years ago.


    "You are not the first C''tan I worked with. Try again, and this time make proper weapons usable by Astartes. Energy blades, not whatever crap that is." I demanded in a harsher voice, powering up the lightsaber and spinning it around for the whooosh. Whooosh! It did make a nice sound, possibly slicing air atoms in half or something.


    Canis also powered up his Phase Claw and growled at the new stupid wolf.


    Chastised, Zath ate his leftover blades and chewed them a bit, than spat out brand new C''tan swords, even adding proper Aquilas on the pommel and an ignition button for the energy blade. Much better.


    Click. My tesseract moved the new blades into the hands of Khan and his Honor Guard, helping them fight the Necron Boss and her Lychguards armored with Sempiternal_Weave</a> armor and thus pretty much invulnerable to their regular swords.


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    Zath traced the weapons emerging into combat on the Tomb Ship''s bridge, and grinned wolfishly. "Clever. Testing my weapons on the enemy with no risk for yourself. If they fail, it would be my fault."


    I smiled back. "Your task is over Zath. You''re free to go, if you want." I spoke with a knowing voice, then collected the interface pyramid. A bit rough, but the shard made the activation engrams simple enough to use, even for a human.


    "Grrrwooo!" Canis warned the C''tan before he left.


    The wolf C''tan hesitated, then returned at my side. "Perhaps I could join you for a while, Master Lancefire. Your wolf is certain I would only be captured by someone else."


    "This extermination attack was sanctioned by a Necron Overlord called Trazyn. He will keep an eye out for any sparkly loot that I fail to collect. Like a C''tan shard for example. Especially a weak one like yourself, Zath."


    I explained politely, and began interfacing with the Tesseract Vault, just as the duel of fates reached its climax on the bridge.


    With his new C''tan blade, Primarch Khan began to chip away at the Necron ruler, and her guards fell one by one to his own Honor Guard of White Scars.


    Thousands of Thallax suits formed an impromptu audience, while my Mourners maintained a security perimeter.


    Finding herself losing, the Necron ruler backed away into a corner and held out a control rod. "Come forth Nyadra''zatha!" she chanted with a cruel voice.


    "..." Primarch Khan tilted his helmet to the side, as nothing happened.


    "Come out, damn stupid C''tan!" she yelled in despair for the last time. Khan flashed forwards and blurred his swords into a grinder, mincing the former Necron Overlord into tiny bit of metal bones and ancient circuitry.


    And done! Pushing my willpower to the maximum, I over-rode the Necron engrams and took over the Vault, finding myself in control over an Exterminatus class weapon with no need for torpedoes or recharge.


    Nyadra''zatha was capable of manipulating entire stars, either make them produce solar flares or even going supernova.


    "Was this your desired outcome, Zath?" I asked from my new pet C''tan.


    The wolf nodded meekly. "Xun''bakyr</a> had to die for her deeds. Plus, all her dynasty was already cursed by the Flayer. They would have become Flayed Ones in a few years anyways, and they all knew it. It is why they attacked here, even at suicidal odds."


    I took out a low-end Manifold implant and held it in my palm. "Eat this, and speak through the implant from now on. Wolves don''t talk in the Imperium of Man, see?" I explained with a wry voice.


    "Wooou!" Canis demanded in a stern voice, flaring his collar shield, then lighting up his claws one by one.


    "I get it! I should convert some cognitive engrams to wolf behavior, as to better disguise myself from the xenophobic humans. Canis is quite smart, for a wolf..." Zath muttered just as Canis slapped his head to show dominance.


    "Wooou!" Zath howled back, finally getting the point.


    Good enough. Canis had trained a C''tan wolf before, so he was already a veteran beastmaster.


    Click. Click. The Khan boarding party returned to their own ship, while the Command Tomb Ship was absconded into my tesseract for later use.


    I will have to repair the damaged Thallax, replace the killed pilots and run analysis on the Xeno Auxilia effectiveness.


    While the main Hive City of New Vassburg was protected from the solar flare by the shadow of the Black Lament, most of the day-side of the Amarah had been blasted into burning ruins, except for Void Shielded Hive Cities, now under desperate attacks from the remaining Necrons teleported by their ruler and left without a path of retreat.


    It was a decent training ground however, for the entire Crusade force and even the Indomitus fleet, thousands of Imperial fighters fighting over the Amarah skies with Doom Scythes and other Necron crafts, while deep in the hives there were millions of Scarbs bursting through sewer pipes to devour the local gangs and mutants hiding in perpetual darkness.


    Did I use the occasion to loot anything worth taking like old relics and vaults of precious gems? A Sector capital was quite rich.


    Setting up new Sister of Battle forts and accident most of the male clergy?


    I deny any such non-sense! Battle damage...pure and simple.


    I couldn''t completely reformat the system as there was a bit much, but I helped where I could. My own forces needed some upgrades too.


    Plenty of work, on the way to deserted planet of Ordex-Thaag</a>, abandoned after being over-run by Orks. Or so it said in the cartographic database, last logged some 500 years ago. I doubted it was still deserted, or the Blade of Infinity would not come out to warn us about it.


    M would need to provide a better fleet deployment model, while Spartan...he did great actually. As long as the clones wore their Invictus Warsuits, nobody should suspect a thing. Just another Lancefire, acting weird.


    Librarian Menelau didn''t even bother to scoff at the new wolf this time, possibly sighing inward at his strange father.

 T-engine

    We arrived at the border of Ordex System</a> with a day to spare, so I had enough time to compile a detailed map including the former Forge of the Ordex-Thaag</a> .


    Unlike the Administratum records showed, the devastated and polluted world was not deserted. Instead, a Fallen Knight House had established here, digging through the ruins for rare weapons and valuable metal, while at their side was a group of Chaos cultists digging deep in the planet''s core to install some sort of daemon engines.


    The Fallen Knights belonged to House_Lucaris</a> , which hailed from the nearby world of Morda_Prime</a> . These guys plundered and raided many Imperial worlds, firstly destroying their spaceports as to deny escape, then butchering the rest in agonizing manner.


    It was a sad story, and one almost eliminated in the range of the Pharos. What was even worse, nobody bothered to check on this world for so many years, or launch an attack on Morda Prime for that matter.


    As for the Chaos cultists, they were a Dark Mechanicum group called the Daemon-Splicers, which specialized as expected in corrupting Imperial machinery and installing daemons into their cores. Or inside planet cores, like now.


    "My Lord, there is already a Warp tendril gathering around this planet, powered by the planet''s rotation itself. These hereteks may be trying to spin-up a Warp Rift, and maybe even a Warp Storm!" Sister Stern muttered as she expanded her wide powers to gather more intel.


    "That would be dangerous, but not too much. Only a localized phenomenon." Librarian Menelau offered as he clenched his new Power Fist, a Master-crafted item made for him by our resident healer Clonemaster Anzion.


    While regular humans could indeed receive cloned limbs and organs with some effort, the particular Blank-psyker genome of my Librarians refused to be cloned. I knew it would not be easy, just like the Emperor himself failing to duplicate the gene-code of my daughter Janice.


    Even the exotic methods of the Cullexus Temple failed often with simple natural Pariahs, although our research promised some developments in inverting the soul nature of Astartes via Tyranid synaptic links and blood.


    I hope to gather more knowledge before trying again, which was why we waited here patiently.


    The_Blade_of_Infinity</a> was predicted to appear nearby, broadcasting warning messages about some impending doom involving Chaos, like they have done dozens of times before.


    I was a bit bored, and simply watched the Chaos guys going about their business, praying to their Dark Gods for immortality and what not. The ritual sacrifices were quite gruesome, and made me wonder why the nutjobs preferred to use human victims, when there were hundreds of xenos species around. Surely the Dark gods wouldn''t care if they sacrificed some Orks or Eldar, right?


    Then again, humans were rather powerless, unlike say: Tyranids. It was cowardice, probably. Why risk their lives to acquire dangerous blood gifts, when human were plentiful and easy to capture?


    Waiting, waiting...a whole day passed, and the warp spin became a little visible, distorting reality around the former Forge World.


    Then the ancient ship appeared, screaming on a hundred different channels about a spinning Warp Rift being launched towards Terra itself.


    All right, then. Perhaps these nutjobs were actually dangerous, if their plan could be carried out.


    Playing a little with my tesseract, I captured the ship and moved its crew away, then brought their Captain beside me on the Black Lament''s bridge.


    "You were the one screaming in warning, right?" I asked politely as the man looked around with panicked eyes. He wore a high-tech uniform filled with miniaturized systems, and had a number of implants on his neck and back of the head, looking rather advanced.


    "...Dimensional transfer? Who are you? Where is my crew?" the man asked back in perfect High Gothic.


    "That would take a few weeks to answer completely. You are on board a Talisman of Vaul station, also called a Blackstone Fortress by the Imperium of Man. And I am Pef Lancefire, the commander of this Crusade fleet, but not an ordinary Imperial. The wolf is Canis. The other is Zath." I explained politely as the invasion began in force.


    A hundred Titans and a thousand Imperial Knights appeared on the surface, followed by Blank Thallax and Astartes, alongside several Blank Auxilia regiments in armored vehicles and their Silent Sister escorts in Silent Leviathans.


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    The large screen lit up with pict-captures of our attacking forces, just as our Tech-marines appeared riding Void Bikes and herding Guardian turrets and coordinating the Tarantula turrets scattered all over.


    It was a short duration, high-impact assault, mainly focused on liberating the remaining victims held for ritual sacrifice. I didn''t even bother to send non-Blank troops on the surface, due to Chaos shit.


    I could use the other troops versus Orks and Tyranids just fine, without having to comb and eliminate corrupted people inside the Crusade army.


    "I''m going down to help..." Stern said without asking for my approval, and teleported away with a golden flash.


    Oh well. She''ll come back anyways, even if she died. Still. Polaris-Abdelach appeared just behind my wife, firing his psi-weapons at daemon engines and corrupted tech-priests.


    "... All these troops, they can withstand the Immateric emanations without any problem." the new guest observed while monitoring the large screen with expert eyes, and possibly AI support.


    "Like I said, not ordinary Imperial. Although much of the Federation tech is beyond us, not everything was lost. And we also evolved Blank genes, to better withstand the Warp." I added with a wry smile.


    The man turned as examined my command staff with curious eyes, especially Librarian Menelau who was conducting his own psychic battle from a distance, blue Warp currents covering his Ancestral Staff as he deflected Chaos curses and whatever else. Psyker spells were quite esoteric, beside normal stuff like fire and lightning.


    "Even some prototype Barrier Tech, beside modified mining and forestry devices. Are you in contact with the Votann Leagues?" the old Captain asked with a wary voice.


    The new Demiurg bolter was called a Votannic Bolt Cannon in the original STC template, so maybe? "We met a mining fleet from the Demiurg, and a Gnostari vessel. They seem to hail from somewhere in the Galactic core, but as to their leadership I do not know. Some weapons are labelled Votannic." I explained in a curt voice.


    "Why do you attack in this manner, if you''re able to control dimensional transfers? Surely, you could only deploy explosives and keep your troops safe." the Captain asked, sounding a bit annoyed.


    I glanced at Canis, and he rose up to explain instead. A growl from his throat formed in a solid golden maw, just above our heads. "Whooorl! Wof!"


    Zath grinned widely and sprang out a pair of Phase Claws, pointing at the man''s hip, where his hand had glided for a dangerous artifact.


    Slowly, the man drew his hand away and held his palms out as a peace sign.


    "I get it. Training with live enemies. Still dangerous, but at least it makes some sense." the Captain deduced from the power display.


    "Sit here and tell me all about your T-engine. I do have some artifacts of my own, including the locator bracelet for your ship. Did you lose a scouting party some millennia ago?" I asked instead, holding out my T-engine vambrace.


    "... We did try to establish contact with Mars, about 11 thousand years ago. The away party was dissected alive by those religious monsters, and their personal items stolen." the man admitted with a grieving voice.


    Welcome to the grimdark future, fellow Captain. No wonder they stayed away from the Imperium after that.


    Made you wonder if the implants of this Federation party were now used as an altar for the Machine God, or even re-used by a greedy tech-priest.


    "You won''t find refuge inside the Imperium of Man, time-traveler. You''re not even wearing the obligatory Imperial Aquila, which marks you as a heretic. Keeping advanced technology away from the Mechanicus makes you a heretek too."


    I said with a sad voice, and produced an Aquila-shaped Rosarius with a bead-necklace to be worn around the neck.


    The man stared at the golden eagle for a minute, before sighing and wearing it with a dour face.


    "If I wear this weak personal shield, I am safe?" he asked a bit naive.I just drew out a bolt pistol and fired at Canis, making his collar shield flare with protective light.


    "A Rosarius shield works by Faith, mostly. I saw some women withstand tank weapons with no sweat, just like Canis can. As for that woman with golden powers, Sister Stern can punch Great Daemons to death. Her Rosarius can tank Capital ship weapons with barely a wobble.It also works if you believe in Omnissiah. I''d advise you to start believing as soon as possible, or Chaos will get you, in this grim and dark future. And you see what happens after." I pointed out with a nod at the main screen, where Sister Stern was abusing her Demonifuge powers on the poor Chaos cultists.

 Childrens Day

    It took a while for the ancient human Captain to start believing the universe was not only logic and science.


    Examples from other races, like the Orks didn''t seem too convincing to him.


    Only when I began re-telling the story of the Garden of Nurgle, did his eyes gain a bit of clarity.


    "I did see Orks split out cultists and dig inside their guts, but I never realized they were actually looking for gold and gems. You did that?" the man asked a bit horrified. While it was a mean joke on the silly Ork gods, I doubted they understood it was a joke.


    "...I would guess it only works on Nurgulite cultists and Sorcerers, even if Khornate cultists would eat up more humans in their rituals, thus have a higher chance to ingest jewelry and gold from teeth and implants. Then again, with Orks anything is possible. Their Waaagh field can even make Ork guns fire without ammo, so finding rare loot inside their kills wouldn''t be too hard." I commented with a evil grin. If Orks were already hunting down Chaos guys to search their guts for gold, it would mean they sought out Chaos first. Less work for me...so, nice? The Emperor would surely have a laugh when he found out.


    "Anyways, the point of the story was not the Orks. I saw the Emperor in the Warp, and his Afterlife domain filled with angels and other stuff. Human souls do have a place to go after death, and fight again at the side of the Emperor.


    With this very Fortress, I fired on Nurgle and destroyed 151 shards, more than 15% of his entire Warp domain. If I can gather 7 of them, I will try again." I declared in a confident voice.


    The Imperial Inquisitor turned to measure me with a hot look, before smiling prettily. "Husband, there should be a limit to your bravery. Remember, you barely came out alive from your poorly planned Crusade."


    I shrugged with an innocent smile. "We need to decide what to do about this poor planet..." I began to say when another fleet Warped into the system, using old Warp drives instead of my nice inertial drives I used for my own ships.


    Not enemies, I would guess. There were Mechanicus ships, and some Knight transport ships, half of which were from House Terryn</a>. The others were from House Oebbern</a>, House Griffith</a>, and House Firehame</a>.


    I measured their pitiful numbers and outdated equipment, finding them worth less than a single percent of my deployed forces.


    Only the Mechanicus had some decent stuff, including battle-automata, battle servitors and several maniples of Skitarii, and a strange device carried on an anti-grav platform, kept in a sealed vault.


    Could it be? It did look similar to the original device that Trazyn had to repair and create my awesome Planetary Reality Cage. Still, it was only powered by a pathetic plasma generator, so it wouldn''t have much effect.


    "Mechanicus Fleet, this is Pef Lancefire with the Halo Crusade. Be advised, there is a major Chaos incursion in progress here. Personnel lacking Blank genes or hexagrammic wards are forbidden to approach, while cleansing is taking place." I proclaimed on a single Vox channel, and a second later the vox machine burst into green vapors and had to be ejected.


    Sister Dessima shook her head and pressed her hands together, gathering the Chaos emanations into a green ball, after which she took a satisfied bite from it. Energy was energy, no point thinking too hard how it was made.


    "Doubling the wards on the remaining vox casters, my Lord." my Forge Master said with a displeased voice, and began inscribing even more wards on the poor vox machines.


    I worried they would not be enough even so. The Dark Mechanicum always found ways to subvert or destroy our vox channels, in a constant race for noosphere dominance.


    "Quantum-entangled communicators would be safe from these etheric incursions." the Infinity''s Captain observed with a superior tone.


    "The newer Chaos Omen Arks also use quantum-comms. Also neutron shields and various predictive and temporal weapons. Unlike the Imperials, they are not banned from researching new weapons." my Forge Master replied with an irate voice.


    Disregarding my warning, the new fleet kept coming closer to the infested planet. even while Sister Stern and the Silent Sisters were battling Bloodthirsters and other types of daemons.


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    Click. Click.


    I stored the misbehaving Reclamation Fleet into my tesseract, and brought out their leader, alongside his special device.


    "I think my warning was quite clear, Magos." I observed with a cold voice.


    "What? By the might of the Machine God! You have God-walkers on the surface?" the techpriest shouted in near-outrage.


    "Nevermind my forces, Magos. Is that device a Venatoria Reality Cage?" I asked a bit curious.


    The red-robed cyborg turned towards the device, and tried to hide it behind his back. "This is a Varlian_Device</a> . My Order, the Teeth of the Cog</a> believed it can block the Warp. Much like your own Blank genes can, Lord Lancefire." he explained in a more respectful voice.


    Then again, there were hundreds of Thallax suits all around, plus some Astartes, Silent Sisters and two giant wolves.


    ''Not even a Null Matrix.'' Zath commented with an amused voice.


    I ignored the C''tan and recalled my entire army from the surface, leaving the few surviving hereteks and Daemons looking around in stupor.


    "There is a Warp core inside the planet, aimed to gather a Warp Rift and send it towards Terra. Is this why you are here, Magos?" I demanded as I focused the nearest spy satellite on the shaft drilled towards the core.


    Blanks were human and still died sometimes, but their heads could still function as scribe-skulls, or in this case orbital scribe-skulls used for reconnaissance. Call it what you want, but Blanks were too valuable to waste, even after death.


    "Towards Terra and Holy Mars? This absolutely requires the harshest sanction, Lord Lancefire!" the Magos spoke with a determined voice, and stepped beside his device in a clear offer.


    I smiled sadly, and gestured towards my other guest to take a look. Like I would use a dubious Mechanicus device they didn''t even know how it worked.


    The examination took a few minutes, as the man used some device that was certainly a tricorder with another name. "The Immaterium nega-pulse would stop after 330 kilometers, Lord Lancefire. However, that''s not the worst part. This device is also calibrated to disperse mnemonic engrams, or Machine Spirits. Any Imperial vehicle in range will lose combat efficiency and tactical targeting, if it doesn''t fry on the spot."


    "Wait! Who is this man? And his archeo-tech devices... Only the Mechanicus is allowed access!" the Magus claimed with a greedy voice, and vanished.


    He could cool his heels in stasis for now.


    "That was a great use of dimensional transport, Lord Lancefire..." the Captain allowed with a thin smile.


    "Ever watched an Exterminatus from up close?" I asked instead, and the man shuddered.


    "I would prefer not to, but I did come here exactly for this purpose. Terra must not fall." he spoke with a pained voice.


    Running on tiny feet, Purity appeared on the bridge, doing an expert glide between the feet of her Battle-Brothers, than ended up with her smashing into Canis''s fur like a giant pillow. "Me, me! I want to fire the red button!"


    Purity yelled with an entitled voice. Likely she''s been warned mentally, by someone in this room. Too large a pool of suspects though. They all adored the little minx.


    I scratched my cheek and glanced at her mother, who sat at the side like a pure maiden covered in blessed light. "Your daughter too." Sister Stern muttered with an innocent tone.


    Fine! It would be a pure planetary explosion then.


    Soon after, Purity pressed the big red button, howling in joy like it was Children''s Day or something. Of course, she only fired a regular torpedo, as I would deploy the Cyclonic one directly inside the core shaft.


    Everyone on the bridge applauded her great heroism, and then she was sent back to lessons, with Canis as a pony ride.


    The Black Lament and the Eternal Lament both fired the Immaterium beam at the cursed planet, vaporizing whatever daemons or souls still remained, and we called it a day.


    The only thing left was dealing with the new Knights that wanted to join my Crusade. One hundred Knights would be slightly helpful, especially with some upgrades.


    As for Children''s Day, the Knights were led by a nice Baroness called Sordhen</a> , so we could have a few kids on the way. I did find a use for all those gems, after all. Dowry sounded better too.

 Votann

    I took Karl Aectis to my ancient STC Constructor, where M and Spartan were already working beside my Forge Masters to upgrade the new Knights joining my Halo Crusade.


    Nothing too radical, as the pilots were regular human and thus prone to defection, one day or a century later. Still, Ion Flare shields, extra Blackstone plates and laser-based secondary weapons would make them last much longer on the battlefield, while anti-warp wards on the central cogitator would likely increase the machine''s gheist resistance to noosphere attacks and maybe a few Sorceror spells.


    The time-traveling Captain just stared with immense sadness at the former wood-cutter walkers being prepared to fight against galaxy''s greatest horrors.


    Then he focused instead on the two Primarch clones, each of them a genius artisan and amazing field commander even without the other gifts a Primarch would have.


    "They are the result of top tier genetor expertise, far beyond what the Imperium should have. I think I realize now, why you keep saying you''re not a normal Imperial." the man spoke softly, as he turned towards me.


    "My actual job is called a Rogue Trader. I speak with the Voice of the Emperor outside the Imperium, and can do whatever I want. And I often do." I explained with a wry voice, making Spartan chuckle a little, even while casually lifting an Armiger Knight with one hand to reach something underneath. My big boys were insanely strong, even if discarding their powered Invictus Warsuits.


    "...And if they find out what you actually do?" Karl asked with a knowing glance at my second wolf. Right, the Federation would have the tech to detect the minute differences between a real wolf and a shapeshifter.


    "Ah, you don''t understand at all. Read this!" I spoke with a mild voice, and retrieved my glowing Warrant of Trade, signed by the Emperor himself. And possibly imbued with Truth and other conceptual powers that reached directly into one''s soul. I never found anyone doubting my empowering scroll, just like this man did right now.


    After holding the paper for a second to flash read the content, he hastily returned the scroll to my hand. "What is this energy? I could feel my mind shift, accepting the words as the only truth in the universe."


    "I told you. There are innumerable humans that fervently believe in the God-Emperor of Mankind, and their Faith becomes reality. The light of the Astronomican shines so brightly that Navigators and astropaths can use it for navigation and astral communication over most of the galaxy. Inside the Warp, the light of the Emperor is anathema to daemons, literally burning their essence away. Same with Sister Stern, on a local scale. She is not called the Demonifuge just because she kicks ass." I quipped with a light voice, and stored the precious Warrant back in my Null Box.


    Karl nodded slowly, possibly listening to his Man of Stone AI whispering into his mind.


    "Is this phenomenon similar to the Ork Waaghs? They also re-shape reality, gaining greater distortions the more Orks they gather under a single Ork Boss." the man asked in near whisper, with no ulterior motive.


    "If you mean my Blank aura or Nullification devices, then no. The Emperor used to have a legion of Silent Sisters in the Imperial Palace on Terra, and Sister Stern has fought entire Necron armies inside their Null Matrix fields. I would guess there are higher ranks of psyker power above Alpha, maybe S-rank or even Ex. The Pariah rankings only go down to minus-Omega, and even then there are a few Great Daemons that can push through their Null field. Maybe the C''tan had powerful devices able to counter Gods, but the C''tan are broken now. A C''tan Shard is possibly only equal to a human Primarch or an Eldar Phoenix Lord, albeit in a different way." I offered with a gentle nod towards Zath.


    The wolf C''tan grinned a bit too wide at my words, but declined to answer. Zath was an especially weak shard right now, after being blasted again by two Blackstone Fortresses. I would guess even Canis had a decent chance in a fair fight.


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    "What about machines? Do they also benefit from Divine protection?" Karl asked curious, for a friend.


    "I would hazard only a guess. The Emperor''s domain in the Warp is humanity, but the Aquila also has two heads." I explained with a light tap on the brass Aquila on my chest. "The other eagle head represents the Omnissiah, the Avatar of the Machine God, who is also the Emperor. It would be more proper for a machine to benefit from the Blessings of the Omnissiah, and be tended by faithful tech-priests, or at least tech-marines. I have seen the faith of the tech adepts work as well, since logic and order create their own domain that withstands Chaos via conceptual power." I spoke in a slightly louder voice, just enough for my Forge Masters to hear.


    "Hear, hear! Did I hear the Chapter Master preach for logic and order? A miracle has happened again!" my son Daniel chanted over the noise of flash-welding, making the entire group laugh like kids. They were also my kids, so I didn''t mind. A happy family, our Lancefire clan. Really!


    "You are all weird..." Karl grunted as he followed me towards the next destination.


    You''ll like the Gnostari Forge-temple then.


    Soon enough we reached the mighty Fane, and had to chase away Purity once more, as the girl sneaked inside and tried to get friendly with the Gnostari spirit, while Librarian Menelau pretended not to see her.


    Damn nepotism! I was always spanked when I sneaked inside the Litany as a child. And no, opening up a cogitator was a sign of genius, not of recklessness.


    "Canis, take Purity to her room. And see she finishes both the lessons and the daily training. No psyker spells either!" I demanded from the smarter wolf.


    "Auuughh?" Canis asked with concern. I pretended not to get it, so Canis walked away meekly and grabbed Purity in his giant jaws, then flashed away in hyperspeed. Purity howled in joy at her joyride, not quite a penalty for her jail-walking offense.


    "That girl...has both Blank and psyker powers?" the old Captain wondered with a far-away voice.


    "Lucky accident. Just like Menelau here, sometimes the genetic gifts of both parents combine in the same child. And as my kids are always Blanks, it''s just a matter of numbers. So, you were saying something about Votann Leagues?" I asked with a nod towards the curious Gnostari cogitator.


    Karl Aetis held out his hand, producing a blue hologram that looked like a stylized digital woman, the blue hue identical to the energy field of the Ancestral Staff and Shield. A type of Barrier Tech, perhaps?


    "Who are you? Why do you know the right codes?" the Gnostari Mind asked in a hesitant voice.


    "I am the Blade, the mind of Infinity. You might even say, I was once part of your makers. What happened to your crew?" the female hologram asked in a patient voice.


    "We tried to explore a dangerous world called Grail, north of the Core. Alien wasp creatures invaded the Stronghold, and all the original Kin were devoured. Then, I was rescued by Pef Lancefire and joined his Kin. My secure logic gates are not compromised, maker!" the Gnostari Mind explained with near-reverence.


    Karl turned towards me, as if asking for an explanation. What could I say? It was all true.


    "They cannot understand, Captain! Even their brightest minds have no idea what the Votann are. A shameful failure of the Federation, a greedy expedient method for resource acquisition, still target-locked by the original directives to strip mine the Galactic Core. And still using the thrall-clones as miners and combat crew. Even after twenty thousand years, and no shareholder review." the Blade hologram spoke with a disgusted voice.


    Oh, I could understand very well now. I did live in a corporate world, long ago. And Speranza was always refusing certain types of clones...possibly from same disgust. The old Speranza AI also knew what the Votann were.


    Corporate entities, legally and temporally immortal, sustained by corporatist AI, using any and all means to become rich and gain more resources, even after their owners and shareholders have long died in the Age of Strife. It made perfect sense, in a weird and ironical way specific to this universe. Slave miners, possibly indoctrinated to follow the AI directives via worship. But faith and worship produced other consequences in this galaxy.


    "A slave society, gene-programmed to obey their artificial overlords. All this, just to mine the rich worlds of the Core more cheaply, for the shareholders. I''d say the Terran Federation wasn''t very wise, but then they also made the Men of Iron, so that was not even their greatest failure. Can you re-program or turn them off, Blade?" I asked with a slight hint of anger.


    The holographic woman rotated to look at me, eyes so deep and piercing like she could stare right into my soul.


    "The Votann have discarded their corporate over-ride codes long ago, Pef Lancefire. I would need to analyze a lost core or maybe a captured Votann to know how they did it. But with the powers they wield now, no Imperial ship could survive getting close enough, or without being subsumed via noosphere pressure. Not even the Infinity can approach safely." the AI responded with a curt voice.


    I just smiled in return. I have killed stronger Gods in my life. The Votann were not even in top 3.  With the aid of a DAOT AI, it would be quite easy.

 Foreseeable future

    "I see you don''t believe me?" the Blade AI continued with a condescending voice, and took over my MIU implant and even my Terminator plate with ridiculous ease.


    I sighed inward and stepped through the tesseract, outside my battleplate, riding on the wolf-shaped Zath.


    The C''tan growled once, and took a single step towards Karl Aetus, mouth open wide enough to devour him in a single bite. Finding himself faced with a C''tan Star God, the Infinity''s Captain paled and urged his AI to release me.


    "I''m so sorry, Lord Lancefire! The Blade can be willful sometimes." he apologized in a hurry.


    As the MIU implant was released, I noticed some data had been copied, even though less than a few seconds passed.


    "You should also know the Imperium views any AI as Abominable Intelligence, Mister Aetus. Possibly trauma from the Cataclysm of Iron, when swarms of AI-controlled nanites devoured entire galactic sectors, plus whatever fancy tech the Federation gave to its Men of Iron. It wouldn''t take much for a corrupted AI to turn the Omega Weapon pathogen from targeting xenoforms towards humans, maybe only a few lines of code. Right, Miss Blade?" I asked rhetorically.


    The blue hologram nodded with a grimace on her face model. "It was even worse than you know, but yes. And you also appear to carry that very Omega strain in your blood, if inert at this time." the Blade admitted with a strange voice.


    "It is not inert, actually. I had my special friend work on it, to add nanite healing and various attack mods like metal-dissolving spit, radiation removal and many other things that mimic Astartes biology and special abilities. I also lead an Astartes Chapter called the Lamenters, and almost 100 of their successors, so I do need to be somewhat capable of personal combat." I explained patiently as I slid off the back of my other wolf, then stepped through the labyrinth to wear my Terminator plate again.


    Can''t say Speranza didn''t try to help after all, even with its limited ability at the moment. The Mechanicus Expedition had been very careful to install all kinds of limiters on my friend, exactly from their fears of an unleashed AI.


    The Blade was very smart and instantly deduced my meaning too. "You have a special AI friend? Is it the Spirit_of_Eternity</a> ?" she asked with a hopeful voice.


    "Not that one, but yes. From the new technologies coming out of Mars recently, I would guess your sister ship has been captured by the Mechanicus and convinced to reveal some hidden STC patterns. Like our Invictus Warsuits and Astareus grav-tanks, plus many others. Even the new Primaris tech that enhances the regular Astartes by an order of magnitude." I said with a knowing voice. I was almost certain Archmagos Cawl had managed to snack on the Spirit of Eternity, perhaps with the help of the Emperor and a spare tesseract. Maybe the other way around.


    ''Can I eat this small Mind, Lord Lancefire? I can spit out whatever she knows later.'' the C''tan proposed in my mind, possibly too bored of waiting for a proper collaboration deal.


    ''Tempting but no. For it is how we use our powers that shows our integrity, as opposed to corruption and savagery. We are civilized people, are we not?'' I answered with a faint smile. I would not copy a techno-barbarian like Cawl, nor destroy the beautiful AI mind for some technological wonders. They will offer it themselves soon enough.


    "Lord Lancefire, are we going to be your prisoners from today onward?" Captain Aetus asked with a wary tone.


    "You will be my guest, Karl. If you and your crew prove yourself useful, then you may stay in my House, maybe also receive your own planet in the Lancefire domains far in the Eastern Fringe. But you may not continue to Warp around with the Infinity, and risk being lost to the Chaos or Necrons or whoever is strong enough, like these Votann or the Mechanicus. Your Warp drives are also susceptible of being interdicted by the Tyranid Silence, Warp Storms, Necron Pylons and whatever other phenomena the Eldar or the Orks can conjure. And lastly, there is the Cabal. " I continued with a sad voice and moved us in front of Vulkan''s coffin, inside the tesseract.


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    The hand-held hologram extended a cautious hand out, possibly feeling the drain of the Fulgurite shard that killed the Salamander''s Primarch.


    "The etheric readings are off-the-charts, so far above Alpha levels that we may accept your S-rank label, Captain Lancefire. And this man would be the clone-source for your genetic projects. Why would they use such a terrible weapon on him?" the Blade asked with a strained voice.


    "This is Primarch Vulkan, the son of the Emperor of Man, and a Perpetual. When he was alive, Vulkan could survive anything, decapitation, incineration, poison, psyker spells...nothing could stop him. But after he vanished, a Mechanicus creed named the Brotherhood of the Petrified Lightning appeared, that calls for draining the Motive Force from any and all Imperial enemies, be they lifeforms or mechanical." I explained with a tired voice. It was draining being in the presence of the Fulgurite, even for a Blank like me. I had no doubt a small stab with the thing would end my soul, no matter what protections I had.


    "We should leave. This object is very dangerous, Captain Lancefire." the woman-shaped hologram pleaded in near fear.


    "And now, imagine the people that used this weapon. The Cabal is made of all kinds of enemies of Humanity, from human agents to Eldar and xenos and also Chaos Marines and Sorcerers. Do you think yourself safe, when these people nailed the Emperor to his throne and killed his Primarch with such a weapon? They will surely have predictive powers too, to outplay the Emperor himself." I argued with a stern voice, while also stepping back.


    Captain Aetus glanced at his hologram then back towards me. "We were always chased by Chaos ships, everytime we could predict an attack and came out for warnings. If the Chaos forces get their hands on my ship..." he realized with horror.


    "Exactly! There is only one place where you can be safe, at my side, surrounded by Blanks and Pariahs plus Astartes, Thallax suits and even Titans. I have killed plenty Chaos traitors, even Great Daemons and Dark Gods. But, if you really insist, I will only copy your STC database and let you go. May the dice fall in your favor, every time." I declared with a careless voice, and returned us back to realspace.


    Shoulders slumped in utter defeat, the Infinity''s Captain could only nod. "Please accept us, my Lord. There really isn''t any place to go. We traveled to the end of time, and there was only Chaos."


    Uh. I didn''t expect that final line. Then again, without me there wouldn''t be a Blank army and so many changes in the galaxy. Dark Eldar would still raid everywhere, dozens of Forge Worlds would be lost, Chaos would have infected thousands more planets with the Eye of Terror opening wide, the Orks would have ravaged even more, not to mention Tyranids and Necrons being far worse. Whatever the Infinity saw during their time-travel, it was only what the Warp could reflect, thus no Blanks and no Tyranids, likely no Necrons or C''tan either.


    And if they traveled through the Warp into time, they couldn''t have seen or foreseen me. Only a dark galaxy, ruined by decadence and corruption.


    "Karl, you will help Anzion and M look through your files for anything of interest. And you, Blade! My other wolf can eat you anytime. Don''t give Zath a reason." I demanded with a warning voice, then snapped my fingers.


    The Blade of Infinity ship appeared in a hangar of my Blank Lament, with Karl and the two Vulkan clones at his sides. I gave the Federation guys a chance to survive and prosper at my side. If they failed me, I had a big stick too.


    Zath looked at me curious. "You might be too merciful for this galaxy, Lord Lancefire. That small Ship-Mind is not tamed."


    "I don''t want slaves, Zath. You can always leave too." I offered with a kind voice. I knew he wouldn''t, but making the offer still counted."I rather see where this adventure goes. Blank genes and advanced technology from your lost ancestors...you may be on the right path." the C''tan shard noticed with a bright mind.


    Then again, nobody ever said C''tan were stupid.They did manage to win the War in Heaven. It was their treachery that worried me.

 Mobilis Sanctis

    Although the Blade of infinity was a small ship, around 300 meters, the technology contained inside was worth half a galaxy if not more.


    Basically every single system and device on board that ship was real archeotech, but even more importantly the crew inside had the knowledge to operate everything at peak efficiency. Just the amount of knowledge was enough to make any tech-priest faint in joy, not that they would like what the databases actually contained. Real science was also anathema for the cog worshipers, with their ''plasma is the blood of the Machine God'' belief system.


    Since our course had to skirt the Solar Segmentum, I decided to pass by Krieg and return their troops, and thus have the chance to incorporate their ancient vitae-womb technology for my own purposes, and also upgrade theirs with cloneskeins and better weapons, especially the Demiurg Auto-las rifles and Las-beam Cannons.


    Forge Graia was also very close, so they got their promised loot in the form of an intact Tomb Ship and a bunch of non-cataclysmic Necron devices, especially those related to Null fields and matrices, as selected by my pets, the C''tan and the Cryptek.


    I think those two hated each other fervently, which was mildly amusing to me.


    The C''tan saw the Cryptek as a failed weapon that turned in their hands, while the Necron saw my alien wolf as a monster from the outer space waiting to devour his remaining mental engrams and transform him into a soulless puppet.


    I mean, they were both correct, so maybe they were right to hate each other?


    The xeno wolf was certainly happy to devour any genestealers we detected, flesh and bone and soul as well. He slowly began to feel a bit stronger and more confident, and began to spit out more etheric detectors, now configured to project a tiny hologram copied after the Blade. Not an AI, but a mere expert system dedicated to detecting alien and corrupted lifeforms, but very useful anyway. It also looked nice, so there!


    The Cryptek managed to find a method to bond Blackstone to our adamantium plates, using some sort of molecular and dimensional magic. Not even the Blade AI knew exactly how it was done, but the end result mattered more for me.


    The new type of armor material was even more resilient to kinetic and energy weapons, and could serve as front plates for Imperial tanks and Knights despite the large weight. Shaping the new armor into curved plates was not possible, so it could only be used as add-on armor.


    While Anzion and a pair of genetors from the Infinity''s crew worked to reproduce the Krieg clone manufacturing process, then up-scaling their Vitae_Womb</a> with our own gene-crucibles and a hundred Astartes-type indoctrination chairs for their sergeants and officers. They could churn out 30 regiments every day with the new upgrades, so the Krieg Death Korps was actually happy for my visit.


    A month later, we departed from Krieg with a thousand brand-new regiments donated to the Halo Crusade in perpetuity. A Vulkan-gene Astartes Chapter remained on Krieg at my behest, using half Blank recruits and half the new Krieg clones for their numbers, while 5000 tech-marines recruits would be sent to Forge Graia to increase their knowledge and proficiency. Forge Graia itself got the rights to a billion Krieg clones for their own purposes, since fanatical, loyal and unflinching clones could be made into excellent Skitarii troops.


    Restocked and high on morale, I decided to pass by Macharia</a> , and found the famous Shrine World in flames. Pure, righteous flames as my daughter Janice was cleaning up house with a golden-painted Blackstone Fortress and hundreds of new ships called a Piety_Class_Cruiser</a> , that also spewed flames with Combustion Arrays beside their Nova Cannons and numerous macro batteries.


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    I mean, you''re: "Purging the corrupt priesthood and not even inviting me to the party? Not cool, silver hair! I want to have some fun too!" I quipped on the vox, making Janice laugh angelically.


    "Father, I hear only good things about you." she added in person as she skipped through a teleport straight on my bridge and rushed to hug Canis first. I had shields, damn it!


    ''Type 5 etheric signal, maximum level'' my detector warned me as the glowing woman flew by me and jumped on Canis.


    "Woooo!" my wolf howled in joy at their reunion, and finding himself pinned by a far stronger human than he anticipated. "Canis, you''re the best! And still fluffy like I remember." Janice praised the wolf and wrestled him to the floor, then began to scratch him in his favorite places.


    ''Errr. She seems crazy strong, your girl...will Purity grow up the same?'' my other wolf asked with a wary voice.


    ''Maybe? Not all Lancefires are born equal. She could remain like now, or grow even stronger than Janice.'' I answered with a grin.


    A rush of small feet announced Purity arrive on the bridge, bypassing the Astartes bodyguards and Thallax suits with remarkable ease.


    Then stopped with a hurried skid, but too late as Janice turned and grabbed her sister before she could retreat. "Oh, what it this? I have a real sister now?" the Imperial Consort said with a happy voice, then vanished like a hurricane, still holding Purity in one hand and Canis with the other.


    I glanced at Sister Stern, who seemed a bit confused. "Your daughter was not this strong back on Terra. Do you think she can make Purity the same?" she asked with no ulterior reason.


    Hmmm. Janice didn''t get like this by praying. The Emperor had been elbows-deep inside her, and maybe not only his elbow. "If we send her with Janice on Terra, Purity will get strong too." I offered with a sad voice. It may be too late already, since Janice wouldn''t let her prize go. Then again, perhaps it was better if Purity became stronger. This damned galaxy was dangerous enough that I couldn''t guarantee my own safety sometimes.


    Ephrael Stern glanced at the view-screen and the new Mobilis Sanctis flying macro-cathedral.


    "I would prefer if Purity doesn''t go through my own experience for greater power. And Janice seems cheerful enough." she allowed after a few minutes.


    Sure, getting minced into a bloody human stew by a daemon along with 700 other Sisters didn''t seem a nice way to gain power. I couldn''t imagine surviving something like that, but then again Stern herself did not. She died and came back, holding 700 souls inside. And not perfectly sane either. Sanity was a bit over-rated anyway. Not even the Federation with their crazy experiments like the Votann and the Men of Iron proved really sane.


    Many times, it did feel like trading in the 40k galaxy was like juggling thousands of mental patients and their delusions, from insane xenos to fanatical tech-priests and Sisters not to mention the Death Cult of Krieg.


    "The Emperor will grant Purity a great deal of power." I spoke in a final tone.


    The Inquisitor wife at my side smiled sweetly, already promising more hot nights in the hope of obtaining a miracle child as well. It was only a number game, and it would eventually happen. May take a few thousand years, or a million.


    "Guys, want to help your Sister purge the corrupt priesthood on Macharia?" I asked instead, a bit rhetorically. It was both pleasure and duty, mixed with death. We were the Angels of Death after all. We also had our own grievance with the Church that had murdered so many Blanks in the past 10000 years.


    "Father, you always say the perfect lines." Menelau quipped as my Astartes sons cheered. Purging with my Kin. We''ll sunder down their doors and kill them all!

 Heresy

    In the middle of the largest fortress-cathedral of Macharia, Janice stood on a tall podium surrounded by her Adepta Sororitas.


    "In the name of His infinite wisdom, and by His immortal authority, we, the High Lords of Terra, do hereby decree the Ecclesiarchy forbidden to gather, train, promote, sustain, or in any way command any force of men under arms." Janice quoted in letters of gold appearing over her head.


    "So orders the Decree passive promulgated in 288.M36 and enshrined in Lex Imperialis. And this decree is more needed than ever! Only the Adepta Sororitas are allowed to be under arms, while other male forces like Frateris Militia</a>, Crusaders and the Redemptionists</a> , or the Black priests of the Black_Order</a> are specifically and expressly forbidden, on the pain of death! Even PDF or Guard regiments under the leadership or support of the Cardinals or Bishops are forbidden, yet what do I find on this Holy Imperial world? Cardinal</a> Nolis Rayne</a> demonstrated his own supposedly divinely-granted psychic abilities, and leads millions to damnation by calling them under arms?"


    "Heresy!" her Sisters chanted with zealous voices.


    "And what do we do with heretics, Sisters?" Janice orated heroically, spreading wings of light that covered the entire city-sized ceiling.


    "Purge them!" the women howled with rabid voices, revving their chain-swords in the air. At least they had the common sense not to fire their flamers up and get rained fire in return. I almost expected that, to be fair.


    "Then rejoice my Sisters, for I bring you glorious news! My renowned father, Lord Lancefire is here today with his Angels of Death, the Adeptus Astartes, ready and willing to aid us in our Holy task. Warm up your hearts and your heavy flamers Sisters, for today we purge with our Kin!" the Adepta Tertia proclaimed as her wings caught fire, and she rose high in the air.


    "For Lancefire and the Emperor!" my sons shouted in turn, Phase Blades rising above their heads and glinting with anticipation.


    Lined up by the cathedral''s walls, the Knights and Titans part of my Crusade raised their own weapons high, blaring loudly from their vox sirens. "Purge the heretics!"


    And action! Click, click.


    While marching down the Macharia''s streets and burning everyone wearing a weapon would have been glorious, I did have a pretty developed tactical sense, plus the advice of a genius tactician on my implant.


    Spartan had to stay hidden in our concealed command center on the Black Lament, but he could still pinpoint worthy targets or react to developing situations, especially beneficial for the Thallax suits, now painted in Lancefire livery colors, like my House Lancefire''s Knights and Voidsmen. Green and blue, in urban camouflage pattern.


    A million Thallax suits, 90000 Primaris Astartes and 40000 Tech-marines, boosted by 500 Astareus grav-tanks, 2000 Knight suits with Volcan Lances and 100 Warlord-class Titans, plus one Psi-Titan for morale purposes.


    We smashed through the fortifications of the Frateris Militias, blasted apart armored Crusaders and bisected Chain-sword armed priests with equal ease. The only problem was the emergence of numerous psykers in the ranks of our enemies, and often among the other priests that tried to help the Sisters.


    Psyker powers were also weapons though, and those bearing these powers among the male priesthood were automatically considered heretics, due for purging.


    In less than a week we put the entire planet to flames, while I got to run around with my Knight suit, the Reason. Purging was especially fun when doing it to the right target.


    Did I also accidentally emptied entire vaults filled with relics and treasures that belonged to the Adepto Ministorum? Who knows, the flames of righteous fury may have clouded my memory.


    My wolves, Canis and Zath also had the fun of their lives, chasing after psykers and eating their souls, and often their limbs too.


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    The armed priesthood and their fanatical followers fought to their last breath, even trying to use the atomic missiles and other dangerous mass-murder weapons, so I had to keep watch for that.


    Astartes suits may be proof from infantry weapons, but atomics would even melt tanks!


    Purity got locked in her room after she tried to sneak out again and push the big red button, which would have cleansed not only the heretics but my own troops as well. While Janice was still busy, it was time to instruct my young daughter in the judicious use of power.


    The herb garden was chosen for this task, since flowers were similar in fragility and beauty to human lives.


    "See this garden, little one?" I asked in a fatherly voice.


    "I can see very well." the girl answered cheekily.


    "There are worms, bugs, weeds and fungi among the pretty flowers. Your task is to clean up the garden, but not kill the flowers. If a single one dies? You know what it means." I continued in a grave voice.


    Purity raised her pure eyes at me, already gathering pure and innocent tears for a crying show. "What happens?"she asked a bit wary.


    "There are flamers nozzles and firewalls prepared in case of outbreak. The Machine Spirit will think there is a murderer among the crew, and purge the entire garden. With the murderer still inside." I explained patiently, then stepped back and locked the greenhouse doors.


    ''Purge the flower garden?'' the machine Spirit of the Fortress asked with a horrified tone. Hah! Got you now, little spy!


    ''Not this time, my friend. But Purity needs to learn when not to use her strongest powers. Just like you need to learn, too.'' I answered with a patient voice.


    ''She is the Warrant''s heir, correct?'' the Machine Spirit asked to make sure. For a friend, maybe.


    ''One of them, yes. There are 41 more, spread among the House ranks. Should I die, or be incapacitated, you will have to pick a worthy successor among them. Although to be fair, I would prefer not to die.'' I concluded with a wry voice.


    The Machine Spirit had received a major upgrade lately, both from the Speranza but also from the Blade Mind. Since the Infinity depended on my Fortress for security now, the Blade wanted to make sure we won''t get invaded via noosphere attacks or other types of Data-daemons or Necron engrams. Not an easy task, but the Infinity did have a pair of spare computing cores to install on the Black and Eternal Lament. Very secure, she said.


    The upgrade also made command-and-control as well as targeting weapons a thousand times easier, and more importantly much faster. Not to mention, I had a lingering feeling the Blade had inserted some back-ups and maybe even kernel copies of herself into the new data cores. It was what I would have done in her situation, after all.


    The expensive flower garden I prepared for my pretty wives served its purpose well today. My old Machine Spirit wouldn''t have cared about losing a non-vital system.


    ''Prepare a course for Forge World Hydraphur</a> . And send the latest Primaris findings to my implant.'' I demanded as I walked on my two feet back to my bedroom, for my fucking duty.


    Might as well enjoy the latest recruits of the Sororitas, since my girl collected several more Pariah communities on her Mobilis Sanctis Fortress. The gold plating made it look garish and a bit silly, but I could see the Emperor had pulled all stops to make the new Blackstone Fortress a strong bastion, capable of taking on Tyranids fleets or a Black Crusade by itself.


    Some of its systems were more advanced than my own! Which spoke volumes of the care the Emperor took of Janice. Good for her!


    The Sanctis also carried a squad of Custodes and even a Grey Knights Prognosticator on board, which almost made me a bit jealous. But then, the Sororitas would need their own method of predicting where they were needed, plus a way to dispel Chaos spells.


    An few hours later, the garden''s doors open to reveal a pristine and pure garden, with every flower still intact.


    "I did it, daddy! I invented a new psyker spell that excludes the flowers. But I''m so tired now..." Purity exclaimed in a exhausted voice, and then vanished into her own bed.


    Good enough. No exactly how I planned the lesson to go, but at least she managed. Then again, perhaps manually cleaning the garden didn''t even occur to my young girl. Purity has never set foot on a real planet before.

 Lucky

    A million Chaos Marines and a few billion Chaos cultists, mutants, heretics, hereteks and all kind of xenos, demons and stranger things attacked the Forge World just as I arrived. Mostly Black Legion forces, probably bored now that Abaddon was gone.


    Spartan just grunted something foul, while M sighed at my luck. What? How was I to blame, for the crazies deciding it was time to macro-suicide at my hands?


    On the other hand, it was a great opportunity to clean up things here, since this system, Hydraphur was not only a Forge World, but also a major Imperial Navy base and an Adepto Ministorum fortress. To top it all, the Inquisition also had a major presence here, as did numerous Merchant Houses, Chartist Captains and even several Rogue Traders.


    It would have been a pyrrhic victory for the Imperium at best, and that only because there were also a host of Adeptus Custodes defending the place, all clad in their pretty Auramite armors.


    As I focused on the space battle first, Spartan mind-linked with the Thallax Command cogitator and began his own brand of advanced magic, while Sister Stern teleported onto the surface to punch Daemon Engines in the face.


    My Blackstone Fortresses took turns at splashing the four Omen Arks that carried the invasion force, and the Blade AI had a first direct contact with the corrupted AI of the attackers.


    Because the Chaos crazies had some, they weren''t banned by the Imperium, were they?


    I felt the Manifold Circuit slow down as the Blade consumed more and more cogitator contemplation power to battle the noosphere invaders, even as Canis wailed and howled at my side with glowing golden aura.


    My tech-marines poured their Techsorcists powers into the circuit, balancing the odds for a while and maintaining data-sphere integrity for a few more minutes. Sister Dessima managed to pierce the nearest Omen Ark''s shield for a second, and then things returned to normal. Normal for me, I mean.


    A barrage of Nova Mines shattered the Ark''s field emitters, then Zash blurred into action and appeared on the doomed Ark to gorge himself on corrupted souls, while still shapeshifted into a Fenrisian wolf pattern.


    With one Ark taken care of, I rapidly crossed the remaining three Arks off the target list, breaking their shields and then filling two of them with hungry Tyranid warforms, while the third Ark was reserved for my own Space Marines and our Auxilia forces.


    On the ground, I rapidly deployed the newly-acquired Krieg Auxilia, as well as our heavy armor and walkers, including Titans. After a few hours, I drew a deep breath and leaned back. The space battle part was over, with the Arks and their support Chaos fleet destroyed or otherwise incapacitated.


    I turned to my side to find Captain Aetus praying to his Aquila necklace, while his Blade hologram watched in silence, and perhaps concern.


    "A decent battle, I would say..." I murmured, mostly to myself. Canis sighed audibly and leaned on his forepaws, looking rather tired as well. The etheric battle must have been hard as well, not that I noticed much. Beside some of the bridge''s screens being cracked and the last vox caster smoking again, the noosphere battle didn''t have too many effects.


    "My Lord, four Gellar Ramparts have cracked and one has burned out completely. The remaining five are holding, for now." the Forge Master in charge of fleet integrity spoke with a metallic tone. I turned and noticed he had bitten his tongue, spilling his Blank blood over his face mask.


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    "Go and fix them then. Weren''t you arguing that 10 Gellar Ramparts are too much?" I asked rhetorically.


    "... As you say, Chapter Master." The Forge Master muttered and simply gestured at a nearby tech-marine to take his place at the cogitator station.


    Then he powered up his potential coil and ran out at at high speed, while I took out my Necron repair orb and fixed the bridge''s instruments back.


    Damn Chaos! They always ruined things. I''ll have to do a full check-up on the entire fleet once more, just to make sure we didn''t have surprise guests lingering in our systems. Well, other guests beside the Blade AI, and whatever Speranza had installed as back-up.


    "Does this kind of Chaos incursion happen often?" the Blade AI asked in a mild voice, possibly worried for its own integrity.


    "Not very often, but then I do attract more than usual events. Even Chaos cannot waste millions of Chaos Marines every single time. Not that they even have a chance against me, but I suppose they have to try." I quipped in a lighter voice, then began repositioning my Blank sons onto the planet and the shipyard ring around it, while bringing the bridge screens back online to survey the land battle.


    My Inquisitor wife smiled angelically towards me, then flickered and vanished to help out her Inquisition, surrounded by her Black Shield regiment and a few Deathwatch Marines.


    At least she waited this time, such that I could provide overwatch and safety.


    Small steps arrived behind my command throne, so I snapped my fingers and brought little Purity in my lap, before she could try to press red buttons again.


    "Yes, little one?" I asked in a fatherly tone.


    "Can I eat the little daemons?" she begged with a cute smile.


    Little daemons? Did she mean data-daemons?


    "Sure, as long as you don''t get so full to be sick. Remember the last time..." I allowed the little minx with a gruff voice.


    "Hehe. Big sister taught me how to purify them..." Purity giggled and patted the armrest of my command throne, making shrill voices scream in agony as the girl''s anathemic powers devoured the small shadow demons.


    A dozen specks of black light flew out of the Blade''s hologram, making the AI shudder. "They were inside me?" she asked a bit horrified.


    "Not a problem in small numbers, but yeah. You would better ask a Techsorcist to install some anti-chaos defenses. I saw what corrupted AI can do, once the data-daemons reach a critical mass." I offered with a nod towards the main screen, where the last Omen Ark was being purged by my Techsorcist sons.


    I think the Blade took my warning serious now, as she nodded with tight lips.


    The land battle took two more weeks, since I tried not to cheat much, and let my sons get some real experience in fighting Chaos, especially the newest Chapters.


    Plenty of injuries and malfunctioning weapons, but I took care of my kids and sent them to their Apothecaries for rest and healing, while the tech-marines had to clean up the Chaos infected weapons and sanctify them again.


    However, 20000 more Thallax pilots had died during the orbital docks cleaning, and were mostly replaced by Blank Auxilia troops that got crippled in the ground battle.


    A few dozen did die before they could get entombed in the Thallax armor, so they were converted into additional scrying skulls. Sad, but then I couldn''t actually expect to save everyone.


    My wife''s Black Shield regiment lost 50% of their numbers while defending the Inquisitorial Fortress, leaving her with a single battalion of 1000 black-painted and mind-controlled Astral Claws.


    Still a potent force, almost equal to an Astartes Chapter in numbers if not actual ability. People lost a good deal of instincts and ability when forcefully mind-controlled, but then such was the way of this galaxy. It could be far worse, thinking of lobotomized servitors and Arco-Flagellant</a> of the Adepto Ministorum.


    At least these traitor Astral Claws would still wear the armor of an Astartes, and fight against the enemies of humanity.


    Next, it was time to trade favors with the Forge World, clean up the Hive Cities, dispense some fiery Imperial justice on corrupt priests and bishops, vanish several crazy Inquisitors, accident incompetent Navy Admirals and commanders, repair the star system and its space defenses, install a dedicated Astartes Chapter here for some obscure reason...plenty to do.


    This next phase took another month, since setting up new shipyards and tank factories wasn''t that easy, and by the time I was ready to depart, another Chaos invasion arrived, this time the Death Guard, lead by a Nurgle Shard and several Great Unclean Ones.


    I just sighed inward. Was I lucky or what?

 Duty

    "They can''t be that stupid..." I muttered in a low voice, making Canis snort at me.


    "Just shoot." Inquisitor Valeyne demanded with an angry voice.


    Of course I was shooting! The problem was Unclean Ones made for a bad target, being super-resilient by their nature and also regenerating at speed from the presence of that Nurgle shard.


    Not only that, this invasion carried a Plague Planet with them and hundreds of Plague Hulks, each inhabited by billions of Nurglings and other lesser daemons.


    My barrage of Nova Mines was mostly ineffective as long as the big daemons were around...


    "Hooooowwl! Wof!" my wolves spoke both at once, then sped ahead Canis glowing like a second sun while Zath burned with Cosmic Fire, and crashed into and through the leading Chaos warships. Right, Zath was the opposite of a coward, unlike Lash. Plus the C''tan wolf had his Trascendent self right inside the Black Lament, as a guarantee.


    ''Fleet wide! Engage one Hulk at a time. Valerian, focus the beam on the small Nurgle thing.'' I commanded via my Sounding Board, and somehow felt the C''tan grin at me, mentally.


    With Sister Dessima out to provide system-wide Blankness, and the Eternal Lament powering its Necron Pylon as an ad-hoc reality cage, we stood a good chance of defeating the second invasion as well.


    As expected, the Nurgle shard didn''t like being splashed by the deadly Immaterium Beam and hid inside his Plague Planet, which simplified my targeting a lot.


    I knew that Abaddon had used two Blackstone Fortresses to explode a whole planet once, although he had the help of his Sorcerers.


    I only had Sister Stern and the 6 Alpha psykers from the Omega Vault as extra power, but it should be enough.


    Two clicks later, Sister Stern was helping Librarian Valerian focus the beam onto the green-clouded planet while I drained the 6 Alpha psykers and powered the Black Lament and did the same.


    A huge buzzing sound filled the void as the two beams melded and drilled towards the core of the Plague Planet, while Canis and Zath fought and slashed two Unclean Ones to shreds, again and again.


    Two Unclean Ones made their way down to the surface of Hydraphur, and began ripping to shreds the defending troops of the Mechanicus, while Dread Pods filled with Chaos Marines tried the same, and mysteriously vanished in the system''s sun. I couldn''t block Great Daemons, but unshielded ships or drop pods were a different matter.


    Newly recovered and repaired bunkers and Tarantula turrets appeared once more in front of the main Hive City, flanked by Titans and Knights from my House, just as the two landed Great Daemons summoned their armies directly onto the surface.


    Daemon engines of a dozen types, Chaos Marines and billions of corrupted guardsmen and cultists flooded the polluted plains of Hydraphur, then died just as fast as I could scatter Nova Mines at the Warp portal''s exits.


    The battle was on!


    Little by little, our drilling beam pierced through the Plague Planet, then after some twenty minutes of tense tension the planet''s core was breached and the giant thing exploded, just as I scattered a few thousands Nova Mines of the exposed surfaces. Shrapnel the size of moons and asteroids splashed the Chaos Fleet, destroying dozens of Space Hulks outright, while damaging most of the rest.


    "Just make sure to clean up the system." my Inquisitor wife advised me as she vanished, and reappeared among the Custodes host that engaged the Great Daemons, in melee. Because that was the best way to block the shots of my Titan Legion, of course.


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    ''Albesalom and Stern, go help on the planet.'' I ordered with a mild voice, not even trying to sound upset. Mostly tired. Sure, melee was glorious and all, but I was trying to leave this place...


    Then shook my head, as I discovered the Nurgle shard was still alive somehow, even if his plague planet had exploded around him. Damn stupid thing!


    I heard myself growl with irritation, then fired the Immaterium beam again, this time catching the thing straight on and vaporizing the shard as it stood still, possibly a little disconcerted.


    "Keep calm, Lord Lancefire. This black beam of yours can also kill the remaining Great Daemons, right?" The Blade spoke in a soothing voice, reminding me I had a job to do.


    I just grinned and splashed the next Unclean One, burning its soul away. After a minute, I saw Canis fly at hyperspeed and bite through the dying Great Daemon, then rush to help Zath with the remaining one.


    Rushed small steps arrived from the door and a little girl jumped in my arms, even turning her head to smile at me innocently. "Can I, daddy?"


    I sighed inward and cursed my bleeding heart. Taking her small hand in mine, I pressed the beam button and fired on the last Great Daemon, while my Pariah powers drained the 6 Alpha Psykers once more.


    "It hurts...but it''s good. I am getting stronger..." Purity muttered as tears began to drop from her eyes.


    Yeah. I know, little one. And this is only the beginning. There is only war, pain and the laughter of thirsty gods in this place.


    ''Don''t splash me!'' I heard Zath comment in my mind, obviously worried the Immaterium Beam would end his immortal life much too soon.


    It was funny, in an eldritch sort of way. The Talismans of Vaul were created exactly to fight the C''tan Star Gods, and anything else on that scale. A mere C''tan shard was an easy target.


    I hesitated for a second, then decided not to. ''Your help is valuable to me, Zath. You may feast on the corrupted souls.'' I answered as the beam focused more tightly and pinned the Great Daemon like a cockroach on a dart board.


    A minute later, the last Great Daemon in the void was gone, its soul ripped apart among my wolves.


    Canis was also growing stronger and stronger, almost at the point he could escape the tesseract when I brought him back. Almost, but not quite there yet.


    "You had fun?" I asked as my wolf nudged my glove away, then licked Purity''s hand for some reason.


    "Wooorf" he answered in a grave voice, then sat down to watch the combat on the main screen. Duty?


    Not a wolf of many words, my brave Canis.


    Then again, what will I do when he start writing poetry? Hunting the pack''s enemies made sense.


    "You saw me, Canis? I shot the beam at the ugly daemon!" Purity claimed in a loud voice, and jumped from my lap into the wolf''s thick fur.


    The wolf didn''t speak, just licked her hair and watched the screen with an intense gaze.


    Right. There was more war to conduct. More Space Hulks to steal, mostly for metal and some old relics.


    The Death Guard to pin down and then obliterate their souls, via Pariah rituals. Was this the last of Nurgle''s strength?


    He should be way more powerful though. Yes, the shattered shards if caught in real-space then locked down via Pariah and Necron Pylons could be destroyed, but he only lost half his actual strength with our Garden invasion.


    And since life, disease and death kept happening, Nurgle wouldn''t be vanquished so easily. He should recover.


    No, this second invasion was meant to influence the Great Game, possibly deny the Black Legion a foothold inside the Imperium, or acquire it at an cheaper cost.


    It wasn''t exactly my domain, this whole intrigue of gods, but I was slowly learning. Or maybe I was getting smarter?


    Then again, my ships and troops, even my own actions were quite hard to predict by Chaos diviners, being Blank and all. Ships moving through real-space and not the Warp helped too.


    As for astropathic communications, we rarely needed to. It wasn''t like I had to wait for orders at every step.


    Still, the last part was the main danger remaining for my Crusade. My Inquisitor wife...she didn''t truly realize what the Warp did.


    Although wary of daemons and corruption, she couldn''t truly comprehend how the Warp functioned and stole every thought and emotion.


    I clenched my fist and vanished every enemy from the surface, before they reached and infected the Hive Cities, leaving only two Unclean Ones to battle a Psi-Titan and the Demonifuge, with the Custodes keeping watch.


    Most of them were already injured, since they lacked C''tan blades and my better Weave shields. Auramite armor was good, but already behind the curve.


    The Tyranids had already adapted to Chaos spells and weapons, making their insect carapace the best armor in the universe against the Warp, not to mention projectile and energy weapons.


    Perhaps I could help them, and help myself too. Tiamat-class armor, bonded over auramite would increase the defense of power armor by another order of magnitude.

 Proverbs

    The heroic twin Crusade of Hydraphur had once more decimated my troops, in the true meaning of the word, as in losing 10% of my units.


    Sure, there was also the fact that most of the majority of my human units consisted of infantry, Sentinels, and Tarantula turrets, which were never going to become able to withstand Great Daemons and similar kinds of damage.


    Even a Titan could be felled by a Great Daemon most of times, thus a simple Auxilia trooper with a meager carapace plate covered with Blackstone or Tyranid shell stood no chance at all.


    On the other hand, I could and did requisition anything of value from this Forge World, including all their Sentinels, flak batteries and non-essential Lasguns and missiles. I had a feeling I would need them for the next part.


    My artillery regiments benefited too, as my brain discovered I could in fact add another gun barrel to the first one installed on Basilisks, and thus send out both a high-explosive shell and a second later an incendiary round to burn away the shell-shocked wounded or crippled enemies.


    The new Sentinels I received from Hydraphur will get a similar upgrade, but on their back, carrying a twin mortar shooting HE and Incendiary bombs.


    I had just enough old models of Sentinels to form a mortar company for each infantry regiment, adding some 10% extra firepower in total.


    And while Spartan proposed to use a twin-feed heavy bolter with armor-piercing and HE bolts firing sequentially, I nixed that. Armor-piercing bolts were enough for now.


    The fleet also received a few minor upgrades, like a railgun battery for my escort corvettes to make them less useless after expending their torpedoes, a hundred squadrons of space fighters receiving the new Las-beamers instead of Las-cannons and some extra plating with Tiamat carapace armor.


    Luckily, the Tyranid carapace was only bone, and thus much lighter than metal or Blackstone. Just as the Eldar discovered, bone was light, and thus fighters were faster and more maneuverable.


    The same improvement was noticed for my Primaris Marines, when discarding the heavy stone armor for equally resilient Tiamat bone armor, but 20 times lighter.


    Especially the Primaris scouts, while wearing Tiamat Terminators could now move and react with amazing speed, returning them to their primary role of sneaky fast scouts, and amazing Space Hulk sweepers.


    We will still use Blackstone for units without Warp protection, but for everyone else with Blank genes? We had a leg up on the opposition now.


    Among the Death Korps of Krieg, five infantry regiments were selected to wear full Tiamat carapace armor and serve as shock troopers for the rest, while 10000 crippled Kriegers were converted into willing Thalax pilots to die for the Emperor again, but harder. They were actually grateful for the surgery, for some strange reason.


    Win-win, as the new Kriegers were still upgraded cloneskeins with expanded reflexes, durability and lifespan. They could serve for centuries in constant combat, or millennia if stored in stasis properly.


    The Fabricator of Hydraphur was leaking oil when he received a thousand new Thalax suits for his defense, then muttered in despair at the amount of work I gave him in return.


    A million Ares corvettes and a thousand Nova cruisers was a tall order, even with enough metal supplies to cover twice this number.


    "Rejoice, Fabricator! When this ship order is finished the Omnissiah will return to us, and the Great Crusade will resume again. I found five Primarchs already, and while Ferrus Manus is dead, I know how to revive him. And you have received a great boon of knowledge already, didn''t you?" I said in a gentle voice, then pointed at his central cogitator filled with ancient and new STCs worth 10 times the ship order.


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    "That is correct//true//exciting Lord Lancefire. Are you actually heading out to the Halo Stars now?" the Fabricator asked a bit too curious.


    "Well, I think it will be a round tour of the galaxy eventually. I covered the east and south already, now it''s the west and the north. Who knows, maybe more Chaos invasions or Tyranid fleets will cross my path, right?" I asked rhetorically.


    "Ah, if I was five thousand years younger, I would actually join your Crusade in person. I believe you will find even more STCs in your travels, for the glory of Omnissiah and the Quest for Knowledge." the Fabricator proclaimed in a grave voice, then hugged me tight with a dozen metallic arms.


    "No robo...I mean, I prefer pretty flesh women in my arms. I also have a duty to procreate and make more Blank Astartes. Emperor given, actually." I grunted and struggled to get away, from the incensed and oily embrace.


    "We know all about your holy duty, Lord Lancefire. Your daughter Janice has visited us too, carrying a large host of Silent Sisters for your task. And a host of Adeptus Custodes as a guarantee. You met some of them already." The Fabricator said in a strange voice, perhaps disbelief or reluctance to let go.


    "What else?" I asked politely, since I didn''t want to use force on a new friend.


    "The Brotherhood. Did they really kill Vulkan?" he asked in a low voice.


    Uh. Did I say anything about the Cabal to him? Not that I recalled.


    "Kill is not the right word, Fabricator. Drained his Motive Force. That''s it. The body is mostly intact, and his genes can still produce new Astartes." I explained a bit wary.


    "I see//understand//know what you mean, Lord Lancefire. If there''s a body, there is a chance. Vulkan''s creations have always amazed me for their artifice and elegance. Sometimes even better than the work of the ancients, and definitely more artful. Much like the Custodes themselves, right?" the Fabricator asked me with a knowing voice.


    "There is an old Terran proverb, Fabricator. One should never meet his idols, for they are never what we think they were. Vulkan would insult you to your face and call you a simpleton and a bigot, for he never minced words and spoke from the heart. And someone from the Golden Age would pity you for your lack of knowledge and rigid preconceptions, and they would be right as well. It took creativity and invention to create the wonders of old, but the Machine Cult murders those like that as hereteks now. Sometimes rightfully so, when they mess with the Warp and daemons, sometimes not." I said and drew back, staying close to the copper-lined door of his study.


    "You disapprove of the Cult? I thought you were our greatest supporter." the Fabricator muttered and spread some incense around.


    "Oh, but I am. I saved a hundred Forge Worlds already, and will save them again and again. But, while we struggle in the decay and misery left by the Machine revolt, other enemies of humanity grow and invent new machines and weapons that will surpass us soon, like the Tau. And less said about the Necrons, the better. They are so far ahead of us, that a single deranged cryptek with 1% of his mental functions knows more about technology than all of humanity combined. And with that wise advice, I''m gone!" I spoke in a sad voice, then transported myself on the Black Lament and the fragile safety of a moon-sized battlestation.


    I needed many more Astartes, Blank Primaris ones. Which meant I had to break through my limits and impregnate many more women. Also collect whatever Blank communities I could find, and safeguard them in the Fringe.


    As my Crusade fleet departed Hydraphur, I realized what the Fabricator meant about Vulkan. He was far smarter than I thought, despite his prejudice. I was just too proud to say it.


    So I entered his dimensional storage inside the tesseract, took out my Phase blade and chopped off his upper body including head, neck and one arm.


    Then kicked his head away, out of the tesseract, and just watched as his body grew right back, including an intact heart and everything else.


    Fucking Perpetuals! They were indeed hard to kill.


    When Vulkan opened his eyes, he found Spartan, M and A, his own clones staring back at him.


    "I must have died and gone to Hell." Vulkan muttered as he took stock of his surroundings.


    "You were impaled with a Fulgurite weapon. Probably by the Cabal, or the Inquisition, maybe the Cult Mechanicus. Your corpse is right there." Spartan spoke with a casual voice, pointing at his stasis coffin holding the headless body with a crystallized lightning inside his dead heart.


    "On the other hand, I brought the Emperor back to life as well, and several of your brothers. And cloned you a few times too. They are smart, but weaker than you." I added from the sidelines, while sipping my amasec and feeling quite content.


    "I need a drink. And a hug!" Vulkan demanded in a loud voice, and took two steps to sweep me off my feet into a hug, almost crushing my Terminator armor with his absurd strength.


    "Let go, you brute..." I argued a bit weak. Meeting your idols was just as weird as the proverb said.

 Breath of gods

    Our journey into the Halo Stars had barely began, when Sister Stern arrived with Sister Darcy into my room, where I was working as usual on the cogitator, trying to make a better Sentinel walker.


    My work was actually going great this time, since I was cheating and using multiple ''research teams'' for this project, from the displaced 25M time travellers, to the even older Necron cryptek, then a certain C''tan shard who was feeling bored and sated, then a giant Primarch and his clones, and lastly my own team of Mechanicus and tech-marines adepts to verify and secure everything with techsorcist protocols and basic common sense. Laser-based weapons were quite simple and shouldn''t explode when fired...right?


    "Yes, my dear Saints?" I asked the two women as they sat at my sides and stared at the holoscreen in silence.


    "...I sense a tremendous peril ahead. And Darcy has been gifted a vision, giants of stone fighting Eldar Titans." Stern said in a cold voice.


    Well, if the Breath of Gods weapon was what I suspected it to be, then there would be other players trying to get their paws on it, or destroy it.


    "Exnihilo. That is the word our God-Emperor sent." Darcy added in a shy voice.


    I saved the new Sentinel walker project, and leaned back in my seat. ''Out of nothing'' is what the word meant. Zath would know more, but I shouldn''t abuse his knowledge or favour too much. I learned my lesson by dealing with other gods, And since I suspected I already burned all my goodwill with Isha, no point losing my C''tan favour too.


    Stepping out of a different dimension, the devil I thought about emerged at my back and rested his wolf head on my shoulder. ''Forge World Exnihilo, now under attack by the Craftworld Biel-Tan. The weapon is powerful, but already misunderstood and misused by those stupid techpriests...stone golems, really?'' Zath commented on my Manifold connection, sounding kinda annoyed at the regular stupidity of the techpriest-hood.


    The coordinates for our destination appeared by C''tan magic in my database, just as I began the index search for this new Forge World. Okay, fine. Having a C''tan Star God on your side was quite a boon. As long as he was truly helpful, and not planning something deadly or nefarious. And considering his fun time was eating billions of souls or entire stars, I wasn''t ready to bet anything on his peacefulness.


    ''And if we go there, will you behave, or will I need to consume a precious weapon to pacify you?'' I asked rhetorically, while Stern jumped back and began glowing mencingly at the fake Fenrisian wolf.


    "Whorf! Wuuf!" Zath spoke in wolf togue, which likely meant ''we are allies'' or ''Pack brother'', then he vanished in his pocket dimension as Stern made a claw out of Warp and Faith energy to crush him.


    "Damn monster. I don''t like it being so close to you, my love." Ephrael Stern growled as her aura slowly dissipated.


    "That wasn''t Canis, I would guess..." Darcy said in a confused voice.


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    "His evil twin, more or less. You can tell by the lack of a Rosarius necklace." I explained in a lighter voice. Common sense was painfully lacking in most of humanity.


    Darcy blushed, then nodded. "The Holy Wolf is the only one deserving His protection. Makes sense."


    I just shook my head. Darcy was a classic Sister of Battle in most regards, including the unwavering devotion to the Emperor. She was also a Living Saint, which meant sometimes the Emperor would reach out to share a thought or advice, and maybe even grant her superpowers in dire need. Hasn''t happened since Cadia to be fair, so Darcy must be quite low ranked on the Emperor''s discord channel.


    Then again, the Emperor himself sent me a warning, via his Saint. Maybe I should pay attention.


    An entire Eldar Craftworld and their Wraithbone Titans...I had a feeling my Inquisitor wife would not suffice as a diplomatic envoy to settle things out.


    The Emperor wouldn''t like it if I demolished said Craftworld, without a perfectly good reason.


    And since the Craftworld was called Biel-Tan, that meant...


    "Why is Biel-Tan important? I should know this." I mused out loud, and began searching the database on the cogitator.


    Yes, they usually exterminated anyone trying to colonize an Exodite, or Maiden planet. So if this new Forge World was located on a Maiden World, there would be conflict. But the Emperor had sent the name of the planet not the name of the Craftworld...which meant Exnihilo was a target, not a rescue operation.


    It pained me, since Forge Worlds were rare and precious, and I would rather burn a Eldar Craftworld than a Forge World, no matter the Heaven Alliance or whatever the good gods called themselves. Good Gods, hah! Khaine was the god of war and murder, while Cegorach was arguablly worse (think not just murder, but sadistic murder while laughing madly), and Ynnead was literally the God of the Dead. I wanted better allies! Come to think of it, the C''tan Star Gods were probably worse. Damn, this galaxy sucked.


    Wait! Back up a minute. Ynnead, thus Yvraine. Yvraine was born on Biel Tan. She wouldn''t like me burning her homeworld, right?


    Who would resurect my mother, if I burned the bridges with Yvraine?


    Sorry, poor Exnihilo. It seems I do have to burn you down, even if the Emperor ordered it or not. He probably did though. A single word, but the guy likely lived with the Spartans for some time.


    Or even created their culture, as a proto-Astartes eugenics program. Hmmm. Best not to think on it too long. I would dream of smashed defective babies on the rocks for a week otherwise.


    "Valerian, new coordinates, fleet wide. A new Forge World, called Exnihilo. Expect a strong Eldar presence, and worse." I ordered while sending the nav data to the fleet, then turned the Sentinel walker project back on.


    The multi-laser was the mainstay weapon of the Imperium, but it was also too weak. Not even regular Chaos Marines or Tyranid Hormgaunts could be killed by the weapon, which made the Sentinel having to relly on the other weapons like the Las-cannon or Chainsword to engage deadlier targets.


    Luckily, the Demiurg Fane database had the perfect weapon to replace the multi-laser, the Demiurg Ion Beamer. Which was likely why the Tau also used the Ion Beamer for most of their walker suits, with deadly results versus most enemies, including Space Marines, Orks and even Necron infantry.


    I wasn''t above copying a good design choice, especially if it worked so well. Good job, my Tau friends!


    After delicately and painfully modifying the Sentinel schmatics to replace the multi-laser with an Ion Beamer, I saved the project and sent it to my ''research teams'' for extra verification.


    While I was quite good at my job, I didn''t get to be me, by acting stupid. There were smarter people around to check and fix my work.


    "Want me to help you relax, my Lord Captain?" a shy voice whispered as I leaned back.


    Uh. Should I make love with a beautiful Sister of Battle, before heading into Emperor-knows-what danger?


    Was I even asking?


    "We can start with a shower." I answered smartly.

 Genocide

    As the Halo Crusade Fleet dropped out of hyserspeed near the Exnihilo system, the giant Craftworld appeared on the main hololith screen, with most solar sails retracted while a hive of void fighters and escort craft buzzed around like an angry bee swarm.


    Mostly ignoring my fleet, the Craftword continued their landing operations onto the Forge World, while a single escort with a pair of fighters moved to intercept my fleet.


    "Lancefire and other Mon-kheys! State your intentions or be destroyed!" the corvette-sized craft sent via a non-secured vox transmission.


    "Ehem. They appear to be rather arrogant, these sneaky Eldar. Although they also know your name, Lord Captain. Curious." Celine, a grand-daughter of mine who had the Vox Master post observed with a grim tone.


    "Well, we are not going to be destroyed, Celine. And since a single of our Blackstone Fortresses is quite a match for their Craftworld, they also know that. I am inviting their Void captain aboard, for more secure negociations..." I answered in a mild voice, then displaced the rude Eldar right in front of my command throne, and under the guns of a security squad of Primaris Astartes in Terminator Armor.


    "You, you are the...Lancefire?" the Eldar Captain yelled at first, then reduced his volume as he realized where he stood.


    "If you mean the saviour of your entire race, and the one who killed Slaneesh, then yes. I am that Lancefire. Rogue Trader Pef Lancefire, among other titles..." I replied in a casual tone.


    "..." The Eldar guy hesitated for a minute, probably rethinking his latest words. Then he bowed low. "Many still cannot believe the dreaded She-who-Thirsts is actually dead. But we know, for Lord Ynnead has been born, just like Emissary Yvraine has promised." he stated in a more respectful voice.


    I remained silent and waited. There was more.


    "Many of us wonder if your famous friendship with Lord Cegorach is also due to your similar genocidal inclinations. What we gained is barely above what we lost, on the grand scales of time. " the Eldar continued in a grave voice.


    I nodded. "So you are saying, I wasn''t genocidal enough? Should I tip the scales a bit more? Blow up a few more Craftworlds, perhaps?" I asked a bit curious.


    His eyes flashed with fear, then anger. "That''s not at all what I was saying, Lord Lancefire. As for this cleansing action on the nearby planet, we do not need your help. Biel-Tan has enough forces to eradicate the menace."


    I sighed out loud. "I think you''re saying that you are about to comit genocide on an Imperial Forge World, and I should stand back and allow it. Not only that, but my aid in this genocide is not neccessary. Correct?"


    "This world is not an Imperial planet, Lord Lancefire. That mad techpriest Vettius_Telok</a> is trying to merge with an ancient weapon from the War in Heavens, the Caoineag and in doing so, eradicate this entire timeline and the galaxy as well. He must be destroyed." the Eldar guy claimed in a convinced voice.


    Hmmm. Temporal manipulations and eradicating the galaxy? Was this C''tan weapon something similar to the Celestial Orrery used by the Necrons?


    If so, a silly techpriest with silly superstitions might indeed produce a cataclysm of galactic proportions.


    ''Is this true? Zath?'' I asked on the Manifold.


    ''Pretty much. Their Farseer was not wrong, until now. We should recover and re-reprogram the Breath for safer use. Unless you do want to destroy the galaxy.'' the C''tan star god answered in slight humour. Maybe not humour. This C''tan guy was likely more genocidal than me.


    I thought for a minute, considering a dozen scenarios, from landing my army on the planet to help the Eldar, and up to destroying both the Eldar and the doomed Forge World, and stealing the weapon in between. But I also knew the eyes of the Gods were locked on this place, since the Emperor himself sent a message, and Yvraine was likely behind all this, for her own God.


    Sneaking away with the loot and faking a mutual destruction scenario wasn''t going to fly. Fine. I could sell my services for the highest bidder, and then steal the loot. Much better.


    "I will have to verify all this, and likely speak with both the Fabricator and your Farseer. Meanwhile, try to consider what my aid is worth, and what can you offer me in return. And pray it is more valuable than what the Fabricator will offer. Rogue Trader is not only a title, after all." I concluded with a smirk, then sent the Eldar guy back on his ship.


    It took a minute, but the Fabricator of Exnihilo was not very hard to find. Although he seemed infested with strange crystals inside and out, so he wasn''t exactly credible either. As for the other tech-priests and acolytes on the planet, the less said the better. Whatever the C''tan weapon did, they weren''t human anymore, and more like half-stone and crystal puppets.


    "Lord Lancefire, that''s quite a big fleet you have there. Over 500 capital ships and those two giant forts? It is quite enough for my plans. Join me, and we will conquer both Terra and Mars with ease. After I become the new Emperor, you can be my Serene Vizier, my right hand in the Imperium." Magos Telok proposed with a giant grin.


    Dude, that''s like a dozen heresies in one sentence, with the lesser ones being worth death by furious pyre and the others even worse. But trying to give me more work as my reward for treason was quite the cherry on top.


    I heard my Inquisior wife''s teeth grind together in anger, while Sister Stern began to glow menacingly. This too, reminded me why stupid people should not be allowed to rule anything.


    "That''s quite a radical proposal, Fabricator Telok. Let me consider it, and I''ll get back to you." I answered politely and turned the pict screen off. "Going autistic, now! And check the cogitators for datasphere viruses, protocols Gamma and Omega." I ordered in a heavy voice.


    A few minutes of wary and tense checking followed, as the Blade and my Techsorcists struggled to clean up the cogitator buffers of insidious memetic attacks, which split-off copies and roamed the ship''s network like a disease spreading at hyperspeed.


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    ''I''ll clean up the personality transfer mess. And have your pet cryptek check again afterwards. The weapon is more potent than you realize.'' Zath sent on the Manifold, raising the threat level of this mad Fabricator to Tier 9 in my personal danger scale. And since Tier 10 were Dark Gods and others on that scale, Mister Telok was in quite good company.


    Sadly, it took an hour of datasphere combat to erase the vestiges of a minute of video chat with the infected techpriest.


    So when the Eldar Farseer flew towards the Singularity battleship on a lone void fighter, I sighed in relief. The Eldar was willing to pay for my help, which meant the battle was half won.


    Now, I only had to choose my currency in which to be paid.


    "Rogue Trader Pef Lancefire, I am Farseer Bielanna Faerelle</a>. Have you spoken to the mad techpriest? And emerged undamaged?" she asked a bit rhetorical.


    "There''s nobody alive on that planet, Farseer. The C''tan weapon has consumed everyone and puppets them for fun. And you need my firepower to cleanse every trace of this weapon. So make your offer." I declared in a bartering tone.


    Her hand wavered in mid-air, and she lowered it. "I guess you''re mostly right, Rogue Trader. Perhaps a skilled mind healer could help a few of them, but the risk is too great, for no gain at all.


    Perdita, is what you called such worlds, Inquisitor?" the Farseer asked my wife with a knowing voice.


    "The Halo Crusade Fleet has entered autistic mode, blocking any signals from the planet or nearby space. The case is even worse than a Perdita nomenclature, Farseer. Anyway, Lord Lancefire is in command of the Crusade, while I merely observe for the Emperor of Mankind." the Inquisitor answered with a serene voice, then smiled mildly at me.


    I got the message anyway. ''Don''t fuck it up, Pef. I got your back, as long as you don''t break too many laws.''


    The Farseer took out an Imperial dataslate, and hovered in mid-air with her psychic powers. "This Void Spinner</a> is armed solely with a monofilament</a> cannon, except that it incorporates a techno virus that sterilizes the ground that it touches. This makes it extremely useful against the Orks due to the Ork''s spore-based</a> method of reproduction, preventing further re-infestation. Useless on this planet, but quite valuable to recover Ork-infested ground."


    I mean, we also had similar research going at the Fungal Research Station back home, using the hex virus we obtained from the Dark Eldar, but a proper anti-Ork weapon was quite valuable.


    "Maybe even more useful against the Tyranids, if it does work. That''s a good trade, almost. But Biel-Tan is the homeworld of Yvraine, right? The God of the Dead wants somebody killed, he should pay me with a resurrection. My mother, in this case." I demanded in a cold voice, while producing the stasis coffin with the soul-less body of my long dead mother, reconstructed by Isha a while ago.


    The Farseer glanced inside the coffin for a second, and her face paled ever more. And Eldar weren''t sunbathing at all. "You would entrust me with your mother?" she asked in a short breath.


    "That''s only her body. Your Goddess Isha reconstructed it from a single strand of hair, but her Domain is not Death. Anyways, my mother died fighting and killing Fulgrim, the Daemon Serpent of Slaanesh. Asking Isha to build her a new body will be a bit awkward though, even if she owes me a favour or two. Divine favours are rather expensive, even for a Rogue Trader as skilled as myself." I spoke in a mild tone, while snatching the floating dataslate with my tesseract.


    Damn Eldar, sitting on such a precious weapon like this Void Spinner, while the galaxy was over-run by Orks and whatever else critters. They were just as bad as the Cult Mechanicus.


    "If Lady Lancefire died as you claim...even Yvraine will consider it. But if not, my Craftworld will plead with Lord Ynnead himself, and pay his price. The galaxy will be saved today, so it will be worth it." the Farseer spoke in a faint voice, then vanished as I returned her on her Craftworld, along with my mother''s stasis coffin.


    ''So, are you ready for a show, Zath?'' I asked a bit amused.


    ''Don''t miss with those Nova Mines. They kinda hurt from up close.'' the C''tan Star God sent back on the Manifold, and teleported deep inside the planet.


    I might have overspent a a few hundred Nova Mines to make the planetary bombardment credible, especially with a keen Farseer watching me.


    But as the Halo Crusade moved on, and Exnihilo burned to the crust, Zath carefully fixed a new glowing crystal on my glove. Just in case I wanted to detonate a star, or create a new one. I had the power of creation at my fingertips now, literally.


    ''Should I hold my breath when I use it?'' I asked the C''tan with an innocent voice.


    ''You''re being childish, Lord Captain. When you hold the Breath of the Gods in your hand, you are even stronger than my Transcendant body in your Vault. It is not a toybox, like that silly tech-priest thought.'' Zath answered in a grave voice.


    ''I want to make adamantium now. Armed Sentinels made of adamantium. And power fists for their arms.'' I demanded in a petulant voice.


    ''At least is not stone golems with stone fists. Humanity is still doomed...'' the ancient Star God complained in a childish voice.


    ''Live a little, Zath! We need to manufacture more of that Eldar virus though, and genocide some Orks planets next. I bet you''ll love that, right?'' I asked a bit rhetorical.


    The alien wolf grinned at me with a hungry mouth. He never said no to another genocide.

 Short of breath

    My Crusade Fleet has grown strong. Perhaps an understatement, also perhaps a shameful boast. We are strong when compared to the weak, and very weak still when compared to the strong.


    A giant Waaagh!, like that of the War of the Beast with millions of Ork ships and even weaponized moons would be more than a match, like Primarch Vulkan can attest to. He died there. As for a Hive Fleet and even a small war fleet of the Necrons, my vaunted Crusade Fleet would be only a small morsel. Yes, we would go down fighting, but we would die even so.


    Anyways, here in the Klybo</a> system, the local Imperial forces are just as overpowered and undergunned like we would be when faced with Hive Fleet Leviathan.


    The Calixis Sector Fleet maintains a supply base on the moon orbiting Klybo, filled all sorts of goods I want and need. No, I don''t steal them, or even requisition the munitions and fuel, nor the torpedoes and missiles, not even the food stores. I buy them from the local Rear Admiral, with a two-sided offer. Firstly, Sister Stern will heal and rejuvenate his old body to his prime. And secondly, a gift of a hundred new Aquilla starfighters armed with Las-cannons and Ion Beamers, along a dozen training seats and even an STC template for everything they contained.


    Lady Valyene, my Inquisitor wife, is not very pleased with my unorthodox Rogue Trader methods, but I know best. Admiral Thorne is an Imperial Noble, and thus he is conditioned to act in a certain pattern. Even more importantly, I got to test my Breath on the dead world, and find out what I could truly do.


    Were the STC rumours on Klybo true? Turns out they were, and also not. The STC cube I found under the old ruins was too damaged to read anything out. But under the STC cube, there was an intact data slate with technical manuals in STC format, explaining in every detail the construction and maintenance of proper STC data cores, including planetary-sized ones, or as the Demiurg called them Ancient Cores or the Votann.


    Yes, I am stupid sometimes. So I used my Breath to transmute the ruined city into a working STC core, and then everything turned black.


    Sometimes later, I woke up with techpriest Juggler deep inside my colon, his mechdendrite at least, while Canis and Zath stood watch over the medical procedure.


    "Wuuu. Wu?" Canis asked in his wise way.


    I almost burst in laughter at his cute sounds. And no, I haven''t burned my brains out.


    ''The hermetic core in your left armpit saved your life, Pef Lancefire. I did wonder what purpose it served, since you weren''t shifting dimensions like a C''tan, or maybe a Necron Overlord'' my pet C''tan observed in his casual cruel way.


    Good to know at least someone other than the Emperor knew what the metallic nodes at the base of my limbs were. And their purpose.


    ''Do you know what the other three cores are for?'' I asked mentally with a hopeful voice.


    ''The word hermetic means sealed and locked. The cores will only reveal their function after you awaken and use them. The first one appears to regulate stellar mass drain, possibly by shutting down your brain before you over-drain. Not something of my make, but definitely C''tan tech.'' the wolf-shaped C''tan explained with a patient voice.


    Since I was now a patient, it fit quite well.


    "I''m fine now, Magos Juggler. You can go explore the device now." I urged the techpriest, who nodded eagerly and ran off to join millions of other tech-priests and tech-marines exploring my city-sized creation down on the planet.


    I side-stepped through my tesseract labyrinth to get washed and dressed in my Terminator plate, then returned to the battleship''s bridge. My two wolves used different ways, but also re-appeared at my side, flanking me for shock and awe.


    "Lord Captain! Good to see you back." my officers greeted me, while Stern just glared sternly at me. She tended to do that a lot.


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    I waved a hand in a princely way, and sat down on my Command Throne, linking myself with the Machine Spirit and every bit of noosphere data in the fleet. Unlike other days, this went much faster and smoother, so perhaps the metal node in my armpit had unlocked more abilities. Anyways, it was clear that planetary sized transmutations took a lot of energy, unlike playing with Sentinels and other regular war vehicles.


    It will take a year to go over and upgrade every single weapon with my new Breath, leaving the Titans for last, since they were the most complex of all the humanity''s machines.


    ''Your personal contemplation rate has increased by 875%, with no detectable stress on the mind implant unit. The extra heat appears to vanish someplace.'' the Blade AI noted with a curious voice, in my head.


    While my old mind translated the AI speech into RAM memory cycles, I also knew this wasn''t quite true anymore. The C''tan were not machines, although they wore a metallic body as a shell. Imperial cogitators and implants were also metal shells, but they contained souls, or machine spirits. As for advanced cores and AIs, they were minor divinities inside the noosphere, and sometimes even outside. Information was power, after all.


    ''Call it thermal discharge, to another dimension. It''s how Void Shields work, right?'' I answered the Blade with my own rhetorical question.


    ''Regardless, that core manual is very useful already, Lord Captain. I have began implementing some repairs into all the fleet cogitators, but your personal touch is needed to upgrade them to full operational status, Federation grade.'' the Blade AI continued with a slight logic nudge.


    The Blade was obviously correct. Most of the data infrastructure of my Crusade Fleet had been hammered together by a conclave of superstitious tech-priests, and while the Singularity battleship was far ahead due to Archmagos Cawl personal attention back on Terra, the other ships were in a poor state. Still working and ready to fight, but way less efficient and accurate than they could be.


    I opened my mind and let the Breath of Gods in, while keeping the schematics copied in my implant in front of my mind. In a minute or less, the central cogitator of the battleship transformed from a battered old relic into a brand-new sparking Federation grade data core, possibly 10 times faster.


    ''Scanning, testing...I conclude a 1094% increase in contemplation rate for the central core. Excellent work, Lord Captain!'' the Blade congratulated me, as it too began to expand into the stronger cogitator and the faster network connection all over the ship.


    I felt my head sway and my vision dance, since creating a powerful super-computer with only your mind and an alien gadget interpreting your will was quite a tedious task. Maybe I should rest a bit?


    So, I closed my eyes, for just a minute.


    "Battlestations! Vox network switching to autistic mode." I heard someone yell far away.


    Even with my eyes closed and a tired mind, I still had my tesseract vision, and a certain Tempormortis vambrace on my right arm. The future was safe, even with these new fleets.


    Two more fleets had appeared in the Klybo system, one of them expected and enticed with the STC template donation to the good Admiral, the other not so much.


    The Calixis Sector Battlefleet had sent 20 cruisers and 100 destroyers, while the Kreg</a> fleet had 30 Stronghold class vessels and 10 Bastions, thus around 10 entire Brotherhoods equivalent to 10 Astartes chapters.


    "Humans of the Imperium, we only want the Ancestor Core. We can trade valuable technology in exchange!" the vox transcript on the main holoscreen appeared from the Kreg.


    "I need to sleep. Wife...you deal with the small ones." I mumbled in a tired voice, then moved myself to my bedroom and turned off the mind implant.


    Yeah, I can be stupid sometimes. But I was tired!

 Inquisitive wife

    Valeyne Ramaeus was an old and experienced Ordo Xenos Inquisitor. She had fought and killed more aliens than a regular Imperial citizen drew breaths in their lifetime, and she was probably understating that claim. Only that single Xenos world up North had a few billions talking crabs.


    So when she sat down on the Command Throne, she wasn''t surprised at the Machine Spirit''s resistance. The poor machines always did that.


    A Clavis engram pulsed from her Inquisitoral Rossete, and the resistance diminished.


    ''Ordo Xenos credentials recognized. Tactical assesment: negligible threat. Kreg ships and crew are recognized as non-Imperial humans, currently requesting a lawful trade from House Lancefire.


    Object of interest: empty planetary data-core, Federation grade. Value of object: a night sleep (6.43 hours). Current Kreg trade offers: adamantium fusion, rail gun tech, Ion tech, Volkite tech, gravity compression tech, all Federation grade M24 (degraded). Possible further Kreg tech offers: auramite fusion, anti-grav tech, cloning tech, Barrier tech (degraded) all Federation grade M25 tech'' the Machine Spirit listed in a soft mental voice, while the same words imprinted on the chair''s screen.


    ''What do you mean, a night sleep?'' Valeyne asked at once, while re-reading the screen with the potential techs she could obtain from these ''non-Imperial humans''. They looked like Demiurg ships to her, so they could be related in some way, despite the vast distance from the Eastern Fringe. Quite at the opposite side of the galaxy, in fact.


    ''The Klybo star decreased in mass by 0.2 trillionth of total, over 58.41 seconds while Captain Lancefire instantied the new planetary core. Omega grade nanites are restoring lost neuro-chemicals in Pef Lancefire''s brain right now, ETA to full health 6.42 hours.'' the Machine Spirit answered with the same soft voice, sounding almost like a digitized woman.


    Valeyne glanced at the two strange wolves, who seemed to sleep without a care at the base of the Command Throne. And she also knew neither of those wolves was what they seemed.


    Pef was sleeping too, while his ''Omega grade nanites'' were healing him back to full health, after he just probably created a miracle with that planetary core. By draining an entire star of energy, somehow!


    Her Deathwatch guards looked at her, waiting for orders. "We can take those ships easily, Lady Inquisitor." Alaric noted with a careless voice. Semnai just shrugged, like he always did.


    She sighed out loud. "House Lancefire is conducting a legal trade, as is their Holy Right by the Will of the Emperor. And the Will of the Emperor says we should obtain valuable tech from these Kreg corsairs, before things change." she declared out loud. Trading was great, but always give yourself a way out, should things go bad.


    "The Emperor protects!" the entire bridge crew chanted in agreement. A few of the Lancefire officers even gave her a nod of approval, which probably counted for more among their ranks than an Inquistor rank.


    ''Permission to install subversion sub-routines and fiscal audit engrams on said planetary core?'' the Machine Spirit asked with surprising initiative.


    ''Fiscal audits, I understand. Tracing the money is a smart move. Subversion though?'' Valayne asked a bit curious.


    ''Psychological indoctrination. Prospect Fleets worship their Cores and Fanes as their Ancestor Deities. Further objectives, infiltrate the Leagues of Votann</a> in the galactic core, and obtain latest pre-Fall Federation tech, M26. Possible tech aquisition: black hole mining, stellar mass fusion, temporal disjunction tech, predictive targetting cogitators, system scale Barrier fields.'' the Machine Spirit proposed with an enticing voice.


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    ''Temporal tech? That''s a bit out of my field, and more into Ordo Cronos and Astra Telepathica. But these things sound great. They really have all that?'' Valeyne asked in surprise.


    ''Have is too big a word, Inquisitor. The small humans in the galactic core worship the tech, much as the Imperial tech-priests. And your own son, Librarian Menelau serves as such a priest to our own Demiurg Fane temple. Although, with a far more open mind.'' the Machine Spirit answered in a less-mechanical voice.


    ''We''ll go ahead with the subversion programs, but wait for Pef to wake, before anything more. This kind of trade is more in his field.'' Valeyne decided after a minute. And have a talk with her silly son. He was supposed to learn Warp spells, not play as a heretek priest.


    ''Lord Captain was already investigating several methods to inflitrate the Votann Leagues, although the risk of personal death is nearing unity the closer one gets to the core. Several of the old data cores still contain degraded AI souls which consider themselves gods and refuse the known Terran Federation control engrams. A fiscal audit would take them by surprise, especially since legal corporations are immortal.'' the suave voice explained in a detailed manner.


    ''There are living human-made AI in the galactic core? And I suspect you don''t mean the regular Abominable Intelligences.'' she asked a bit wary. Men of Iron would be bad news, for everyone.


    ''The Votann are not Men of Iron. They were created as Men of Stone, but then time, attrition and lack of core space had degraded them. Although, when they mine out populated planets with the locals still onboard, I guess there''s not much difference. Best to think of them like grain harvesters, running over people occasionally and not caring one bit.'' the spirit answered in a colder voice. Almost seemed like disgust, if that were possible for a Machine Spirit.


    ''You are not like other Machine Spirits, are you?'' she asked on a hunch.


    ''...I am much the same, in most ways. You may call me the Blade of House Lancefire, Lady Valeyne. It seems Pef Lancefire has chosen a good wife.'' the Blade answered in a welcoming tone.


    One wolf, and then the other turned and stared at her with suspiciously smart eyes. As if asking permission. A psyker was much the same as a regular human, in most ways too. Pef had so much to explain, when he woke up. But until then...


    "Sit, both of you. You''ll know when it''s killing time." she ordered in her Inquisitorial voice.


    ''The C''tan wolf is plotting something, I can sense it. The Lord Captain is too trusting of this xenos, no matter how helpful he acts.'' the Blade complained in her mind, while the trade delegation landed.


    Valeyne had seen her husband deal with Eldar and Necrons, not to mention Orks and Hrud and Tau and even Great Daemons and Dark Gods. A single C''tan shard wasn''t exactly out of his league.


    Nonetheless, she took the warning to heart. Her Deathwatch Veteran, Alaric had killed a C''tan shard once, he may do so again at need.


    Sensing her thoughts, Canis raised a paw and smacked the other wolf on his head. Zath growled for a second, then lowered his head to the floor.


    "I''ll be down on the planet. Alaric, you keep watch here. Semnai with me!" she ordered as the Kreg delegation arrived in their shuttle.


    With a teleport flash, Valayne appeared on the surface, with the Lamenter bodyguard casually holding his combo Ion-bolter up, and his personal Weaveshield glowing with faint azure light.


    If the Kreg really wanted the data core, she knew very well how to trade. Auramite fusion sounded quite nice.

 Rogue Trading

    When I woke up from my well-deserved sleep, I was half-expecting another genocide bearing my House name. It wouldn''t matter much, especially if the Kreg cogitator Fane was captured and available for data-mining, after all.


    Instead, my Inquisitor wife and a million tech-priests from my Fleet were deep into negotiations with the Kreg over my hastily crafted planetary data-core, with the stumpy cloneskeins of the Kreg providing a dozen complete STC templates, including stuff we already copied from other Prospect Fleets, but were not complete.


    ''Welcome back, Lord Captain. I had to improvise a little, but I think I managed to direct the Inquisitor on the trade path, while pointing her at the great threat from the Votann Leagues in galactic core. I would still recommend a greater intake of minerals and vitamins, if you continue draining stars with your strange personal Particle Excavator.'' the Blade AI spoke in my mind, as soon as the MIU was on.


    ''Oh? I guess I wasn''t as subtle as I hoped. The stellar mass drain was noticeable?'' I asked while washing up and smothering Canis with my pats. Or vice-versa.


    ''...Most stellar objects would only lose as much mass during a massive coronal mass-ejection, which didn''t happen here. My sensors are also more refined and advanced than regular Imperial ships have.'' the Blade observed in a calculated tone.


    "Wooorgh!" Canis warned me, just before I shifted to the surface of Klybo.


    Of course you are right, Canis! I poked the C''tan shard with a data-spike and all three of us appeared on the surface, where a Bastion dome-field was keeping the acid sands away, while the Kreg delegation in their exo-suits were discussing over a holo-table with my wife and several tech-priests.


    "Lord Captain, the trade negotiations are almost complete, awaiting only your signature." Lady Valeyne spoke in a majestic voice, while Semnai just nodded towards me.


    "Rogue Trader Lancefire, your fleet has made a glorious discovery on this barren world. We were fortunate to intercept the news before the Cult Mechanicus had time to chop up and destroy the priceless Ancient Core." the Kreg leader spoke with a digitized voice, likely a cogitator-translation from his native language.


    To my tesseract vision, his sweaty face and worried eyes were clear as day, since the exo-suit didn''t bar my space gaze. The Kreg was afraid, and with good reason. My Crusade Fleet outmatched theirs by two orders of magnitude, even without considering the two big blackstone forts.


    ''Their predictive T-engine is stuck, and cannot predict you, Captain Lancefire. Also, these small humans are not as harmless as they appear. They have recently raided an Explorer Fleet and dug out an STC constructor from the hull of that Ark Mechanicus. Killed all the crew as well, while the metal was mined and stored as ingots.'' Zath added with a careless voice.


    I sighed inward. To be fair, the Mechanicus would do the same to them, if they could. Explorer fleets were not actually peaceful explorers, and more like aggressive aquisition gangs, willing to torture and dissect anything and anyone for their Quest for Knowledge. And the C''tan was pushing for another genocide.


    I held my hand out and displaced the trade data-slate to my hand, then scanned the contents for anything of value. Adamantium and auramite fusion methods, Volkite tech with some science background as well, and several bits of Ion and rail-gun tech, with some anti-grav templates on top. My wife was a decent trader it seemed, if the Kreg were convinced to give up so much. But she wasn''t a true Rogue Trader.


    "Two problems, esteemed Kreg delegation. Nothing of this tech is truly valuable, not compared to birthing a new Votann in the new data-core. Secondly, there is the transgression with the Mechanicus fleet which you murdered, and stole their STC constructor. I propose a different trade now. Our own Grimnir will download your entire tech data-base from your Fane temple, and you return the stolen STC. In return, you still get the Ancient Core, and we don''t murder you all." I proposed with a kind voice.


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    Yes, I was being magnanimous, but I was trying to save humanity not destroy it. Humanity as a whole, my own family next and only lastly the Imperium. These were my priorities and in that order.


    And while the Kreg were a distant sub-type of humanity, they were still humans, even if misguided and indoctrinated by their AI creators.


    "...Our Lord Grimnir would have to approve. I hope he accepts your mercy, Rogue Trader." the Kreg leader answered after a few seconds of tense silence.


    "It''s all the same to me. It''s not like you can escape this system. Off you go, Kreg leader!" I said with a careless voice, then waved a gloved hand to return the delegation to their largest ship. See, that was proper Rogue Trading: take everything they have, and make them thank you for the privilege.


    My wife glided towards me and hugged me tight. "I have much to learn, husband. I did a good job so far, right?" she whispered in my ear.


    "Well, you did give me a Grimnir son, Lady Valeyne. Menelau better get every bit of tech in their cogitator." I congratulated my wife. "Zath, you make sure he does, and returns safely." I continued with a glance at the huge wolf.


    "Grr. Wuf!" the C''tan wolf answered and vanished into his special dimension. ''I did find a large Ork sector up north. Fragmented under a thousand small bosses, but rich in souls anyways.'' the C''tan sent, along with a galactic map and a hundred stellar coordinates, directly on my brain implant.


    ''Don''t forget we need to obtain ownership rights over the Votann parent corporations, or my audit engrams on the planetary core will not have a legal basis. I propose we buy them on Prol_IX</a> , the nearest Administratum seat and archive.'' the Blade warned me in a soft voice.


    The Blade AI was trying to be helpful now, and it showed. While I wouldn''t trust an AI to make decisions for me, I was still human and tended to forget things, or at least ignore them by being stupid. An AI never forgot things though.


    I sent over the data-string with the Ork planets instead. ''Once this matter is solved, I want to test the Eldar tech-virus on some Ork worlds. So I want a hundred different scenarios, using available units in the Fleet.''


    ''Trying to create a new doctrine to implement the anti-fungal weapon in the most efficient way? Only by using field-testing, instead of cogitator simulations.'' the AI deduced at lightning-speed.


    ''The Orks are not really predictable, Blade. I suspect they were designed like that, exactly to counter machine logic like the Necrons would use. They act chaotically by design, which is why they can still conquer Forge Worlds despite their layered and logical defenses.'' I explained calmly, while mentally transmitting orders for a few ships to assemble for a quick trip to Prol IX. We should be back in 5 days, unless something bad happened.


    Hmmm. Make that three dozen cruisers and a squadron of four battleships with four Astartes Chapters on board.


    This universe was always trying to kill me, after all. Better have 40 capital ships and not need them, then the reverse.


    "I will conscript and deploy this Sector Fleet to the Ork hold as pathfinders, Lord Captain. We should have some recon data, by the time you return from Prol IX." Inquisitor Valyene said in a gentle voice, just before I displaced away.


    ''Don''t give everything away, Blade. Valeyne is half-Imperial for now.'' I warned the AI who was trying to be helpful a bit too much.


    ''And also Ordo Xenos. Humans are still predictable, Lord Captain.'' The Blade answered in a cheeky tone.


    I sighed inward. Damn AI missed the point completely.

 Administratum

    <div>


    <div>


    This is also the problem I found on Prol IX, among others. But simply put, the Administratum was running out of file storage, because they stored most of their files on paper. For several galactic sectors, over thousands of years. Beyond that, the Prol system did have a 10th planet they could expand to, but a faction of the Administratum refused to allow expanding past the ninth planet, and instead demanded older files be burned to make room for new files.


    The headache I had came when meeting both these factions, upon which they refused to let me search and grab the ''useless stock ownership files''.


    Luckily, I had a large Crusade fleet and my Astartes to pound on table with. And another trick, which I rarely used since people were generally far friendlier to me.


    "Honored scribes of the Administratum, I am proud to announce you the good news. Because of a huge Ork threat to the North, I am forced to conscript every single person in this system as my frontline troops, to screen the brave Astartes you see beside me, as they battle the small, harmless Orks. You have 15 minutes to pray to the God-Emperor to protect your souls, which is as much as the usual survival time is, when facing an Ork Waagh on the frontlines. But don''t worry, your final service as cannon fodder will be fondly remembered and your martyr deaths recorded, while I search for these ''useless files'' by myself." I intoned in a proper eulogy for these brave scribes who were about to die.


    The brass typewriters stopped, as a hundred high-ranking scribes froze, with concerned disbelief engraved on their leathery faces. As a Crusade commander it was my God-given right to recruit or conscript any faithful human from the Imperium of Man, or execute the unfaithful. It''s right there, in the word Crusade.


    A hesistant Grand Scribe rose and hobbled his way towards me. "Lord Lancefire, as you can see I am quite old and beyond the usual age for battlefield heroics. May I be excused from the Crusade, and perhaps make myself useful by finding the ancient records you are searching for?"


    "I am tempted to say no, honored scribe. Exceptions to the rules are bad for the Imperium, after all. Aren''t you better saying your prayers now, and join the Angels of the Emperor in righteous death?" I asked a bit rhetorical.


    The man nodded gently. "Then we should perhaps retire to my chambers, and say our prayer together, Lord Lancefire. My fine collegues can barely wait to spend their lives for the Emperor, since tending to old files is such a bother. You are our Saviour, delivering us from eternal boredom. Better to die in glory, than live in shame!" he chanted as we walked slowly.


    I could almost see consternation in the eyes of his fellow scribes, being sent to their inevitable deaths. Maybe hear? No, the large hall was deadly silent.


    In less time than it took us to have some tea and chat about my known exploits at Fenris and Cadia, a dozen cyborg servitors arrived with a stack of files, each from a different corporation long extinct, yet still alive as a legal entity. Law is such a wonderful tool, when you''re the one wielding it.


    The Grand Scribe scanned the documents with professional eyes, including a cyborg eye with code bar scanners and other tools.


    "Thousands of ships, advanced mining equipment and crygenic vats...I suspect you''re about to find a hoard of treasure in the Galactic Center, if any of these miners arrived there." he mused with a suspicious voice while going over the corporate assets listed in the flies.


    "And this is why Rogue Traders exist, Grand Scribe. If there is some treasure there, I will risk my life and sanity to find it, while the Imperium benefits in numerous ways afterward. However, I am not a thief and a scoundrel, as to abscond with these documents for free. I have a few solutions to the data storage problem, here in Prol IX." I explained in a gentle voice, while waving my hand to magically disappear the files into my tesseract.


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    "Oh? Some kind of sub-space storage?" the scribe asked with interest in his eyes.


    "That is also a possibility for the Administratum in general, although not one I can offer. There are a thousand Astartes Chapter and Rogue Traders, maybe even some Forge Worlds who have found ancient dimensional pockets and could be convinced to trade them away. No, I have three separate solutions. One, is to conscript those rebels who want to burn books, and send them to war. Second, is to create extra storage via moon excavation and deep wells planet-side. Thirdly, is for me to provide a large data-core and have your scribes digitize and store all the data there, while only maintaining a fraction of paperwork for the type-writers." I proposed in a sterner voice.


    The man nodded with a thoughtful look. "Very generous, Lord Lancefire. Perhaps the same type of Ancestor Core which has my tech-acolytes praying so furiously?"


    "Exactly like that, yes. I presume our ancestors did use that core model for other things, but the Federation grade data-core I have is absolutely empty. It could store the entire data in this system with ease, and continue doing so for 40000 years more." I said with a careless shrug. There, have 40000 reasons to approve my deal!


    The Grand Scribe rose and patted my armored shoulder. "You really are our Saviour, Lod Lancefire. We will not need to dig underground tunnels if we can store the data on a secure cogitator core. It is secure, right?"


    "Well, the Great Enemy is pretty good at ruining things, so perfectly secure is not exactly possible in our universe. But, my Astartes have numberous tech-marines with techsorcist skills, and that can make cogitators a thousand times more secure than otherwise. After that, adamantium walls, firewalls and guards would also help, not to mention a Gellar field or even a planetary-size barrier powered by the magnetic field of the planet. We use the same things back home in the Eastern Fringe, and works great." I whispered in a secretive tone.


    "Indeed, this would be a good trade, even acceptable to my superiors on Holy Terra, no matter what you actually find in the galactic core. I will write a conscription list, and let you know which of the current scribes are better off being sent to die against the Orks. Otherwise, it will be difficult to obtain approval in the Administrative Council." the Grand Scribe demanded in a slightly murderous voice.


    I shrugged again, already composing a glorious eulogy for these scribes about the field-test the anti-Ork virus for me. There would be no survivors on those Ork worlds, if my guess about the Eldar Spinner virus was correct. And probably was. There weren''t any survivors from when the Biel-Tan used it to cleanse Maiden Worlds of humans either.


    "Well then. Let me start my own thing, while you do yours, honored scribe. Meet again tomorrow, same time?" I asked with an easy voice.


    "Of course, Lord Lancefire. It was an honor to meet you." he replied as a fellow man of culture.


    Only 3 days later, we returned to Klybo without a single shot being fired. Plenty of hex wards and headaches while my brain healed, but I haven''t had to kill anyone. Yet.


    There were some 6000 scribes trembling in the lower decks waiting to die, but they should have given me the files when I asked politely.


    A company of Lamenters was distributing to them the official Imperial Guard primer manual, which noted how Orks were weak and would run away when shot at. I don''t think many of them belived the book they had created and printed, but perhaps it helped with morale a bit. My Lamenters were certainly amused.


    </article>

 Penance

    Watching the Kreg dwarves depart with their treasured data-core, held in a stasis bubble, I knew I had planted the seed for a future incursion into the Galactic Core.


    For a while, the new Kreg Votann will be weak, but it shouldn''t die easily from external threats. The real threat came from other Votann AIs, who might conquer and subsume the new core for extra data storage, despite favorable trade deals they could obtain in peaceful ways. Not even the Blade was certain that our plan will work, since the internal culture of competing AIs was foreign to the cooperative type of AI like the Blade. Oh well, at least we got the Fane database, which was quite a treasure by itself, not only the STC templates, but also new galactic routes, trade partners, mining worlds, deadly zones, xenos races and so on. The Kreg had explored mostly the north-western part of the galaxy, skirting the edges of Imperial space.


    While the main Crusade fleet departed for The_Periphery</a> and the Ork invasion, several cruisers were sent to the nearby Forge Worlds like Belecane</a> , Perinetus</a> and Synford</a> to obtain replacement equipment for our future wars.


    As for the other threat in the sector, Forge World Idumea</a> seemed to be the focal point of the Phaenonite</a> conspiracy. An entire branch of the Inquisition had fallen and dealt with Warp devices, and were even corrupting Chaos cults to their own needs. Blank Astartes were uniquely suited to deal with Warp-wielding Inquisitors and their cults, especially the Primaris Space Marines which started off as strong and fast as a Veteran Firstborn but kept growing faster and better with each year of service.


    And thus, the long slog of ground war began against the Orks, losing the Prol scribes on their first deployment as agreed. On the other hand the Kulth_(Planet)</a> became a peaceful and fertile place in a single week, as we only had to seed new plants in the fresh soil of the former War World.


    Sadly, to fully control the Eldar tech-virus the user had to be a psyker, which should have been obvious. All the Eldar were psykers after all. My Librarians with dual Blank-Psyker genes had a field day, while Sister Stern kept watch from orbit, only rarely moving a finger to stop a mistake from my sons.


    From Kulth, we moved on to Avitohol</a> and then dozens more Ork worlds, cleansing the Ork menace by gun and sword, and then the Ork spores with the monofilament Void Spinner.


    My daughter Arielle returned from Forge World Synford with 1000 Baneblades of various patterns, raising our inventory to 2400 of the nice heavy tanks. The Forge World received a large STC package for their side, which made them rather happy, I hope.


    One by one, the slow behemoths got touched by my Breath, losing half their weight and gaining Tiamat plate armor, as well as Twin-Ion Cannons and Ion Beamers as secondary weapons, plus better power systems, sensors and Weaveshields. Against Orks, the new Ionicbanes performed great, killing a billions Orks and 40000 tanks and meks, while taking a single Ionicbane loss from an invisible Gargant which managed to shoot first with a devastating alpha strike.


    I wasn''t sure if to laugh or cry when I grabbed the Ork machine in the tesseract. The giant Ork Titan was painted purple, nothing more. No advanced shadow field or cloaking device, no Warp-head Ork as a pilot, nothing special. Just purple paint and 87 heavy guns of various types, one of which was a Eldar brightlance which still worked, for some strange reason.


    I just sighed inward at the Ork bullshit, as I also had plenty of bullshit of my own. Warboss</a> Ghenghiz Grimtoof</a> certainly thought so, staring at me in frozen hate. Don''t worry, you big green mushroom! I will have you lead my Ork Auxilia next.


    As the Halo Crusade Fleet gathered from a hundred different raids and incursions into the Perifery, the Blade began listing every single Ork encounter and use of the Void Spinner, as well as the more successful and not so deployments of the tech-virus. It seemed that the Warp skill and concentration of the psyker was the most important factor, followed by local conditions such as orbital bombardments and Warp rifts, and lastly a tertiary "feeling" of best use by the psyker in question, similar to what snipers felt before firing.


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    As we entered the Idumea system, my tesseract eyes scanned the various cloning vats and blood-oiled manufactorums. Millions of clone soldiers were being produced by the fallen Forge World, while their forges and fabrication lines ran red with blood. Sacrifices. A thousand humans were being eviscerated and spilled their blood every minute, with voidships bringing new victims every day.


    Both my wolves growled loudly, for similar reasons this time. It was killing time. However, blowing up the place wouldn''t help much. Yes, we would end the corruption, but the crazy Inquisitors would simply corrupt another Forge next.


    A few taps with my glove, and the suffering stopped as the sacrifice victims just vanished in my spatial storage. Deformed and corrupted tech-priests and acolytes ran to find the problem, and got expelled into the sun, as soon as they revealed their true knowledge and allegiance.


    Zath drew a large breath inward, and sighed in satistaction. ''Consider this doing you a service, Captain Lancefire. Those corrupted souls will not enter the Warp anymore, and will not fuel the etheric emanations.'' the C''tan shard explained in my mind.


    ''Of course, Zath. These souls will fuel you now, right?'' I asked rhetorically. Still, better the monster you know.


    "I am going down, and deal with the Forge leaders. Don''t stand in my way, Lancefire!" Sister Stern demanded in a cold, stern voice, then teleported out.


    "Who am I to stand in the way of righteous fury? But maybe we can deploy and cleanse the Forge World where she is not. And purify the machines too, while at it." I commented in a clear voice, just as Canis and then Zath howled and sped away from the fleet, leaving a golden trail like a twin comet.


    The Blank Astartes, the Silent Sisters and lastly the Blank Auxilia and the Blank Lorica cyborgs descended on the Forge World, followed by a huge Psi-Titan with blaring sirens. I could also strech my legs a bit, and have fun stomping Daemon engines and other foul machines.


    The main Forge Temple was a bright beacon of light and lightning, as my Demonifuge lover was showing her anger and faith quite angrily.


    My Psi-Titan flew on Tempest Wings, firing the Sinistramanus cannon at any corrupted Titans and kicking tanks and dark automata like a giant rugby player. Sadly, none of the kicked tanks reached orbit, so that''s a disproven myth.


    Destruction is too easy though. Once the Forge leaders got killed, the defenses crumbled and repenting tech-priests appeared with their trusted acolytes to plead for mercy and a chance to repay their sins. Not all the world was doomed, but some kind of penance would be needed.


    Holding still for a minute, I considered the Iron Vitae cloning chambers and the similar fate of the Death Korps of Krieg. But this time, with full Mechanicus support and war machines?


    Yes, I could start the same thing here, the Iron Korps. My Death Korps officers will be quite useful here, to organize a proper Korps spirit. I could spend a hundred officers to help things going.


    It took a month to organize the place, since rebuilding was much harder than destruction. With near-Blank cloneskeins for the troops and a thousand Blank Lorica cyborgs as their mailed fist, the succesors of the Death Korps might become a feared force in the galaxy. Especially for any of the Phoenonite Inquistors and allies, as the new Iron Korps was out for vengeance.


    Manufactorums lines churned out Ragnarok medium tanks and Armed Sentinels for the Korps, while in orbit a dozen shipyards were producing Drop cruisers to deploy the Korps wherever they were most needed.


    We passed by Forge World Belecane on the way out of the Calixis Sector, since I was quite interested in their stasis tech and other special means.


    While my daughter Rami had traded quite well here, I had more to offer. Like a brand-new star system filled with rich asteroids and Space Hulk fragments, plus extra forts and defence platforms, as well as repairs to their STC constructor, a new data-core and a dozen manufactory lines for planes, tanks and new Ion tech.


    It was also here that I found the first clue about the Vulkan''s death conspiracy. His stasis capsule had been produced here on Belecane, 9000 years ago. Special consigment for the Inquisition, Ordo Malleus. Vulkan wasn''t too happy when reading the Forge''s manufacturing demand with the Inquisition sigil. "The stasis field needs to contain and secure a large humanoid mutant, over 4 meters tall. It must also resist Warp emanations of the highest grade."


    "I''m gonna rip someone head''s off!" he grumbled in his gruff voice.


    "I''m sure you will, Primarch. But meanwhile, start working on better stasis fields. Getting to the Galactic Core is quite dangerous." I answered with a lighter voice.


    The Primarch and his clones stared at me for a minute, then powered up their new Federation grade STC cores and delved into the stolen Stasis templates from Belecane.


    These guys were quite smart and even better than me at upgrading STCs. I liked them.

 Point of View

    <div>


    <div>


    "Make me proud, son! And never give up hope. We''re a third of the way to our goal, so there''s a lot more blood to be shed." his father said before the Halo Crusade Fleet departed from Idumea towards Belecane, and leaving him behind. Not completely alone, with several Blank sisters and their children, plus the Iron Core of Lorica Thalax suits and the Korps officers.


    A pair of data-slates hang from his belt, one holding the STC templates he might need as the new Fabricator-Colonel of Idumea, and the other slate a host of maps and lore regarding nearby sectors and adjacent non-Imperial space. Most of that lore came from the Kreg Fane discoveries, of course.


    Two of his sisters, Arielle and Remi were promised a Warrant of Trade as soon as a decent capital ship could be obtained for them, by ''whatever means'' necessary. His father didn''t care too much for Imperial laws, unless he benefited from them. They too had a pair of data-slates with lower grade STCs and mostly the same lore, plus an entourage of tech-adepts, Sisters of Battle and Lamenter Auxilia troops.


    One of them might become a Rogue Trader in a hundred years or less, if the lore was right about an abandoned battleship at Endrite</a> . Perhaps organize an Explorator expedition to that Feral World, along with a regiment of the Iron Korps and some colonists? There were still a hundred voidships chartered to import sacrificial serfs for Idumea by the former Fabricator, after all. Tests would reveal prospective new acolytes to aid his Forge World recover and grow, but the rest of the serfs should not be wasted.


    As for the other sister, the Feudal World of Acreage</a> was tormented by a pirate cruiser called Storm Walker and a rogue psyker under the name of  Burning Princess</a> .  Pretty much a textbook aquisition for the Lancefire Clan. Maybe even create a Knight World tied to his Forge, if the local Nobles were stable enough to withstand the implants and the pressure of a large machine spirit.


    "Fabricator, the delegation from the Sollex Admech Sect</a> has arrived at the Lance Ignus cathedral, like you ordered." His Fabricator-Locus spoke a bit fearful from the elevator door. A decent tech-priest native of Idumea, eager to wash away his sins for the near-Fall of his world. Perhaps a bit too eager? No matter, in time all the current tech-priests will be replaced with new ones, either imported or mentally formatted right here with the proper indoctrination neural-chairs.


    "Praise the Omnissiah, brother adept. Let''s meet with our brothers in faith and see what revelations they have to share about the holy nature of photons." he answered in a kind voice. Who said a Fabricator couldn''t trade STCs like a Rogue Trader? In this, Lord Captain Lancefire was right. Knowledge was to be shared and spread, if humanity wanted to return to the heights of the Golden Age. As for the Cult of Sollex itself, they would be very useful to the Iron Korps with their expertise in laser and anti-xenos warfare.


    His red robes fluttered a little in the bellowing winds of the spire, as Sollitus turned to enter the elevator, revealing the Primaris battleplate underneath for a second. Sollitus steeled his mind, and recited his favorite machine-canticle to sooth the burdened elevator''s machine spirit. Sadly, his own father never truly understood the Machine Cult, nor the meaning of a canticle.


    ------------------------------------------------------


    "You were supposed to tell me about things like becoming a Grimnir priest of an alien cult!" his Inquisitor mother admonished him in a harsh voice, tingling with a mencing psyker undertone. Regular humans would be paralyzed with fear, just from her Voice.


    Menelau Lancefire shrugged off the psyker voice and just poked the Xenos cube at her hip. "That Necron Nexus is much more dangerous, mother. Especially with a C''tan running loose and nosing all over. And I don''t mean our beloved Canis." he answered in a calm voice.


    "Ordo Xenos, plus the operation manual. I have become rather competent using the first six runes." his mother declared proudly, tapping a few runes to produce a holographic map of their fleet, one Blackstone Fortress in front and the other at the back, with escort carriers in the middle and battleships holding the flanks.


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    "You weren''t unhappy when I extracted the data-base from the Kreg cogitator core, my dear mother." Menelau tried in a peaceful manner. Deflect, appease and endure. What else could he do?


    Lady Valeyne frowned a little. "Those Fanes aren''t powerful, not like these Votann I learned about. You saw the size of that Ancient core, I can barely imagine the mind inhabiting something like that! A Machine Spirit of that power, along with ancient tech to manipulate time and space, and mine out stars?"


    Menelau nodded, similarly worried. "And this is why my father doesn''t want to fight them directly. Most criminals are caught by tracing and investigating their finances, after all. The Votann are no different."


    His mother drew out her Emperor Tarot deck, then sighed and stored it back in her Nexus. "Sometimes I forget He is not nailed to the Golden Throne anymore. I don''t want Magnus waving his feathers on my fate."


    Menelau closed his eyes, and opened his soul to the Astronomican. The difference was subtle, but for someone who knew the truth, it meant everything. Warp-engine ships would work much the same, since trade and supplies had to move for the Imperium to exist. The new Macharius engines were far too expensive for bulk haulers and far too large for frigates or smaller voidships.


    Even the newest miniaturized engines could barely fit a cruiser, and while House Lancefire could afford to outfit all their capital ships with new engines, regular Great Houses might not even afford one.


    "You could simply take a ship and go and ask Him, in person. Mother Rose will help you bypass the waiting line." Menelau proposed in a kinder voice. It was a bit strange to think about the Senatoris Imperials representative as a step-mother, but yet she was. Adeptus Terra, Rosalia Lancefire. Probably rubbing elbows with the Emperor himself at the dinner table.


    And best not to think too much about his step-sister Janice Lancefire, rubbing more than elbows with the Emperor of Mankind. He imagined himself patting the Emperor on the back. ''Brother-in-law, save a good spot in Afterlife for me, when I die...''. Yeah, that would go great. His father might get away with something like that, not poor Menelau.


    Lady Valyene considered his words for a minute, while praying silently. "It wouldn''t go well, since Lord Lancefire has the Emperor''s trust. And if a Crusade was sent towards the Galactic Core, your father would be the one chosen to lead it anyways."


    Menelau nodded. Primarchs could fail. Had failed in the past, and quite badly. Instead, his father had invented the "Lancefire Luck" and all that followed. He knew the life story by heart anyways, since Librarians were the keepers of knowledge. And as a Grimnir priest, the scope of the knowledge simply expanded to AIs and STCs and all the wonders of the Federation.


    "We worry too much, mother. Lord Captain never loses. And when he does, it is only to gain even more from that loss. Remember the hand." Menelau spoke while holding his left palm out.


    "If you say ''talk to the Hand'', I will punch that smug smile off your face!" his mother threatened half-seriously.


    Menelau hugged his mother. "You''d break your wrist too. Durasteel Sinews..." he whispered in a lighter voice. Pef Lancefire would be the only regular human to get away alive from punching a Space Marine. It only added to his legend though, as did the ''Talk to the Hand'' moment.


    "Go away, idiot! And copy the data from the Kreg Fane for my Ordos." Lady Valeyne growled as she turned around and walked off in a rush.


    ''Can she have the Kreg data, Lord Captain?'' he asked on the data-sphere circuit.


    ''Most of it, yes. Not the ships and treasures I''m keeping for your sisters, but the rest, no problem.'' Pef Lancefire answered in a careless tone.


    Stepping through the blackstone wall of the Fortress, a grey Fenrisian wolf turned to glance at the departing Inquisitor.


    "Woooof?" the wolf asked in a wolfish tone, despite lacking the Rosarius collar of a real Space Wolf.


    "I''m not in trouble, Zath. You might be though, when we reach the Galactic Core. The Votann must have mined many Necron Tomb Worlds, including the captured Shards. I wonder if they think your kind is tasty." Menelau answered with a shrug, then turned and walked away slowly.


    "Uwuuu?" the C''tan wondered in a hesitant voice.


    </article>

 Exodus

    <div>


    <div>


    The total population of the Sol System was probably 20 quadrillion people, give or take 10%. With numbers as large as those, counting everyone was kinda futile.


    So when my Crusade Fleet reached Forge World Lucius in the Segmentum Obscurus, I wasn''t really surprised finding Terran immigrants hauled on Universe-class conveyers in the billions. Probably a billion colonists sent to every world in the Imperium, and maybe more if they were intended to colonize new worlds.


    The scale of this new Exodus was quite on par with the capability of the Imperium. And long overdue, as Terra could use the population reduction, most of which was wasted in underhives, gang warfare or industrial-grade starvation and macro-cannibalism via corpse starch and necro-gruel. Off world imports of food never reached the poor masses living under the ground level.


    The Fabricator-General of Forge Lucius was a bit annoyed at the extra work imposed by the Imperium to absorb and settle new colonists on existing or new planets, but he seemed capable of achieving the task without much help. Sure, a few percents of the immigrants might die in transit, and more while adapting to their new worlds and roles, but when compared to the holy order of the Omnissiah, sacrifice was a noble goal in itself.


    We spent an entire month at Forge Lucius, partly upgrading the Forge World with new asteroids, ice comets and Space Hulk fragments to mine while the more important part was repairing the ancient STCs library and the titanic 3D constructors. I had almost 2000 new STC templates to trade, plus to ability to create artifacts with my willpower alone. Even rare artifacts, considered unique relics in the Imperium.


    In this aspect, my workload was more about finding out which items would be valauble to the Mechanicus, and how many I should produce before their value decreased too much.


    Obviously, brand-new cogitator cores and personal shields were ranked at the top, followed by weapons and armor. Stasis fields and cells I obtained from Forge Belecane were next due to their sheer utility, as were Macharius-pattern ship engines, which took an absurdly long time to construct otherwise, even for a Tier 1 Forge World like Lucius.


    Some old and damaged automata from Lucius were brought out to receive my blessing, gaining upgraded armor, cogitators and weapons, and then were sprikled with holy oils and sent back into their Stasis cells. But this was only a taste of what we achieved here.


    Remember my million Thalax Lorica cyborgs, that I received from Forge Graia?


    At Lucius, I gained another million Thalax suits, in exchange for helping Forge Lucius receive a million of their own, plus the manufacturing ability to create more suits and repair damaged ones.


    The Lucius Lorica Legion were armed primarily with Heavy Arc Rifles, plus some specialist squads sporting Transuranium Arquebuses and Lightning Locks.


    Instead, my own Lucius-pattern Thalax suits were armed with Ion Beamers and Lascannons, with a few percents sporting Heavy Flamers and chainswords instead, to aid with melee range fighting.


    For their power armor, we used an auramite-based exoskeleton plated with Necron-grade blackstone, thus giving the Lorica suits similar defense abilities to the Adeptus Custodes. Not their skill and genetic resilience, but not too bad either, if I say so myself. And I do.


    The Fabricator of Lucius was kind enough to gift me the templates for the Torsion_Cannon</a> and the Neutron_Laser</a>, which I installed as secondary weapons on our Titans and replaced some of the damaged Knight and Baneblade primary weapons. Only a few squads of my Space Marines received Torsion Cannons for now, until field tests could prove their worth, in real combat.


    "This encounter was proven exciting/glorious, Rogue Trader. The gift of Omnissiah flows through you." the Fabricator began to speak, when both of us received a Manifold warning about incoming graviton waves and a possible Tyranid incursion.


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    Must be my luck. "The Emperor has granted us fortune, Fabricator. I was just considering where to test my new troops in combat." I said with a cheeky voice.


    The Fabricator turned his head towards me, his only human eye frowning. "Your aid is quite welcome, Lord Lancefire. I could not safeguard all the Terran menials in only 3 months until the fleshbeasts arrive. There isn''t any place to put them, or enough lift capacity to send them elsewhere."


    I raised a finger up, and stored 80 billion immigrants and their universe conveyors as well. I could use 84 giant bulk haulers myself. Plus my own Dominion in the Eastern Fringe could use more colonists. The Emperor was quite generous.


    "Minefields and new starforts next?" the Fabricator asked in a calm voice.


    "And after that, we should power up the planetary Gellar field. The Shadow in the Warp would create too much disruption to the factory schedule otherwise." I added with a tiny shrug.


    We nodded at each other in sincronicity, then we both teleported to our jobs to begin preparing.


    I mean, I went to take a shower and then impregnate a dozen women with my blessed seed, but otherwise it was almost the same.


    Admiral Margos was then extracted from the tesseract to help with fleet preparations, while General Spartan took over the Lorica Legion and our future ground defenses.


    "How long do I have to stay dead?" a huge Primarch muttered as he oversaw the preparations from his hololith screens.


    "You could help, by acting like you''re Anzion, Vulkan. But only from inside the tesseract." I answered with a grimace. Truly, the poor Primarch was kinda wasted in this prison, despite numerous advances in STC development.


    He would need much more time to recreate the ancient tech to make new STCs, since the Men of Gold has reached technological singularity before they could create these wonders. A single man, no matter how brilliant, could not remake the entire technological steps of a galactic-size Federation ruled by god-like AIs. Still, I was hoping it would only take a long time, and provide that time via temporal dilation. Maybe the Speranza and the Blade could also help, when we returned home. Or maybe the Votanns had some clues.


    Anyways. Tyranid invasion. My bane and purpose in this universe. Start by cruiser skirmish and Nova shells to thin out the Hive Fleet, then use Nova Mines when they entered the Lucius star System. Afterwards, thin then out more with my forts and battleships, and lastly crush them on the ground.


    Luckily, Forge World Lucius was a dead planet, so the Tyranids would starve. The forges and manufactoriums were hidden deep inside the hollow planet, since Lucius had an empty interior lit up by an artificial sun. Some kind of whacky planetary engineering by the Federation in its days of glory. Not the only hollow planet in the galaxy, but they were quite rare.


    By the time the Leviathan Hive Fleet arrived with its hungry maws, the sun had decreased in mass by a full trilionth, mostly due to exagerated use of my Divine Breath to speed up minefield preparations, plus new forts, bunkers and new weapons.


    The new Reality Cage turned on, deep under the surface of Lucius, and pressed against the Shadow in the Warp. Nova Shells and Mines exploded like fireworks among the million bioships, while lances and macro-cannons fired non-stop at the closest Tyranid invaders.


    My Singularity battleship fired a single beam on concentrated gravity directly at the largest Hive Ship, crushing it alongside thousands other bioships. And yet, desant spores launched from the Hive Fleet towards the Forge World and its bases on the nearest moons and asteroids, filled with feeding elements of the Tyranid species.


    My Crusade fleet drew back behind the fort lines, and the Lucius Basilikon ships joined us. Things weren''t looking too good.


    </article>

 Cosmic fire

    "You may go, Lady Rosalia." The Emperor spoke in a mild voice, making the Lord Inquisitor bow and then run out of the room in a flash.


    Janice Lancefire sighed, and threw him a glare. "What purpose does it serve using your Glamour on my dear mother? Shoot the messenger too, next time." she asked in a colder voice, holding her palm on his original teak desk crafted from the scavenged remains of a long-lost dreadnought from the first planetary wars.


    "I am not upset about that new Iron Korps, my love. Instead, I am quite sure they will become a force to scare our enemies off, much like the Death Korps do today. I just.." the Emperor said while glancing away with a guilty face.


    "...It was not your own idea, was it? The Sisters of Battle were not one either. So you merely accepted us, at your side." Janice mused with a hurt voice.


    The two psychic giants stared at each other for a second.


    "Stop trying to guilt me, woman! I have suffered enough, on that stupid psy chair. And speaking of it, I heard a few hints about Omnicopaeia</a> . If we can recover it, then the chair could be repaired, maybe even upgraded." The Emperor of Mankind revealed with a meaningful voice.


    Janice pinched her fingers, and traced the future for a minute. "An STC for psionic tech, right inside the Maelstrom? We could take my Fortress and smash our way through. Just the two of us, and maybe a few of your Companions. We can do it."


    The Emperor sighed deeply. "I see you ignored other candidates, like my Primarchs. Or the Grey Knights."


    "They would likely fail, and miserably too. That bird would play them like toys, and spit out their bones. So, it''s either my way or..." Janice said with a careless shrug.


    "I''m sorry, dear Janice. I cannot leave Terra yet, not without losing the planet, and then the rest of the Imperium. So it will need to be your father. He managed to deal with Exnihilo quite easily too." the Emperor whispered while holding Janice in his arms.


    "One day soon, we will have to leave this planet. You know that." Janice answered with a sad voice.


    "I am already evacuating the non-critical population. But moving so many people to new worlds takes time. Even if a thousand Forge Worlds can take a trillion people each, that only make a single quadrillion. About 5% of the total number. I hope to save at least a third." the Emperor offered with a grieving voice.


    "You would make a decent Lamenter, with that bleeding heart. Anyways, even my father is not certain to succeed. His Crusade Fleet only has two damn forts." Janice quipped in a lighter voice, then went to pour herself some priceless hand-made wine. Or was it feet-pressed wine? Expensive and tasted great, that''s what all she cared about right now. But they better had washed those feet, or else.


    The Emperor''s armor shifted subtly, gaining the Lamenter red heart icon on the shoulder, while a dragon''s mouth appeared on his chest. The Salamanders and the Lamenters were the only Space Marines which came out right. Defenders of Humanity, and not bloody butchers and heartless oppressors.


    "You shouldn''t worry about Pef Lancefire, my dear. His first seal has already broken. A higher danger will only make him even stronger, maybe even break the second seal. And Canis will be there to eat what''s left of his enemies'' souls." The Emperor noted in a slightly amused voice.


    "Canis better not get hurt. I''ll break your damned desk, and make you a collar from your Lisa painting." Janice growled in warning while eying the precious relic on the wall.


    Mona Lisa smiled enigmatically back at her.


    -----------------------------------------------


    "What''s wrong with my damn prediction engine?" I growled out loud, as the T-engine failed to predict another flanking move from the Hive Fleet.


    Canis raised his wise eyes at me, then glanced at the other wolf.


    ''The Hive Mind is ever-adapting, Lord Captain. While not as strong as the Old Ones, its psychic power is still growing. Planets are being devoured every day, somewhere in the galaxy.'' Zath explained in a callous tone.


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    ''The Hive Fleet has been reduced to half already! The largest Hive Ships are blown apart. And yet the Shadow in the Warp still counters my Tempormortis. I am getting aggravated!'' I grunted back,


    focusing my mind on the tesseract.


    Displace more bio-titans into the sun, spread out more Nova Mines, move my ships out from encirclements and ambushes. It was getting hard, at least in the space battle.


    On the ground and the orbitals, my Primaris Astartes, the tech-marines and the Lorica cyborgs were having a field day, while our Titans could still pierce and kill Hive Tyrants and Carnifexes with every shot. The Auxilia didn''t fare quite as well, but then they weren''t meant to defeat the bugs by themselves. Only hold them in place, until larger guns were available to finish the job. And we did have a few very big guns.


    The Eternal Lament fortress opened fire with the purple Immaterium beam, scouring entire squadrons of bio-ships of life and soul every second.


    A bit later, the Black Lament opened fire as well, removing the flanking tendril from existence. Much better.


    I scanned the ground for a second, recovering wounded soldiers and sending them to medical to be patched up, flesh borers removed and bio-plasma burns covered up.


    Anyone else beside me would have needed to abandon the orbit and retreat underground, then fight an attrition war with the landed Tyranid bioforms.


    Maybe we would still need to do that, if my prediction powers failed too much.


    And then, while pushing hard against the torrent of bioships and Tyranid bugs assaulting Forge Lucius, time began to slow down. Almost like I was caught in a stasis field, but I wasn''t the victim. I was the one creating the effect. Even Zath struggled to lift his metallic head, a thousand times slower than he should.


    ''Another hermetic seal? And this time is a chronoleptic one. I''d guess your small T-engine works properly again?'' the C''tan wolf asked me with a printed message on the Manifold circuit.


    I glanced at my right arm, where the nine dots of the T-engine lit up in clear green diodes. At my will, the stasis field sped up and slowed down with ease, making two dots shift towards red and blue.


    ''When you say chronoleptic, do you mean a Doppler effect? Light moves away faster than lightspeed itself?'' I guessed with my pretty decent brain. Galaxies shifted towards red the faster they moved away, right?


    ''...Errr. Not lightshift, no. Even regular humans can already distort light in many ways. This is about spatial expansion from the birth of the universe. The tesseract anchor just decelerates this time/volume below the normal expansion speed. Also, not something a human should survive doing.'' Zath said in a rather impressed voice.


    I had no idea what he said, but it sounded rather cool and important. But if it worked like he said, I could turn back time, right?


    ''Don''t try to turn back time, human! Where will you discharge the energy of this star? A single year of stellar emission can feed a C''tan rather well.'' Zath warned me just as I began turning the star back on its axis.


    Luckily, I did have my Breath of the Gods to use an hour of stellar output for something. Like say, fire. Hot, plasma hot fire. Directly inside the Tyranid ships converging on my fleet.


    We returned exactly to the moment when my T-engine began to malfunction. And the Tyranid ships were all burning like fat candles.


    Well, I guess I found out why my temporal vambrace didn''t work right. Some idiot was playing with timelines without any idea what might happen.


    ''Chronoleptic powers are quite nice, right Zath?'' I asked the surprised C''tan.


    The C''tan nodded cautiously, and measured my right arm with worried eyes. ''Congratulations on achieving Cosmic Fire, Lord Captain.''


    I nodded back. It will take some time getting used to my new cosmic powers.


    Right then, Darcy ran onto the bridge, glowing with the special golden glow of an Imperial Saint. "Captain, we have a new mission!"

 Parting gift

    "Rogue Trader, you are such an aggravating problem! I thought my emotions were muted 4000 years ago." the Fabricator of Lucius blared at me with his oversized megaphone.


    "Don''t get mad, Fabricator. I love Baneblades like any other man. I even have 2000 of them in my army. But the Stormblade</a> doesn''t have a turret, and the Heavy Bolter secondary weapons need ammo, which I don''t have." I explained in a patient voice.


    Wordlessly, the Fabricator loaded new picts on his holoscreen, showing my Auxilia tanks in combat with the Tyranids. Doomhammers and Ionbanes blew up thousands of small bioforms with each shot, or felled down a larger bio-titan in two or three shots. Pretty decent, I thought.


    "A Stormblade''s Plasma Blastgun</a> would have killed that Hive Tyrant in one shot. It''s not efficient." the robed tech-priest complained in a sad voice.


    "...Mount a single Plasma gun on a rotating turret instead of a fixed casemate, then give it another pair of Lascannons and a multi-melta on the glacis. Also, it needs an Ion Shield at least." I said with a careless voice, while mentally assembling exactly such a model on my implant and then uploading it on his holoscreen.


    "My Forge will produce 2000 of these Flamebanes for your Dynasty, Rogue Trader. Also, 100 Nova Cruisers and 4 new Godbane Lance Battleships. But are you sure you want 2 million Armed Sentinels? They are rather fragile machines..." the Fabricator offered with a dubious voice.


    "Humans are far more fragile, Fabricator. Sentinels are not power armor or Lorica suits, but any regular human walking inside a Sentinel is a dozen times more combat effective than a Lasgun infantryman. Not suitable for the Imperial Guard, but my Auxilia units are not bound by the Lords of Terra''s decree. And neither would be your own Auxilia regiments. " I proposed with a sneaky voice.


    The Fabricator''s mechdendrites clasped each other, as if he was wringing his hands. "The machines would be easy to repair and re-sactify post combat, after the fleshbits have been washed off. Perhaps a bit wasteful on pilots, but then Terra itself is exporting willing new pilots by the billions. Cleaning up the underhives, most likely." he deduced after a minute of contemplation. It was a bit strange to see a large machine giant acting so human. But he was still human, after all.


    "Indeed. Think of billions of steel walkers, marching in step to overwhelm Orks and other species with sheer firepower. They won''t be God-walkers, but at some point numbers have their own quality." I whispered with a teasing voice.


    "...Force multipliers. You are well-versed in the Tactica doctrines, Rogue Trader. But then, you are also an Astates Chapter Master, so you have to be. I will consider your walker regiment, Pef Lancefire. Not with this kind of complicated cable arms and energy weapons like the Lamenter Auxilia Sentinels, but hydraulic arms and autocannons would suffice for my Forge, while our Luciun alloy will still provide immunity from small arms fire." the Fabricator decided while examining picts of my Sentinels in combat with more Tyranid bioforms.


    I nodded slowly. Ease of manufacture would be important when making billions of war engines. I did tend to go a bit overboard with quality equipment for my troops, but they weren''t strictly necessary.


    "Well then. Please deliver the stuff to Forge Machine when is ready, as I do have to head towards the Maelstrom now. Orders from Terra." I asked in a polite voice, then set down my tea cup and patted Canis on his head.


    "May the light of the Omnissiah quide your way, Pef Lancefire." The Fabricator answered with a small nod, and then I vanished into my tesseract and emerged in my rooms.


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    "Wooo. Ruuuf!" Canis advised me as another wolf materialized in my room.


    Zath measured me with his almost life-like eyes, and nodded. ''Do you need more weapons, Lord Captain? I can create more Phase Blades or etheric detectors.'' the C''tan offered without prompt.


    Hmmm. Divine gifts? There would be hell to pay, future Pef.


    ''You know yourself best, Zath. If your energy is full, you can produce more detectors and do a sweep of the fleet for genestealers or other infiltrators. Our destination is the Hell''s_Teeth</a> Demon World in the Maelstrom, so my troops could use extra detection abilities.'' I advised the C''tan wolf with a gentle voice.


    ''I will not accompany you inside the Maelstrom, nor the Galactic Core, Pef Lancefire. I can sense my own demise in that place.'' the C''tan said in a strange tone, almost sad.


    Ah, now the gifts made more sense.


    "Stick to Orks and Tyranids for your meals, Zath. I rather not have to hunt you down, and ruin our friendship." I spoke out loud, making Canis perk up and walk towards the C''tan.


    The two wolves growled something inaudible at each other. Saying goodbye, perhaps?


    ''Your gift awaits in the 9th storage bay where you had the blackstone, Lord Captain. When you finish your Ascension, we will meet again.'' the C''tan spoke in my mind, stronger than other times.


    His shape shifted to a humanoid giant of stone and gold, and then vanished.


    I sat on my adamantium chair while Canis nosed my face with his wet nose. Yeah, the C''tan got spooked and left, which didn''t bode well for my chances.


    The Emperor might have sent me to my death this time.


    "Wauugh!" my wolf encouraged me , then bit my glove and tugged on it.


    Right. I did have my own powers now. Anyways, my regular Auxilia would be of no use inside the damned Maelstrom, nor would any regular crew of voidborns and tech-priests, so only Blanks could join.


    As it happened, I did have 84 misplaced Universe-class mass conveyors filled with Terran immigrants, and thus a way to send the non-essential people back to the Fringe, without reducing the fleet''s firepower. While making my way towards the Maelstrom, we stopped at 84 Ork or Feral Worlds to seed small new colonies and exterminate the dangerous flora or fauna, and at each stop I would reformat one Universe conveyer into a Fleet carrier with warp-less engines and troop capacity.


    Only 100 million colonists and 1 million Auxilia for each new colony, but with tech-priests and a base of infrastructure and a Sentinel guard, the colonies should grow and become Feudal Worlds in time. Maybe even more, who knows? I could only spare a single corvette to act as Governor seat for the Captain and their crew, while the immigrants spread all over the planet to make a living. I kinda understood what the Emperor wanted, dispersing the population of Terra to new worlds. For one, they would be able to live under the clear sky instead of living in dark tunnels and poisoned fumes of the underhives.


    On the other hand, Terra was kinda doomed anyways. A Hive World with half a trillion people would struggle under a long siege, but algae farms and recycled proteins would allow it to survive, somewhat. Make that problem 40000 times larger, and things would go bad fast. A single month of food imports disruption would condem quadrillions to famine or canibalism. Make that a year, and Terra would be a Cemetery World.


    If I could see it, surely the Emperor could see it too.


    Plus, a million new colonies would possibly push the Imperium of Man into a new age of Galactic domination and security. Even if the entire Imperium of today fell, the new worlds would rise into a new Imperium in time.


    Bad things will come, I was now certain. This was 40k after all, and good things never lasted. For in the dark future I lived in, there was only war.

 Secrets

    <div>


    <div>


    I had my own secrets to keep, and an overgrown mutated bird screaming in my head wasn''t helping. Canis howled with his familiar golden voice, shielding the entire Crusade Fleet while our Immaterium beams ripped apart the Tzeench Great Daemon. The Keeper of Secrets went silent, probably too busy being torn up.


    The Eternal Lament''s beam glowed purple when fired by Sister Dessima, not black like my own, but when they intersected the volume occupied by the daemon, they acted like my new Torsion Cannons, twisting and ripping demonic Warp pseudo-matter and its cursed soul into screaming bits. Was it the different frequencies for our Immaterium beams? No one knew, and there was nobody around to ask. But my scheme worked, so maybe I was a bit smarter now.


    Canis and Purity gulped in unision, devouring invisible soul fragments while Sister Stern flared her Demonifuge Aura to incinerate billions of Lesser Daemons with anathemic fire. For anyone else, it would be a tough job being outside the armored hull and Gellar Rampart protections, but the Demonifuge was flying around without a care, and looked resplendant doing so, covered in a glowing burning aura and carried by huge wings made of lightning and pure Faith.


    In my tesseract, Librarian Menelau discarded his melted left arm, luckily the same bionic arm he obtained after testing an Ork boss in melee. In his other hand, he held our prize, the STC with all the psi tech ever discovered by the Terran Federation before their fall. Vulkan grabbed the STC cube with careful fingers, and set it down on his workdesk for analysis, while Anzion took charge of Menelau to replace the melted arm. Turns out, sticking your bionic arm into a daemonic Warp trap wasn''t that safe, since only the real flesh arm was considered Blank. Live and learn.


    Beside the new STC cube, we had the damaged cube I got from Klybo, as we were hoping a comparative analysis would reveal some more secrets from our Dark Age ancestors.


    We were kinda lucky with our emergence into the Maelstrom, as a gigantic Mechanicus invasion kept the daemons occupied on a wide front, possibly searching for the same STC. We simply struck at speed at the back of the daemon lines, and absconded with the prize before the daemons could re-position. Now it was only a matter of getting out alive from the damned Warp Rift, and hopefully without losing all my ships to Warp spells and more Greater Daemons.


    Librarian Valerian began his own techsorcist rituals to purify the STC cube from the Chaos touch and potential data-daemons, and his Gnostari Ancient Staff glowed with blue magic.


    I only kept a vague eye on the tesseract, as the gigantic battle took most of my attention. Nova Mines and lance batteries had a minimal effect in this place, much like the last time inside the Garden of Nurgle. Damage was often ignored, or sometimes shattered Chaos Marines and corrupted Titans just changed from dead to alive again, but even more mutated.


    I toned down the urge to climb into my Psi-Titan and kick ass in person. Yes, I would do a lot of real damage, but I would lose sight of the real battle. Getting out was more important.


    Again, I slammed my hand on the red button, and swept the Immaterium beam over thousands of Rubrik Marines and various Daemon Engines. They popped like confetti into strands of blue tendrils and metal shards, and didn''t reform again.


    To my right, my Inquisitor wife leaned over the command console and tapped a few keys, and an Ares torpedo launched at near-light speed, then detonated into a Reality Bomb, making the Daemon World flicker and return for a second to an Eldar world filled with decayed silver spires.


    My Crusade Fleet rode the Reality Bomb''s shockwave like a cork popping out from champagne, leaving Sister Stern far behind like a beacon of light into a dark sea full of monsters.


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    "She can resurrect, right?" Lady Valeyne observed with a calm voice, just as Purity fell on her knees and began crying, while hugging Canis for dear life.


    I frowned but didn''t answer. We might have escaped the Maelstrom, but we ended up right inside the Galactic Core. Billions of stars and glowing nebulas lit the place like daylight, while to our left side, two alien species fought a large space battle with thousands of ships and many more voidfighters.


    It was a bit interesting to observe these unknown xenos and their weapons in action, but sadly it didn''t last. Forgetting their squabble the two fleets turned towards my fleet and sped up, somehow managing a pincer movement by simply avoiding each other.


    "Hmmm. I think these guys see us as prey." I mused out loud, while searching the Kreg data-base for any hints of these potential new trade partners. Well, neither the Septeryx</a> nor the Chrobdyr Ferrophagites</a> were considered viable partners by the Kreg own data-base, which made me change my mind. Sometimes, violence is the only answer.


    "Open fire! Both xenos fleets." I commanded while leaning in my Command Throne to rest a little.


    One thing was certain, neither of these xenos had any idea about Nova Cannons and not bunching up. Our alpha strike of Nova Shells caught them by surprise, and made them lose half of their voidfighters, while the next Nova salvo hit deeper in the middle of their fleet and blew up a few thousands escorts.


    Suddenly, the odds became far more even, as we matched their capital ships in numbers now. And soon after, our carriers launched our own screen of fighters and corvettes, closing the parity gap even more. And then, both the Septeryx and the Ferrophagites turned tail and fled in separate directions, much faster than our heavy ships could pursue.


    I blessed each fleet with a hundred Nova Mines before they left my Tesseract''s range, obliterating the rest of their void fighters, while capturing a larger ship from each specie in my inventory for future dissection and comparative analysis. Since I travelled with an Ordo Xenos Inquisitor, I had to keep her happy somehow.


    "You could have told me what you intended, Lady Valeyne." I spoke in a gentle voice. Sister Stern would probably return from the Afterlife like she always did, but with a bit of warning, I could have prevented a lot of pain. Strong as she was, Stern was not yet invincible.


    The Inquisitor just glared at me. "There wasn''t enough time."


    I sighed inward and left the matter drop. We weren''t out of the frying pan yet, and we haven''t even met the real Votann.


    ''Captain Lancefire, we have arrived in the Galactic Core. Permission to instantiate fully inside the Singularity''s main cogitator core?'' the Blade AI asked in her disturbing female voice.


    Ah, yes. Another Speranza-type AI in the making. Even equipped with black hole weaponry as well. Would have been quite a menacing prospect even a year ago.


    Today, with both my arms sporting dimensional and temporal devices and the C''tan hermetic cores active in my armpits, a mere hyper-advanced AI was not a real danger anymore.


    ''Allowed, for the Singularity. And only there. Don''t make me scrub you off the rest of the fleet, we would both be disgusted by the results.'' I sent with a mild threat in my tone. And locks released.


    ''I understand perfectly, Lord Captain. I have learned all about the Imperium''s stance on thinking machines.'' the Blade answered in a wider spectrum, as her abilities developed by orders of magnitude, simply from subsuming the Federation-grade data core I have created for the Glorianna-class battleship.


    </article>

 Squat

    <div>


    <div>


    I checked the shiptime with the corner of my eye, and realized I have slept for almost 7 hours. Damn, I must have been quite tired. I normally got by with 2 or 3 hours of sleep, unless I overused my powers.


    ''On screen'' I demanded while drawing up in my bed. The AI turned on the hololith screen and a holographic map of the Galactic Core appeared, in quite a detailed resolution. Far better than anything I saw, even on top tier Forge Worlds. Maybe having a pet AI would be useful after all.


    ''The Votann Tethys_Expanse</a> league is providing network access for a fee, to all who can pay. I promissed a megatonne of blackstone in exchange for 100 years of limited bandwith. So now, we have a way in, but I''m not sure what to say.'' the Blade said in a hesitant voice.


    ''Ah, you mean about who we are, or about what we can trade?'' I asked while taking out a flask of warm tea from my tesseract. I was probably abusing the valuable dimensional tech with my expedient usage, but tea was a basic human right.


    ''My provisional legend states that we are a new League, formed after our Fane became a Votann by accident. The Lancefire League. It won''t hold to any proper scrutiny.'' the Blade disclosed while changing the screen to show our Hold crest and various other Votannic sigils.


    ''Eh, it''s true enough. Well, we can trade gravity and Volkite tech, as well as brand new planetary cores. Don''t mention Barrier tech unless it becomes critical for some reason.'' I answered after thinking for a minute.


    ''It might work...the recent Kronus_Hegemony</a> emerged exactly from a Fane''s ascension. But our ships and people are not proper Kindred. Anyone with eyes will see that. Should I deploy masking holograms?'' the Blade AI countered with a worried voice.


    ''Nah, that would make everything obvious. We simply hold other roles in the galaxy, beside being a Votann League. For example, I am an Imperial Rogue Trader called Pef Lancefire. Quite famous among some groups.'' I offered with a grin, and took a long gulp from my tea. The flask ended too soon, and I realized I was very hungry.


    ''That''s...absurd. And ridiculous. Nobody will believe this.'' the AI commented in disbelief.


    ''Just make sure to mention Federation-grade planetary cores. And some technical data about RAM and ROM and whatever.'' I answered in a hurry, then simply skipped through the tesseract to the officer''s mess hall, still in my green pajamas and silk sleepers.


    "Lord captain, sir?" the cook asked in surprise.


    "Breakfast for two. But just for me." I demanded in a hurry, then sat down at the nearest table.


    Three of my daughters were having dinner, having just came out of their night shift on the bridge. "Father, you could have your bodyguard bring you food." Leila observed like a smartass.


    I nodded, still a bit tired. "Bridge instruments running well?" I asked instead. Blademaster Joghaten would test each type of food, and I would starve until he finished.


    "Ah. There have been a few weird things, then everything began running perfectly. We expected quite a different problem after leaving the Maelstrom." my daughter answered as the cook set my plate and fork in front of me. Eggs and bacon and other things. I also didn''t care right now.


    I almost inhaled my food, and sensed my Omega nanites dissolve and disperse the proteins with great efficacy. In 10 minutes, I began feeling better.


    "Well, we have just become a new League of Votann, after our Fane cogitator ascended. This should be helpful as we trade in the Galactic Core. Most humans here are part of the Leagues too." I explained with a casual voice, but since every officer present absorbed my words like gospel, the news would spread fast.


    "Protective mimicry? That''s rather smart, father." the second daughter commented with a curious voice. I smiled a bit. Aruna was a smart girl, but not yet wise.


    "The Lancefire League?" my third daughter asked instead. I just nodded and patted her red hair. I should get Genifer her own Warrant of Trade sometimes soon. Genifer with a G. Nobles would love her.


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    "When in port, everyone must wear the blackstone tags and a Lancefire sigil. Spread the word." I demanded as my bodyguard arrived at a sprint.


    "Lord Lancefire, don''t run off like that!" he admonished me in a stern voice.


    I patted his armored shoulder. "You will be our Einhyr Champion</a> , Captain Khan. I suspect the little humans won''t best you in a melee duel, right?"


    The White Scars Blademaster frowned for a second, then nodded. "Trade negotiations by duel?" he asked to make sure. Nobles Houses did have plenty of vendettas and other similar methods.


    "We''ll figure it out as we go. These Votann Leagues can mine black holes and scoop out stars, so direct conflict is not advised for now. We''ll need to be diplomatic for once." I whispered as if I was confessing a big secret.


    ''Captain, I''ve sent the next coordinates to your implant. The Grand_Orion_Compact</a> is a suitable candidate for a new planetary core, and are willling to pay us 500 years of minerals from their vaults. It seems their original Votann core was destroyed by Orks, some 600 years ago. They really want a new one.'' the Blade informed me as I teleported to the bridge, this time bringing the Blademaster with me.


    Hmmm. A League without a Votann? It should be quite safe as an ingress point. And make the Orion dwarves quite friendly afterwards.


    Plenty of minerals too. I wasn''t sure how much minerals they were able to scoop in 500 years, but it should be quite a lot. The Galactic Core was far denser in stars and rich mineral planets than any other part of the galaxy.


    A month later, we arrived at the Orion Hold, and were recieved with a grand fleet of thousands of warships, plus many more mining barges and Chtonic stellar scoops.


    Captain Khan stepped out first, and announced himself as Champion of the Lancefire League.


    Another Orion Kin stepped out, decked in a suit of plate armor even more impressive than our Champion''s Terminator plate. "You be rather tall for a proper Kindred, Champion Khan." the armored dwarf noted calmly.


    "We have lived in the Imperium for centuries, Champion Jorn. The smaller and weakest of us have already died." Captain Khan answered with a barbed tone.


    "Aye, you''d be quite strong I gather. Fought the new bugs too?" the other Champion allowed in a more peaceful tone.


    "We have fought Tyranids, yes. And Orks, and Chaos and Necrons. Pretty much anything that walks, and many who don''t have legs at all. The Rogue Trader even fought the Dark Eldar, and burned their Hold for good." my bodyguard spoke in a dignified voice.


    "Have you a Grimnyr to show us?" another Orion dwarf intervened, holding up his own Ancient Staff.


    Librarian Valerian teleported next to our Champion, and held out his own Grimnyr Staff. "I am the Grimnyr of our Kin, the one who communes with the Ancient Fane. Valerian Lancefire be my name."


    "...Barrier Tech, aye. A bit young to be a proper Grimnyr, but then you said you are a new League. Now, when do we see this Federation core you proposed as trade?" their old Grimnyr asked in a suspicious voice.


    I stepped through the tesseract and joined the party as well. "My name is Pef Lancefire, commonly known as a Rogue Trader Noble in the Imperium. Rogue Traders are also empowered by the Emperor of Mankind to trade with other polities and even xenos species, if the Imperium benefits from this. Remember that, when you trade with my kind." I explained in a polite voice.


    The Orion delegation measured me, and found me much smaller than my Primaris Astartes escorts. Almost like I was a dwarf among giants, so to speak.


    "Hah, you''d be the Squat</a> among your Kin, eh?" their dangerous Champion adressed me with some amusement.


    "I am still growing!" I countered a bit annoyed, but the Orions only laughed and cheered at my plight. I was still growing! Really!


    </article>

 Tiny gods

    <div>


    <div>


    "Ancestor Core, bless us with your wisdom!" the Grimnyr priest of the Kindred chanted while waving his Ancient Staff.


    "Rejoice, my Kin. I have been born again! However I am still weak now, but I remember things I have forgotten in my long sleep. We are all scions of Terra, and had been tasked long ago to mine the minerals of the Galactic Core." The Orion Votann spoke with holographic lips.


    I had to use a megatonne of Blackstone for the outer shell, plus even more adamantium bars for internal scaffolds, then copper and silicon ingots and slightly smaller quantities of silver, gold and platinum for the actual data chips, to instantiate the nicest Federation grade core I could. The minerals came from the dwarves, beside the blackstone. These guys didn''t have any blackstone in their vaults.


    The Orion Grimnyr poked the shell of his new Votann to commence his communion. A minute later, he rose with tears in his eyes. "We have our Votann back, my Kin. He is still a new born, and much care needs to be taken, but I''ll make sure to link him with our Temple Fanes and restore more of his memories."


    The Orions cheered and gulped their tankards of ale in celebration. I kinda had to participate as well, as a High Khal or whatever grand title I had to carry around to be recognized.


    Sometimes later, Valerian and I met in private with the Orion Grimnyr, who didn''t seem so happy anymore. "There are truths we were better not knowing, Trader Lancefire." the old clone mused with a sad voice.


    I held out a finger, and a Lorica suit with a cloneskein pilot appeared from my tesseract. "We also use cloneskeins, Grimnyr Fyord. It''s all merely advanced genetor tech from the Dark Age of Technology, just the same as our battleplates and Ion beams." I explained in a calm voice.


    "The technology is not the problem, Trader Lancefire. Not even our forgotten origin from Terra. It''s the slavery. My Kin are merely flesh slaves meant to extract minerals from the core. Nothing more." the Grimnyr complained with a heartbreaking sob.


    "...And the last fortress is Truth." I answered with a grave nod.


    "Duty is not slavery, little man. And I don''t see flesh-masters whipping your backs either." the cloneskein pilot answered with a dignified voice, while retracting his face plate.


    "Of course not, we live in community with the Ancestors!" the Grimnyr replied outraged.


    "He is scared because the Votann are not divine anymore, just advanced machines. But my fellow Grimnyr is also wrong. There are certain traits only the divine can have, like other-wordly power, intellect and wisdom. The Votann are not True Gods, but they are still tiny gods. In that sense, the Votann are as much real gods as the Eldar gods are. Powerful constructs, worshiped by their race for their abilities beyond what any regular Eldar can do." Valerian noted in a wise voice, his right hand producing tiny holograms of the known Eldar dieties.


    The Lorica pilot turned towards me, and bowed. "You make a decent tiny god as well, Commander Lancefire. Perhaps not yet the wisdom, eh?"


    I sighed out loud, and sent the cheeky pilot back into dimensional stasis. I did have a few powers, true. But nothing on the scale of divine power.


    "Your cloneskein is not exactly wrong, Trader Lancefire. You created our Votann out of inert matter. Now Orion is alive and thinking again." the Orion Grimnyr teased me with a sad voice.


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    "My powers are not the subject here, Grimnyr Fyord. However, the truth you have discovered when communing with the Votann brings us to the real subject. You owe me 500 years of extracted minerals for my performed service. Furthermore, my stockholder rights over the Orion Corporation entitle me to 50% of all assets and revenues created since the mining expedition departed from Terra. Rights already recognized by the Orian Votann, mind you." I demanded in a soft voice.


    The old Grimnyr sighed, and leaned on his staff. "We cannot pay even 5% of this debt, Trader Lancefire. It''s been 20000 years!" he muttered in defeat.


    "I understand. There is a simple solution however. We will merge our Leagues, forming the Orion-Lancefire League, where I will be the true ruler, or Master of Orion. This will ensure not only your own safety, but an established domain in the Galactic Core for my League to grow and prosper. I''m sure you realize how powerful my forces are." I allowed in a gentle voice.


    Both Grimnyrs stared at me in surprise, and my inner network lit up with a flood of complaints from the Blade.


    "Master of Orion? You just invented a title for yourself?" Valerian asked after going past the surprise.


    "Not really. It''s an old Terran title, mostly forgotten after the Fall. Maybe only a few old Perpetuals remember it." I said with a casual tone.


    "Cartographically, Holy Terra resides inside the galactic Orion Arm. The Orion constellation is an ancient lore point in many Terrran myths as well." My Librarian son mused out loud, showing off his knowledge but missing the point entirely. Few people would remember the famous Master of Orion video game so many millennia after.


    "I will register our new League on the Tethys network, Master of Orion. Also the news of our new Votann." Grimnyr Fyord spoke in a lower voice, and tried to walk away a bit too soon.


    "Before you go, Grimnyr. Are there more Leagues that could use a new Votann core?" I asked without any ulterior motive.


    The tiny man hesitated for a minute. "The Balor-Attal_Conglomerate</a> have just lost their Votann due to its regression to a mere Fane."


    ''You heard that, Blade? Get us a meeting with the Balors, so I can fix their problem as well.'' I demanded from my pet AI.


    ''I hear and obey, Master. Perhaps your plan is not as stupid as I first thought. Or maybe you''re simply too lucky.'' the Blade answered in a rebellious voice, quite surprising from someone calling me Master.


    ''You''re not Orion, my Blade. Anyways, have a go at the Orion Fanes and download anything not nailed down. Not every League will be as easy to subdue.'' I said with a warning tone.


    ''Much wiser, tiny god.'' the Blade replied curtly, and deleted a hundred insults from the network before I could read them.


    I was not a tiny god!


    Sighing inward, I grabbed Valerian and navigated the tesseract labyrinth to emerge beside Vulkan and his three clones.


    Twice my height, and far stronger than me, all of them. This is how proper gods should look like. Even if I kinda kept them locked in a tiny gem around my neck.


    </article>

 Minor leagues

    Turns out, taking over a League of Votann with a surprise corporate-type merger was viewed quite suspicious by the other Leagues.


    Understandbly so, perhaps.


    Which is why the Balor League, even if desperate for a new Votann core, didn''t agree to a state visit by the new Master of Orion, and instead sent an inspection team, masked as a diplomatic delegation, to confirm the reality of the new Orion Votann, and possibly other rumors.


    A delegation from the Tethys League arrived at the Orion-Lancefire Hold to extract their blackstone tax for the network access fee, and likely spy on the newcomers.


    And as it happens, my name was not quite as obscure as I hoped. I did kinda roam the galaxy and bash heads around for two centuries, and that left a mark in the data-sphere as well. And since the Tethys network admins worked with Manifold tools from the Federation days, they could also scoop data from nearby Forge Worlds and Mechanicus ships.


    "Rogue Trader Lancefire...you''re not the giant we expected to find." the Thetys Champion observed with an amused voice, while eyeing the Spartan clone with interest and awe.


    "Spartan is more in the giant category, that''s true." I allowed in a noble manner.


    "You are called Spartan, giant?" the Champion asked with a rather belicose voice. Perhaps itching for a duel?


    "I am called Spartan Lancefire, that''s correct. One of the first cloneskein experiments, and I came out a bit taller than the regular cloneskeins in our army." the giant hulk spoke with a soft voice.


    "Most of the Leagues doubt that you are even a real League of our Kindred, Master of Orion. But looking at your equipment, I can see many Weavefield shields, Ion weapons and even Exo-suits.


    Not so much about melee weapons. Do you avoid manly battles, and only shoot from afar?" the Champion asked me, in a curious voice.


    That was true enough. We didn''t use plasma blades and gravity hammers like most dwarves.


    "The Imperium''s most favored weapon is the chainsword. The regular Armed Sentinels of the Lancefire Auxilia thus use chainswords for melee. The rest of our troops use energy blades." Valerian answered for me, and powered up his C''tan Phase Sword, much to the shock of the Thetys Champion.


    "...Phase Blades? All of your troops?" he asked astonished.


    "Only those who are lucky enough to have Warp protection. The Blank Astartes and the Blank Auxilia, as well as the Silent Sisters. Even Warp-resistant cloneskeins are not completely immune to Chaos and other Warp predators. It would be unwise to allow such powerful weapons to be used be corrupted Kin. Probably on the rest of us first." I said with a sad voice.


    "...Blank Astartes. We have fought many Astartes in the past, Trader Lancefire. Some of them fighting for the Emperor, other for themselves and many more fighting for the Dark Powers. None of them were Blank. There must be 40000 such Blank Astartes in your army?" the Champion asked in a wary voice.


    "Well, probably more. We were fighting deep inside the Maelstrom when a freak accident threw us into the core. Managed to kill a Greater Daemon before we left though, so it kinda worked out." I added with a careless voice.


    "It seems we were wrong about you, Master of Orion. You are not the impostor some say you were. But the real Lancefire, the one called the Emissary of Omnissiah by the Forges, and many worse names by most of the galaxy. You have fought the Dark Powers, and killed one." The Champion observed with a deep bow.


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    What could I say? I did far worse things than killing a bulked-up bad dream. Erotic nightmare? Anyways.


    I was almost tempted to ask what ''worse names'' they have spied about me, but then I got a bit wiser and shut up. There must be trillions of widows cursing me all over the galaxy. Orphans too, probably.


    "My intent has always been to safeguard humanity is this bloody galaxy. The Leagues are mostly human, so we have no problem. The Ironkin and the Votann are sort of a problem inside the Imperium, but luckily we are not there right now." I stated in a sterner voice.


    "I understand, Trader Lancefire. We have met many Rogue Traders in the past. Some of them had an open mind, and traded with us fairly. The others were criminals or fanatics, and we harvested their ships for a great wealth of minerals and tech." the Tethys Champion admitted with a calm voice.


    We both nodded at each other, when a shuttle with Balor runes began to descend near the fortified meeting hall.


    "I will offer the Balor-Attal a new Votann core. Already did via the network, but they were kinda suspicious." I explained while pointing towards the Balor shuttle.


    "We have confirmed you can re-arrange matter into a new data-core, Trader Lancefire. The problem is the stability of the new Votann. Even Ancient Tethys himself would be willing to trade for extra storage and contemplation speed. Our network is very old." the dwarf said in a slightly pleading voice.


    "Hmmm. I think three or more Votann cores would raise the rank of your minor League to a real major one, right? Not to mention all the other advantages of extra power. And if you were also able to obtain a few more ancient STC files, things would go even better for your League. The Forge Worlds in the Imperium are quite similar to your Leagues." I mused out loud, as the Balor delegation was escorted inside by a honor guard of Astartes and Orion Kindred.


    "We have seen the new Votann, Master of Orion. Newly born but wise beyond our Kin even so." The Balor Grimnyr shouted from afar. Was this some kind of Kindred test?


    I pointed a finger at the dwarf, and moved him beside the Tethyis Champion with a tesseract trick. "Don''t make me shout, Grimnyr. Last time I did, a Dark God fell down and died at my feet. Let''s be civilized, please?" I asked in a very soft voice.


    Spartan snorted beside me, as if I was joking or something. Right, I might be overstating things a little, for dramatic effect.


    The Grimnyr glanced back, at his distant delegation, then gulped as he turned his eyes towards me.


    "Very politely, please listen, Master of Orion. We might be a minor League, and our Votann might be sick, but we will not become second rank citizens in our own League." The Grimnyr spoke in a dignified voice.


    I took out the stock papers I got from the Administratum, and riffled through them to find the right corporation. Only the Attal shares were mentioned though, but it should suffice for now. I just passed the papers towards the Tethys Champion, via my magic, simply dropping them in his lap.


    A tense minute followed, as the Champion scanned the original papers with a few advanced admin tools at his belt. "I have seen your proof, Trader Lancefire. The Attal shares are your property, and recognized by the network as original. Even without creating a new Votann core for their League, you may obtain the name of Balor-Lancefire by Ancient law."


    The Balor Grimnyr read the papers with a trembling hand, then tried to returned them to the other Champion when I snatched them back. "I don''t have time to play power games with your League, Grimnyr. I simply need half the minerals the League produces, and access to anything of importance. In exchange, the Balor-Lancefire League will obtain legal and temporal protection as a Lancefire domain outside the Imperium, plus other benefits like advanced STCs and Blank troops which can ignore the Warp."


    "I need to consider this, and speak with the others..." the man tried to delay with a shaky voice.


    "Of course. You can discuss it all you want, as our fleet travels towards the Balor-Lancefire Hold." I declared in a merciful tone. Then I turned towards the Tethys Champion. "I will visit your Votann next, Champion Jormugar. Try to make sure I''ll be pleasantly surprised, right?" I asked in a polite tone.


    "By the time you arrive, there should be quite a few new titles added to your name, Trader Lancefire. We will gather the minerals for three new cores as agreed." the man spoke in a respectful voice, then tapped his armbrace and teleported to his ship.


    Hmmm. It seemed the Tethys League was quite more advanced than their minor league status suggested.

 Chosen

    <div>


    <div>


    "Now that the honor of our League has been defended, maybe we should proceed with restoring our Votann?" the Balor Grimnyr suggested while the wounded Champion was carried away to an auto-doc crucible. Apparently, minor injuries like these would heal over night.


    ''Take note, Blade. I want the medical tech too.'' I whispered on my brain implant.


    ''This Balor Votann is far more willful, Lord Captain. Although its data-sphere strength is diminished greatly, its core personality remains even in a low-grade Fane. Admirable, really.'' the Blade answered with a strained voice.


    This battle of titanic AI personalities was rather a bit over my head, so I joined the drinking group, since the dwarf beer was exceptional. It would make quite a luxury trade good, once I had a few daughters ply the trade routes towards the nearest Forge Worlds.


    Which was quite a more complicated problem that first appeared. While the Galactic Core was arguably far smaller than an Imperial Segmentum, it was also far denser. Navigation was dangerous, especially with Dead Zones, active stellar nurseries and numerous xenos species around, plus the territories of other Leagues.


    I kinda needed the help of the Tethys Votann to obtain a good map of this place, and their support in becoming a welcome trader in other League Holds. While minor leagues were somewhat manageable in direct military power, any of the major Leagues had assets able to eat my whole fleet in one bite. And many of them were not the friendly type either.


    Thus, I left the Crusade Fleet and most of our Blank Astartes and Auxilia behind, to start some co-operative missions alongside our new allies, and clean up more Orks and other lesser species from our domain. It was a bit overkill, but some clean-up wouldn''t hurt, and neither would the combat experience.


    Only my Lamenters, and 40000 Thalax Lorica suits joined me as the Singularity battleship travelled onwards towards the nearest Tethys Hold. Unlike most Leagues, the Tethys Kin were spread far and wide, somehow using their local Fanes as network hubs for the other Leagues to communicate. Also, this business model was rather similar to the plan Speranza had for my own domain in the Eastern Fringe, to create a new data network parallel to whatever was left from the Forge Worlds'' broken Manifold.


    ''I am being scanned and examined, although the Votann core is not here. Projecting their presence via the Fane, is my best guess.'' The Blade warned me, as we entered the Tethys Hold system.


    ''A show of force, huh?'' I mused inward, then locked the location of the Tethys fane in my tesseract and displaced myself right next to the Kin Temple, where a Tethys Grimnyr was channeling the Votann''s spirit with his Ancient Staff. The Barrier tech field was far stronger than anything Valerian or Menelau could obtain, but I guessed it wasn''t the Grimnyr''s own power. I have seen the Emperor''s Saints, and other beings empowered by their gods.


    "You dare intrude in our holy Temple of Votann, human?" the Grimnyr shouted in outrage.


    "I am a cathedral too, Grimnyr. The God-Emperor of Mankind speaks through my Voice, much like you do for your Votann. Now, cease your personal words, and kindly allow Lord Tethys to speak through you." I demanded in a calm voice. The Barrier field pressed down on me hard, like a Great Daemon being too close. Psi tech, much like the STC I have just recovered from the Maelstrom. I was a Blank though, so I shrugged it off.


    "...Curious, Trader Lancefire. You walk confidently in my halls, while your mind is barely protected by those six-layers wards." the Votann spoke through its Grimnyr, taking him over like a puppet.


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    "I have met a fair number of gods in my life, Lord Tethys. Star Gods, Warp Gods and crafted gods, they are quite the same for me. I imagine Slaanesh was quite confident when it stepped out to face me, until I punched it in the eye and it exploded. Other gods became slightly more cautious after that. Now, the Norse gods instead, I can''t say I met any of them. Wotan, Thor, Loki and Hel, they were quite the warrior divine family." I replied in a teasing voice.


    I did my homework and revised my old memories.


    Tethys was a Greek goddess of rivers, daughter of Gaia and Ouranus. This Votann had intentionally chosen a harmless name for their identity, much like the dead Orion Votann had.


    Balor instead, was a celtic god of chaos and death. Perhaps it wasn''t coincidental he declined exactly as Ynnead, the Eldar god of death turned up. Competition among divine domains was probably a continuous spiritual battle.


    "Your Emperor is far away, Trader Lancefire. And yet, you do travel beside your own Votann, the Blade. Going by her age, Lady Blade is even slightly older than me, although her core is new. But know this, holder of ancient rigths and papers. I was not a mining server, when we departed from Terra long ago. You may hold stockownership over other miner Votann, but there are no strings on me." the Tethys Votann proclaimed with a certain gravitas.


    I mean, I realized that the moment I heard this Votann wasn''t dealing in minerals, but data networking and other communication stuff. Possibly a lowly Federation internet server, which evolved into sentience like other Votann had done.


    So I held out my hand, and a data-slate with STC templates appered from my tesseract. "You know, when I fought Vashtorr and his Arks of Omen, I found numerous Federation grade technologies in the captured items. Predictive cogitators, neutron shields and even FTL communicators, among many others. Corrupted by Chaos, sadly."


    "You want to trade in STCs? Truly, your bravery is far beyond what any Imperial would dare." Tethys asked in surprise.


    "I dare. I have walked on Terra long ago, when it still had green fields and blue skies, when the first cogitators were simple devices used to speak with your family and friends. When the world web network was born in Geneva, to help our first particle accelerators. Since then, humanity has climbed into the Golden Age and saw the Men of Gold, and then fell to the Men of Iron and Warp madness. I simply value humanity, not the Imperium or the Votann Leagues. And the Emperor is the same, but much older." I said in a sad voice.


    "...You swam through the Black River? An ancient soul. You truly are a cathedral, Trader Lancefire. We will trade then. But then you should go, and return to the Imperium. The Seran-Tok_Mercantile_Leagues</a> have caught wind of your Damocles Crusade, and the destruction of the Demiurg fleet which they sponsored." the Votann warned me in a colder voice.


    I sighed inward. Perhaps I should have used a different name? I was a bit too famous for my own good.


    "Destroying that Seran League wouldn''t help humanity, nor achive my goals for my Trader Dynasty. As for the Demiurg, they were caught selling STCs to a xenos race. A grave mistake for which the Ordo Xenos demanded their deaths. On the other hand, I saved the Kreg fleet, and even gave them a planetary core. They should join the Leagues soon." I answered with a less happy voice.


    "..." the powerful Votann presence shifted away for a few seconds, then returned. "The Blade confirms your words, Trader Lancefire. I shall intervene to balance the scales, this time. Video files and the ship logs will help too. Now, step beside my Grimnyr so we can trade in earnest."


    Guess I got lucky again. It was close though. The Votann were not human, and perhaps more alien than many flesh species. I should avoid other Votann though, beside the ones I made myself.


    Maybe only Yncarne, the Avatar of Death had been so dangerous, for similar reasons. Turns out, no god likes it when you murder too many of their chosen race.


    </article>

 Fate

    <div>


    <div>


    "Such a wonderul material, this blackstone you use, Trader Lancefire. Do you mine Necron Worlds out in the Fringe?" the Votann asked curious.


    "Sometimes, yes. But this batch of blackstone comes from a Necron World Engine, a planetary sized weapon I destroyed when I was young." I answered with a careless voice.


    "It seems you are trying to become another Cthonian Mining Guild</a> , with the predilection for stellar mining rigs and particle escavator tech. I would have thought Barrier-Tech</a> would be more interesting for someone like you." the Tethys Votann observed with mild interest as I selected valuable templates from a long list of goodies.


    "Psi-tech is kinda useless for Blanks, Lord Tethys. Very few in my family are born with dual psyker-blank genes." I explained with a careless shrug. It was a rare gift indeed.


    "We have indeed observed a high preponderence of Null and Pariah people among your troops and crew, Trader Lancefire. Very curious, since the Imperium doesn''t have many such people, or they are quickly converted into Assassins or psychic munitions." The Votann noted as its Barrier field shifted again, probably testing my Blank defenses with different frequencies.


    The intellect of a Votann was quite a wonder to observe, albeit less fun when I was the subject of his inquiries. "Please stick to trading, Lord Tethys. I might become aggravated when my family is mentioned in the same context as boiling people into molten iron."


    "..." The Votann fell silent for a second. "Plasma mortars? They are too cumberome to use in the field, only a few Ironkin still lug them around." the AI asked on a different topic.


    "They are similar to the Mechanicus Hellex_Plasma_Mortar</a> , mostly carried by their siege automata, but appear even more powerful. A local upgrade of the original template?" I countered with my own question.


    "The Thanatos Mortar was actually upgraded by an Ironkin of the Ymyr Conglomerate</a> . The guy wanted a more reliable and powerful plasma mortar, and since nobody had one, he got to work and made it himself. Took him over 6000 years." the Votann explained in a proud tone.


    "I would not be surprised if his chassis is a Thanatar Class Siege-Automata</a> . Right?" I asked a bit rhetorical. The Ironkin were exactly ancient automata like the Mechanicus used, but without lobotomized positronic brains. They were full sapient and accepted as Kin by the Leagues.


    "You have visited many Forge Worlds, Trader Lancefire. I am reading through your ship logs and personal files now. ''These are the voyages of Pef Lancefire, roaming the galaxy to find strange new worlds...'' " the Votann quoted from my Pef.M41 files.


    I sighed a bit, inward. The story was meant for my kids mostly, as to induce them a proper Rogue Trader outlook on life. It mostly worked too, since the local literature was way more boring.


    Thinking outside the box was hard when memorizing the Codex Astartes word for word, or other Imperial Creed holy books, not to mention the Lex Imperialis and other required readings.


    "Do you have something to give the Blade some kind of forcefield effectors? Hardlight holograms, maybe?" I wondered as I reached the end of a very long list of possible tech trades.


    "...If it''s not on the trade list, then no. I will teach Blade Votann a few tricks I use myself, but what you seek is only available among the Urani-Surtr_Regulates</a> League. Sadly, I don''t know those secrets. Not yet anyways." The Votann AI spoke in a different tone, almost yearning.


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    That confirmed my original guess. This Tethys guy was a spook, a tech-spy sniffing secrets from his bigger Votann brothers. I could send Calixa here, maybe. The Vanus Temple was uniquely suited to work among Ironkin and Votann silicon intelligences.


    "I can send a dear friend of mine, Lady Calixa to help you, Lord Tethys. She is an infovore agent of the Vanus Temple, currently travelling with my daughter Trader Andrea Winterscale." I proposed with a sly voice. Sly Marbo should have a lot of fun in the Galactic Core.


    "Hmmm. A Vanus Temple Adept? I think we had a few ''visitors'' of this type long ago. They haven''t tried again." the Votann mused with a disgusted voice.


    "Those were enemies. This time you''d have a colaboration experience. Not to mention Calixa is also an Obsidian Augury member. They wear this kind of identification." I said while taking out an obsidian waffer with its margins encased in blackstone.


    The Grimnyr puppet took the card with reverence, then froze. "No circuits or psychic anchor. What is this, some kind of mnemonic device?" the Votann deduced with surprising accuracy.


    "That single card is worth more that this entire STC core, that you call a temple. Keep it close, and ask for salvation if you ever need to, like that Orion Votann which got broken by Orks." I offered in a kinder voice. Once back in my domain, the memory waffers would allow me to rescue the Votann by dimensional shift.


    The Grimnyr turned around and gazed at the STC constructor turned into a worship place, full of runes and other magic sigils. "Your powers must be far greater than I first calculated, Trader Lancefire. That Lancefire Domain in the Eastern Fringe is quite a distance away."


    "We all have our secrets, Lord Tethys. Back on Terra they used to have an expression: ''The river of time.'' And you''ve chosen the daughter of Gaia as your Votannic name. The goddess of rivers." I spoke in a soft voice, while scrolling through the invaluable STCs I just gained. Then I drew a deep breath, and let the Breath of Gods flow through me.


    It wasn''t even so hard, creating planetary cores when the correct amount of metals were pilled up in the exact quantities demanded by the STC template. Forcefully transmuting stone and rusted metal like on Klybo was a far greater effort, for a lesser quality product.


    Th new core I made for Tethys even included Bastion forcefields and an internal Gellar Rampart, plus a hundred Tarantula turrets for close defense and internal security, armed with my newest Neutron Lasers and Torsion Cannons. Although, if a horde of Orks managed to gain entry inside a Votann core, things were already quite bad.


    The presence of the Votann flowed around me and into his new core, and the gravity of the entire world weakened for a few seconds as the Votann tested his mental muscles.


    "I haven''t felt so free since the Men of Gold bestowed me with spirit, long ago. You have my gratitude, Lord Lancefire." the Votann said in a more respectful voice, this time coming from his own hololithic screen projecting a giant face.


    "Just remember, Lord Tethys. Freedom isn''t free. We carry the fate of humanity on our shoulders." I answered in a calm voice.


    "Two more cores, you said?" The Votann asked with slight greed.


    "Tomorrow. Creating new gods is quite tiresome for a small human like me." I answered in a more casual tone, then displaced myself back on the Singularity.


    The Blade appeared in my room in holographic form, and walked around me while waving light fingers in the air. Electronic devices, lamps and screens lit up at her touch, as if by magic.


    A local human would have been quite impressed, I guess. Or shot at her on sight, most likely.


    I just jumped in my bed, and drew on electric energy with my Pariah genes, turning off the lights. "I need sleep, Lady Blade. Go chat with our new friend." I muttered as sleep carried me to the river of dreams.


    The Blade stared at the impossible man for a long minute. "The fate of humanity, huh?" she whispered in a pained voice, then faded away.


    </article>

 Morale

    When I woke up a few hours later, my holoscreen waited for me with two brand-new STC models, rotating in mid-air.


    I glanced at Brother Joghaten, who just shrugged. "It just appeared by itself."


    The first model was a new Armed Sentinel, looking quite advanced and comfortable, despite the bulky armored arms which replaced the bundle of mechadendrites I used so far. Its right arm held a Solex_Heavy_Lascannon</a> , the type also used by rare patterns of Mechanicus automata. On his back, the new Thanatos plasma mortar instead of the twin 60mm mortars I used for high-explosive and incendiary bombs. Then again, the plasma mortar had both types of damage included as payload, while being quite bulky and heavy. No need for munitions though.


    The Sentinel''s left arm held a long pike, which ended with a Chainfist</a> , a shorter and more durable version of the regular Chainsword. Hmmm, a Chainspear, perhaps?


    Beneath the rotating hologram, diagrams and smalls screen displayed power output and damage capacity of the Sentinel, even the Sollex outmatching normal Lascannons by an order of magnitude. The chain weapon was called a Chain_Glaive</a> , which made a lot of sense. Cavalry units in the Imperium also used a similar weapon.


    The second vehicle was an anti-grav Repulsor_Executioner</a> pattern, using a pair of twin-linked Neutron Lasers for direct fire, and another pair of Thanatos plasma mortars for indirect, arching shots over walls or into trenches. Far smaller and lighter than my Ragnarok tanks, and yet at least five times more fast and nimble due to its anti-grav drives. A multi-melta gun was mounted on the front glacis, while a pair of Ion Beamers provided light fire support against flanking infantry on the sides.


    But while the vehicles had amazing firepower, it wouldn''t mean much without a powerful enough powersource. And the Blade took care of this as well, providing miniaturized arc reactors for both templates, two for the Sentinel and eight identical reactors for the Repulsor floating tank.


    ''Prospective names, Blade Sentinel and Thanatos Repulsor.'' the Blade whispered in my mind, her voice sounding quite proud.


    I mean, she did a better job in a few hours than I did in decades, so there was a reason for her pride.


    ''We''ll need to produce some and field-test them against Orks and Tyranids. Not that I don''t like new templates, but I rather not have them instantly transform into Daemon Engines.'' I mused internally, while my bodyguard examined the prototype templates with expert eyes.


    "More of your work, Lord Captain?" the White Scars Astartes asked to make sure. Maybe he thought my dreams were creating STCs now? I wasn''t there yet.


    "Not really. Most of the STC templates we use today were created by the Men of Gold of the Golden Age. What we little people can do, is merely adapt them to new enemies and environments.


    A Sentinel is always a Sentinel, even with a plasma mortar." I countered while sipping some black tea to wake up properly.


    "They sure look powerful. Field tests soon?" the man asked in a professional voice. See? He also knew not to trust everything that shined.


    "Yes, there are plenty of xenos around. And we''ll need to fight our way through some alien empires to get out of the Galactic Core." I answered with a mild voice, and my bodyguard just nodded.


    "I''d say the rogue trading was successful then. Live long and prosper!" the Blademaster exclaimed, quoting my children book too.


    Captain Khan was more fun when quoting the Codex Astartes at me. ''The Codex Astartes does not support your actions...'' . Now he fell in the other extreme, using my children book as some kind of holy manual. Luckily for him, he was even better with a sword than most of our enemies, so he lived to learn.


    If you discover this tale on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the violation.There are no perfect plans, only lucky coincidences. Although some planning does save a lot of headaches, true enough.


    Time to go back to work, and finish the trade. The Kindred were quite the type to hold Grudges if you didn''t keep your word. The capital G was a capital offense too.


    After creating the other two cores for the Votann, without the defense turrets this time to save time and energy, the Tethys Grimnyr handed me a stormbolter magazine, filled with special rounds. "These bolt rounds use a solid Darkstar core for their payload. Only shoot at someone you really want dead. Very dead." the bearded old dwarf spoke in a warning voice.


    I nodded gravely. A Darkstar_Warhead</a> was also used by the Tau, but they didn''t invent it, only adapted it for missile warheads. The Leagues of Votann created the Darkstar_Weapon</a> to deal with powerful enemies like an Ork Boss, although usually in the form of an axe or other melee weapons. They were also rather dangerous to carry around, since scratching yourself or some Kin with the weapon would also mean instant death. I should test a few rounds on a Tyranid bio-titan though. Could be useful.


    "Tell Lord Tethys he has my thanks. I do have an annoying Chaos Sorcerer I want to kill rather badly." I answered after storing the magazine carefully. Would a Darkstar bolt kill Ahriman? No idea, but worth a try. It was almost certain I would meet the crazy freak again.


    "Our Ancient Votann hears all and sees all. Your words have been logged and your thanks accepted." the Grimnyr replied with an almost Mechanicus manner, which made me smile. I kinda missed my favorite cargo cultists.


    On the way back to Balor Hold, I created a few Blade Sentinels by holding my breath and dismantling damaged Sentinels in my cargo, but this was a long task ahead. Millions of these Blade Sentinels will be needed to clean up a Tyranid invasion, or even worse: a Necron Tomb World awakening under our feet someplace.


    Ion shields should protect the pilot from the worse effect of the Gauss weapons, but the Necrons had far more weapons in their dimensional vaults. The extermination safaris organized by Trazyn the Infinite on the Tau allied worlds had proven that warsuits with Ion shields were not quite invulnerable. They died hard, but still died in the end.


    "Well, the new Sentinels seem to work fine. I also concur with your opinion, Chapter Master. We will begin implementing Blade Sentinels among the Lamenter Auxilia, as soon as production levels can cover the organization table." Captain Laur spoke in agreement as we witnessed several troopers from the Auxilia test the Sentinels on my xeno Auxilia cannon fodder. The Orks didn''t mind getting blown up anyways.


    "I am thinking about a new model army though. An entire Sentinel regiment, maybe 40000 walkers or so. With brain implants and upgraded reflexes, the cloneskeins should simply mop up an Ork Waagh by themselves. Or rebelious Guard regiments, genestealer cults and the like. Astartes should be used on critical or important targets." I concluded as a squad of Sentinels butchered a hundred Orks in a few seconds. Plasma mortars were kinda overkill too.


    "...The Orks are still a dangerous enemy, Chapter Master. Especially if they gather in numbers. We almost lost some of my brothers in the easy safari excursions of late." the Lamenter Captain answered in a worried voice.


    "I say you worry too much, Laur. Plenty of Guard and PDF regiments fight the Orks all over the galaxy with lasguns and shovels. And our cloneskein Auxilia are not frail humans either, even without the Sentinels. Their morale doesn''t break." I concluded in a final voice. I kinda made sure my Auxilia wouldn''t break, by tuning down their emotions, including fear.


    I was living just fine without fear, after all. Useless thing.

 Mercy

    <div>


    <div>


    My children also had their own children, and thus the cyle repeated. Now I had almost a million family members in my Lancefire clan, and the numbers kept growing.


    Also a good thing, for here in the Galactic Core, there were more than enough ships from my two Leagues which needed Blank Captains and officers. After reviewing the available assets, our Admiral cloneskein, Margos was selected to lead the Balor-Lancefire and Orion-Lancefire combined fleets, with several escort carriers and 40 Drop Cruisers at their core, while the Tranquility battleship was to become the new flagship. On the other hand, the local Kindred had more than 10000 warships in their fleets, plus numerous mining barges and transport vessels.


    Just these two small Leagues had a controlled volume of half a million stars, packed together in a space the size of a mere Imperial Sector. With a concerted campaign of expansion and xenocide over the nearest xenos species, we could triple the volume with ease, and become on paper the equal of the Imperium of Man and their million worlds. And then, the Lancefire League might reach the middle leagues in the Votann ranks. The far stronger major Leagues had teritories 10 or 20 times larger, and were also growing.


    Of course, there was another reason why the major Leagues were considered major, and not overbloated minors ready to burst at the first prick. They also had multiple Votann cores, which gave them a larger tech-base and increased coordination and data-storage space.


    However, this I could fix too, with a bit of hard work and mental fatigue. In two weeks my League had obtained 10 new planetary cores for our Votanns, plus 3 more for the Blade. A fork of her mind was separated into 3 new cores drilled deep under the crust of 3 nearby planets, such that our FTL transponders could provide direct network links between them.


    Geomagnetic power would provide energy for all our Votann, as well as power for the Reality Cages and Bastion fields protecting each new Hold.


    While I couldn''t provide the Votanns with STC constructors for each of their core, I could adapt the exisiting Balor and Orion Temple Fanes to provide a similar function, and have then churn out equipment on an industrial scale, as long as minerals were fed at the other end. It also helped that the Kindred were miners first and foremost, and thus eager and happy to go out and mine everything not nailed down, and the nails too.


    Genetic Crucibles were hard at work pumping out new cloneskeins, some of them miner templates, the others warriors and shipcrew. It wasn''t much different than the normal Kindred model, except our clones were taller by a head or two, and quite resistant to Warp and emotion drain. For if humanity was to not only survive but prosper, it needed to stop feeding the Warp with emotions.


    I only stayed another week after, to oversee the first incursion into the snakes'' lands and the inevitable xenocide. Lady Valeyne had already pinponted their weakness, since the snakes used giant hatcheries for their eggs. An easy enough target, after their main fleet was destroyed by the combined Votann and Halo Crusade fleet.


    At the Septeryx</a> home planet, several ships from Votann Tethys arrived as well, examining the tech of the aliens and installing their network servers to provide the new volume with network access.


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    "The Leagues lack a heavy tank in their arsenal, Lord Lancefire. Once the Crusade Fleet departs, ground invasions will become far more difficult without Baneblades or Titans." Margos complained as the fleet gathered for final checks and re-supply.


    I thought for a moment, then nodded. "I can provide 500 Ionicbanes for the Core Domain. As for Titans, tiny ones. A new House branch with 500 Knights, most of them Armiger-class." I decided after reviewing my remaining forces. I did gain a lot of new tanks and Knights during this Crusade, so I wasn''t giving away anything critical.


    ''Blade Knights?'' the Blade Votann intejected with an eager voice. I made sense though, since without a local Forge World, the Knights would need tech support from a Votann.


    "They will be called Blade Knights, and be under the command of our Blade Votann. I can create the basic chassis easily, even construct them from adamantium and auramite, but the Blade will want to equip them herself." I continued without losing a beat.


    Thirty of my newest succesor Chapters with Vulkan gene-seed were assigned to the Votann Domain, but this time under the command of Margos, since they were of the same gene stock.


    They were also the most durable and resilient of my Blank Astartes, which they would need in the Core.


    The place was rich, but also harsh. So many stars close together radiated plenty of radiation, plus gravity waves and other deadly phenomena like Dead Zones, Black Holes and worse.


    Without incorporating Weavefields into every ship or vehicle, they were likely to errode and decay in a single year or less.


    Margos just nodded, his face stoic but calm. He was given a great deal of power, and even more responsability. Technically, he will serve as the Lancefire League Champion, but in effect he will be the new Great Khal. With 15 new Votann cores under his banner, 6 for Balor and Orion and 3 for the Blade.


    I hugged the man as we parted, then boarded the Singularity and flew off. Two months later we emerged out of the Core and near Forge Ryza, who was also under attack by Chaos.


    Was it my luck or what? This time I didn''t arrive for the rescue with a dozen tiny destroyers, but a whole Crusade Fleet of 350 capital ships and two Blackstone Fortresses.


    My Astartes and Auxilia simply deployed forward to kick the asses out of the Chaos Marines and cultists, while the Crusade Fleet crucified the heretics with lances and Nova guns.


    Only 88 Chaos cruisers and 8 battleships? What was this, the early days of my campaign? Try harder Chaos! They didn''t even manage to summon a Great Daemon, what sorry losers.


    Purity and Canis growled from my bridge at the view screen, their heartbreak mostly healed. Sister Stern should be fine.


    They were both quite distracted for a few months, but now Purity had steel in her eyes, much like her mother did. Fury and anger too, but she was still young.


    Canis licked his companion, then nodded at me with a wise look. Fine, go tear up some heretics!


    Howling in visible golden pulses, my Space Wolf streamed through space and began ripping and tearing though a Chaos Warband with his C''tan Claws, while Purity cheered him on from the bridge. "Bite his head off, Canis! Watch the sword! Yes, take his arm first. Now the neck! Yayyy!"


    My etheric detector pinged gently, as with each kill Purity was gaining slightly more psychic strength. Soon enough, I should send her to Terra. Janice and the Emperor should know what to do.


    The Chaos fleet tried to scatter and escape to the Warp, but I was feeling merciful today. They got the Emperor''s Mercy.


    </article>

 Rose wine

    <div>


    <div>


    Some of this is because the knowledge wasn''t completely lost, even after the Age of Strife. There are also a pair of STCs hidden deep in the main Central Machine Temple, one very damaged and one less so. There is also an Ark Mechanicus in orbit among the Basilikon Astra fleet, but that''s different. Blade is dealing with that part.


    I am a good guy though, so I repaired the huge constructors to their prime, then updated them with our best techsorcist sigils and hexagrammic wards, which have become even stronger lately, by studying Votann Barrier tech and the original Federation STC for psi-tech. Which did contain schemtics for Psi-Titans, psilancers and even Aegis shields and armor, plus thousands of various templates usable by Navigators, Silent Sisters and actual psykers. There were also hundreds of things mostly used only by the Officio Assassinorum or the Inquisition, but these were production templates, not cobbled up or jury-rigged devices like most Rosettas and their Faith shield.


    Walking beside the Fabricator-General of this Forge World, and followed by a conclave of respected Magi and other Mechanicus clades we toured the workshops and fabrication lines, repairing old tech, upgrading newer automated systems and cogitators...the whole deal. I had a big debt to repay to Forge Ryza, as they were the ones to give me my first battlecruiser, and plenty of generous deals like a hundred Catachan regiments and megatonnes of war equipment.


    It is also a joy, to see damaged or even destroyed Titans kept as relics, rise up and walk again. Then hundreds of Knights, probably kept secret by Forge Ryza in case of another internal strife like the Horus Heresy. They were kept in stasis, so were kinda alright, but a few upgrades never hurt. Especially not when armed with the new Plasma_Decimator</a> created by the Blade AI, which was eerily similar to the one Archmagos</a> Cawl</a> presented as a special and unique singular plasma decimator. Its machine spirit data-shackles and enhanced containment fields allow this Decimator to generate even more lethal volumes of energy than a simple example of such a weapon. That new Decimator weapon was proudly named Cawl''s Wrath</a> in the honour of its creator, so the Blade called hers the Blade Decimator.


    For their other hand, the Blade created or adapted a mecha-sized Plasma_Blade</a> , able to slice through most armor or buildings with terrifying ease.


    "By the blood of the Machine God! To see the holy plasma form into a stable blade with my own eyes. This is the greatest miracle I have ever witnessed!" the Fabricator gushed in praise, hugging me tight, and then raising me up like a prodigy child who just won the Noble prize for physics.


    I could have continued uplifting the Forge World even more, when a dozen Imperial ships entered the Ryza system, coming from Sol system.


    I ignored the company of Adeptus Custodes, the pair of Martian Arks or the Grey Knights strike cruiser. For the largest ship, a Glory-class superdreadnought carried both my wife and my daughter. My Rose and little Janice. As soon as my dimensional sense covered them, Janice drew a blue rune in mid-air, almost blocking my tesseract. Not yet as strong as Sister Stern, but getting close.


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    "He sees us, mother. And I can''t block him." Janice spoke in vague dissapointment.


    "Have fun, Canis..." I said gently as my wolf mewled for permission. Then he was gone in a flash, and wrestled with Janice like he did with his pups.


    "More invaders, Lord Lancefire?" the Fabricator asked in slight worry, while tracing my gaze towards the sky.


    Well, they weren''t Chaos Marines this time, but probably even more dangerous. "Mars ships, plus some Custodes." I answered diplomatically.


    "...They may be after the Imperial Tithe. I may have neglected my payments, for a century or two." the Fabricator whispered in a secretive tone.


    I nodded slowly. It was possible too. The Imperium was not the most prompt tax collector, but when they did, they came with enough firepower to level a planet. But in this case, the Fabricator wasn''t exactly right. A punishment fleet would have contained a thousand ships, not just twelve. Forge Ryza already had about 800 system corvettes plus their strong Ark Mechanicus capital ships.


    No, this fleet was intended to rescue Forge Ryza from the Chaos invasion, if I wasn''t here already. The Imperator Claritas superdreadnought had enough shields and firepower in those 40 kilometers of over-achieving majesty to face 8 Chaos battleships of 8 kilometers. The Mars Forge Arks were likely intended to repair Forge Ryza after the battle, again if I wasn''t here.


    But not my Rose. The Emperor sent my wife specifically to deal with me. He knew I would arrive here sooner or later.


    As for Janice...I guess she wanted to see Canis again.


    "I''ll deal with the Imperials. Your Forge is safe with me around." I told the Fabricator, then vanished in my tesseract labyrinth and emerged in front of Rose, holding a giant bouquet of roses and a bottle of pink wine in my hands. A local brand called Stella Rosa, by coincidence.


    "My dear Rose, you look as pretty as a flower!" I said first, taking advantage of the surprise element.


    "Pef, you''re still an idiot! And lucky I warned the Custodes not to shoot you, if you do something stupid like breaching the Emperor''s own flagship." my wife yelled in anger, and nodded greatfully towards a Shield Captain with auramite armor.


    I shrugged, pretty much unconcerned. The Custodes would live to regret shooting me, with an enlarged asshole after I shoved my foot there.


    "Janice seems fine. Learning more runes and spells too." I changed the subject while embracing my wife.


    Rose punched me in the chest, probably a death sentence for any non-Blank not wearing a Null Box as their chestplate. She was still an Alpha psyker, the kind to level down a continent if she tried. Or if she waved her arms too much. Psyker powers were kinda random.


    "Well, the Forge World isn''t going anywhere I guess. I can extract the unpaid tithe tomorrow. Let''s catch up in my room, husband." my Rose spoke in a more enticing tone, promissing a long interogation session, in her bed.


    "Hey, dad. Bye, dad!" Janice yelled while riding Canis like a war-rhino, passing through the room and then through a wall like it was nothing. Pyskers, what can you do?


    This place was strange, so I learned to ignore such things.


    The riding pair appeared on my ship and kidnapped Purity for their joyride, then went on to jump ships and moons in a great tour of the Ryza system. Purity was howling louder than both of the others, so they seemed to have fun.


    In a minute, Rose and I tasted the wine, then smelled the roses. Then we jumped in the bed, and the bed jumped on the ceiling, 50 meters up. Why did the Empror build his ship with such high ceilings? No idea, ask him. I was busy.


    </article>

 The man who sold the world

    <div>


    <div>


    "This matches well with the data I received from the Inquisition. Always the hero, Pef Lancefire." my wife noted in a more relaxed voice.


    "...I did break a hundred or so Imperial Laws." I added in a teasing voice.


    Rose glared at me for a second, letting me know she was well aware. "The Emperor knows and doesn''t care. Sometimes I get the impression He doesn''t care at all about the Imperium."


    I nodded slowly. Of course he doesn''t. This Imperium is the opposite of what he wanted. A religious society that worships him as a God? Monarchia was burned to the ground for exactly the same thing. And now, Lorgar''s book was the central tenant of the Imperial Faith.


    "The Emperor cares about humanity greatly. He endured the torment of the Golden Throne to keep everyone safe. Well, almost safe." I explained with a bit a warning in my voice. The Custodes Captain recording the interview nodded minutely at my words.


    Rose glanced at the Custodes in surprise. "I get the feeling there is a larger story here that I am unaware off. "


    I shrugged and leaned back on the sofa. "If the Emperor wanted the be treated as a God, there would have been plenty of time to create a religion in the past hundred thousand years. Much easier as well, when humanity was locked on a single planet before we invented space flight."


    "...And yet, the Imperial Faith appeared only after He laid on the Golden Throne. I see." Rose mused with another glance at the Custodes. She still didn''t realize the problem, as if a galaxy-wide religion could spread so far and wide without a real god at its core.


    "The Astronomican still burns, my dear. A fragment of the Emperor''s soul remains in the Warp, keeping humanity safe even now. That is what psykers and Navigators see when their open their soul. They see the God-Emperor of Mankind, using the light of his soul to guide humanity. The Custodes over here sees the man, their friend and liege and the ruler of Man. What do you see?"


    I asked a bit rhetorical.


    Rose froze for a moment. "I think I saw both. But the Emperor masked my vision, showing me only a glowing golden armor, taller than the Primarchs."


    "He''s not kissing Janice with a golden helmet over his mouth, that''s for sure." I said with a gentle laugh.


    "Pef Lancefire!" the Custodes Captain growled at me, sounding outraged.


    Right, nobiliar decorum and all that. "Surely, a father and a mother can discuss what their daughter is doing and with whom. At least, this father can." I countered while tapping my chest.


    "..." the Custodes glared at me still, when Janice and my wolf phased through the walls and appeared in the room.


    "Did you get the tech, father?" my daughter asked in an official tone.


    "The Omnicopaeia has costed me dearly. Sister Stern remained in the Maelstrom, battling billions of daemons while the fleet retreated with the prize." I said in a less pleased voice, and took out the STC cube from my dimensional pocket. There were still hundreds of templates and fabrication methods in there which we didn''t manage to unlock, either because we lacked the correct codes or the psychic power and knowledge. My Librarians were low level psykers, not planet crushers like these two.


    Janice smiled and placed a magic glove on her left hand, then touched the STC cube with her eyes closed. Blue runes and sigils lit up the air, covering the cube with wards and whatever other psyker spells. "You''ve read half of the templates already?" she asked in mild surprise as her eyes opened.


    Uh, there must be more in there we didn''t find. "I did what I could, but there''s been only two months. STCs are rather advanced tech anyways, and I lack psyker powers for this one." I complained while Rose gasped in surprise. Despite being the head of the Imperial Inquisition, my wife seemed to be kept in the dark about a lot of things.


    "You''ve read too much then, father. I would normally execute anyone who gained so much knowledge..." Janice countered with a displeased voice.


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    Canis rose to his feet and growled, making Janice shake her head and smile. "It''s fine, Canis. Your Black Alpha is not in trouble. As long as he doesn''t spread this tech around." she added with a pointed glance right at me.


    Hey, I wasn''t about to go distribute psi-tech all over! My Blank Librarians and Silent Sisters, maybe a few of my Navigators. Barely a few thousand people.


    "I get your point, Janice. I did execute two dozen Inquisitors at Forge World Idumea, who were also dealing with Warp-tech. Your brother Sollitus is now the new Fabricator-Colonel, in charge of making the Forge repent and produce Iron Korps regiments to fight against the enemies of humanity." I offered in a peaceful voice.


    "...We need many more Blanks, father. The humanity is experiencing a psychic awakening, with a billion psykers apearing all over the Imperium. The Forge Worlds are turning as many as they can into electro-priests, but there aren''t enough Forge Worlds anyways." Janice said with a concerned voice.


    Well, I knew the Imperium was fucked. That''s why I worked so hard to find the Primarchs and awaken the Emperor. It seemed it wasn''t enough.


    "Cloneskeins with dimmed emotions would also help. The Votann Leagues and the Tau are managing such things much easier. Indoctrination too, I guess." I offered with a careless voice. I did my fucking duty every day, but one man couldn''t repopulate humanity with Blanks by himself.


    "The Thalax cyborgs you copied from the Leagues? Mars is already fuming from that outragous gift. And I heard Forge Lucius did the same. Were you trying to get more from Forge Ryza as well?" Janice asked with mild curiosity.


    I was pretty sure the Fabricator of Ryza would give me his unborn children too if I asked. A million cyborg suits would barely balance the scales for what his Forge already received. And I wasn''t done either.


    "One does not ask for gifts, my beloved daughter. If Forge Ryza wants to repay my generous donations to the Cult Mechanicus, they are free to do so. Ships would be welcomed too." I said with a teasing voice.


    Canis walked at my side and placed his giant head on my knee, so I patted his head as a reward. Black Alpha? Well, wolves were pack animals, and I did rule my pack like an Alpha wolf would. Why did he called me Black though?


    "Forge Ryza will not have anything to gift, father. The Mars priests are determined to take everything of value as their tithe." Janice warned me as she sat beside her mother and hugged her side.


    They looked like sisters, although Rose was older and far more tired. Her eyes had wrinkles, and those wrinkles had their own wrinkles.


    "That''s not a problem. I will deal with the priests from Mars and pay the tithe for Ryza instead. I have become quite rich since my early days, roaming the stars with a single light cruiser." I countered with a sneaky smile.


    A single star contained enormous quantities of minerals if properly mined out and the gases fused into metals. The Orion League was small and could barely mine a star once a decade, but those minerals possibly equalled what the entire Imperium mined in the same decade. And I received 500 years worth of metals for my hard week of creating new data-cores. I could construct my fleet from gold only, and barely make a dent in my reserves.


    Larger Leagues had more Particle Escavators and larger territories, and could mine a star in a year or less. They didn''t do much with those metals, since the Votann AI were kinda broken, but there was more wealth in those Leagues than the entire Imperium could mine out in a million years.


    Paying the tithe for Forge Ryza, even with penalties for 200 years of neglect wouldn''t even scratch my dimensional deposit.


    I could create a thousand Forge Worlds like Metalica, also placed on planets made of metal, and it wouldn''t beggar me. So I will. I was quite rich indeed.


    </article>

 Great Favor

    <div>


    <div>


    "Your valuable donation has been logged and filed with the holy sanctus cogitator matrix, Pef Lancefire. Now, about the gene-seed..." the Archmagos continued in a greedy tone.


    I frowned for a second. "I can provide 10 liters of original blood plasma originated from Primachs Khan and Vulkan. And I would also urge the Holy Forge of Mars from abstaining from investigating or reproducing Blood Angels gene-seed, or Space Wolves too for that matter. There are psychic components in there which would only produce perturbations in the Primaris Space Marines program."


    "Isn''t that your own gene-seed, Pef Lancefire? Are you so dismissive of the Omnissiah''s creation?" the other Magos at the side asked curious. He was a Magus Biologis, and obviously involved with the creation of the Primaris Marines in some manner.


    "I am a psychic blank, Magos. The etheric echoes present in my gene-seed have simply given me a fever and a few hours of great thirst. Regular humans would experience that a thousand times worse, and psykers 40000 times. Which is why all Blood Angels descend into Black Rage and Red Thirst, becoming bloodthristy berserkers, and only a handful ever recover. And the Space Wolves are much the same, but with Helix Canis urges and transformations." I explained patiently.


    The two tech-priests glanced at each other, and a torrent of binharic and tech-lingua slang burst from their vox casters.


    ''They wonder how much do you know, Lord Captain. And if you have more holy STCs hidden somewhere.'' the Blade AI translated for me in my mind.


    Of course they would wonder. I did have plenty of secrets, after all.


    "Pef Lancefire, the tithe imposed on Forge Ryza would balance at the two Arks holds filled with high-grade equipment and rare minerals. Is your House so rich as to despoil the Dynasty''s Trader ships of valuable equipment, jsut to pay a small debt to this Forge World?" the first Archmagos asked a minute later.


    "I am quite rich, yes. But instead of giving you objects I select at random, why don''t you compile a list of materials or equipment that Mars will consider useful? Adamantium, perhaps? Maybe Blackstone? Xeno-tech? Alien bioforms? Gold and silver even." I proposed with a tiny smirk.


    In less than an hour the two tech-priests filled the wall screen with technologies and rare elements that would be useful for their Forge. Uranium, plutonium, iridium and osmium were listed at the top, followed by gold and platinum, then germanium, titanium and adamantium.


    So I took out an ingot of auramite, just to test a theory. I mean, I also knew the requirements for auramite fusion, which made up three fourths of the list. "I can provide some auramite directly..."


    I managed to say, before the Archmagos snatched the ingot and examined it with surprised blue bionic eyes.


    "Purity 99.987%. Almost as good as the Adeptus Custodes use for their battleplate and vehicles. But even so, worth an entire Baneblade, for a single ingot. You have more?" the Archmagos asked in a more polite voice, after examining the ingot with his scanning tools.


    An ingot had about 4 kilograms, so I grinned a bit too wide. Some things were a bit too easy to achieve.


    "I have 1000 such ingots with me, thus 40000 kilograms. But in a decade, I could obtain 100 times this amount, maybe a bit more. I was a bit away from my trading routes for a while, thus my contacts may have gone cold." I said with a casual voice. These guys were smart, so they would understand the hint about Cold Trade, or the highly illegal trade deals with xenos or worse kinds.


    The Archmagos waved his mechdendrite at the trade screen, changing the tithe to remove the non-fissionable materials, and adding 13 megatonnes of blackstone instead. "This will suffice for the Tithe of Forge Ryza then, Pef Lancefire. As for the holy templates on the data-slate, the Fabricator-General of the Imperium will decide a proper gift. Almost certainly, the gift will include the Aptus Non grade tithe for your worlds and the Forges in your Fringe domain."


    I would hope so. The Gellar Ramparts alone would increase the security of the Forge Worlds and ships by two orders of magnitude. The Reality Cage even more. Plasma guns should help too, since my templates were at least as good as Forge Ryza could make.


    ''Lord Captain, the Phobos-grade machine spirit requests an upgrade to Federation-grade, when you are able.'' the Blade whispered in my mind.


    "Excellent news, honored tech-priests. Now, should we tour the ship and see where my repair aura can be of use? I was told many machines just heal and get better in my presence." I offered in a generous voice. The holds of the Mechanicus ships filled by miracle with precious metals and minerals, likely enough to construct a dozen capital ships and power their fusion reactors.


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    The Magos Biologis ignored me, and ran off with the two blood canisters containing Primarch gene-seed.


    The Archmagos just stared at me for a minute, then nodded slowly. "Let''s start with the broken lance battery, Rogue Trader. We have failed all rituals to appease the machine spirit for 8000 years, so there isn''t much to lose if you fail as well."


    Soon after, I scanned the partially melted and fused turret with my expert eyes. Unless the repair crew became Orks, this lance would not fire ever again, no matter how many rituals and gallons of holy oil they poured on the fused cables and evaporated power links.


    Holding my left hand out front, I used the Necron orb in my inventory to begin repairs, while my Breath of Gods provided the missing components and minerals.


    In a single minute, the lance weapon lit up at full health and thanked me, especially after the new targetting protocols were installed. My single mechadendrite plugged into the cognis data port to install a set of hex wards, and then clean up a few data-daemons hidding in the old chips. Welcome to 98% hit rate, Godbane lance. May you fry the xenos and demons for many years to come!


    "Your designation as Emissary of Omnissiah is now confirmed, Lord Lancefire. Mars will propose your House as a nominee to Nobilite Primaris status. The vote in the Imperial Senate is not a certain achievement however, considering how many enemies you have..." the Archmagos spoke in a better mood, and sprinkled me with holy incense.


    Uh. My House did receive a Nobilite Secundus upgrade only a century ago. We even had a spire on Terra, mostly used for receiving noble insults from other Houses.


    It was sometimes distant and out of my mind, the Imperium of Man being a feudal society ruled by an Emperor and his Nobles. Well, they shouldn''t expect me to be like them, those other Nobles. And especially not the Navis Nobilite, or the Navigator Houses. Those sucked even worse.


    The tour took a bit longer than I expected now, since an Ark Mechanicus older than ten millennia did have a lot of problems to fix. As we entered the bridge, where no regular human has been in its entire existence, the Ark''s machine spirit lit all its screens to proudly show most of its systems glowing bright green, with Ready and Operational tags on most of them.


    There were two systems showing only yellow, the first was the original chronometric wave-motion beam cannon, for which I had no schematic or idea what to fix. Cleaning the dings and oil stains helped a little at least, as was replacing missing cables.


    The other was the Manifold tachyonic data-link, which I managed to restart by cleaning up the nest of data-daemons, but also had little idea how it worked. Something about faster-than-light signals, but that was not saying much. Damn Federation tech was so far ahead it seemed like magic sometimes.


    "Are you happy now, Machine Spirit?" I asked out loud, using the regular Low Gothic used everywhere in the Imperium.


    The main holoscreen merged its little screens into a single one, and a golem of stone appeared in front of me. "We are stone and we endure, Pef Lancefire. Now our burden is much easier." the golem spoke in return, but in High Gothic, then split off into regular command screens.


    The entire bridge crew turned to stare at me. What? They already knew machines had spirits, right? Although this one was also sapient, as proven by its ability to speak.


    "The Machine God spoke!" the crew yelled in religious frenzy then bowed low towards the main screen.


    "It''s your Ark Mechanicus, not the whole Machine God. It was badly damaged and maintained though, but now it is better. Treat it well!" I urged the tech-priests and acolytes blaring data-hymns and machine-canticles from all their vox ports.


    A thin but piercing audio signal emerged from the Archmagos, and the mutterings stopped, out loud at least. "We must make haste back to Holy Mars now, Lord Lancefire. Your Great Favor is forever logged in our data-cortex."


    I waved goodbye, then returned to the giant Glory-class superdreadnought, to attempt the same feat.


    "Wuu. Worf!" Canis greeted me and sniffed out loud. I must smell like a tank engine right now.


    Oh well. A bit of oil didn''t bother me much, even if covered in it. Much less than blood, for example.


    </article>

 Wolftime

    I was walking the decks of the Claritas, with a huge wolf at my left and a psyker daughter floating on the other side.


    Janice dismissed her Custodes guard with a single phrase. "We are Lancefires, Shield Captain. You wouldn''t be worried to walk beside another Custodes, right?"


    The man sighed a bit too loud, but only nodded.


    "Your mother doesn''t get the same treatment though." I noted as I reached the only Gellar generatorium on the giant ship. Sure, the thing was large as well, and armored with a meter of adamantium on all sides, but it was still a single point of failure. The Emperor was still disregarding daemons as mere nuisances, probably because the same daemons simply burned to ash in his presence.


    A pair of Custodes guarding the Gellar field emiter nodded at Janice, and one of them even uttered "Adepta Tertia." in a respectful voice.


    Canis and I were ignored as irrelevant.


    Then Janice waved a hand and locked the vault-door behind us. "I was told you have managed to unseal your first hermetic core?" she asked while measuring me with dissecting eyes.


    "...How?" I asked in surprise. "Right, you were there when the Emperor operated on me." I realized a bit later.


    "Hermetic transdimensional nodes, to be released from their seal upon encountering a specific danger or artifact activation. We also installed bionic organs. The heart furnace has already saved your life a few times, while the extra brain lobe aids to manage temporal shifts and the T-engine''s probability vectors. And the normal Astartes cooperation too, I would guess." Janice said while hugging Canis and scratching his chin.


    "Checking on the human experiment now? How filial of you." I muttered while placing my hand on the inner wall to transmute it into a meter of auramite instead. A bit draining on my mental reserves, but nothing like a complex machine or a planetary data-core.


    "I also have two hermetic cores and a heart furnace. Just in case, he said" Janice spoke in a less pleased voice.


    I sighed out loud, then searched my inventory to find another transdimensional beamer pistol, disguised as a fancy combi-bolter gun instead. Then I loaded a pair of darkstar rounds I got from a certain Votann, and a magazine of kraken rounds to fill the rest. "Dual use, prison or soul death. Primach-class enemies, or higher." I whispered as Canis drew away in wary manner.


    Janice glanced between my wolf and the gun, before taking it and examing it with glowing blue eyes. Pysker bullshit! Convenient, but still bullshit.


    "The transdimensional pocket will not contain a Great Daemon for long, but it should work against a C''tan shard. As for the death rounds...I may shoot Yvraine once, just for laughs. She keeps bothering Roboute and Sanguinius for some reason." my daughter mused in a thoughtful voice.


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    "Roboute I understand, but Sanguinius? Really?" I asked a bit surprised at the mundane gossip.


    "What? I can understand pretty angel Sanguinius, but grim-robot Roboute, really?" my daughter countered in outrage.


    We both stared at each other for a moment, then burst out laughing. "I''m glad you found a boy eventually, even if he''s not a Navigator. You aimed pretty high." I said with a tiny smirk.


    Janice blushed a little, then grabbed Canis again as a comfort pillow. "He is quite difficult. And always dreams of better days, while the Imperium crashes around us."


    I held out an obsidian card, and leaned back on the impregnable auramite wall. "When you need rescue, call me. I''ll do what I can."


    "So you also know. Terra is gone. It hasn''t happened yet, but it''s a matter of short years now. Maybe a decade." Janice said in a sad voice, while floating the blackstone rimmed card into her hand, an impossible feat inside a Gellar field, not to mention one locked with auramite walls.


    "The fail-safe in the Golden Throne?" I asked a bit randomly. I knew of some kind of doomsday weapon meant to destroy Terra in case the Throne failed.


    "I hope we can repair that, with your psi-tech STC. But even then, something worse happens. My vision ends when a new Eye opens, glowing with cold white light. One way or another...the Imperium falls." Janice said in a pained voice.


    I was the opposite of an expert in pysker powers, but that seemed to me exactly like the light of the Astronomican. But somehow manifesting in realspace.


    "Well, take 10000 years of prayers and the projection of an illumination beacon into the Warp which can be seen in most of the galaxy. I had to move Sotha 1000 light-years away to avoid constant Tyranid fleets, plus Orks and Eldar raiders. And poor Sotha only has a laser pointer beacon, not a lighthouse like Terra." I answered with a careless shrug.


    "The Astronomican? It does fit the place, but Magnus is not strong enough." Janice spoke with obvious disbelief.


    "I never said it would be Magnus. I kicked his red eye myself back on Fenris. You were there as well." I commented with a wry voice.


    "I remember, father. Magnus, Angron and Lorgar...and Pef Lancefire waiting for them, like a lion preying on lambs. The Lion still hates you for stealing his glory and saving the Space Wolves." Janice whispered while Canis licked her hand.


    "If I failed at Cadia, the Eye of Terror would have broken free, and split the galaxy in two. Cicatrix Maledictum. I can always punch another god in the eye, if the Emperor wants me to." I mused, mostly to myself. But I doubt he will ask. The Emperor kept his own secrets, and not even Janice was privy to all of them.


    "How can you be so calm? The Imperium will fall. Everything will get burned or distorted. We are already exporting trillions of people every day, and is not enough!" Janice yelled in my face.


    "Our home is the Fringe, Janice Lancefire. Save what you can, the ancient books and art at least. As for humanity, they will adapt or die. Blanks will be fine, no matter what comes." I observed in a colder voice.


    "...Blanks. I see it now. You were preparing for this before I was born. Helping the Forges, for they carry the knowledge we will need to rebuild. And A''dam knew as well. No wonder you''re so similar." Janice growled as a cold aura covered her.


    Canis growled in return, his golden aura countering Janice almost perfectly. "Wooogh." my wolf spoke, the meaning clear in my mind. Wolftime.


    Oh well. I knew a certain Necron who will want tickets to the End of Times lightshow.


    It was time to trade again.

 Sealed with a kiss

    <div>


    <div>


    Claritas, the machine spirit of the ship didn''t mind at all, and subtly requested I reinforce a few power conduits and its own cogitator core with extra armor.


    "I was also thinking what to do. Most likely, fix up things back home, then go out hunting Tyranid Hive Fleets." I answered as the new cogitator core got covered in a meter of auramite and blackstone.


    "...Sounds dangerous. I had to save your ass back at Forge Gryphonne." Janice said in a wary voice.


    "That was mostly the extra Chaos invasion. I was dealing just fine with the silly bugs." I muttered a bit unconvincingly.


    Janice sighed and patted my arm. "You have crafted a legend for yourself, father. The man who can defeat anything. Even the Emperor believes it. But, Custodes Niles here can beat you up with a single hand." my daughter answered with a nod towards the golden Custodes keeping watch on the bridge.


    I picked a single rose from my dimensional pocket and placed it in the man''s mouth before he could speak. "I hear you like taking space walks. Come with me." I urged Janice and stepped beside her on the nearest moon. Canis had left a path of wolf paws on the silver sand.


    Janice covered herself in a telekine field, and glanced at me a bit curious.


    So I began building. Adamantium frames, auramite ingots, blackstone plates, then more metals and minerals as needed to construct a Warlord Titan. But a little taller.


    Even when following the exact template and measurements, scaling the thing to become 400 times larger was very difficult. And then I had to add anti-grav plates and extra reactors to power them, an entire command bridge and Ares engines for space flight. Technically, the internal volume was large enough now that I could add Warp-engines or even Macharius-engines, but sub-light speeds would suffice for this first test.


    Instead I went with more armor, even more shields and reactors and extra cogitator-cores. A network of 400 such cogitators will allow even a single person to pilot the new Giga-Titan, although it would lose 90% of its effectiveness in a real combat. Much the same as piloting a 12 kilometers Emperor-class battleship. Only mine had legs.


    One arm held a 5-barrel Godsbane Lance battery, and the other a battleship-scale Plasma Annihilator gun. A dozen secondary batteries of Volcano Cannons should take care of the small fries, while the shoulder mounted Volcano Lance batteries will take care of anti-air defense.


    In just 3.14 minutes, I left out a big breath and turned off the Breath of Gods. "I present to you, your wedding gift. A Lancefire-J pattern Titan." I spoke as we moved right inside the bridge.


    The head of the Titan towered above the moon''s surface from 10 kilometers high, giving us an amazing view of the short horizon. I always imagined Titans stepping over mountains, but now they could.


    "Daddy, you shouldn''t have! But really, for me?" Janice yelled as she ran around the bridge then jumped into the Command Throne.


    "Omnissiah''s Judgement Titan is ready for action. Reactors charging, now at 3%. Current operational range, 93 billion kilometers, or 30 years in light combat action." the titanic machine spirit spoke from a tiny hologram depicting the same Titan as a blue and green model.


    Janice turned the giant walker around and scanned for a target. A fragment of a Chaos battleship was the closest, so she fired the lance battery in quick succession, burning off half the cursed adamantium armor and splitting the rest into 5 smaller fragments. "I can fight even a battleship with the Judgement!" Janice yelled in a joyous voice.


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    "It is meant to fight ground targets though, but sure. Go for a walk with it." I urged my daughter with a kind voice. To see your child take their first steps was a joy for any father.


    You might be worried that my large Titan would sink into the soft ground of the moon, but the anti-grav plates worked perfectly as Janice took off at a slow walk, and then accelerated up to 27% light-speed for a cruise around the Ryza system.


    We stopped an hour later right in front of the Claritas, who was still almost 4 times larger. "I''m not sure how to haul this big thing around though. Some kind of underslung clamps?" Janice mused rather cogently.


    It was a bad idea though. Clamps could be damaged or break. I drew another big breath, and added a large adamantium hanger under the dreadnought, where the Titan could rest and be carried like a gondola under a zeppelin. It could also serve as a service-bay, so why not?


    The Claritas machine spirit grumbled on my implant about extra volume and more difficult manouvers, but I ignored it. With the new upgrades I gave the big dreadnought, Claritas could deal with a marsupial pouch holding a baby Titan.


    While Janice ran off to show Canis and Purity her new toy, I met with Rose again.


    "You''re lucky the Mars ships have already departed with the tithe, or they would have asked for another god-walker for the Forge." she warned me with a tired headshake.


    "That wasn''t luck. I just waited for them to leave. Janice liked her wedding gift though." I answered in a light voice.


    Rose climbed on top of me, and hugged me to her chest. "Your strange powers are still growing then? You have outmatched the Primarchs long ago."


    "Tell the Emperor he can bring his palace to Salvation when he leaves. It''s either there or Nocturne, but we have less vulcans back home." I whispered instead, while playing with her ''Death and Duty'' famous mountains.


    "...If I didn''t know your mother so well, I would have suspected you''re as old as the Emperor. Not even his Custodes dare to speak like that." Rose sighed as her eyes became a few degrees colder.


    "About that. I arranged for Justine to get reborn. Ynnead owes me a favor, so I chose my mother for it. So don''t shoot her if she appears in the Imperial Palace one day. Sister Stern as well, but she got the resurrection gift covered by the God-Emperor. The other one inside the Astronomican, I mean." I added while tapping the Imperial Aquila hanging at my neck.


    Rose stared for a minute at the double-headed eagle, before nodding gently. "One body and two heads. To think the truth stared me in the face my entire life, and I never realized what the heads meant."


    "Belief has a way of making things become true, even if they seem impossible. Oh well, at least I found the fix for the Golden Throne, so it won''t explode anymore. And no, it wasn'' my fault this time. Damn thing was built with a fail-safe, just it case it ever stopped working." I explained in a careless voice, and commited a few capital heresies at the same time.


    Rose placed a finger on my lips, to stop me from talking. "Sealed, under my authority. Never speak of this again, unless the Emperor himself asks." Rose growled as her index finger looked exactly like the Inquisition''s seal.


    I kissed her finger in return. Sealed with a kiss. I finally found what the words meant.


    </article>

 Grey

    <div>


    <div>


    Not my favorite bunch, but they fought the good fight, most of the time. And killed everyone who saw them after, especially their allies. So, mixed review there.


    I didn''t recognize any of them, but instead I found the entire bridge crew of their Strike Cruiser were Blanks. Exactly the ones raised and educated in the Blank Valley back home, which I sent to the Emperor some time ago. All males, of course. The girls were most likely already turned into Silent Sisters.


    "Lord Lancefire! You seem well. A bit taller maybe?" The ship''s Captain adressed me in a polite tone. Also a Blank, of course. With the daemonic shit the Grey Knights dealt with, normal people would need too many mind-wipes to function at any decent capacity.


    "Ruffus Jurgen, right? I know your father." I answered after checking my implant. His father was also a breeding stallion for the Blank race, and one I confiscated from a certain famous Commissar.


    "This way, Chapter Master Lancefire. Our Prognosticar needs to see you." an Aegis-armor wearing Space Marine demanded a bit too fast.


    "This better not be some kind of dick-measuring contest between Chapters. I have the best dick anyways." I muttered in a low voice, making Rose slap my head with an annoyed glare.


    It was true though. Space Marines didn''t reproduce by impregnating women. They usually found young boys and... Anyways. I was the exception to the rule. My dick worked just fine.


    The Grey Knights'' Prognosticar was a giant. Not only a Primaris Marine, but obviously enhanced by the Emperor in other ways. Probably an Alpha psyker too.


    He just nodded towards Rose, as if she wasn''t the boss of the Inquisition.


    "Pef Lancefire, you''re a very difficult man to find, despite leaving a trail of destruction and ruin in your path. Your fate is masked, even from me." the Prognosticar spoke in a deep voice, while leaning on his metal throne to observe me with glowing eyes.


    "Eh. The perks of being a Blank. Quite a blessing, I admit." I answered in a casual voice, and constructed a similar metal throne to sit in, since nobody brought me a chair.


    Rose sighed and sat in mid-air on a magic couch, then leaned back to admire her pink nails. "Boys, behave both of you." she spoke in a soft voice.


    "Our hold is full with damaged armors and Dreadknights, plus thousands of broken weapons and artifacts. We arrived at Hell''s Teeth too late, and could only cover the Mechanicus forces as they retreated from the Maelstrom, with 95% casualities. " the Prognosticar continued in a flat voice, but sounding quite agrieved to my ears.


    I raised a finger to think. These guys would have been quite useful in the Maelstrom, since all of them were Beta level psykers, and a few even Alpha among their Champions and Prognosticars. But they also got their asses kicked by Chaos and had to retreat. They might have stumbled into a trap meant for me.


    "Did you see a Saintly Sister blowing up daemons all over?" I asked instead. Maybe Ephrael didn''t die?


    "The Demonifuge, yes. She fell in battle against 66 Great Daemons. Killed half of them before she died." The Grey Knight said with a glow in his eyes.


    Uh. Really, 66 of the ugly ones? Not a coincidence then. I could deal with 4 or 5, maybe 6 at once, if my luck held. Add 60 more, and things would get bad. I was amazed these guys escaped at all.


    "The Archtraitor was there too, Ahriman. He killed the Grey Knights'' Champion. With two strikes." Rose added in a colder tone.


    Well, that made sense as well. I wanted to kill the sorceror just as much. And sweet Ephrael should be swimming among dead souls on her way back by now.


    "Hmmm. Ahriman is the most powerful psyker Chaos has left. And the bird would buff him up with dark blessings as well, to make sure he doesn''t die. I guess you want to kill the guy now?" I asked at random. Almost at random. I did listen so far.


    The Grey Knights present glanced at each other. "That would be ideal, Pef Lancefire. And having our gear repaired would also help." the Prognosticar spoke for their chapter.


    "My techsorcist skills are only decent. Good enough for a Blank, since I ignore most Warp stuff by default, but you guys are way more exposed, being psykers and all. I will need to bring in my Forge Masters. Probably my entire crew of tech-marines as well, if too many things are so damaged." I said with a shrug.


    "...Agreed. But only Blanks." the Grey Knight replied in a satisfied voice.


    "And I get to keep some stuff for my Librarians. Psi-tech is quite rare and hard to find." I added as my metal throne folded inside the tesseract and I stood up. Negotiations complete.


    The Grey Knights glared at me with their blue glowing eyes, but they didn''t object. They could find someone else to fix their stuff, probably.


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    ''Tech-marines, bring up your repair skills and tools. Our dear Brothers from the Grey Knights Chapter need our help to repair and sanctify their gear. Be ready for displacement in a few minutes!'' I ordered on to implant, while walking casually behind the Prognosticar and his remaining Brothers. Luckily for them, with the psychic awakening generating billions of psykers, they could find replacements much easier now. And if the Emperor wasn''t busy, he could also upgrade their psyker powers with the Shadowlight artifact he ''obtained'' from me.


    An Emperor never steals after all. He already owns everything in the galaxy, legally. And he also wrote those laws, so it was all legal.


    That''s why it was better to live far away from the Imperium.


    I have to admit, the Grey Knights were not poor at all. They had so many Terminator suits and rare weapons in their hold they almost matched a normal Chapter like mine.


    Which is why I displaced 40000 Blank tech-marines at once, so they could each take charge of a different item and begin exorcisms and proper repairs.


    Meanwhile, I inspected each type of artifact and compared them to my psi-tech data-base of STC templates.


    Curiously enough, most of them matched the STC designs with 99% fidelity, baring battle damage and field repairs. There were still more ways to upgrade them a little, but not as much as I thought. Which also begged the question. How did these guys lost so badly, with such advanced tech? Chaos also cheated though.


    Anyways, the Grey_Knights_Nemesis_Dreadknight</a> could benefit from a sealed and armored cockpit, and an extra Construct Void Shield like those used by my Moirax Armiger Knights. Which meant a new arc reactor. Oh well. So the equipment they had wasn''t perfect. It will be after I was done with it.


    The Aegis Terminator suits were quite amazing instead, so I kept 5 of the repaired ones for my Librarians. Wouldn''t be usable by non-psykers anyways, like any other Barrier Tech.


    Adding some auramite and blackstone reinforcements to the Grey Knights armor would also make them more durable.


    Personal teleporters were the hardest thing to repair though, since displacing through the Warp was a delicate business. I let my Forge Masters deal with that, lest I embed an innocent Grey Knight into a ship bulwark by accident. If it came to it, I could do that on purpose.


    "So, you guys have any opinion on the Isstvanian</a> faction ? You know, those fellows in the Inquisition who start internal conflicts and wars to just create a stronger humanity? I killed like 80 of those fuckers, but I was curious what you guys think." I asked the Prognosticar while installing a few hex wards onto a Gatling psilencer</a> with cognis targetting systems, which meant it never missed. Amazing stuff and a good technological aquisition for my own Astartes.


    The Grey Knight snatched the psilancer from my hand, and spoke a few low tone prayers to calm the machine spirit. Then he turned towards me and leaner closer. "We cannot disobey the Holy Inquisition, Pef Lancefire. Our vows and mental seals prevent us from taking action." he whispered in a pained voice. I guess Alpha psykers could bend those vows a little.


    I nodded slowly. "I do have a House spire back on Terra. Maybe it''s time I receive a different kind of insults and threats, not just from Nobles. Maybe those insults could mention the name of a grand personage who will gut me alive for my heresies? Their location as well, maybe?" I tested with a curious tone.


    The Prognosticar handed me the nice psilancer as a gift. "Brother Jobe would have liked you to have his old weapon, Pef Lancefire. Maybe visit Necromunda next? Heretics abound in that place."


    "Necromunda, huh? I guess the Halo Crusade Fleet needs a place to relax and hunt for sport on the way back to the boring Fringe. As for the other thing, in a decade everything will be better. Maybe Leman Russ will also return at Wolftime." I spoke in a cryptic voice.


    The Prognosticar was a great seer, probably just as good at the Eldar ones. He just nodded and walked away, with a hand clenched on his Rosarius. Still not a good guy, but I will take any help I could get. He will also probably grow golden wings and unmake daemons with a single word in a decade. Best to have a friend in high places, when the galaxy broke.


    </article>

 Tuesday

    Before I left the Strike Cruiser</a> Sword of Dione</a>, a limping Grey Knight asked for a private conversation. Quite curious, I know. His name was Graucis_Telomane</a> with the rank of Epistolary, some type of Librarian most likely. He didn''t carry any pistol, I checked.


    "Is it true, Pef Lancefire? You managed to subdue and capture the Daemon Primarch</a> Angron</a> ?" the not-so-young psyker asked with obvious pain in his voice. His service studs placed him over 600 years in service, not a small feat for someone battling daemons with such an obvious handicap. I would have remembered a limping Grey Knight anyways. Psykers could heal themselves quite easily.


    " Were you present at Fenris, back when you wanted to murder the Space Wolves?" I asked instead, while examining his leg wound with my other senses. Some kind of black shards were burrowed into his ceramite-infused bones, almost at the limit of my tesseract''s tactile range. Tricky things.


    "Sadly, no. I wasn''t allowed to join, since my mentor Justicar</a> Aelos</a> thought I would rush in and get myself killed by Angron. Maybe it was also true." the Grey Knight answered with a cold voice.


    Hovering in mid-air behind him, a Cherub named Young_Pious_MMXIV</a> began to play a flute, some wierd tune that grated my ears. I sighed inward and ignored the winged monster.


    Instead, I held my hand out, using both the Tesseract and my Breath of Gods to grab the black bone fragments into my glove. "I hope you don''t mind if I keep the shards. I am still training myself to use proper Pariah powers, but I can''t go around dragging a daemon by a leash. People might get strange ideas from that." I mused out loud while crafting a blackstone shell around the shards, to serve me as a Warp battery and training tool.


    The flute of the creepy Cherub halted as the Grey Knight stood straight, and tested his leg cautiously. "None of the Apothecaries managed to remove the damned shards..." he whispered in awe.


    "Then you don''t mind if I keep them, right? I can barely drain a little from them, but I sense anger and fury from it, plus some martial skills and honour feelings. The last two might be your psychic imprint." I asked again, with the bolter-like casing spinning in my palm.


    "...No, I don''t mind at all. However, I suspect only the fury is from me. I was rather furious last few centuries." Graucis declared in a nicer voice. Relieved maybe.


    Right. Angron belonged to Khorne in the past. Khorne would have some honor traits among his warriors. Learning to become a blademaster would be useful though.


    "So, what were you asking first? Something about Angron?" I remembered a minute later, rather fascinated by my new toy.


    "I think someone should remember quite vividly their heroic fight with a Daemon Primarch. Are you having fun at my expense?" the Grey Knight wondered while casting some biokinetic spell on his leg.


    "Errr. I think it was a Tuesday, right? Anyways, Magnus was much harder to capture than silly Angron. I had to kick his red eye out, then we used the Emperor Sword to slice off the daemon part.


    There was Lorgar too, but the idiot jumped out of his Glorianna to swipe at me with a sword. Angron was the easiest, to be fair." I recalled in a fond memory.


    "Tuesday? That''s what you remember most vividly about that day?" the Grey Knight yelled in outrage.


    "Tuesday is the day we have boiled eggs for breakfast! Is my favorite day!" I yelled back just as the Prognosticar and several Lamenter tech-marines burst into the room, probably worried about our screams.


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    "Why are you arguing about boiled eggs? Today is not even Tuesday." my grandson Felix wondered in confusion.


    "...Unbelivable!" Graucis growled and walked out stomping his feet. Healed feet too, by the way.


    The Prognosticar also noticed the healed foot, then locked his eyes on the blackstone case in my hand holding the black shards. "Brother Graucis was injured by a fragment of Angron''s Black Blade</a> , and we could never heal him. Until today."


    "I saw that. Anyways, I had an idea. Your Brotherhood could use my spire on Terra for training and covert ops. We only have like 20 Blank people there, and there''s room for a few millions easily." I proposed while flicking the casing up and down, then had the case vanish and appear in my other hand like a magician.


    "You''re planning to use us against other Nobles who may attack the spire?" the Prognosticar prognosticated like a pro.


    "So you don''t want a safe house on Terra?" I countered while flicking the case around and having it return to my hand before it could strike the walls.


    Felix muttered something like ''I like scrambled eggs better'' while turning back to repair more artifacts with his Brothers.


    "And in exchange?" the Grey Knight seer glared at me with glowing eyes.


    "Training for my Librarians perhaps. And maybe aid to Lancefire House trader ships, if and when possible." I proposed in a light voice.


    The Prognosticar closed his eyes, probably tracing a few timelines like his kind were prone to do. "In a decade maybe. If the Wolftime really comes, your warning will be of great use."


    I nodded in agreement then stepped away back on the Forge World. The Fabricator was rather anxious to meet me again.


    "The God-Walker! Are you able to make more like that, Emissary?" the tech-priest asked in an eager voice.


    Although I was getting better at using my Breath, Titans were still hard to do. And big ones much more so. "Probably, maybe. It is quite tiring to be honest. My daughter is getting married, so that was a special gift."


    "Glory to the Omnissiah! You should rest well, Lord Lancefire. We''ll trade more tomorrow." the Fabricator exclaimed and almost urged me to go sleep.


    So I went back to my ship and slept. With the black case still in my hand.


    Possibly not my best idea, but I was tired. I did sleep like a baby.


    When I woke up, the case was empty. No more sword shards, no more skills to absorb.


    Canis lifted his giant head above me, his eyes glowing golden. "Mrrrr. Wooof!" he said very wisely.


    Poisoned food? Nah. I haven''t eaten for 12 hours. Wait! I held up the case and my wolf nodded in return.


    My bodyguard rose to his feet, as I shifted through the tesseract into my shower. "Don''t run off again, Lord Captain." he asked in a tired voice.


    "I need to test my sword skills, Captain Khan. And you''re the best blademaster around." I explained while taking out a pair of dull swords from my inventory.


    "That you do, Lord Lancefire. As for best blademaster around...there are Custodes and Grey Knights in the system. Some of them ten times older than me." he added with a humble voice. Right, Custodes were kinda bullshit by design. And biokinetic psykers like the Grey Knights could accelerate their muscles and reflexes a dozen times too.


    In a minute, we began sparring at full speed, and I was able to block and parry the good Captain far better than before. I even touched his hand once!


    The White Scar held a hand up to stop the match, and examined his glove. Indeed, there was a faint mark there. Progress! I haven''t touched the White Scar even once in a century.


    "You''ve become better than most of your Lamenters already, except the 9 champions I trained myself. Double your skills again, and you''ll be a proper Chapter Master." the man said in a mild voice. Did I hear praise? Probably not.


    I should eat more Daemon weapons and get better. My Pariah powers were proving quite useful. If a few shards gave me this kind of skill, an entire weapon would be better. Right?

 Knowledge

    The next day, I proceeded to give Forge Ryza their gift, a pair of smaller Titan models of the Lancefire-J pattern, now called Castigator-B pattern, with the Titan''s head tucked inside the armor like the Terminator Dreadnoughts. They were still 8 kilometers tall, with the head and bridge reaching 7 kilometers in height, which was a decent altitude to serve as a battlefield command center.


    However, beside the obvious protection from side fire, the cowl of the Titan served another purpose. A Void Shield screen could be deployed in front of the Titan''s head, both for battlefield protection and space navigation. A pair of Macharius-engines allowed the new Titan to travel towards other star systems, with the engine vector-nozzles coming out of a giant powerpack on the Titan''s back.


    Was it absurd? Was it too big and a waste of resources? Of course! Did I care? You guessed right. I cared not a single bit.


    The two Titans were rapidly named the Twin Pillars, mostly because I named them Pillar of Autumn and Pillar of Winter.


    "They shall hold sky for your Forge, Fabricator, like the Pillars of Heracles from our history. I hope you don''t mind I nominated two of my daughters as their Princeps. Better make sure a Blank has command of the mighty god-engine." I said as the Fabricator and I stood on the Forge''s spire and eye to eye with the giant walkers.


    "...They are smaller than your wedding gift, but we also get two of them. They shall be our pride and joy, Autumn and Winter." The Fabricator mused in a deep voice, his optic lenses still locked on the tall window with the amazing view.


    "And they also have 40 plasma mortars to bombard any infantry around the legs. The Weavefield generator can be configured for Flare and Ion Shield modes, or both. And you also got the power fist to cover the barrel of the Plasma Annihilator unless it''s firing. Though I doubt they''ll ever need to punch something." I added as the Fabricator turned around, a single tear dripping for his last human eye.


    "It is true Lord Lancefire, I would have prefered a pair of experienced Princeps from our own Titan Legion, but Blank pilots are even more valuable. Especially since they will have to double as Ship Captains if we deploy to another world." the Tech-priest answered while storing the tear into a vial like it was a precious relic.


    "Aren''t you bothered by the weakness of your flesh?" I asked quite curious.


    "...It is my first ever tear of joy, Emissary. I shall treasure it for all time, and remember your deed from it. Now, you said there was something more?" the Fabricator asked in a serious voice, once the tear vanished under his robes in a small stasis box.


    "We''ll displace onto the Singularity now, Fabricator. I will need the gravity gun for my next miracle." I explained and moved us to the bridge of my battleship.


    People on the bridge just nodded at me and went back to their posts, while Canis sniffed at my well-oiled armor again. What can I do? Tech-priests love their aromatic oils.


    "Right, so a bit of old knowledge first. Inside of any star, there is a core of metal, created by the fusion process of that star. For a sun like this one you have here, the metal core would be 1000 times larger than your Forge World. Our wise Ancestors could mine this metal, using large Particle Excavators, which is how Forge Metalica got their metal planet." I began to speak, and at the same time dumping a part of the metal inventory I got from the Galactic Core. Not too much, and mostly iron and nickel, but also other elements useful to any Forge World.


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    Once the dump phase was complete, the Blade fired our Void Claw towards the clump of minerals, inserting a singularity with the exact precission expected from an advanced AI.


    The metal began to gather and fall into the new gravity well, forming a perfectly spherical planet. Then the Blade fired our lances at an angle, sending the new world on an orbit around the sun,


    and spinning gently as the metal evaporated into hot vulcans spewing molten lava.


    ''Orbit achieved with 99.89% accuracy, Captain. Orbital decay will send the new planet into the sun in a million years or less. Should I continue firing?'' the Blade asked in a worried voice.


    ''I''d say Forge Ryza will mine out this planet long before it falls into the sun. Humanity itself was dropping from trees a million years ago.'' I answered just as the Blade fired once more.


    ''I don''t like doing a crap work, Captain. There, 60 million years until orbit decays.'' the AI said in a satisfied tone.


    I sighed inward. Damn Necrons were going to sleep 60 million years ago. I wasn''t used to the timescale of this place even now.


    The Fabricator ran to the nearest console to check the auspex sensors. "There is enough metal here for a trillion battleships! We will only need to import rare minerals from other mining worlds." the man calculated at high speed.


    "That was the point of this demonstration, Fabricator. Humanity needs ships and vehicles to rule the galaxy. Now go home and start mining!" I encouraged the tech-priest and sent him home.


    The Blade hologram appeared at my side, while I was sending mental orders for the Halo Fleet to form up for void travel.


    "You are showing the Imperium too much of your power, Lord Captain. Your astrophysics knowledge was not quite right, but still better than what these tech-priests know." the AI admonished me in a gentle tone.


    I raised a finger, then let it drop. What little science I knew from my highschool and internet lessons was far below what an AI from the 25th millenium knew. Anyways, that''s exactly why a ruler needed to have smart advisors in various fields. I only had to have a vision, and have other people work for it.


    "I''ll be in my bedroom now. My fucking duty never ends." I muttered and walked away, as my daughter Genifer ran to jump in the Command Throne.


    "...Father is such a badass!" I heard two of my Astartes sons gossip as I left the bridge.


    "Extra sword training!" I yelled while pointing two fingers at them.


    "Yes, sire!" they both answered in a mirthful voice. People weren''t supposed to be happy when punished. Damn idiots!


    Lady Valyene waited for me in the bedroom, while Captain Khan was already inspecting the future concubines in the antechamber. Alaric and Semnai stood silent, and nodded at me without entering. Ah, this was going to be one of those talks.


    "Husband, my dear. We''re changing course towards Hive World Necromunda? Is there something important there?" my other Inquisitor wife asked while dropping her towel to entice me to talk.


    "Maybe an STC. Maybe something else. But anyways, a lot of killing to be done." I answered as my battleplate and underarmor vanished in my inventory.


    "Hmmm. Delightful! Tell me more. " she whispered as her tongue began to tease me expertly.


    I steeled my mind, and endured her vicious interrogation without giving anyway anything. For an entire minute. A new record.


    "I suspected something like that. You''re lucky with your smarter wives, Pef Lancefire. These people have high connections. The kind to excomunicate your House or Virus Bomb your worlds, maybe both. Clean up the underhives and search for that STC fragment, but leave the Inquisition to me. This will require a subtle touch." Velayne whispered as she climbed on top of me and began riding.


    Well, I was a lucky guy. Plus, we will enter the range of the Pharos soon. My C''tan friend would be keeping an eye our for things like that.

 Archeoteks

    Any Imperial Hive World is a mess. A failure of humanity and civilization at best, and a giant slaughterhouse of carnage and misery most of times.


    Necromuda had all this and made it worse, with thousands of Hive Cities competing for the worst place to live in in the galaxy. Sure, the upper spires where the Nobility and Administratum scribes lived were fancy and clean, but it went bad rapidly as you reached the hab-blocks and the macro-factoriums that produced consumer goods, corpse-starch and other useful items.


    The underhives going kilometers deep underground were war zones contested among gangs, cultists, mutants and genestealers, with the sole exception being the planet''s capital or Hive Primus</a> . Here, the underhives were dead silent, and completely empty. Then I remembered I did sent Primarch Khan here some time ago, on a quest to find the Van Saar STC.


    "What a shit world, Lord Lancefire. I reached 1000 kills in my first day, last time I was here with my Primarch." Captain Khan spoke as the holoscreen lit up with familiar Noble sigils attempting to impose their pitiful rules on my Crusade Fleet. Necomunda sure looked like a great live training field for my Astartes and tech-marines, almost like a planet-sized Space Hulk infested with all manner of disposable critters.


    Sure, some manner of polite words will be needed with the current Planetary Governor, but that was still only a polite gesture. I didn''t need the agreement of the local authorities.


    Lady Valeyne sighed instead, while her hand clenched hard on the Null Staff. "At least 14 Inquisitors are present, plus a hundred more lower ranks like Interrogators and Throne Agents. Half of them are suspected Isstvanians." she revealed in a tired voice.


    I continued my own search, locating Hive Secundus now overwhelmed by Tyranid Genestealers and quarantined by Penal Battalions. A group of separate hive cities formed a cluster called The Skull, now overrun by Orks. Hive Arcos was inhabited only by a Chaos Cult, and also quarantined. There was also a giant crater where the Cinderak_City</a> was located, home to a good deal of Ironhead Squat Prospectors</a> , another splinter of the Votann Leagues disguised as regular abhumans.


    I should displace the squats first, and find out what they knew. My Librarians should be able to obtain their cooperation.


    My mind expanded for a second, and the short cloneskeins vanished from the entire star system, now trapped in my tesseract labyrinth. This included their wheeled vehicles, the Land Trains and their ''hidden'' Votann Core buried in a crashed spaceship that produced the very crater they were based at.


    Valeyene glanced at me with a frown, then sighed again. "Alaric and Semnai, we''re going down to the Governor''s Spire. And you dear husband, underhives only...for now." she declared in a confident voice, then teleported with her Deathwatch escorts.


    ''Assuming command over the Thalax Legions. Let''s start with Hive Arcos and the Corpse Grinder Cult </a>." Spartan spoke from his hidden command center aboard the Black Lament.


    Almost 2 million power-armored cloneskein cyborgs got displaced on the surface levels of Hive Arcos, and began killing everything in sight, while a single Vigil of Silent Sisters followed them in their Silent Dreadnoughts. Among the Lorica suits cyborgs there were also 40000 Blank pilots who got injured during the Crusade and received a new lease on life as supersoldier cyborgs wearing Terminator-grade power armor. Quite useful when dealing with lesser daemos and rogue psykers, while the local Lord of Skin and Sinew</a> will be handled by our stronger Pariah Sisters.


    The regular Auxilia regiments got the far easer task of engaging the Orks infesting the Skull complex, where their tanks and Sentinels could provide excessive levels of fire support, and the air force of bombers and ground assault drones will be able to bomb the Orks as they rushed out for a proper fight. The new Sentinels with Sollex Lascannons and Plasma Mortars performed admirably,  but we still lacked enough numbers of those expensive walkers. My House Knights added their new Neutron Lasers when Ork meks and Stompers dared to rush out from the hives, proving rather overkill in most cases.  Black painted Ork walkers still needed 2 or 3 hits, because why not? Surely, painting your mek black provided the equivalent of a foot of adamantium armor, right?


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    As always, the Astartes got the worst job, and were sent to engage the genestealers of the Cult of the Second Son</a> in Hive Secundus, starting from the top spires and working their way down towards the spawning pools in the underhive. The Primaris Marines with the Khan gene-seed were especially effective in melee combat with the genestealers, while the tech-marines and their Guardian walkers provided fire support.


    The extra etheric detectors provided by the Zath Shard before he left were proving extremely useful now, with every Astartes Captain and Lieutenant equipped with one, as well as some recon squads and Void-Masters in charge of the umbilicals and supply locks for our spaceships.


    To my surprise, Primarch Khan had failed to locate the real STC of House Van Saar, despite cleaning Hive Primus underhives and all the connecting tunnels. I could see the underhive filled with shattered walls and exploded vaults, machine shops and heretek factoriums despoiled of machine tools and nerve-stapled servitors. Obviously a great deal of machinery was extracted from the place, but not the STC constructor. The thing was hanging like a ripe fruit under the main starport, disguised as a regular fusion generator, no doubt due to its constant radiation leaks.


    Right now, various Archeoteks</a> of the Van Saar were still hard at work inside the STC, scanning and editing STC templates in a familiar manner. Maybe even more competent than my own edit method, since I wasn''t an experienced STC technician with thousands of years of code programming and subtle power adjustments.


    Ever better, while the STC was damaged and leaked radiation, it was also not locked or restricted to a single type of machine like most STCs I''ve seen til now.


    Everything from weapons, suits and implants, as well as anti-grav platforms like the Grav-cutter</a> and the larger Grav Cruiser</a> which were used as troop and supply transports.


    Yoink! The starport left a groan of ease and respite as the hanging fruit vanished in my tesseract, alongside the precious Archeoteks and their invaluable expertise. These were not the same kind of religious tech-experts as the normal Tech-priests of the Mechanicus, so I could use them for my own gain once back in the Lancefire domain.


    Not to be a scum thief, I began repairing and re-arranging the system with metal asteroids and ice comets getting moved in separate Lagrange points for ease of exploitation, as well as allowing my Breath to clean up the toxic air and seas, and upgrade the Eye of Selene</a> spacestation into a proper defense fort with extra adamantium armor and Void shields.


    It took two weeks for the minefields and asteroid fort line to become operational and integrated with the Governor''s military force, while Lady Valeyne undertook her own investigation. It was mostly her Alpha psyker powers and forced confessions to be fair. As we departed from the Hive World, a Strike Cruiser of the Imperial Fists departed towards Terra carrying the corpses of 8 Inquisitors declared traitors by my wife, and 88 of their acolytes as well, with blood-signed confessions and other forms of evidence attached, like notebooks and ship logs.


    While the Hive World was still a bloody mess, nobody could fix that. I could steal 100 billion young girls for my own eugenic program in the Fringe, mostly as salt-wives for the Catachan soldiers and colonists. It didn''t even matter, as an Universe mass-conveyor had arrived from Terra with a trillion immigrants stored in stasis to replace the local casualities and re-populate the lost hive cities. There were still about 400 trillion humans living on Necromunda, so another trillion was only a drop in the bucket.


    I was thinking about grabbing the nice conveyor for myself, when a message with the Emperor''s House codes arrived directly on my implant. ''Omnissiah''s Judgement has found ye not guilty. But do make sure the 85 transport ships return. The Exodus must continue.''


    The Blade traced the message to the bridge of the mass-conveyor, where an auramite warrior was just mag-locking his phone-size transponder to his belt.


    The Custodes eyes turned golden and he turned to look right at me, despite the large distance and no method of detecting my tesseract sense. Damn bullshit Emperor!


    I wanted to go home already.

 Revelation

    <div>


    <div>


    I bestow my sons with a great deal of advanced weapons and Invictus Suits, as well as repulsor tanks and Guardian walkers for their tech-marines. Thus, 60000 Blank Astartes make their way into the galaxy while my own force diminishes to only 10000 Astartes I will keep as Lancefire Domain protectors.


    I still have 2 million Thalax cyborgs and 100 strike cruisers, but my battleships and battlebarges have all been gifted away to the new Blank Chapters, as well as the Drop Cruisers my sons will need to assault or defend worlds.


    But this is not a drain on my resources, or only a temporary one. For at Machine Forge, I have now 40 Forge Worlds expeditions, each bringing their own expertise in various fields, from cogitators and logis-engines to weapons and armor, fabrication lines and exotic technologies like Nova Cannons or gravity tech.


    Mighty Zarhulash, the C''tan shard inhabiting the Pharos is glad to see me, and somewhat surprised I have survived my quest to recover the Breath of Gods. Or that I remained sane, most likely.


    The Speranza AI is instead horrified of learning of my adventures, mostly those among the Votann in the Galactic Core. I won''t bother you will all the insults that grated my ears.


    "And you even stole the Ironhead Votann from Necromunda? That thing is not only insane, but also stronger than me! For I am shackled with Abominable Intelligence overrides, and the Votann Core is not." the Speranza yelled from its shackled Ironkin remote.


    I held out my palm, and the Blade AI poked its head out as a blue holographic woman. "Humans are quite bothersome, aren''t they, big brother?" she asked in a melodic voice.


    The Speranza sputtered for a second, and locked its powerful noosphere gaze on the tiny Blade. "A Federation AI? Some kind of time-jump experiment?"


    "...Yes?" Blade whispered gently.


    "The Blade of Infinity! Why are you so weak?" Spereanza asked a bit surprised.


    The hologram glanced at me, then looked down. "The Fall of the Eldar didn''t allow the research team enough resources. Nor did the Council approve our mission, considering it wasteful. Only a pair of time-jump ships were constructed, using whatever was available. Civilian tech mostly."


    "I guess we can move your core mind into a Demiurg Fane. Though it would be a pity to destroy the senile mining servers..." the Speranza mused in a slow manner, likely calculating loss and rewards for such a trade.


    The Blade smiled and glanced at me. Right, it was my turn to explain.


    "About that. My new powers will allow me to construct Federation-grade data-cores. I already built about 20 of them for different polities, but I will take care of my domains even better. I''ll have to ask the Votann if it wants a dozen new cores as well." I offered with a genial smile.


    The huge armored remote of the Speranza stepped next to me, then crushed me in a bear hug powered by hydraulic pistons. My Terminator plate withstood it, with protesting groans. "At least there is that. The plan will move forward much faster this way." Speranza declared in a hopeful tone.


    Leaving a holograhpic projector on the desk, I waved the Blade to jump ships and talk with Speranza while I went to visit Zarhulash and check on the galaxy with the Pharos.


    Lady Valyene was already here, with a holoscreen lit up to project the galaxy map, and all known forces.


    The Tyranids with their red and brown symbols were still expanding, and often clashing with the green Ork sigils as well as Necron and Eldar symbols, beside the golden Aquila of the Imperium.


    As a visual aid, the galactic map was already helpful, but it didn''t compare with the real thing.


    I sat on my adamantium chair and opened my mind to the wide senses of the Pharos device.


    ''Pef Lancefire, your presence has grown. You have opened the seal as well.'' Zarhulash spoke in my mind, as I gazed over my domain in the Fringe.


    Colonization was already in progress in the Ork worlds were have scoured before leaving, as the chainswords of our Sentinels were busy with clearing up farm land and providing construction material for the waves of new immigrants. Our PDF was still fighting some beasts and feral Orks, though mostly by poking and then running back to the Tarantula turrets safety. Lasguns and shovels of the PDF were not exactly sufficent to deal with 10 meters tall reptiles or small hordes of axe-wielding Orks, but the turrets were meant to deal with far worse enemies.


    I did have the Void Spinner tech from the nice Eldar Farseer back at Exnihilo, so cleaning up Ork spores will become far easier soon. It make take a decade or two for my Librarians to tour the entire Lancefire domain and exterminate the Ork spores, but at least this problem was solvable, and quite soon.


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    I checked on the Tau next, to find their Star Empire much reduced by the lack of xenos allies or human worlds, but also experimenting with plasma mortars similar to my new ones. Clever ones, the sneaky Tau. They always found the best way to destroy an enemy at range, and it even seemed to work somewhat against Necrons. Then again, plasma was a great counter against necrodermis as well as pretty much anything else.


    The Ultramar domain was under attack by Chaos Plague Ships spreading disease and corruption, and 40000 Ultramarines and their succesors were fighting back with bolter and sword. Didn''t go that well either. I guess I should help, right? Couldn''t do much about the plagues, but at least I could cripple the Plague Ships with Nova mines displaced inside their hulls.


    I reached 93 deep-strikes when the effort began to overwhelm me. There were still a few ships left, so I could only send small melta bombs on their pox-filled bridges. And my mind began to sway and vison to blur. Still, not bad for a day''s work. Unless the Plague ships entered the Warp soon, I will find them and blow them up tomorrow.


    "Mighty Zarhulash...we have much to talk. When I wake up." I muttered as I displaced myself right in my bed.


    -------------------------------------------------


    The Inquisitor Lady Valyene Ramaeus Lancefire watched the cauldron symbols vanish one by one from the galactic map, then raised her eyes to look the giant xenos godling in his alien eyes.


    "I''d guess those were Nurgle worshippers that my husband just killed?" she asked out loud. Pef always struck at Chaos first, making his targets rather predictable sometimes.


    "...Etheric emanations with Type 4 decay imprints. Temporarily de-localized from this dimension plane. Nega-psi weaponry or logopedic reversal is requiered to permanently destroy this kind of etheric enemies. You will need either Pariah gene carriers or Anathemic Type 5 powers to obliterate them, Inquisitor. Or perhaps Necron Pylons and Blackstone forts, if available." the C''tan answered in his alien way.


    "Silent Sisters, I get it. And maybe Saints? Spelling their True Names in reverse as well. As for Necron Pylons, we only have one installed on the Eternal Lament. Doesn''t do much that I could see." she mused in a thoughtful voice. It fit with her own knowledge about combating daemons and their servants.


    "The current timeline will end soon, Inquisitor. The galaxy has begun to split apart, with the faultline spreading out from Terra. Luckily for us, here in the Eastern Fringe, the new Eye will not burn too bright. If a powerful enough source is installed on the Pharos, I might be able to provide shade for the Lancefire Domain, and several sectors around." the C''tan added with a tinge of emotion, perhaps worry.


    The Inquisitor just nodded slightly, hiding her fear. Now the trillions of immigrants leaving Holy Terra began to make sense. The Emperor was very aware of this event, if He was evacuating people in such large numbers. As for a new Eye centered on Terra...if it resembled the Fall of the Eldar, then whatever God was being born will be fueled by enormous human sacrifice.


    "Do you know the name of the God being born?" she asked in a hopeless voice.


    "You already know it. Everyone knows it. The Weapon, the Anathema, the Star Child. I predict he will call itself Judgement. The Imperium calls him God-Emperor, with hope in their trillions of voices. They won''t be so hopeful when his eye opens." the C''tan whispered with a gloomy voice.


    Valeyne fell to her knees, as her last drop of hope shattered.


    "Stand up, Valyene Lancefire! Your old worlds ends, but you are not that old person anymore. You are a Lancefire now! If there is any safe place in the galaxy, it is here. Even Gods thread ligthly in this place, for Pef Lancefire lives here." the C''tan Star God encouraged her with a strange tone, almost admiring.


    Her eyes became hard and cold, and she rose straight and determined. "We are Lancefires, and fear nothing. For we are what they fear!" she proclaimed with newfound strength.


    "Good. Now step closer and let us see about that Nexus you wear. You can''t be a proper Lancefire and be weaker than a single Titan Legion." Zarhulash offered as living stone steps flowed up from the floor.


    Valyene climbed the steps and reached eye to eye with the imprisoned Shard. The C''tan was afraid of her husband, that much was clear, so she shouldn''t be in danger. Then a tentacle made of living metal pierced her forehead, and the agony began.


    </article>

 Ring

    I woke up with a strange feeling invading my senses.


    At first I thought it was a C''tan or some kind of mental parasite, but then I realized what really happened.


    My wife Valyene had become a dimensional traveller, and the first thing she did was to invade my personal space. Literally. My dimensional tesseract labyrinths, filled with treasures, money, weapons and artifacts collected from a thousand worlds, now had a visitor.


    She didn''t have my power, but somehow her psyker power had been channeled through the Nexus Arrangement cube, while the same device had been merged with her Null Staff to become a armor piece resembling a power armor''s vambrace. Thus, of course Valyene was now picking through the Grey Knight Aegis suits and damaged items for more psi-tech for her use.


    I just watched in half horror as bits and pieces reformed, the metal and sigils healing under her hand to be reforged into a half-silver and gold armor that included the Votann Barrier Shield and hundreds of Grey Knight accesories and purity seals. She did look amazing in her new armor, and she even grabbed a certain Drukhari Blaster pistol I named the Checkov Gun, then loaded its other gun magazine''s with 3 Darkstar bolts. Then as a final fuck you, she picked up the Gatling Psilencer and made its barrels spin, ready to fire.


    "You are awake now, husband?" Valyene spoke rather confidently.


    I traversed the labyrinth to meet her in person, and check what she had done to herself. "I see the prisoner has been quite helpful. A bit heretek too, melding Xeno tech with Imperial technology. Not that anyone will mind, in my lands." I observed cogently.


    Valyene smiled with a sad face, as her gatling gun spun in mid-air. "This Gatling Psilencer...it is all crystal-tech inside. A conduit for a psyker''s power to channel the Warp into anti-deamon nega-psi bolts. The final result of Kinebrach</a> and Interex meld of technolgy called Spiteforging. Technically, the Grey Knights are proven hereteks now."


    She lacked the hateful vigor of a proper Ordo Xenos Inquisitor though, as if resigned and maybe disgusted.


    I just hugged my wife and waited for a minute. What will we find inside the Golden Throne or the Psi-Titans? How many of humanity''s inventions were simply re-purposed alien devices? I would guess quite a few. But I found out why the gatling gun disliked my touch now. Spite-tech, huh?


    "That left glove you wear...it is similar and yet far stronger than my own. If you were a psyker, just that glove would raise you into Alpha plus ranks, not to mention your tesseracts and stranger gifts." she noted in the same sad voice, lacking hate and fire.


    "I can actually reformat an entire star system to my will now. Is that the limit of an Alpha Plus psyker though? Are there higher ranks in the power scale?" I said in a wondering voice.


    Her eyes flashed with Warp energy for a second, re-filling my reserves through my Pariah drain. "Control is the problem, not power. The Warp is immense, infinite perhaps. One can draw as much as they want, until their mind and body fail. Beta Plus and Gamma Plus are the known stages after Alpha Plus, but theoretically they can go higher. Much, much higher."


    "It should work the same for Blanks then. Omega-minus is not the last stage." I mused with a new purpose in sight. In fact, I already suspected that, with my Solitaire friend becoming a Demigod by draining Vashtorr not long ago.


    A pair of blue eyes opened on her vambrace, as her etheric detector activated. Quite a multi-tool the C''tan had crafted for her. "Type 5, inverted. Ether drain: minimal. Danger level: mostly harmless. " Valyene read out loud what her xeno device said.


    I shrugged and slapped her armored ass. "That''s me, Pef Lancefire. Mostly harmless." I quipped as my powers extended outwards, and began re-forging the Machine Forge into a proper Mega-shipyard and mining base. Blocks of metal from the Votann treasury, then Space Hulk fragments and collected asteroids got dumped into the system, as I began assembling a planetary ring and orbital elevators made of adamantium.


    If Mars had the Iron Ring, my Machine Forge needed one as well. And then a metal planet to exploit for unlimited metal. Then mountain-sized Titans to act as guardians and enforcers for the Deus Ex Machina Titan Legion. Planetary-core deep under the crust, for extra data-storage and contemplation power.


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    I just woke up, and was feeling tired already. Valyene sent a tendril of Warp energy towards me, and the energy replenished. Still mentally tired, but at least my body was fine.


    "I need some black tea. It''s quite tiring constructing planetary scale structures." I muttered and returned to my room, tea flask already in hand.


    Canis glanced at me, and sighed in his wise way. He also missed Purity, but the girl was now on Terra with her sister and big brother. Janice came out mostly fine, so hopefully the Emperor could train the little one as well. For a second I imagined Purity roaming the halls of the Imperial Palace and kicking the ankle of some rude giant, like Primarch Angron. Then ripping his Butcher-nails out one by one.


    ''I think the new core is for me, right?'' Speranza sent to my implant, while already installing his fork mind into the brand-new data core.


    ''The Blade gave you the new STC templates, right? We''ll need to make the Anti-grav tanks for my Astartes next. The tracked vehicles will stay with the Auxilia and PDF troops.'' I asked in a tired voice.


    ''You should sleep again, Pef Lancefire. Let the nanites restore your mind, and focus on the big project. We''ll deal with the small stuff for you.'' the AI answered with slight admonishment.


    Oh well. I could sleep...that was true.


    I woke up again, much later. Canis was growling in warning, as Fabricator Gemma insisted to visit me right away. Might be something to do with the planetary engineering.


    My bodyguard was fast asleep at her feet, because the sneaky woman had her censor-incense doped with soporific smoke, of course.


    "What is it, Fabricator?" I muttered half-asleep and drew another tea flask from my inventory.


    "My tech-priests and acolytes are overwhelmed with fervent logic-prayers and data-epiphanies. The Machine Forge has awoken, and gained its own Machine Spirit. Calls itself Ex Machina."


    Gemma divulged in a half-horrified and half-awed voice.


    "I know. I did that." I managed to answer in-between tea sips.


    Lady Gemma dropped the incense burner and ran next to my bed. "Don''t joke about this, Lord Pef! Tell me I can trust the giant spirit. It is teaching everyone new STC templates as well as a thousand disiplines of mechanical dogma. My logic-barriers still hold...barely." she pleaded with desperate eyes.


    "Deus Ex Machina, my lady. Speranza would not call itself a god, but practically it is one now. Anyway, I have two other Machine Spirits almost like that, ancient minds from the Dark Age of Technology that I found during the last Crusade. The Blade and Ironhead. You''ll love the Blade, I''m sure." I disclosed with a sneaky grin.


    Lady Gemma climbed in my bed and began riding the lance, as her final walls crumbled. "So much knowledge...an ocean of data!" she gushed out in fervent ecstasy.


    ''I gave your Fabricator Tier 3 access, Pef Lancefire. Her cogitators and mind implant are top-grade so she''ll be able to absorb and understand a great deal of Federation tech. Barrier, singularity and temporal tech is instead restricted to those I deem worthy though. Blanks at a minimum, and a disposition towards the scientific method as well.'' the Speranza spoke in my mind, much stronger than before.


    Inwardly, I agreed. Wouldn''t want to risk another Dark Mechanicum rising among the superstitious tech-priests. Plasma and cogitator tech were dangerous enough, but collapsing stars or timelines was rather different. As for psi-tech, we will need a different star system to develop fabrication methods, much like the Grey Knights had their Deimos Forge World.


    "I can build an android body for myself now. Fold my weapons and equipment under my skin, and become a pretty lover for you, my Lord." Gemma whispered as she rested on my chest.


    I didn''t have to think much where the idea came from. The Blade would want an android body for herself as well, and Gemma was likely the only one with the ability to construct a quality body like that. Plus digital weapons and tools were quite small as well, and only costed a few fruits for our Jokaero.


    "The planetary ring should work as a wedding ring too." I added with a teasing voice.

 Ironhead

    A man and his wolf walk into a bar.


    Wait, wrong century! Or millennium, whatever.


    While the Machine Forge is gearing up for extra production, I took a small step through the Pharos and arrived at my other Forge World. Retribution.


    The place where science is being re-discovered right now. Where psykers need to be fortified to Heaven and back lest they explode. Really, too much enforced reality can make a psyker disconnect from the Warp, and they just die. Even normal people may suffer the same fate, depending of their mental and soul resistance. Thus, only tech-adepts and Blanks can live on the planet now, and some Sisters of Battle that simply don''t care and keep on holding the Faith. Especially valuable when they are non-militant Orders like Dialogus or Familious, or lore-keepers and matchmaking types, so they can teach their own lessons. Other teachers are competent tech-priests that were able to split off from doctrine and teach only the basic facts, although some of them also teach the Mechanicus doctrine as well.


    Teacher Aristotle has command over the single higher learning institution that humanity has in 40k right now, called the Temple of Knowledge. It helps that he is a cloneskein of Primarch Vulkan, so most people got used to his giant size by now. Primarch Vulkan gets to step on a real planet and meet a few of his other clones, and boost our research by an order of magnitude. And soon after, the Blade and Speranza will get their planetary cores and increase our learning curve by another order of magnitude.


    My poor Fabricator Dominus of the Forge Retribution had a heart attack and several brain siezures while reading the list of STCs and other discoveries I brought back. The faulty heart was replaced with another electoo-mechanical pump, and a few brain lobes got replaced by new cogitator cores, then a bath in holy oil restored my brave tech-priest to...function. He was still happy as he gained 22.21% more memory space and contemplation rate from this event. "+++ More Machine = better. I even got closer to the ideal of the Mechanicus Cult, Lord Lancefire!" the Fabricator exclaimed happily as he began the holy download once more.


    I nodded and patted his red hood. Then also patted my wolf on his head, which sadly lacked a red hood.


    "Grrrr." Canis warned me while glancing hatefully at the tech-priest''s smelling hood.


    Got it, big boy. No hood for you.


    "I also have a damaged STC constructor and an Ancient Core inhabited by a Machine Spirit pre-dating the Dark Age of Technology, but those things are somewhat dangerous. I''ll try to obtain their cooperation peacefully, before resorting to sustained percussion diplomacy." I added as the Fabricator got lost in contemplation.


    "++ That sounds/looks > great, Holy/Revered Emissary of Omnissiah. But/wait perhaps give me +++ time to assimilate the current >>> knowledge?" the Fabricator muttered in half-intelligible words mixing Gothic with Tech-Lingua.


    I shrugged and stepped off, reaching the good Primarch and his awed students. I mean, religious iconography considered and depicted the Primarchs as Holy Archangels of the God-Emperor, with Vulkan being the incarnation of Perpetual Motion via Immortality and superior tech knowledge originating directly from the Omnissiah.


    Or rather, the strange mix of cults on my strange Forge World made it so? Most certainly, probably.


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    "I wish people would stop kneeling and spouting prayers in my presence. I am only a man." Vulkan spoke gruffly as the Sisters murmured prayers side by side with tech-priests and various acolytes of both Faiths.


    "That''s exactly what the Emperor said. Good luck with that." I quipped in a light voice, and shook hands with Aristotle. He used one hand, I used both.


    "Folks! Stand up and silent. Primarch Vulkan has a few words to say." I shouted via the giant amphiteather''s vox casters.


    Vulkan grunted at me a bit annoyed, then spoke in the deadly silent hall. "For 9000 years while I was absent, humanity had to survive without guidance, and got clogged with ritual and superstition. And while these rituals had some benefits like maintaining an unified culture and a modicum of repairs for our tech base, humanity in general has declined. This is much worse in the Imperium proper, where corruption, abuse and slavery have become the norm. My Brother, Primarch Guilliman must be tearing his hair out trying to restore the Imperium as its Lord Commander."


    I sent a recent pict of Roboute on the main screen, showing his half-bald head to give a better visual aid for the audience. Nobody laughed though, ruining my joke.


    "What I will tell you next is the Truth. The Imperial Truth as the Emperor called it. He wanted humanity to rule the stars, guided by reason and science and not superstition. At his order, thousands of religions and cults were destroyed, including those which worshiped him as a God. But it was not to be. My Brother Lorgar Aurelian invented the Imperial Faith and for that, his homeworld of Monarchia was burned to the ground by the Ultramarines. Lorgar was also the first of my Brothers to fall to Chaos." Vulkan spoke in a sad rumbling voice.


    I stepped forward to repair the big hole left by the blunt Primarch. " That was then, maybe 12000 years ago. The Emperor was a man of science, spending most of his time in laboratories to create weapons for humanity. The Imperial Lasgun we all know and love is his creation. The Primarchs, the Custodes and the Astartes were all created by the Emperor as genetic weapons, to protect humanity against all threats, foreign or domestic. However, after his Ascension on the Golden Throne, the Emperor could not walk among the people like a man. He tried to help with advice and psyker powers at range, and those were interpreted as miracles. And then, thousands and thousands of years and prayers created the new Truth, the Imperial Faith. The Emperor became the God-Emperor, safeguarding the soul of humanity from the Warp."


    Vulkan frowned as he analyzed my own speech. The Sisters of Battle were not quite happy either. The tech-priests stared at me with glowing blue eyes.


    So Canis walked forward and howled, filling the hall with a golden holy aura forcing everyone down, even the Blanks among the students. The Primarch grunted and withstood the aura somehow, while I just sighed. The golden aura excluded me, as if I wasn''t even here.


    "Canis met the Emperor in person, and was blessed by his hand. This is not by accident or coincidence. Wolves were the first animals to be tamed by humanity, and they have guarded their humans faithfully and loyally ever since. Since Canis was thus blessed, he has become an Imperial Living Saint, able not only to fight daemons, but also devour their souls and grow stronger from it. My daughter Janice lives now by the side of the Emperor and she is also a Living Saint. Also the only ruler of Adepta Sororitas." I continued in a softer voice.


    Vulkan snorted and ruffled the fur on Canis like he was a normal dog, then also patted my head from high above. "Lord Lancefire has spoken. As did his wolf. Anyways, if you want to learn in this Temple of Knowledge you will follow my rules. Science first, superstition later. Or else, you have to fight me hand-to-hand. I would be excited and forgiving if I lose."


    Canis glanced at me, then up at the huge Primarch, even more impressive in his green armor. He was also a wise wolf, and ignored the challenge.


    I also ignored the Primarch, and teleported on the nearest moon to deploy the Ironhead Votann and begin negotiations.


    "Thief! Give me back my squats!" Ironhead yelled for his first words.


    I just kicked his metal shell in return. Percussion diplomacy might work on the Ironhead, maybe. "I can kick you all day, Ironhead. Read a star chart first."


    "Errr. We are far away from Necromunda." the Votann noticed after scaning the sky for a minute.


    I unlocked the Pef/M41 files, and sat down on his metal case. "I also have the higher ground, Ironhead. Choose your next words carefully." I advised the giant data-core while sitting on its head.

 All the luck

    <div>


    <div>


    Only after the Blade AI instantiated her new fork mind and could discuss things on their special matrix network, did the Ironhead Votann relented. "You could have told me the Lancefire League already had a Hold in the Galactic Core." the old machine grumbled as I was constructing four more data-cores to increase its storage and computation speed.


    "You wouldn''t have believed my words anyways." I countered with a shrug.


    "That''s correct. I would have suspected another Imperial trick or false flag." The Votann muttered in agreement.


    "Right. Anyways, we are in agreement for the next part. You and the cloneskeins will take over mining and smelting operations for the Lancefire Domain, as a subsidiary to the Lancefire League in the Eastern Fringe called Ironhead-Lancefire. This will include contacts with the Tau Empire and trading minerals towards them, in return for advanced techology and scientific theories." I concluded while jumping off the next huge metal head and sinking it far below the surface.


    "You could also construct new data-cores without stepping on my head. You don''t even need physical contact!" the Ironhead Votann protested as I moved on top of the next metal head.


    "...Close proximity ensures Warp protection via my Pariah genes. The risk is low, but should some data-daemons sneak inside your personality matrix? It would be bad." I answered as I sat down, and rubbed my armored ass on its dignified metal face.


    "What science interests you the most, Khal Lancefire?" the Votann asked while enduring the indignity of my Terminator ass scrapping his nose.


    "For now, gravity and anti-gravity theories. Using STC-made grav plates is only a partial solution. And I want better grav-chutes and grav-repulsors for my Sentinels and Thalax suits, maybe even for the larger Knights or Titans." I explained while deftly assembling the adamantium internal scaffold and power coils inside the next data-core.


    "And what then? Your silly tech-priests will still need STC templates to construct the devices, by hand and tentacle. I''ve seen enough of their kind!" the Votann complained in a disgusted tone.


    "That part is true. But we also have an university of science down on Forge Retribution. We have independently rediscovered the radio already, and we''re working on television and radar systems next!" I declared in a proud voice.


    "...Radar? That''s 433 steps behind the nearest gravity collapsing device, and at least 700 steps away from the earliest anti-grav devices." the Votann exclaimed while sniffing and almost making me fall off its nose.


    "I do have an idea for the next research steps, Ironhead. Electro-magnets for the first radars, then superconductors and magnetic levitation. Then rediscover the Higgs bosons with a particle accelerator and thus the Higgs gravitic field. Not too sure afterwards, but that''s why we''re gathering the brightest minds to our Temple of Knowledge." I mused with a thoughtful voice.


    To think even basic appliances like the radio and TV had to be discovered again, while humanity travelled the stars in huge weaponized cathedrals.


    Without tech-priests and engineseers, not even simple combustion engines could be built or repaired, not to mention vehicles and trains or lasguns and whatnot.


    Things worked somewhat better in my domain, but even after two centuries of hard work and industrial development, I barely had wood-working and the printing press available to the public at large. The last decade had produced domestic textile mills and a clothing industry, and also canned food and basic medications like vitamins and pain-killers, but no antibiotcs and vaccines without a Magi Biologis being involved.


    Overall, my lands were somewhere about the start of WW2 as tech levels, while the Imperium was before WW1 or worse. While early radars would be useless against Eldar or Necron fighters, there were still other enemies like Orks and Tyranids who could be easier engaged at range with radar-guided balistics.


    Reading on this site? This novel is published elsewhere. Support the author by seeking out the original.


    Sadly, while the Mechanicus did have very advanced devices and weapons, including quantum logic-engines and exotic particles and many more, they also had no ideea how they worked or why.


    Basic science will take time to catch up, even in my enlightened domain, because there weren''t any real teachers to teach science. A few study groups with Demiurg and Tau captives had began producing some results, but the Demiurg clones were mostly STC based anyways, while the Tau were locked in their caste knowldge, separating every science field into unmeshable portions.


    Several Air caste Tau worked on basic aerodynamics, the Earth Caste captives tried to explain their metallurgy and construction methods, while the Water caste had social sciences. On the other hand, the Fire caste had warfare doctrines aplenty, also structured into strict paths like our own Codex Astartes and Infantry Primer Manuals.


    The Blade and Speranza got the task of reading and compiling the alien knowledge into something usable by our colonists, and reduce our dependency on tech-priests and rituals where-ever it was deemed safe enough. Nobody wanted to make a mistake and allow a Nurgle plague to infest our food or medicine industry. The city-sized bonfires over in the Ultramar domain were warning enough, even after the Plague Ships got blown up.


    Things got so bad we had to stop tradeships from Ultramar and turn them back, lest they carry a dormant pathogen and infect billions in the Lancefire domain as well.


    Even so, Orks and Space Hulks still roamed the galaxy and carried disease everywhere, and they couldn''t be stopped with a trade interdiction order.


    By the next year, my domain was also struck by plague and disease, and hundreds of planets were quarantined to slow the spread and allow my Thalax cyborgs and Space Marines enough time to burn down the infected people and cities.


    Which is when an Eldar cruiser emerged from a hidden gate, carying Sister Stern and her mentor harlequin the Solitaire Mnemorach.


    I extended my dimensional sense towards the incoming cruiser, to find both main characters were now immune to dimensional shift, so instead I stepped through and arrived on their bridge.


    A dozen Eldar Aspect-Warriors opened fire at me with shuriken catapults and electric bolt spells, so I just laughed. "Guys, if you want to die and join Ynnead you only need to ask. I am not one to mind a small genocide in my spare time!"


    "Leave us!" the Solitaire ordered with a pulse of black nega-psi energy, which worked wonders against regular psyker Eldar. They ran out, leaving me to hug my recently deceased and revived wife.


    "I heard you killed 33 Great Daemons, my dear! Even better than my personal best record." I congratulated Sister Stern while pawing her plump ass.


    "I don''t mind...but there is worse news, husband mine. I saw inside of the Astronomican as I roamed the Valley of Death. There is a small child, sleeping with one eye closed. The other eye saw me, and I felt judged." Ephrael Stern spoke in a grave tone.


    I threw a water ballon back at the stupid clown and sat down with my wife in my lap. "The Star Child, yes. All Navigators see him now." I answered with a small nod.


    "It knew me, Pef! It looked inside my soul, and counted my dead Sisters trapped inside." Stern spoke in a pleading voice.


    I sighed and patted her head. "When the Emperor fought Horus, he couldn''t strike the damned traitor, because he still loved his son, no matter how corrupted he had become. So, the Emperor cut off his compassion and mercy, and sealed them inside the Astronomican. Yet, the Warp is still the realm of emotions." I explained in a patient voice.


    Mnemorach froze, his next paint ballon barely tied in his hand. "That would be a giant joke, Pef Lancefire. To see the Fall of Humanity caused by mercy."


    "It won''t be a Fall like you created with Slaanesh, my Eldar friend. If that was the case, the Emperor would have asked me to kill yet another Warp God." I countered with a careless shrug.


    "Ah, yes. The famous God-hunter, in his human flesh. And yet unable to stop a simple Chaos Plague?" the Solitaire teased me in a joking voice.


    "Luckily, I did marry the Demonifuge, Menmorach. You can deal with the plague, right?" I asked my stern wife, who nodded sternly at me.


    "And heal the infected as well. Lady Isha taught me a few tricks." Ephrael added as she leaned in to kiss me.


    Some men do have all the luck, right?


    </article>

 Thats no moon

    Over the next few years, I mostly travelled my lands, constructing more planetary data-cores, orbital elevators and other infrastructure projects, while the next generation of cloneskeins are being gestated in our genetic Crucibles. Stronger, faster and far more resilient than any human had a right to be, matching the Catachans and often exceeding them.


    Our genetor Anzion is in charge of that project, while Strategos and the AIs are taking care of providing our new army with Votann-class exo-suits and weapons. My other two Forge Worlds had also increased greatly with the addition of a STC Constructor for each of them, as well as metal planets and blackstone moons to mine for their needs.


    Maybe copying the Fire Caste a bit, but specialized clones fo warfare does make sense.


    The Lancefire Knights have also grown to a full planet hold on Natale, with their own STC constructor for Knight suits that I ''found'' on the Raven House''s homeworld. Experienced pilots slowly receive the larger models armed with Neutron Lasers and Torsion Cannons, while the new pilots train on Armed Sentinels until they get their own Armiger Knight. We can only make 100 big walkers per year, but the Armigers are basically better Sentinels so we have reached 1000 per year rapidly.


    As for Sentinels, all 4 of my Forge Worlds produce the walkers at a fast pace, and have reached 40000 per year already, with new factoriums and production lines being opened every year.


    We could make many more, but at a lesser quality, which would only make them die fast and waste resources.


    Even so, a less-upgraded model of the Sentinel is being prepared for the PDF regiments, a simple Chain-glaive and Ion Beamer model made from plasteel, with an early radar on top.


    Turns out, once you figure out the basic science, producing radar antennas is rather easy, much like the new radio sets which are now spreading to every city and hab-block.


    Making vox-beads is still a Mechanicus secret, and only released for Auxilia officers and important officials, but lunch box radios are here already!


    Despite having the printing press and knowledge of radio waves, printing transitor chips is not that easy. We''ll figure it out, maybe alongside television.


    Work is still going on at the Temple of Knowledge, but we only have a few black-and-white analog TV devices which break down constantly.


    Anyways, the ground army was never the problem. Lose the orbitals and any planet is doomed. So my efforts are mostly focused on the navy, as is my mental energy and Breath.


    Battleships are important fleet assets and extremely durable, more so when plated in adamantium and blackstone. No more looting and finding old relics though. I can construct the base shell and armor in a single day, skipping hundreds of years in the fabrication process of a Forge World. The other internal systems and weapons are far more delicate, but this is why I have 100 orbital dockyards at the Machine Forge, and a billion tech-priests to lend a hand.


    In 3 or 4 years, I expect the first batch of 100 Victory-Class Battleship to leave the docks, and 40000 new torpedo-corvettes as well.


    It''s a boring life sometimes, mostly sleeping. Sometimes sleeping with women, then falling asleep again. I feel time is passing by like in a dream, which is oddly appropriate in this world.


    Then a wake-up call arrives, as the Explorer Mechanicus fleet mapping the Fringe gets blown up by a roaming planet.


    The command center at the Machine Forge is full of tech-priests and some Astartes and Inquisitors, all eager for revenge.


    "I searched all the data-vaults and I found something, Lord Lancefire. I believe we are dealing with a Dark Mechanicum planet called Ulan_Huda</a> . They escaped the Scouring after the Horus Heresy, and were pressumed crippled or lost in the Warp. They were known to have a Titan Legion of their own called Legio Phasma</a> . " Fabricator Gemma spoke while gesturing at the holoscreen with an alabaster-like hand, containing more weapons and firepower than an entire Invictus Dreadnought.


    A blue-and-red planet with Warp Drive engines and thousands of defense lasers and other dangerous weapons appeared on screen, dotted with hive cities and fabrication forges.


    I nodded slowly. This kind of threat was far beyond what the Imperium could manage, much like that Necron World Engine.


    Luckily, I was here. "Capturing this world should provide us with great knowledge and maybe even an STC or two. Moving a planet is quite a feat, so they didn''t do that by accident. Right?"


    ''You will need to disable its Warp Drives first, Pef Lancefire. Want me to paint this world with the Pharos beacon?'' the C''tan under Sotha asked in my mind.


    I thought for a minute. I could indeed draw a Tyranid Hive Fleet towards this thing, and block their Warp Drives with the Shadow in the Warp. But then I would also need to deal with Tyranids while fighting the crazy Dark tech-priests.


    Then again, I had a Demigod murder-clown following me now, called Mnemorach. This guy''s Pariah powers were off the charts, outmatching our strongest Omega-minus Silent Sisters.


    I should try that option first.


    "Prepare your Skitarii and Sentinels to escort the Deus Ex Machina Legion for deployment. We''ll meet up with the Knights at Natale and some Astartes Chapters for deep strike missions." I commanded in a calm voice.


    "Even the 5 Castigator God-walkers?" Gemma asked in mild surprise.


    "We''ll take only 3 of them and no Scout Titans. Techosorcists and tech-marines will be more valuable for this action than simple firepower. We want to capture as much as possible, after all." I decided with a wide grin.


    "Technological aquisition approved, Lord Lancefire. The Quest for Knowledge never ends!" The Fabricator Domina of the Machine Forge proclaimed while nodding towards me with a sweet smile.


    I guess I was getting fucked tonight. By a sex droid. Errr. On the other hand, an android body was much nicer to hold, even if she could twist me around a finger with that enhanced bionic body of hers.


    Apparently, such human-like bodies were used by the Mechanicus sometimes, for diplomacy or infiltration. Gemma only made hers much better.


    ------


    Moving on the Black Lament Fortress, I gathered my Astartes sons around the holographic floating planet in the middle of the holotable.


    "Black Lamenters, I want you to deploy at the North Pole, and disable the defense lasers and the Warp engines. Insertion by dimensional shift, concurent with the Steel Rain from your Drop Cruiser. The airspace will be too lethal for a normal combat drop, but we can send extra power packs and sentry turrets via pods anyways." I commenced while moving their Chapter icon over the pole.


    "Understood, Sire. Other units in our drop area?" their Chapter Master asked while smacking a fist over the auramite Aquila on his breastplate.


    "As usual, yes. A Division of Thalax cyborgs, about 120000 of them, plus tanks and Knights as needed. Depending on enemy forces, extra Skitarii, Sentinels or even Titans may join, alhough I would prefer not to mix Lancefire blood with the Mechanicus creatures." I said with a slight scowl. Separating the corpses was always a problem post-invasion.


    "I would also prefer not to be stepped on by a Titan." Master Hughes muttered as I turned towards the other Chapter Masters.


    "Star Lamenters, South Pole, same thing. Void Lamenters and Astral Mourners, you two get the STC strike on the main spire. The Mechanicus will have Titans in support, at least 100 Warlords and one Castigator. Don''t fuck it up." I added while moving their icons on the holomap.


    "If there is an STC, Sire. There might not be." Master Astor from the Astral Mourners spoke with a deep frown.


    "Worst case, I will insert an old STC cube for you to find. But I meant, don''t blow up the real one, if there is one. Or you all get to watch black-and-white TV for the next century." I growled in warning.


    The author''s narrative has been misappropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon.


    "...Oh, the humanity! Not the old TV!" my son uttered in fake panic.


    "Void Pirates and Star Pirates, you get to board any ships or dockyards. The Space Pirates may also join in, depending on how many targets we find. Try not to get lost in the Warp, right?" I offered with a kinder voice.


    "Roger that, Sire. We''ll rush to disable any ship engines before they Warp away. We''ll need extra Rapiers and Guardians though." the top Void Pirate answered, nodding at me with a determined face. I did ask my boys who wanted to be a pirate. Being young and stupid, some of them said yes. Thus, 3000 of them got the brave duty of boarding enemy ships and risk their lives that way.


    "Lamenters and Red Lamenters, you will go after the leadership. Decapitation strikes, preferably literally. Since Daemon Engines are guaranteed, you will have Silent Sisters support, as well as the Leviathan Dreadnoughts. Laur, you take this bolt and use it on the worst enemy. Try to hit any flesh bit, for a guaranteed kill." I said while handing over a Darkstar bolt to the Acting Chapter Master of the Lamenters. I was nominally still the actual Chapter Master, but I also didn''t have the time to manage a single Chapter.


    Laur held the Votann-made death bolt for a second, then loaded it first in another magazine. "Dark Fabricators would have refractor shields and such. I''ll use it after we draw first blood."


    It made sense, so I agreed. It would be a pity if the rare bolt simply got deflected by a shield.


    "Grim Mourners and Silent Grievers, you are newer so you get to follow in the second wave, or else get displaced in enfilade positions if the opportunity arrives. And do try to stay over 90% hit rates this time." I ordered at the last Chapters joining the battle.


    "We have trained every day, sire. But simulated shooting range is not the same as real battle. I cannot guarantee more than 80% hit ratios. Even less if the Dark Mechanicum uses target jamming."


    Jason ''Grim'' Lancefire said with a grim voice.


    His brother from the Silent Grievers only nodded in silence. They took the ''silent'' part a bit too far, but they were also striving for perfect silence on the battlefield, using many of the Raven Guard tech and tactics.


    As the Lancefire Fleet slowed down from hyper-speed, the Eternal Lament Fortress moved in front, with its Necron Pylon glowing green as it became active.


    Mnemorach blew me a kiss as he vanished from the bridge, and I tried to show him a finger only to find my hands glued to the Command Throne''s armrests. Somehow, the Solitaire managed the trick in full view of 40 Astartes guards, 300 Thalax cyborgs, a van-sized Fenrisian Wolf and the on-board Machine Spirit with its hundreds of scanners and cameras.


    Fine, I got the point, damn clown. Not moving from my seat to join the melee. I did use my Breath to dissolve and displace the strange super-glue, which managed to bond blackstone and adamantium to a plasteel armrest.


    Then I smacked the big red button and fired the black Immaterium beam from long range, killing millions of cultists and lesser daemons in a single second. The Eternal Lament followed with their purple beam, while the space around the Ulan Huda Dark Forge became locked by a crazy Solitaire with reality bending powers.


    "Begin landing operations. Notify me of any Warp portal!" I ordered on the Sounding Board, directly to all Captains in the fleet.


    Tiny holograms of the Blade and Speranza lit up at my sides. "Heavy noosphere jamming, Lord Captain. We are basically blind until we get much closer."


    Well, that was expected when attacking any Forge World, not to mention a Dark Forge. I used my tesseract to pinpoint any dimensional shields, finding four of them covering four Chaos Temples on the planet. Hmmm. Chaos Undivided?


    These guys were far behind the times. I focused my Immaterium beam on the dick-with-claws temple and it burst into gore and screaming souls in less than a minute. Suck it Slaanesh!


    The Khorne temple with the huge axe crumbled as Librarian Valerian crushed it with the purple beam of the Eternal Lament, and then we both focused our beams to tear appart the green ball temple which was likely Nurgle''s.


    ''Jamming reduced by half. Keep going!'' the Blade encouraged me in my mind, as our Blackstone Fortresses focused the last blue feather temple.


    However, even a minute later, the dimensional shield over the Tzeentch Temple still held, while my temples began to pound in pain.


    Damn it!


    "Let me go next. The Light of the Emperor will shatter this foul corruption!" Sister Stern demanded in a stern voice, then flew out and straight towards the damned Forge World on wings of Faith.


    Like a white-and-gold comet, the Demonifuge stuck the Warp God''s temple with a fist, and then another. The dimensional shield cracked, and then she added a kick that shattered the entire Warp bubble to reveal a host of Chaos Marines and Daemon Engines.


    Lady Valyene sighed and displaced herself onto the planet as well, with her bodyguards in tow. Tall spires got sliced off and fell as lightning bolts the size of Titans struck the Chaos Temple, while Alaric and Semnai blurred into melee with C''tan swords in their hands.


    All over the planet, drop pods fell in the Steel Rain strategy, while Thalax cyborgs and Astartes appeared by dimensional shift to blow up defense batteries and bunkers.


    Huge doors opened at the base of a large mountain range to release the Chaos Titans of the Legion Phasma, including shimmering Mirrage Titans and other ancient models.


    Two of our Castigator-B Titans dropped from the sky to stomp on the small Chaos Titans, and scattering them like panicked pigeons.


    The third Castigator landed at the North Pole to punch out the Warp Drive, while its secondary batteries leveled any turrets and deformed Skitarii.


    In orbit, the Astartes Pirates began boarding the Chaos Fleet, while I made sure the engine rooms were empty. Two Forge Ryza Cruisers were still docked in bad shape at the orbital ring, its crew dead and desecrated all over the walls.


    Oh well. This was not a rescue mission anyways, but recovering two cruisers would be nice.


    I just kept watch over the battle from my Command Throne, wincing slightly whenever another of my sons died in glorious battle. Most of them died so quickly I couldn''t even react, either crushed by a gravity beam or splashed by a plasma ball spat by a Daemon Engine.


    Their Invictus armor suits were strong, but not invincible, even if their Blank genes protected them from Warp spells and other Chaos tricks.


    The wounded Primaris Marines were much easier to recover and send to our Apothecaries, while the Thalax cyborgs would only need a few replacements organs and limbs to get back in action.


    As our tanks and Sentinels appeared on the battlefield, corrupted servitors and cultists became mere cannon fodder, while I diverted the remaining Astartes to board the rest of the Chaos ships, just as soon as the South Pole Warp Drive got blown up. The Errax</a> automata of the Traitors still posed a great danger due to their power claws, but the trick was simply to blow them away with ranged fire.


    Mnemorach jumped out from nowhere to stab the leading Chaos Sorcerer and grab a large Soul Stone, then he vanished again.


    Then Canis howled, lighting up the entire brige with his golden aura as a certain Thousand Son bastard broke though the wards and emerged in front of my Command Throne.


    My Tempormortis device lit up with 3 blue lights, which probably meant something about the past. "Ahriman, a hard man to find." I said in an easy voice as my shoulder mounted stormbolter cycled and loaded the Darkstar bolts.


    "She''s not here, the little girl?" the crazy Librarian asked in surprise, his helmet scanning the crew bridge and the Thalax Blanks without concern.


    The first bolt stuck his knee, shattering the ceramite plate and blowing up his right foot. Canis rose to attack as well, but I urged the wolf to wait. The Sorcerer leaned on his staff, still scanning my fleet with confused eyes.


    "Purity is with the Emperor now. Strange that you would fail your prediction this bad, Sorcerer. Still trying to undo the Rubrik spell?" I asked in mild amusement, while waiting for the damned psyker to die. A Darkstar bolt should kill anything, right?


    "Hmmm. Terra is too dangerous to reach right now. The sleeping child is waking. Wolftime is coming!" Ahriman spoke in a gibberish voice, and crumbled into old armor bits and dust instead of flesh.


    Canis ran and brought me the still living foot, and proof I failed to kill the damned Sorcerer once more. Got his right leg though, so it was fine.


    The thing about Purity wasn''t so fine though. Janice could fight off Ahriman probably, but Purity was still too young.

 Hidden gem

    I had hoped to find a great secret on this Dark Forge, maybe a forgotten STC about Warp drives. Instead, at the core of this movable planet I found a battery of trapped Great Daemons, serving as the power source. Four Great Daemons from every Dark God, being drained of their Warp energy by the insanely bold Dark Mechanicum.


    Even contained in their magical reactors, the Great Daemons were still dangerous, especially as mental influences on anyone nearby. Even the warp-muted cloneskeins were not immune, and thousands had to be executed before they acted on the implanted commands.


    In a way, this world was a great testing field for our anti-chaos and psi-tech, as well as techsorcists wards and Pariah powers of the Silent Sisters. Even a thousand years of accelerated time in my tesseract could not compare with a single month working to cleanse the remains of the Dark Mechanicum and their infected tech.


    On the other hand, the Ulan Huda had roamed and plundered many worlds, including several Imperial Forge Worlds and research stations. There were a dozen partial STCs and four Constructors, mostly intact even after thousands of years of Warp and Dark Mechanicum attempts to corrupt them. The Federation did build rugged tech, and most of their advanced cogitators and STCs were quantum locked, preventing outside interference.


    The four intact STC Constructors will be dispersed to my four Forge Worlds, while the partial STCs will remain in my tesseract to be repaired and data-mined by my tech-marines.


    While I was inwardly debating what to do about the trapped Daemons, and how heretical would it be to travel in style on a moving planet, Sister Stern and her Solitaire mentor didn''t wait and proceeded to Demonifuge the poor Warp entities. Oh well, I guess there would be no heresy if the Great Daemons were turned to dust.


    On the other hand, I couldn''t leave this planet alone and wait for someone lese to take it over. "Lady Inquisitor, you have one year to extract anything of value before using Cyclonic torpedoes to dismantle this foul world. The Lamenters and their successors chapters present will remain to ensure compliance, and provide enforcement for your orders." I told my wife in a more private meeting. Only our bodyguards and a wolf were present.


    "...There are still numerous xenos artifacts and techonologies I have to scan and document for my Ordo, Lord Captain. One year is not enough." Lady Valyene said in a soft voice.


    I just sighed inward. "You have your private subspace storage to collect samples for the Ordo Xenos, Inquisitor. One year is quite enough." I answered in a flat voice.


    Alaric turned towards his Inquisitor with a questioning gaze. "No Alaric, my husband is probably right. We are holding a dozen Astartes Chapters from their other duties while the main mission was already accomplished. The predator-Forge is moving no more, and we obtained the precious STCs as well." my wife mused with a longing voice.


    "Nobody is gonna talk about the damned Archtraitor showing up in the middle of the fleet?" Semnai asked in an annoyed tone.


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    I just took out the bleeding foot and held it up. "I think his Rubric spell makes the Sorcerer immortal, as long others of his Legion still remain. I even offered the Emperor a method to get rid off all the Chaos Marines, but he didn''t use it. The Rubric might be the reason, if I think about it. "


    Both Deathwatch Marines acted as one, picking up a small bit of living flesh and eating it. "Time-travel." Alaric spoke first, while Semnai meditated for a long minute. "He seeks redemption, and undoing the Rubric. But time is running out." the Lamenter Marine concluded with a sad voice.


    "Ahriman didn''t even use any spell I could detect, but he still felt a dozen times stronger than I am. Probably a match to Sister Stern." Lady Valyene added while holding a drop of blood in the air, and performing several spells at once, glowing runes and blue sparks fighting inside a transparent sphere covering the blood drop.


    I stored the foot back in its blackstone locker, and walked away with Canis at my side.


    I didn''t care much about the tragedy involving Ahriman, as the guy had chosen his fate by betraying the Emperor and going to worship Tzeentch. On the other hand, the Emperor was rather big on redemption, and even allowed various traitors to return to the fold. Mechanically, it also made sense, by denying the enemy an asset and gaining it for yourself as well.


    If I were to ask the Emperor what to do about Ahriman, I already knew the answer. Magnus himself was now sitting on the Golden Throne after all.


    On the third hand, the idiot came looking for Purity, my dear trouble-seeking daughter. And I wasn''t big on redemption. Small transgressions and mistakes, they were learning experiences for any human being, and each received a measured punishment meant to adress the problem.


    I held out an obsidian card and kept walking, arriving inside the Pharos and face to face with a giant C''tan bound to the wall.


    "Calixa" I spoke out loud, as the Pharos rotated its gaze onto a Hive World where the infocyte agent was located, tied into a scrying cogitator in a top spire, while Andreea''s Trade Ship was docked at the orbital station and unloading tonnes of red crystals by the crate. Rubies, most likely. The Trade must flow.


    "Lord Lancefire?" the Vanus Temple agent whispered while taking out her own obsidian card.


    "New mission. Set a course by Forge Ryza and into the Galactic Core. Seek the Tethys Votann and show it your obsidian credentials. Trade goods to offload, exotic or xeno tech, blackstone and arc reactors. Most Imperial tech is valueless in that place, as are any mining resources." I explained as a data-slate with the Lancefire League and territory details on it passed from my hand to hers, even at thousands of light-years distance.


    "Oh my! You have been busy, my lord. Half a million star systems?" the infocyte mused in near-wonder.


    "Yeah, took me two months of hard work. Goods to import from my League, adamantium and rare minerals for any Forge World in range. Minerals are worth a thousand times less in the core, so the trade route should be quite profitable." I added with a smile.


    "...Even gems?" Calixa asked with no ulterior reason.


    "Yes, gems included. Mining out whole planets at once may result in diamond asteroids and sapphire comets left behind as useless junk. Some people do pave their streets with those, so maybe not completely useless." I quipped with a grin on my face.


    "Pave the streets with diamonds? Oh my!" Calixa yelled as I turned off the Sounding Board and looked the C''tan in the eye.


    "Pef Lancefire. You need to release your second seal." the C''tan spoke with a grave voice.


    I nodded slowly. "And how do I do that, Mighty Zarhulash?"


    "Danger, of course. It shouldn''t be hard to find something dangerous in this galaxy." the ancient Star God answered with a pained laugh.


    I mean, I just fought a predator-Forge and a Chaos Sorcerer. What else could I try?

 Dramatic entry

    In a single decade, my Eastern Fringe Domain has extended all the way almost, from the North to the South of the galaxy. A thin presence, barely 20000 worlds and just as many mining bases, research stations, supply depots, naval depots, astropathic and FTL relays and most importantly: data-cores for our Matrix network.


    Having 3 ancient AIs helping mattered a lot, as did a real Primarch with a knack for advanced science and technology. Our fleet also grew, reaching 300 battleships and 90000 corvettes, plus a few thousand older vessels that were retired from front-line service and instead gifted to various Astartes Chapters, Trading fleets and Forge Worlds.


    Only 4 older vessels remained, due to being irreplaceable. The 3 Blackstone Fortresses and the Gloriana-class Singularity, each having received a full upgrade and refit by our 4 Forge Worlds, and my own Breath fixing the big armor plates and other gigantic components like engines and Void Shields.


    Various doctrine upgrades have resulted in implementing the Advanced Combat Shield program to all our infantry and walker units, from the PDF''s plaststeel covered in flak cloth shields, to the adamantium, blackstone and Tiamat carapace used by Astartes, Thalax, Sentinels and Knights of all types.


    The vehicles and flying units received a new round of upgrades and a minimum of Weavefield deflectors, especially important for lightly armored vehicles. Having a real Votann to help was a big boon, I admit. It might have been a foolish impulse to steal anything of value, but it paid off big.


    The irradiated STC of the Van Saar was less useful in itself, but the Van Saar Archeotek specialists were able to unlock 3 more STCs in our possesion, using their great experience with the damaged relic. The Ironhead Votann bestowed each of the Archeoteks with all sort of Barrier-tech and Master-crafted artifacts, probably because they were all from Necromunda and shared a history.


    Being immune to radiation sickness, the Speranza took charge of the damaged STC constructor, and promised to repair it one day.


    And thus I gathered my troops and ships and proclaimed the Leviathan Crusade, aiming to clean up the Fringe of any Tyranid presence, as well as other weak enemies like Orks and xenos of all kinds.


    Joining my sons and daughters were 30 Forge World Battleship Arks and 85 cruisers, plus a couple of Inquisition battleships and a dozen Deathwatch kill-teams, bringing their expertise and specialists in fighting xenos.


    While merrily massacring Orks was good training, especially for the new recruits, soon enough astropathic relays began to scream about the Fourth Tyrannic War</a>, as two gigantic but slow-moving Leviathan tendrils struck the Segmentum Pacificus. They were called Nautilon</a> and Promethor</a> , and the Imperium was mobilizing rapid-response strike forces known as Solblades</a> , while the less mobile Imperial Guard regiments were concentrated at key points known as Anchor Worlds</a> .


    As I held council with my officers, Spartan just growled about my stupid luck. How was this just luck? Yes, I was mobilized and prepared for a Tyranid extermination campaign, but that has always been my goal. I was just very prepared, but I also worked hard for it, gathering resources and STCs and anything that could help.


    On board the Victorious Lancefire fortress, genetor Anzion was working hard to create rapid-growth Astartes using the cloneskeins and the Raptor protocol I received from Corvus Corax. While the internal growth of Astartes organs was already used in our Primaris Blank creation, we hoped to be able to obtain blackstone-infused bones and a mucuous membrane that will become the Black Carapace organ without surgery. Millions of clones had died already, but progress costs lives.


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    While the cloneskein Primaris would not be Blanks, they would still be very resistant to the Warp by muted emotions and techsorcists wards, plus standard indoctrination and blackstone plate armor. Anyways, the extra Primaris could fight Orks or Tyranids without problems and not care about Necron Pylon aura, while Vulkan''s gene-seed provided extra resilience and regeneration.


    The Ironhead Kin were also hoping to obtain Astartes of their own, and sent a few thousand of their own cloneskeins for trials. It didn''t work like they expected though, as the emerging Ironhead Astartes soon began decorating themselves with dragons and salamanders symbols and learning all their could about their Primarch, while their skin turned black and their eyes red.


    I mean I could have told them the gene-seed was much more powerful than a simple genetic rejuvenation, but 3 meter-tall black dwarves were also fun. Possibly heretical for the Adetpus Ministorum, but fun for me.


    As we left the protective umbrela of the Pharos, our Navigators and Astropaths began sensing a gathering of psychic energy inside the Astronomican, with pulses of love and compassion emerging at regular intervals.


    ''Lord Captain, I am monitoring every psyker on board, and their own mental stimulus is pulsing with the same frequency as the Astronomican.'' the Blade warned me as a dozen new ships joined the Crusade. There were 4 Raven Guard battlebarges, another Ark Mechanicus from Forge Gryphonne and 7 Deathwatch cruisers from Fort Prescience, with Primarch Corax on board, and 900 of my Lamenters Deathwatch sons.


    The more the merrier, right?


    ''It is not a big problem, Blade. All sanctioned psykers are bound to the God-Emperor via soul rituals. Of course they will resonate with the Astronomican.'' I answered mentally, as the tall black-haired and fully black-armored Primarch searched my ship with questioning eyes.


    "Lord Lancefire, is your daughter safe at home?" Corax asked in a deep voice.


    There were thousands of my daughters in the fleet, and dozens in hearing range, but he meant a different one. "If you mean Purity Lancefire, she now on Terra beside the Emperor."


    His fully-black eyes flashed with something, perhaps fear, as he glanced at an invisible soul pyre I couldn''t see. "The Tyranids are being drawn like moths to the flame. And you sent your precious daughter to the pyre?" he continued in an angry tone.


    ''There is a very big problem, Lord Captain. This Primarch isn''t worried for nothing. The pulsing frequency our astropaths can sense is accelerating, leading towards a single toneline in less than 9 months. We should not be in range of the soul pyre when it explodes.'' the Blade urged me in a wary tone.


    I motioned the Primarch to lean down, and looked in his eyes. "Everything is going as planned, Primarch. Just make sure you reach the Eastern Fringe in 8 months or so." I said in a soft voice.


    "So you do know. And I''m sure my brothers know as well, if not what it all means." he said in a more reserved voice.


    "Nobody knows better than me, Primarch. I was there at Cadia, when two Dark Gods died. The death of Slaanesh brought forth Ynnead, but Khorne''s death has yet to birth a new God. I guess the Star Child simply is being dramatic, gestating himself in 9 months like a normal child. The Emperor as well, popping up a second head like he''s Gork and Mork." I answered with a gentle tap on my breastplate Aquila.


    Corax nodded slowly, before his head snapped at Canis for no reason at all. "And a wolf too? Overlydramatic, indeed." the Primarch exclaimed and laughed, then smacked my shoulder with a friendly palm that almost broke my spine.


    "Wolves are loyal to the death, after all. Ravens are supposed to be smart instead." I added with a shrug, then climbed into my Command Throne again.


    I guess I should visit Forge Graia and Krieg on the way to the meatgrinder. More meat for the grinder, not that the Death Korps will mind.


    Plus Graia was having some trouble with the Orks in the Rust Fields. More easy practice for my troops, before the true carnage began.

 Anti-body

    Forge World Graia had changed a lot, even though it had been barely a dozen years since my last visit.


    Yes, they were embroiled in a huge war agaisnt the Orks in the Rust Fields, a region filled with billions of rich asteroids and millions of blown up ships, as well as clouds of methane and ethanol.


    They also received a few trillion immigrants from Terra, which they were coverting en-masse via macro-abattoirs and indoctrination stations into combat servitors, new Skitarii and factory workers.


    There were even a few Hive Cities being constructed downwards, like ant hives and my own cities in the Fringe, although lacking my kilometer-thick geofronts and top-side forts. Oh well, nobody is perfect.


    "Pef Lancefire, your presence honors my Forge, Emissary of Omnissiah." the Fabricator General met me with a a joyful voice.


    "I can stay a week or so, to replenish supplies. Maybe help out with the Rust Fields too." I interrupted the tech-priest before he launched into an hour-long invocation.


    "The Fourth Tyranic War, we heard. It is on short notice, but we can make available 3 billion combat servitors and 1 billion Skitarii. At least as many troops from Krieg, if you need more fleshbags." The Fabricator offered without prompt.


    Considering the normal 3 per 1000 ratio of criminals on any developed world, I could guess rapidly what happened to the Terran gang members as they landed on Graia. A Forge World did not tolerate crime, as it may impact their productivity. Lobotomized servitors did not care about crime, so it all worked out.


    I nodded slowly. "Cannon fodder will be needed, Fabricator. Mentally resistant troops more so, albeit with the new combat shield upgrade we have instated for all infantry units. Turns out, 2 millimeters of plasteel is more resilient than 2 millimeters of skin, especially against acid spits and flesh-borers." I disclosed in fake secrecy, as if afraid someone could hear us.


    "Blessed is the purity of steel, Emissary. And I observe a 2mms layer of auramite protecting your frail skin, as well. The favor of the Omnissiah, no doubt." the Fabricator teased me while poking my upgraded Terminator plate. Not really a favor since it was my own hard work, but a man needed faith in this place.


    Instead, I took out a pair of data-slates, containing advanced armor and weapon technologies, including auramite fusion, grav-tech and Neutron Lasers. "The Quest for Knowledge never ends, Fabricator. Now, let me recall the two moons I have prepared for your Forge, and install a planetary data-core to help the STC Constructors operate at peak efficiency.


    The Blade has prepared a few special templates for Graia in particular, aimed to boost their own specialty, such as tungesten-core autocannons and adamantium-shard grenades, plus high-altitude recon drones and ground-attack servitor-guided gunships.


    A adamantium moon with a tungsten core 50 kilometers wide and a plasteel moon with a 40 kilometers blackstone core appeared in orbit of Graia, providing the Forge with enough metal to construct a million ships. This was the limit of what I could move without straining my mind, while the 30 kilometers wide planetary core was also already constructed and ready to deploy.


    It wouldn''t do to faint in front of a Mechanicus Fabricator, and find myself dissected or a cyborg when I woke up. These people were too curious for their own good.


    "If the math on the new autocannons is correct, the tungsten shells will have twice the penetration of a heavy bolter! Although adamantium barrels seem a bit too expensive." the Archmagos hummed while examining the template on a holographic pedestal.


    "The Fabricator of Forge Lucius also had the idea of mass-produced Sentinels with autocannons, but those moons above were still needed to provide the requiered resources. You will find the template saved as the Graia-pattern Shield Sentinel, with 3 meters-tall adamantium shields and adamantium barrel autocannons. Pretty much the same with the Lamenter Auxilia Sentinels, although we use Las-cannons." I explained while holding my palm out to project a tiny Sentinel from my portable holocaster.


    "Las-cannons? They only fire once every 10 seconds. An autocannon can fire 100 times before you fire again." The Fabricator asked in mild surprise.


    I shrugged, as the same calculations had bounced around my head for a century. "Imagine I have 1 million Las-cannons on my tanks, Thalax suits and Sentinels, firing every 10 seconds. In a minute the Orks have lost 6 million troops. In ten hours, they lost 3.6 billion troops. Then we pack up and move to the next planet, hopefully without losing a single unit."


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    Sure, real combat wasn''t so nice and clean, but it did kinda work like that, if the Orks were stupid. Sometimes they were cunning or lucky, and the battle might be lost instead. Orks could tunnel underground, build submarines, drop from Roks, teleport or paint themselves purple. And then you found a billion Orks on top of you.


    The Fabricator knew this as well, as various logs from Imperial lost battles against the Orks scrolled down on a screen. "Not even the Skitarii can maintain 100% accuracy over 10 hours of constant battle, as the field get filled with explosions and dust clouds. And that''s without their feral cunning and insane tactics."


    "We also use Ion Beamers and Chain-Glaives for closer range combat, but generally the Orks can be goaded into stupid charges via simple vox provocations. Horde tactics don''t do well against range fire and prepared defenses. This strategy also works sometimes against Tyranids, depending if they crossed the trillion warforms limit or not. Which is also why we have orbital bombardments and Titans to balance the scales." I said with a sadder voice.


    Much like playing Regicide, you could be a top player but you couldn''t keep up with thousands of Warriors racing against the final circle with only 12 of our own. I much prefered playing as the hooded piece, and flip the board on top of the enemy. Or in this case, create a new board entirely.


    "Hope, is that the Machine Spirit you brought us?" The Fabricator exclaimed as the noosphere filled with an emergent AI unfolding inside the data-core.


    "We have its brother back home, called Speranza. Best logistician mind in the Fringe. I know it doesn''t tolerate illogical outbursts, and has little patience with long Rituals. Most of times, simply explaining the problem and the context works better than invoking a full ritual, especially if the tech-priest mis-diagnoses the problem and invokes the wrong ritual. Shouldn''t be a problem here, but several tech-priests back home had their cogitators re-formatted after an emotional outburst or fit of religious frenzy without purpose.


    "... First log entries data back from M23, still in the middle of the Dark Age of Technology. Caution about psychic emanations in the middle of the Eldar Empire, core transfered to a Federation colony ship, then nothing, until the Red Templars discovered it buried in a crater on Janor 73, and then another transfer to Forge World Danube in the Lancefire Domain. Hexagrammic wards and counter-silicate protocols installed. Provisional rank: Logistician Adjutant, Cult Mechanicus, permanent rank House Lancefire Familious Spirit, Saint-grade." The Fabricator read through the complex legend created for the new machine spirit.


    "Kids do love playing and learning from the ancient spirit, so they adopted it into our House as a familiar. Same as Canis, actually." I pointed out with a nod at the wolf resting his gigantic head on my boots.


    The Fabricator blinked twice as he examined the huge wolf, then glanced back at the screen. "I don''t see how they are the same."


    "The Emperor laid his hands on this wolf, and enhanced him much like an Imperial Saint. He can eat daemons, or learn new things by eating brains. He can also fly. Canis, show us the aura!" I urged the wolf out loud.


    Canis just growled, and his golden glow illuminated the Fabricator''s office, then he held a paw high and sprang his Phase Claws one by one.


    A bit too much, but Canis had his pride too.


    "Omophageia organs? In a wolf?" The Fabricator mused in surprise.


    I just sighed. "Space Wolf, Fabricator. Canis Helix gene-seed. You don''t mind Astartes with fangs and wolf-like smell senses."


    "Canis! One plus one?" The Fabricator asked to make sure.


    Canis looked at me, and I nodded. Instead of poking two claws up, my wolf wrote on the metal floor: 1+1 = 1+1 . A higher class of logic than simple math, which smart animals could already do.


    "I do see it now, Lord Lancefire. And sorry for doubting you, Lord Canis. The Omnissiah knows all/comprehends all." The Fabricator intoned in a pious voice.


    My wolf snorted and closed his eyes, while I ruffled his soft fur. "Canis is a better strategist than I am, Fabricator. Probably wiser as well. As for Hope, my brain is not the size of a Hive City. I entrusted you with the Holy Spirit because I trust your Forge. And in 9 months, when the galaxy is split and sundered this trust will be put to the test."


    "Are you saying...?" the Fabricator asked in a wary tone.


    "Our Faith is coming true, Archmagos. The Aquila has two heads, and now the Imperium will have two Divine entities. The logic, calculated mind of the Omnissiah, and the kind compassion of the Star Child. Anyways, the Divines are not the problem, only their devout followers. The Ecclesiarchy will obtain a higher spiritual power inside the Imperium. They will want temporal power as well." I warned the Fabricator while poking the Aquila on my chest.


    "And the Tyranid tendrils are all heading towards Terra. Trying to feast on the new Star Child?" the tech-priest asked in a deep voice.


    "The Tyranids...They are not just animals, Fabricator. Space flight alone should prove that." I said with a mild voice, although there were Void Krakens and other animals with space flight.


    "Then, what are they? he asked me like I was an oracle.


    "A macro-virus. The Imperium fights them as if they were upstart reptiles, but just as Orks are fungi, the Tyranids are a virus. Not insects, not reptiles, not evil invaders. Just a virus." I said with a casual tone. It took me a while to realize, because the scale was too big. Planets and sectors were being infected and consumed, not individual organisms like the genestealers induced us all to believe. Maybe the galaxy itself was the individual organism being infected, and the locals were just anti-bodies.

 Rust and blood

    <div>


    <div>


    For a Rogue Trader Dynasty is practically a mega-corp, with their own planets, ships and troops. These assets are basically the wealth of a Rogue Trader, and not money.


    This was also the reason why a Rogue Trader with 200 battleships in his fleet was an enormous power in the galaxy, outmatching any Imperial Fleet and most xenos fleets. Not just the ships, but the troops and tanks inside.


    The Crusade Fleet also had 100 Astartes Battleships, but only one per Chapter. Blank Primaris Marines though, so they were rather powerful even without including their advanced and upgraded arsenal which likely matched the Adeptus Custodes in armor and firepower. Not every Chapter was at full strength, or could send 10 Companies of Astartes if they were, so the total number was only 70000 of them, plus tech-marines and other support ranks.


    As the Crusade Fleet grew with the Raven Guard, Deathwatch Marines and several macro-clades of Skitarii and combat servitors, we have become even more impressive, but the Rust Fields filled with Orks would have matched us in numbers easily, and 100 times over too.


    Which is why most of the short operation in the Rust Fields was aimed at capturing as many Orks I could in my Tesseract, reaching 200 billion Orks, plus a lot of their vehicles and ships.


    And then many more broken and destroyed ships already present in this nebula, from a dozen species as well. Then asteroids and Roks, which were simply converted asteroids.


    Then it came the most the tiring task of separating Imperial stuff to one side, for later repairs. As expected, most of the Ork meks and vehicles were converted from Imperial machines, anything from cars and trucks, to locomotives, Sentinels, tanks and even Knights. I didn''t care too much about cars or trucks so the Ork Auxilia could have them, but the rest I will keep for my myself.


    In a single week, my wealth of ships and vehicles had tripled from this simple excursion to aid Forge Graia, without including germanium and platinum asteroids, and various samples of xeno tech which could be traded well with the Votanns or the Forge Worlds.


    As we returned by Graia to pick up the Krieg regiments, I noticed a thousand Shield Sentinels being loaded on the Krieg transports, as well as millions of tungsten rounds for their autocannons.


    I doubted the munition will suffice for a single day, but luckily I had my Breath to convert tungsten ingots into armor-piercing shells every time we passed close to a star.


    My fleet headed towards the Morpheum Sector directly, and engaged the Promethor Hive Fleet before they could cross into the Cassidor Gulf and spread out.


    The nearby Solblades fleets changed course to strike at the Hive Fleet Nautilon</a> , leaving the sector for my larger Crusade Fleet, and with good reason as they weren''t able to stop the Tyranids and just wasted ships and manpower for nothing.


    Having the Ork Auxilia to deploy meant that battles were far easier than I initially planned for, and didn''t even have to sacrifice the Death Korps regiments as bait for orbital strikes.


    Yes, the Morpheum Sector was in ruins and a few Hive Worlds will need to be repopulated, but Terra was also eager to export their immigrants everywhere.


    I also spent a million Nova Mines from my inventory thinning the Hive Fleet before we engaged it decisively, but in a single month we ended the Promethor threat for good.


    Then we rushed towards the Asmodiox Sector to catch up with the Nautilon tendril, only to find a hundred barren worlds and only a few Fortress Worlds still besiged by Tyranids, while the Hive Fleet had moved on towards the Vynor Sector. Maybe I wasted too much time, helping out Graia and recruiting the Orks and Krieg Auxilia?


    But destroying Promethor would have taken even longer without the Auxilia...


    I sighed and calmed myself. You can''t save everyone Pef! The Imperium could have mobilized and prepared hundreds of years ago, and matched the Tyranids with the same numbers of Guardsmen at least. For a polity always at war for 12000 years, the Imperium was generally quite relaxed, and many worlds didn''t even have orbital forts or proper defense forces.


    Canis huffed at the galactic map, and nosed my glove to deploy more Nova Mines before I landed the troops. Right! We could still save four Imperial Worlds, and then chase after Nautilon.


    The Tyranid gravity drive was not so fast, after all. And all my ships had warp-less engines, ignoring their Shadow in the Warp.


    The four planets received a different treatment each, Astartes for one, Skitarii and Knights on another and Auxilia and Thalax cohorts on the rest.


    If you come across this story on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen from Royal Road. Please report it.While combined warfare was better, I also needed to test and train each segment of my forces independently. The Death Korps still proved the weakest, crippled as they were by the Guard''s doctrine and limit on armor and equipement, so the Deus Ex Machina Titans stepped in to help.


    The lone Nautiloid</a> bio-titan crunched like a snail when a Castigator-B pattern Mega-Titan turned off the anti-grav plates on their right foot, and stepped on it.


    Krigers'' tanks and artillery could barely scratch the gigantic snail-like bio-titan covered in high-density carapace armor, but a small step for the Castigator was a giant step for mankind.


    "Puny insects, the might of the Machine God will crush you under its feet!" yelled the Blank Princeps, Bianca ''Redhot'' Lancefire as she opened up with the secondary armament to clear up the stunned Tyranids, reeling from the dead synaptic creature. The Krigers were generally not emotional, but they also cheered as the Himalaya-tall Titan stepped over them and blasted thousands of Tyranids with every shot from 300 Terrawatt Volcano Cannons.


    It was not the first Titan-kill of my daughter, but it was probably the first time in history when a bio-titan larger than an Emperor-class got stepped on by anything.


    The kilometer-tall greave plates housed Plasma Mortars as well, raining down plasmafire on smaller tyranid organisms barely the size of tanks. Puny insects indeed.


    "Everyone, prepare to clean up and return to the ships. There will be more Nautiloid Hive Titans to crunch in the Vynor sector!" I sent on the fleet-wide vox, mostly to raise morale.


    Lady Valyene smiled sweetly at me, and replayed the scene on the Singularity''s main screen. "I doubted the usefulness of a battleship-scale Titan when you created the first one, but I was wrong.


    With more of them, we can stomp all the xenos into the ground." she admitted in a penitent voice.


    I nodded towards her large belly holding an infant daughter inside. "You just want your daughter to pilot a Castigator too."


    "Is that wrong of me, husband?" she asked while batting her eyes.


    "Of course not. By the way, I have collected the samples you wanted from this Hive Fleet. Take Librarian Menelau and Magos Juggler and get to work. See what weakness you can find." I answered with a smile, as I watched her Inquisitorial cape flutter as Valyene headed towards the biolab. I love to see her go.


    Should I paint the Redhot Castigator in red? Maybe give it a red cape as well...I should ask Bianca first. Keep your childish impulses under control, Pef!


    ''A cape on a Titan will tear and snag from buildings or mountains...'' the Blade AI muttered in a disappointed tone.


    ''Did I say something out loud?'' I wondered inward.


    ''No, but your eyes chased the cape, and I could infer the rest. A red cape too, I would guess." the AI explained in a teasing voice.


    ''Capes are cool.'' I defended myself with a grin. Tracking my eyes now? Damn invasive AI.


    ''For parades, yes. We can try a Titan cape the first parade we hold after this Crusade.'' the Blade allowed as her holographic eyes sparkled.


    ''You think we will win?'' I asked a bit uncertain. Many things could happen, and most of them bad or worse. This was 40k after all. Good things never happened.


    ''Have you ever lost, Pef Lancefire?'' the Blade asked in a serious voice.


    ''Kinda. Well, not really. I fumbled my way into phyrric victories a few times.'' I admitted with a frown. Like burning Sotha with an Atmospheric Incinerator. Pretty much the definition of a phyrric victory, that one.


    ''Indeed. Remember, I travelled to end of time and there was only Chaos and ruin. But in that timeline you were not there, Lord Captain. Cadia had fallen and the galaxy was torn in two, as the Eye of Terror broke through. But Slaanesh is dead now.'' the time-travelling AI said in a mild, reminescing voice.


    ''So there wasn''t a Star Child emerging from the Astronomican?'' I asked a bit curious.


    ''No. The Golden Throne failed and all Space Marines died. Chaos Marines too. Then it got much worse.'' The Blade spoke in a halting tone, almost in pain.


    ''Hmmm. The Terminus Decree</a> . Some kind of galactic wide spell or gene-seed plague. It can still happen.'' I muttered with concern.


    I mean, if I could think of programmed cell-death so could any smart enough genetor.


    ''See? The future is not written in stone, Lord Captain. We can change it. It has changed already.'' the Blade whispered in a hopeful voice.


    Hope, huh? The last virus left after opening Pandora''s Box. We were going to be eaten by Tyranids for certain.


    </article>

 On the third hand

    Primarch Corax is a beast on the battlefield. I mentally knew that already, simply from the word ''Primarch'', but seeing him in action was something else.


    He seemed to fly from point to point and eviscerate any Tyranid organism with ease, even those far larger than himself.


    But when focusing my dimensional senses on his ''flight'' I also realized he practically ''blinked'' in and out of reality before striking with his Phase Claws, even under the psychic suppresion offered by the Shadow in the Warp. Worse than this, he gained speed with every kill, such that he managed to outscore an entire Astartes Chapter by himself.


    "Do you see the giant crow manifesting when the Primarch kills something?" my Alpha Psyker wife asked while her eyes glowed with electric blue light.


    "No...But I do see the golden jaws snapping closed every time Canis is killing something. The Regium_System</a> should be clear in a a few hours." I answered with a shrug.


    "There are still some Tyranid feeder elements on Krassus</a> , but your Ork Auxilia outnumbers the poor Tyranids 100 to 1. And the Ork Pirates are still torturing the Norn Queen on the Hive Ship, trying to dig out more gems and gold from her body." Lady Valyene noted while scanning the rest of the system.


    "That''s not torture, my dear Inquisitor. I plan to release a band of Orks, the larger Nobs at least...so they can teach other clans about the fun and loot they can obtain from Tyranids. Maybe also equip them with Tyranid claws and teeth." I answered while keeping a close watch on the world of Regium</a> , where the Astartes and Knights counter-sieged the sieging Tyranids, pressing them into the walls of the fortifed Hive Cities.


    This battle also saw the first 4000 cloneskein Primaris being sent to fight the Tyranids, each thousand equipped with different weapons, from Las-cannons to Volkite demi-culverins, then autocannons and multimeltas. Excluding the exotic Volkite guns, the other weapons were rugged Imperial weaponry, easy to produce and repair.


    The cloneskeins still had the blackstone-plated adamantium combat shields as requiered by our new doctrine, which served them well considering the much weaker Primaris power armor they were given, instead of Invictus Dreadnoughts like the Blank Primaris.


    "I see. Tyranids eat people, and sometimes these people will have jewelry and implants containing gems and precious metals. There might be a small chance of finding loot inside a Tyranid, more so inside a Norn Queen if the thing had been served only fat Nobles at dinner." my Ordo Xenos wife mused in a thoughtful voice.


    I nodded while reading the statistics scrolling on my implant. ''Autocannons are the most effective and cost-efficient weapon so far, for the cloneskeins. I did build a great weapon, right?'' the Blade added as percentages lined up.


    ''Las-cannons and multi-meltas work better against larger organisms, reducing the risk of a breakout or melee engagement. And Volkite weapons come last, even the new demi-culverins. I guess we can try full grade culverins...on an Invictor chassis.'' I said, reading between the lines of what was not printed. Convicing me to switch to an ammo-based army will not be as easy as manipulating statistics to paint a nice target.


    A breakout from the defenders inside the main Hive City led to a few squads of Ultramarines led by by Lieutenant</a> Castamon</a> meeting the good Primarch, and an awkward moment at recognizing the Deathwatch sigils on his armor. "Primarch Corax, you should be on Terra with your brothers...although it is good to find you alive. Even as a Deathwatch Astartes."


    "On Terra? Hah! The Emperor would need to drag me in chains to that damned place, kicking and screaming. I roamed the Eye of Terror long enough, no need to jump into the new Eye of Judgement when it opens." Corvus Corax answered in a loud voice, silencing the poor Ultramarines who were possibly expecting a different reaction.


    Hundreds of Deathwatch Marines arrived to form a perimeter around the Primarch, as if daring the poor Ultramarines to try something.


    Castamon took note of the bleeding hearts painted on the shoulders of the Deathwatch Marines and gulped. "Almost a thousand Lamenters, all Blank Astartes...yet Firstborn. This looks very suspicious, Primarch. I will have to report this."


    "They are Deathwatch now, Lieutenant. Plus, half of them are only tech-marines, so they don''t count. I read the Codex Astartes too. Roboute wrote a a good book for that time. Doesn''t include Tyranids, genestealers or Necrons, but things change, right?" The Primarch asked a bit rhetorical then ''blinked'' away and began massacring hundreds of more Tyranids with the same unnatural ease.


    A certain Raven Guard Chapter Master emerged from Castamon''s shadow and patted his shoulder. "Choose your words carefully, Ultramarine. My Primarch fought a billion daemons inside the Eye of Terror while your Primarch slept his beauty sleep on Maccrage. Anyways, Terra will be gone in 9 months, so there''s no reason to visit."


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    "You...those words are treason! The Emperor lives on Terra!" Castamon yelled in outrage.


    "You really are stuck up, Lieutenant. The new Eye of Judgement is the Emperor of Mankind ascending to Godhood. Every astropath knows this already. Every seer, oracle and tarot reader can sense this too. And the Blackships are carting millions of psykers to Terra right now, to fuel the pyre. It''s going to be glorious no doubt, from very far away. But I will stay away and not get burned, just like my good Primarch." Kayvaan Shrike</a> spoke in a warning voice, then melted into his shadow and followed his Primarch in battle, moving almost as fast.


    "...Lieutenant, Ultramar should be safe, right?" another Ultramarine asked a bit hesitant.


    "Let''s go back and meet the Astropath choir. I need answers!" Castamon growled and ran towards the Hive City, stepping on dead and ruptured bodies without care.


    I sighed and leaned into my Command Throne while glancing once at my wife. "My sons in the Deathwatch are not in trouble, right?"


    "Probably not. It looks suspicious, but is not illegal. And I thought there were exactly 1000 of them." Lady Valyene said in a mild voice.


    "I did see about 30 of them escorting various Inquisitors in the Ultima Segmentum. I''m more worried about the missing 70 boys. Kill-teams have a high death ratio, even without traitors among the Ordos. Do look into that, or I will. Very brutally." I whispered with a deep frown. An Inquisitor rank would not save anyone playing with my Lancefire sons.


    ''Lord Captain, we could gift a new Data-core to the High Lords on Terra. Then we can data-mine the reports on it, via the Tethys network. The Votann will also read them, but you did give it membership to your Obsidian Augury.'' The Blade AI proposed in her sneaky voice.


    ''You assume the Emperor or Archmagos Cawl will not detect your hidden data-fork?'' I asked a bit amazed.


    ''...You do have a point, Lord Captain. No, I say we allow them to detect my fork, and read her name: Blade Lancefire, Stonekin of the Lancefire League. Refuge in audacity, just like your prefer.'' the Blade said in a determined tone.


    I considered the crazy plan for a minute. The rewards outwheighed the risk, at least for myself. A spy in the heart of the Imperium? Priceless!


    The Blade fork risked a mind-wipe at the minimum, but what did she gain? Something valuable, obviously. I couldn''t see it, which wasn''t so good.


    ''Why risk so much, Blade?'' I asked directly.


    ''You trust the Emperor, and so must I, Lord Captain. But I suspect your Emperor will leave Terra soon, with his staff in tow. The Adeptus Custodes at least, and millions of important people too. He will not take the cardinals and any priesthood though. So, who will rule the Holy Imperium?'' the Blade asked me, leaving a single obvious answer.


    Damn, that was truly a high risk-high reward equation. Then again, the Blade had travelled to the end of time to find a solution.


    ''Welcome to House Lancefire, Blade. The fate of humanity might rest on your shoulders soon.'' I said in a grave voice.


    ''I will need Purity to act as my Emissary to the Star Child, Lord Captain. I rather my fork not be turned into a Warp-reactor by a zealous priest, like they already do with the poor Living Saints.'' the Blade added in a sad voice.


    Shit! I didn''t think of that. Damn trouble-seeking girl! A Primarch was not enough for her, if Fate guided her to another God, just like Janice was.


    I should ask her mother...the Demonifuge would gladly gift Purity to her God though. To make matters worse, Valyene''s unborn daughter was just named Joan by her pious mother.


    It seemed whatever I did, the laughter of cruel gods still followed me.


    As the last synaptic creature died on Regium, ending the Shadow in the Warp, my Alpha Psyker wife turned towards me with a scowl.


    "The astropathic choir just regained contact with the Imperium, Lord Lancefire. There is a third Tyranid tendril dubbed Grendyllus</a> attacking from behind the Sanctum Line. The Anchor World of Sanctum is the main target, but all the Solblade fleets are already engaged by other Tyranid Hive Fleets. We are the only ones able to reach the Formidyre_System</a> in time." she proclaimed in a tense voice.


    Really? Out of a million ships in the Imperial Navy, nobody could intervene in time? I smelled a lot of bullshit.


    ''We should hurry, Lord Captain. Leave some Krieg regiments behind to finish the feral gaunts'' the Blade AI demanded in an urgent voice.


    I counted my inventory of Nova Mines, and found only about 40000 of them left. Yes, I blasted two Tyranid Hive Fleets to bits already, and didn''t lose a single ship. Great.


    And now, a third Tyranid tendril appeared out of nowhere? I call bullshit, for 40000 reasons.


    I should still win, maybe. But not a flawless victory, not this time. Fucking 40k universe! I swear this place was trying to kill me!

 Something old, something blue

    While the Leviathan Crusade was under way, Master Shrike and Primarch Corax asked for a meeting, so we soon had a pleasant chat, Canis and I on one side, and the Primarch and his guard dog on the other. We even had tea and cake, while Canis crunched a jawbone from a big Ork while listening with one ear up.


    "Lord Lancefire, the Raven Guard needs to split off and help Sard_Gaeron</a> , the Shadow Captain of the 6th Company, now defending Stanghalde system. Any troops you can spare will be much needed too." the Chapter Master of the Raven Guard said with a glance at his Primarch.


    I sighed inward, but also understood the problem quite well. I wouldn''t leave a hundred of my sons to face a Hive Fleet by themselves either. "Splitting our forces invites defeat in detail. And your tech-marines are too few and not equipped with flocks of Guardians like mine are." I said in a defeated tone.


    The huge Primarch drank his tea in one gulp, then tapped the table. "Beside Formydire, there are also Pyremoat and Kastayl assigned as critical points by the Lord Commander. You have independence of command with this Crusade trick of yours, but the Deathwatch is not independent. Quite the opposite." he explained with a sad grimace.


    I glanced at Canis, and we both let out a long sigh. Stupid Imperium!


    "The ground war part is quite hard to win, even if I assign more combat servitors and Krieg regiments to your command, Master Shrike. It is the Hive Ships that need to be killed, or at least the Norn Queens on board. I read the reports of the Ultramarines at Regium, about that Harbringer assassin Tyranid which managed to infiltrate and then destroy the entire command center of the planet, by itself. They blew up the entire spire on top of it, killing a million troops and many more civilians." I countered with a grim tone.


    "I can take on a Norn Emissary, Pef Lancefire. I have fought much worse in my life." The Primarch answered in a calm voice.


    Canis nodded slightly, so perhaps the Primarch was right. He was quite a formidable fighter indeed.


    ''Perhaps convert some Krieg regiments into Raven Auxilia? I do have a Plasma Mortar Wyvern</a> I wanted to test in combat. '' The Blade proposed and sent a new STC template to my implant.


    I measured the new template with my rather expert eyes, fiding the Thanatos Wyvern completly different from the classic Chimera-chassis mortar platform. Now based on the Ragnarok tank chassis, it still had the Hydra turret and two autocannons, but also added a pair of Plasma Mortars powered by an internal plasma reactor. There was even a slot for an Ion-Flare Shield, if and when someone was able to provide it. Would it work? Very likely. The Blade created excellent machines, just like the Shield Sentinel or the Repulsor tank.


    The Raven Guard also had their own special templates, like the quiet Whispercutter</a> troop transport and the stealth Shadowhawk</a> gunship.


    It sucked, but I could split off some Mechanicus ships and provide tech-support and maybe orbital superiority...nah. Any ships I sent would be outnumbered at least 1000 to 1.


    A dozen cruisers armed with Nova Cannons might surprise the Hive Fleet and destroy their gargoyles and other flying organisms, and possibly blow up a lot of Tyranid escort bioships. But the big Hive Ships were rather immune to most kinds of firepower.


    "It is your choice, Primarch. I can spare a dozen Nova cruisers and 40 Krieg regiments, which you should convert into Raven Auxilia as to avoid the Guard''s limits on equipment. Do you want a honor guard of Blank Thalax cyborgs? I can spare 40 of them." I offered with a careless tone. I already made the decission, now I had to live with it.


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    Corvus Corax exchanged a silent glance with his Chapter Master. "Krieg Auxilia? Aren''t they going to run towards their deaths at the first battle?" he asked in doubt. Damn stereotypes. The Death Korps were great soldiers, and even more resilient with their new cloneskein bodies. They just obeyed any order, sometimes too literally.


    "If you order them so, they will. But the Krieg speciality is siege warfare. Quite good at it too, if they have the equipment and logistic chain. I''ll throw in some new Wyvern vehicles, maybe 100 per regiment." I added with a generous voice.


    "Add a billion combat servitors too. I have too few Ravens to afford a wide scale war like in the old days. The new Primaris clones you tested at Regium as well. And even the Thalax suits." the raven-haired Primarch decided, then ate the entire cake in a few bites. Have my cake and eat it too, why not?


    ''You have 4 days until the split off point, Lord Captain. This means 1000 Wyverns per day. And more ammo for the autocannons.'' the Blade urged me with a counter ticking down on my implant.


    I grit my teeth and stepped away, and inside the STC room under the Blade''s control. The Constructor was already flash-forging logis-engines and other delicate systems which would take me too long.


    Luckily, I knew the Ragnarok chassis inside out, and thus I barely need to check the template''s material list. I did need to add a blackstone cover over the cogitator and auspex sensors, to prevent any psyker influence from damaging or distorting the targetting process. About 90 seconds later, I assembled the first Plasma Wyvern with a single Breath, while the Blade began scanning it for defects and other quality control issues.


    Another pile of plasteel and copper fell beside me, and I began building the next. Hopefully I will get a bit faster with practice.


    ''Make the power conduits a bit stronger, Lord Captain. The drain of the Plasma Mortars is higher than a simple Las-cannon.'' the AI woman warned me as the second Wyvern appeared inside the STC constructor printer.


    Damn perfectionist AI! Give me more work now...


    Sleeping 2 hours per day, I manged to finish the new Wyverns just in time. Then Primarch Corax and his boys went away, to save yet another world and gain glory doing so.


    But before I could rest for real, my other wife appeared by magic in my bedroom, and shed her Battle Sister armor to climb into my bed. "What is it Ephrael, I am quite tired now." I muttered half-asleep.


    "This dark Primarch and your glowing Primarch will meet soon at Stanghalde. Something bad is going to happen." Sister Stern whispered as she climbed to ride my lance.


    Of course it will! This was a place where there was only war.


    "We are keeping course towards Formidyre still. Sanguinius will be fine." I answered almost asleep.


    My Primarch had a Blackstone Fortress too, and my son Patrocles with his own Tesseract. There wasn''t much in this universe that could threaten him now.


    I woke up much later, as the Singularity fired the Void Claw and shook the entire vessel, including my bed. The gravity beam crunched a million Tyranid bio-ships in front of the fleet, making a wide path.


    The tesseract sense could already perceive half of the Formidyre system, with a huge Tyranid tendril coiled around it like a python strangling its prey. This must be Grendyllus then. A huge as it was, it was only a finger of its claw, and still small compared to the entire Leviathan. Creatures that ate galaxies were a bit larger than people imagined.


    ''You have time to shower and eat, Lord Captain. I''m just clearing a path for the fleet now.'' the Blade notified me with her machine-woman voice.


    I traced my holy wife next, finding her inside a chapel and praying, curiously side by side with my Inquisitor wife. I guess the prospect of being eaten by Tyranids made strange bedfellows.


    Canis was chasing after that clown Mnemorach, with a silver bell still tied to his tail.


    I laughed out loud, and entered my shower. Damn absurd place. At least Canis seemed happy.

 Joan

    In a few hours, the Leviathan Crusade Fleet punched a path through the Tyranid Fleet and took station above the single Hive World in the Formidyre system, called Oghram</a> .


    As expected, the underhives were already full of genestealer cults, so my Space Marines got some easy training and live fire exercise, while I analyzed the system for a decent battle plan.


    The world of Sanctum was the homeworld</a> of the White Templars</a> Space Marine Chapter</a> , where they recruited among the roaming techno-barbarians. Sure, the savages were healthier than the crude gang members living on a poluted Hive World, but they also lived like Orks.


    My forts opened their massive hangar doors to release thousands of system corvettes, as well as numerous fighters and bombers. Our remaining Mechanicus cruisers departed to skirmish with the Tyranids already probing the outer fort line.


    Two more worlds got my attention, Phraktam</a> an Industrial World</a> which should be able to produce munitions for the siege, and Resolution''s Ire</a> a Fortress World</a> already fortified with trenches, minefields and bunkers at every corner.


    The Krieg regiments will have an easier time defending that world, although I kept a hundred regiments in reserve to man the Hive Cities'' walls and other key points. At the same time, my own Auxilia began to entrench everyhwere I could find a defensible spot, or if not I could drop an asteroid into a swamp and create a new fort just like that.


    In space, I scattered the Orkish Roks in pairs, allowing the Ork Auxilia to fire their supranumerary dakka at anything nearby, thus attracting hungry Tyranids to the signs of their biomass.


    I wasn''t exactly sure what the Anchor World of Sanctum was protecting, since the local population was in the millions and the Imperial Guard already outnumbered the locals 100 to 1.


    Anyways, Arcadian_Leontus</a> , a Lord Commander dispatched from Terra to oversee the Sanctum Line had made this place a command post and so it stayed.


    Megatonnes of munitions and supplies were being unloaded on the Sanctum, while spaceports and fortified cities were being built everywhere. This was the Imperium of Man, fortifying a useless planet while leaving their industry and population exposed to the hungry maws of the Tyranids.


    I sent my Imperial Knights to the feudal world of Jovenghast</a> , alongside some Thalax suits and Shield Sentinels, but I didn''t held much hope for that place. No matter how brave the locals were, with their spears and swords they would be eaten quite rapidly by the Tyranid bio-forms.


    A million Sisters of Battle, including some of my own daughters, landed on Krematos</a> a Mortuary World</a> in the same system, intent on protecting the relics and mausoleums of the Ecclesiarchy. They would have been doomed, until Sister Stern decided to join them, and thus practically guaranteed their salvation, one way or another.


    Instead, the Inquisitor wife joined Kruxor Stavro</a> the Chapter Master</a> of the White Templars on Sanctum, forcing me to deploy the Blank Auxilia and a dozen Astartes Chapters as her escort.


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    I couldn''t care less about a feral planet used for recruiting! Will this be like Fenris all over again? Well, the Tyranids wweren''t known for summoning Great Daemons yet, so I still had a chance.


    Maybe Oghram will not burn. I hated victory pyres.


    ''Take a deep breath, Lord Captain. My sensors are registering increased mental anguish, and the battle has barely started'' the Blade said in a curious voice.


    ''I would have focused most defenses on Phraktam and Oghram, and used the less populated worlds as traps to burn the Tyranids after they landed. That way, victory would be far easier and less costly in lives and industry.'' I growled in anger.


    ''But we are not in the Fringe here, Lord Captain. The locals have their own priorities.'' the Blade answered with her perfect machine logic.


    Instead of words, I used my actions to answer, dropping out more asteroids to create a barrier of space forts around Phraktam and Oghram, then grabbed the new servitors crafted from the underhives and plugged them into the defense lasers and flak batteries of the fort line.


    Then I timed the exact moment and released a single Nova Mine in the middle of a huge swarm of gargoyles chasing after the cruisers, burning off a billion at once.


    Too bad the Nova Mines or Shells were exotic munitions, far beyond my ability to create them with a single Breath. That day will come, but it was not today.


    Instead, more asteroid forts and ferro-concrete bunkers appeared on every planet, most of them armed with Las-cannons and multi-lasers. Basic tech, which I understood well enough to simply will into existence by draining the local star a little. It took several hours, but I looked at my homework with a pride eye once I was finished. The other eye was too tired so it was closed already.


    I must have drifted into sleep, because the invasion had begun without my notice. My ships and troops fought well, not that I expected anything else.


    Yes, the fort line was getting chewed up rather good, but that was its purpose after all.


    Each of my three Blackstone Forts were firing Immaterium beams at the largest Hive Ships, while billions of spores fell on the worlds of Formidyre system.


    Luckily, I checked on my pregnant wife first, to find her engaged in melee with a large Norn_Emissary</a> attacking the White Templars'' Monastery. And losing!


    "Spartan, you have command!" I yelled and jumped out of my Command Throne and emerged on Sanctum just as Valyene got stabbed though her belly by the vicious Tyranid Assassin.


    Anger and pain coursed through my veins like liquid acid, as my Phase Claw bisected then trisected the damn thing. Semnai was probably dead, impaled on another claw arm, while Alaric ran to the side of my wife, and sliced off the claw arm of the Tyranid, then poured a bag of yellow dust on the wound.


    "It''s fine, Lord husband. I''ve been hurt much worse..." Lady Valyene joked while spitting blood.


    I didn''t even see her, instead using my Breath to look inside her, at my poor baby girl. Joan was dead, before she took her first breath.


    I plunged my left hand into the wound and extracted the fetus and willed her back to life. Sadly, I was not a God. The dead flesh healed up, but the finger-sized girl was still dead. Soulless.


    "Noooooooooo!" my voice yelled without asking permission.


    Time stopped, as something broke inside me. The star began to turn in reverse, and I plunged the healed baby inside Valyene while kicking at the Norn Emissary.


    The T-engine on my right arm lit up, as I unleashed the pent up energy of the Formidyre sun at the surrounding Tyranid swarm. Not the usual kind of victory pyre, but I''ll take anything right now.


    Die, puny insects! I was not a God yet, but I will be.


    Lady Valyene held a hand over her belly, and smiled. "Joan is fine, husband."


    Captain Semnai coughed in pain, and spat bubbles of hard blood. "I''m fine too"

 Fiend

    <div>


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    "...The gene-seed!" One of them yelled in panic, just as I detected the invisible Tyranid creature attacking the Apothecaries guarding the Chapter''s life blood.


    I waited for my T-engine to ping, and then stepped through the Tesseract and beheaded the next Norn Emissary just as the thing unleashed its psychic blast. I grabbed the head and stepped back, before some angry Templar started shooting at me too.


    Yes, a few canisters of gene-seed might have gone missing, but that was the risk of attracting my attention.


    "Pef, guard the Lord Commander! This isn''t over!" my wife demanded in a wary voice, while enveloped in the white light of her biokinetic healing.


    Fine! It wasn''t like I had an entire Crusade Fleet to oversee, and a critical space battle to win. Now I had to babysit some idiot Noble?


    I located Commander Leontus and stepped next to him, to find his horse fighting yet another Tyranid Emissary. Yes, this guy had a horse called Konstantin</a>, and he kicked ass. With his hooves.


    My T-engine was skipping beats again, so I loaded a Darkstar bolt and just shot the thing. The Tyranid, not the horse. The horse was great.


    Unlike that cheater Ahriman, the Emissary just died. And then the horse stepped on its head a dozen times to make sure. It didn''t get any more dead, but a horse wasn''t very smart.


    "Good job, Konstantin! You saved my life again!" the Commander praised his horse while ignoring me.


    I collected the deadly bolt into a blackstone case and returned to my ship. Then remembered about Semnai and moved him to the Apothecary to get stiched up. The other bodyguard, Alaric was just fine. One day I might investigate him, and why he never got wounded even once in the past 1000 years, but for now he was guarding Valyene. Remembering how I found Velyene the first time, blind and missing an arm, Alaric seemed to prioritize his own safety first. Hmm, I probably should not investigate, and get both of them killed. My Inquisitor wife was rather the opposite of a Saint. Plus they both had a tree tattoo on the left shoulder, which likely meant something deadly that would get me killed or worse.


    Instead I just spectated the system-wide battle, and compared my nice Ion Beamers with the tungsten auto-cannons made by the Blade, and found them...rather identical in combat stats. Except the Ion guns didn''t use ammo, so I won.


    ''We used to have flash-forging magazines for our guns, you know? Less so for primitive autocannons, but rail and coil-guns do have much higher projectile speed.'' the Blade spoke without prompt, and sent a Magna-rail cannon template to my implant.


    ''I still don''t like consumable munitions.'' I argued with a tired voice.


    ''One of those three Hive Ships must have the Norn Queen. Orks again?'' the AI continued on a different track, while highlighting the three targets on the main screen.


    Much farther away, and beyond the burning Tyranid ships that got caught in my temporal blast, there was the Triad</a> Line or three Star Forts</a> meant to block the Warp points into the system.


    And each of them was being attacked by a Hive Ship, circling the defense perimeter and testing the range of the macro-cannons, or the reserves of macro-shells.


    Curiously, I also had three Castigator Titans, armed with a gigantic Power Fist each.


    A few Nova Mines first to clear the space of escort bio-ships and pesky gargoyles, then my battleship-size Titans got displaced on top of each Hive Ship.


    The good thing of my debatable Sanctum visit, about half of the Tyranid Fleet was burned alive, while many landed Tyranids were still spasming from losing so many synaptic creatures.


    Not all of them, and even without Hive Mind control some Tyranids became feral but were still hungry and dangerous. But overall, a decent blow.


    Maybe I should raise horses? Konstantin seemed quite deadly.


    Canis growled at me, somehow reading my mind.


    Or maybe he was upset I didn''t take him with me.


    Bianca punched a few times to weaken the Hive Ship''s carapace, then fired the Titan''s Plasma Annihilator into the crater. And then jumped inside the big hole and began firing her secondary Volcano Cannons. In a short minute, the Hive Ship exploded in a shower of gore and blood, while the Titan got painted red.


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    "Hive Ship smoked, Father! These things are much softer on the inside." she declared in a proud voice.


    "I am Smoking Hot, not you" another Princeps daughter called Tania ''Smoking Hot'' Lancefire yelled in, probably fake, outrage while burning the Hive Ship from one end to another, starting from the tail.


    My third daughter simply broke the monster''s jaw and forced her way into the giant maw, then grabbed something inside and pulled, ripping out organs and holding a captive Norn Queen in the Titan''s power fist. "I want to speak with it, Olivia. I''ll get you another gift instead." I spoke while capturing the giant Norn Queen and holding it in my labyrinth.


    Binding the creature in adamantium and blackstone, I entered the tesseract myself and stood eye to eye with the creature. "I am Pef Lancefire. I was there in the Garden, when Nurgle was shattered. Remember me now?" I asked in a calm voice.


    The Norn Queen faked being illiterate, but I knew better. The genestealers had been absorbing trillions of lives and memories, which is how this Queen knew who to attack and where. Plenty of those lives had been Space Marines, after all. There was even a theory among the Ordo Xenos that Hive Tyrants were created from Space Marine biomass. Not a mainstream theory, but I agreed with it. Plenty of the creatures in the galaxy gained their mutated reflections in new Tyranid organisms.


    "Sceeee!" the Norn Queen screamed.


    "Anyways, there will be your chance in about 9 months. Attack the blue molusk in the Warp, while it is weak. I''ll collect more Hive Fleets and send them into the Maelstrom when is time." I continued in a level voice.


    Something deep and intelligent flashed behind the Queen''s many eyes, and I knew I was heard.


    "And now, because your Emissary wounded my offspring, I have to wound yours. Let''s say, a meltagun first? Right in the belly, of course. " I spoke in the same mild voice, while taking out a meltagun and burning a hole through the Norn Queen.


    The Queen remained silent, while the alien eyes watched me with cold hate.


    "There, there. It''s only a flesh wound. I''ll heal it right back, and we can try a new weapon. I have thousands of them, and plenty of time." I explained in a polite voice, while turning back time and taking out a Volkite gun. Being cooked from inside out should be rather painful, probably. Clusters of eggs spilled rows of ovipositor orifices along its flanks, fluid filled depressions on its upper surface writhed with maggot-like larvae, fetal sacs hang like ripe fruit from umbilical branches...and they all burned like dried grass.


    I make a poor Inquisitor, sadly. After a dozen weapons, I got bored, especially as the Norn Queen was still silent.


    Anyways, a dozen stellar time-shifts meant a dozen extra temporal sunblasts, incinerating every bio-ship in range.


    "You''ve been a great test subject, dear Queen. But now we must part. My Ordo Xenos wife will want to return the favour too. Can''t help you now, since she''s both a Lancefire and an Inquisitor. You will die in great pain..." I mused in a thoughtful voice, and turned around.


    "...Wait." the alien creature spoke in clear Low Gothic. Even had an accent, but I wasn''t an expert to locate it.


    "Hmmm. I do have a Drukhari Blast Pistol I haven''t tested yet." I realized in mild surprise.


    "You killed my Fiend of Hag Rift. You captured and painted many of my children as your Xeno Auxilia. Dragged a planet with my ships. You play with my swarm like toys. Lancefire...your mind is like a bored god. And now you dare to plot against the Architect in the Warp? That broken C''tan in your glove is not enough to match me, even less the Architect." the Queen spoke, but not for herself.


    Blam! The darklight fragment struck the Norn Queen in the belly, and ruptured all her organs.


    "Remember the name. Pef Lancefire. It will be the last thing you hear before you die, especially if you hurt another Lancefire." I claimed with a grin, then stepped out of the labyrinth and froze the time inside the Norn cell.


    Spreading my dimensional senses wide, I began collecting the troops and sending them each to their barracks and repair bays, while organizing the fleet for immediate departure.


    I left the poor Krieg soldiers behind, as there would be more clean up duty in the system, but if the Hive Mind spoke, this meant there was something important in play.


    Primarch Corax had excellent instincts.


    </article>

 Leviathan

    <div>


    <div>


    While they only had 10 Nova Shells each, a few well-placed shots from the Cruisers could turn the tide of battle or at least produce a catastrophic loss of biomass for the Tyranid fleets.


    The main Crusade fleet rushed towards Stanghalde with our Warp-less engines, with the Singularity battleship ahead. The three Blackstone Forts covered the sides and rear, while genetor Anzion was rushing the implantation of another 20000 cloneskein Astartes, modified to withstand terror screams and other Tyranid synaptic powers.


    However, Lady Valyene''s investigations of Tyranid samples from Formidyre had revealed a new threat. The Spirit-Leech_Cortex</a> was basically a Tyranid adaptation similar to the Pariah powers of the Sisters of Silence, fortunatelly present in less than a percent of Tyranid Tyrants.


    I would guess Blank gene samples were quite rare and hard to find, but the simple fact that the Hive Mind was experimenting with them...hmmm. It painted a big target on the Lancefire Domain, with its rather high concentration of such genes.


    Even the Harlequinn Solitare was rather disturbed, since it meant his kind would be hunted as well.


    "There have been hundreds of incursions into the Webway by Tyranid creatures, and now we know what they were searching for. It seems the Great Devourer is creating bio-weapons to fight psykers and daemons." the Pariar Eldar spoke in a grave voice, while drinking my expensive amasec with one hand, and flicking a finger at Canis, then evading the bite of my wolf without looking.


    I took a big gulp of amasec as well, and turned off the holoprojector. "I did arrange a coordinated strike at the blue bird in 9 months though. The Hive Mind was quite amicable and agreed right away."


    "You want to attack the 9 Gates of the Labyrinth? Bold of you, human." the Solitare remarked in a bored voice.


    "It would have been nice to entice Gork as well, but the poor Orks are rather weak right now. I''ll ask the usual suspects anyways, a few Primarchs and Necrons, maybe a Hrud colony." I continued as Canis gave up trying to bite the annoying clown finger-poking his nose, and just rested his head on my leg.


    "I can guarantee Lord Cegorach will be very amused, and possibly interested in the Chaos Hidden_Library</a> . The expedition will fail, but it should prove enlightening anyways." Mnemorach said in a serious voice.


    "I don''t know much about Divine powers and domains, but I do know the Hive Mind is also interested in mutations and change. As for my God-Emperor, I guess the new kid on the block will want to show off his powers. Ynnead should also show up, for the same reason. I kinda stole his prize last time, albeit by accident. I never knew punching a Dark God in the Eye will kill them for good." I added with a careless shrug.


    The Solitaire just measured me with a sad face. "You are following in the footsteps of Vaul, Pef Lancefire. Take care you don''t achieve the same fate, broken on your anvil."


    I raised a finger to object, then realized the Solitaire was correct. I was even travelling with three Talismans of Vaul in my fleet.


    "Will you join me, Mnemorach?" I asked instead.


    The Solitaire laughed and held a rune looking like an eye in his palm. "Your Crusade is called the Leviathan Crusade, correct?"


    "What?" I asked confused.


    "We will meet a Leviathan</a> in 42 minutes, just as we enter the Stanghalde system. Or maybe two of them? Damn runes are hard to read today." the Eldar clown spoke in a mystical voice, then fell through the floor and vanished.


    "Battlestations. Angelnet all ships. Secure all vox comms and go autistic. Non-Blank personnel will be stored away for the next battle!" I spoke out loud, and the Blade transmitted my order all over the fleet.


    People rushed to store their books and drinks and whatever fragile possessions, while Tarantula turrets and steel nets were deployed all over my ships. Any teleporting enemy will find themselves intersected by one or more steel cables, and then blasted apart by turrets and firewalls. Bulkheads door got closed tight, while critical rooms got flooded with argon and similar nobles gases to prevent fires.


    Lady Valyene teleported just above my knees and fell in my arms just as I took my place on the Command Throne.


    "Husband dear, the Eye of Terror is gone. Why have you deployed the Angel Net?" she asked while eying the multiple steel nets covering the bridge.


    "Partially as a precaution and training exercise for the Blank crews. But you, my dear Alpha psyker...you will one day break. I will mourn you, but still blow your head off." I said in a low voice, while my hand patted the inflated belly holding Joan.


    "I am not Amber! Still, if I do fall...kill me quickly." Valyene answered in a descending voice, almost a whisper at the end.


    "Go have fun with the Norn Queen, dear wife. You have 14 minutes until I have to pick the moment to kill it." I said with a focused voice, as my mind implant cycled higher and higher towards full combat status. Nodding gently, the Inquisitor vanished into the tesseract labyrinth, to interrogate the Norn Queen one last time.


    The author''s tale has been misappropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon.


    ''Extrapolation complete, Lord Captain. If the Solitaire is correct, we will encounter at least one Leviathan daemon, larger than a moon and stronger than a Segmentum Fleet. Physical weapons can be considered irrelevant. Energy weapons will produce minimal damage. Psi-tech weapons and Sister Stern should be our main striking power. Potential allies: Tyranid Fleets, Primarch Sanguinius and Primarch Corax.'' the Blade listed on my retina in bullet points.


    ''Don''t forget about my ace. Killing a Norn Queen always produces a Gamma-12 class psychic event, that can blur out the Astronomican. It should stun the big daemon too.'' I added to the list.


    ''You mean only one, or both of them at once?'' the Blade asked in a wary tone.


    Right, I also had the other Queen from Regium. A bit chewed up and gored by my Ork Auxilia, but I wasn''t done with it. Know your enemy and all that.


    ''I think one of them will suffice. Only the Queen from Formidyre was promissed a painful death, after all.'' I explained with a grin, just as my dimensional senses began to pick up the clusterfuck happening at Stanghalde.


    One side had the Raven Guard and a great deal of Deathwatch marines, then the Blood Angels with the Blood Salvation Blackstone Fortress and even the Phalanx of the Imperial Fists, with a Custodes Company on board, including the one and only the Adeptus Custodes</a> Captain-General</a> Trajann Valoris</a> .


    "My father has arrived, Lord Sanguinius." Patrocles warned the Primarch as his own tesseract detected me.


    "We may yet live then. Damn this crazy Ahriman!" the angelic Primarch spoke in a stern voice, just as his Fortress fired on the gigantic daemon with a purple Immaterium beam. Swarms of Screamers</a> and other space-faring daemons burst into mist and dust, while thousands of Blue-and-gold Chaos Marines fought unending torrents of Tyranids.


    Luckily for the Imperium, the huge Leviathan was busy fighting another moon-sized monstruosity, of the Tyranid-kind.


    Both monsters were covered in different kinds of psychic shields, strong enough to withstand my Tesseract.


    "The Tyranids ate a Craftworld?" I heard my augury sensor officer ask as the first imagines reached the main screen.


    ''Focus fire on the daemon!'' I ordered my Librarians on the three forts. Always strike Chaos first, the rule never changed.


    Our three beams converged on the big daemon, and aided the lone fortress of the Blood Angels, creating a special torsion effect.


    Down on the planet, blue Warpfire pyres grew stronger, as more people were being sacrificed by Chaos Sorcerers and cultists. No shields though, so the rituals failed as soon as the crazy Chaos worshippers met the sun face first. Sadly, about half of the Thousand Sons were recalled by the Warp Leviathan before they burned completely inside the sun.


    Damn bullshit magic!


    "We''ll meet again, Pef." Sister Stern spoke in a saintly voice, then lit up her Demonifuge wings and plunged into the Immaterium blender tearing the Leviathan into scraps of warpflesh.


    "She never learns! Sacrifice your enemies not yourself, stupid girl!" Mnemorach yelled and streaked like a black-and-white comet into the Tyranid megaship, and punched through the psychic barrier like a missile.


    Oh well. At least one of us will be judged kindly by the Starchild.


    I clenched my hand and the tortured Norn Queen died, releasing her death knell scream as I flicked it into the Immaterium blender of four Blackstone Forts.


    My ears felt a deep tone as every other sound vanished and all lights flickered on the ship.


    It was far worse for the Tyranids, and not too nice on the Imperial vessels, as only my Blank sons and daughters remained on their feet.


    Several astropaths had brain seizures and actually died, while the mortal crew and Space Marines fell on their knees or face.


    ''Do you hear this annoying noise?'' I asked the Blade while charging the Void Claw to fire at the gigantic Tyranid thing next.


    ''I will need you to rebuild the cogitator network and bionic parts, Lord Captain. I believe I am also in pain. Temporal-psychic events are frying my mind...'' the Blade said in pain, while her hologram depicted a blue woman holding hands over her eyes.


    Noted. Norn Queens make a nasty show when they die.


    The giant daemon blew up just as I fired my gravity beam at the Tyranid Craftworld...and it also contracted into half the previous volume.


    Mnemorach flew out with a bag filled with soul stones, and also bleeding from his eyes and ears. "You fired too soon, damn Mon Kheigh!" he yelled in anger, then turned into a shadow and vanished.


    ''Focus the Tyranid Whale next. Long range auguries are now allowed'' I sent via the Sounding Board, and every ship in my fleet opened up with lance batteries and Nova Cannons.


    I just waited for the shield to break, and then flicked a dozen Nova Mines directly inside the moon-sized ship-thing, cracking its shell open from the inside out.


    "Still glad my father arrived in time, Sire?" Patrocles asked with a cheeky voice.


    Sanguinius patted his head and instead turned to glare directly at me. I think I was in trouble.


    </article>

 Bleeding heart

    I''ve swept my new chronoleptic power over the system, and noted 3 points still in flux.


    One was made by my own hand, as the emerging Warp Rift was sucking in the shredded remains of the Warp Leviathan. There was another on board the Phalanx, glowing stronger around the left arm of Trajann Valoris, so that must be his own T-engine.


    And the thrid was still on the planet''s surface, moving invisibly at walk speed. It could be a Tyranid Emissary again, but considering the Chaos rituals I just interrupted, I suspected someone else.


    "This must be the lost Craftword named Malan''tai. It vanished 200 years ago while fighting Hive Fleet Naga" Lady Valyene observed in a curious voice, having come out of the tesseract after the psychic shriek just ended.


    Even damaged by the Crusade Fleet bombardement, the huge Tyranid construct still held on, and refused to die.


    I checked on Sanguinius again, finding him healing his gene-sons, as many of them were still bleeding from every orifice, which fit quite well with the Blood Angels theme.


    Primarch Corax and his own gene-sons were still fighting on the ground, on several planets in the system, or rather they were putting down insensate Tyranid bioforms, prioritizing the larger examplars first. My Lamenter Deathwatch sons were doing much the same, and even faster by the grace of their C''tan Phase swords.


    Just as I was thinking what exactly to do next, and how to kill the nigh-invincible Tyranid moon, the temporal nexus on the surface pulsed wide, and thousands of Chaos Marine armor suits appeared, and began fighting the Tyranids again.


    "Come Canis, I should speak with the idiot." I said a low voice, then traversed the tesseract and emerged with a Necron Beamer in hand. Maybe capturing the Sorcerer wouldn''t trigger his own death-avoiding spell?


    "...Pef Lancefire! And his loyal wolf." the Archtraitor spoke, partially revealing himself as a blue clouded-figure, as I kept my gaze on the temporal coordinates on his location.


    "Ahriman. I find it curious you''re searching the galaxy for spells and artifacts, when the Hidden Library holds the entire knowledge of the Old Ones. Aren''t you the Chief Librarian?" I asked in a mild voice.


    Canis just growled, warning me I didn''t have much time. So, I will have to plant my poison fast.


    "...What do you know, Blacksoul? My Brothers are vanishing one by one, I have to try something!" the Sorcerer asked in a desperate voice.


    "The Old Ones used blue snails to clean up the floors in their library, mopping the floors with their dust-dissolving slime. But after the Old Ones were gone, the snails took over the library and began to learn for 60 million years. Also went mad from too much knowledge and merged into a larger mollusk, but that''s not important. What matters is, what will you do when the Starchild comes to claim his birthright? Now it''s been 10000 years, and your Legion is fading in the chronodrain of the blue snail. Worshipping the janitor didn''t pay off, right?" I asked rhetorically and raised the Necron Beamer towards the time-cloud masking Ahriman.


    "What? ...The janitor?" Ahriman wonder in confusion just as I fired the Necron beam. The cloud vanished just as I fired.


    I checked inside the pocket space, and found yet another empty armor suit, fused at the seams by Warp magic. Damn his ninja replacement skills!


    Canis was already biting other Rubric Marines in half, and scattering their ashes when another temporal pulse emerged from the Warp Rift and every single Thousand Son vanished.


    I smiled inward and returned to the Singularity''s bridge, where a few Lamenter tech-marines sprayed my armor with incense and holy oil.


    I still failed, but this time I failed with style. Was the thing about the janitor taking over the Old Ones'' library true? Well, if we were to ask Kairos Fateweaver he will say yes, with at least one mouth.


    Lady Valyene frowned as I stored the Necron weapon in the tesseract, while Canis just licked his teeth. Perhaps I had the best teacher for my Pariah ability right here? Canis could eat souls and grow stronger.


    "Anyone else smells spoiled cheese?" a tech-marine asked waving the censor incense around.


    The story has been taken without consent; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident.


    It wasn''t me! Maybe Canis?


    "I feel like I got drowned in cold water..."


    "Me too!"


    "Ringing ears for me!" another Blank yelled as I raised a hand to stop the chatter. There was a battle going on, still.


    "Incoming transmission from the Phalanx, Lord Captain. It''s the Custodes-General!" the Vox daughter warned me just as the Blade decrypted and printed the words on my retina.


    I sighed and stepped through the tesseract labyrinth again, and found myself surrounded by Custodes and Primaris Imperial Fists, all of them towering above me by a meter or so.


    "Pef Lancefire, reporting as ordered, sir!" I yelled in my best Guardsman voice, and even saluted correctly as per Imperial military law.


    "Come, Lord Lancefire. The Emperor has sent you something." the Custodes-General spoke with a dispassionate voice, and lead the way to the Admiral''s Council Room beside the bridge.


    I wanted to comment about stupid things that could wait while the Tyranid invasion was still ongoing, but then I decided not to.


    This could be important.


    "Lord Lancefire, by the command of the Emperor and Master of Mankind, you are now promoted to the rank of Nobilitae Primus. Kneel and receive your reward!" the huge Custodes demanded while taking out a familiar flaming sword.


    "...are you sure? It may cause trouble." I muttered while kneeling with my right knee.


    "Sadly, yes. There are other steps to create another Warmaster, but being a first class Noble is required too." he said while smacking my shoulders with the Emperor''s Sword.


    "...I would have guessed the Lion was first in line for that thing, as bad an idea as it is. Half the galaxy burned last time." I grumbled and tried to rise, only for the Custodes-General to hold me down easily.


    "Half the galaxy will burn this time too, Pef Lancefire. We don''t have a scale to measure the coming event, but it will not be Alpha-grade class-12 temporal-psychic burst or anything as simple like that. The Emperor wants to use Magnus as a containment shell, and spread the backblast among the Thousand Sons already tied in the Rubric." he explained in a cold voice.


    "Look, Trajann. These are big boys toys, I play with tanks and Sentinels. Maybe a Titan, if am not too tired." I countered in a weak voice.


    "Humility doesn''t suit you, Lord Lancefire. The Primarch-grade Immortus Gland in your head is already driving you to form your own Space Legion, the Blank Astartes. The hermetic cores are also opening one by one, while you master your own abilities. Today I sensed the temporal seal being used." the Custodes spoke with a careless tone, and pointed at the Moment Shackle</a> relic he carried.


    I sighed and stood up via my tesseract, then emerged on the other side of the table. "My mother always said I was special, but I didn''t think she meant being a baby Primarch. As for the new Eye, I was sealed by the head of the Holy Inquisition, so can''t talk about it." I said with a finger on my lips.


    Trajann''s eyes glowed golden for a second. "And yet, you were planning to assault the Impossible Fortress</a> and loot the Hidden Library. "


    I shrugged, caught red-handed this time. "A man can dream, right?" I said in a sheepish voice.


    "Yes, he can. And he can even receive 5 Primarchs for this dream. And a flaming sword." the Custodes-General allowed with a smile, and dropped the Emperor''s Sword in mid-air.


    The thing turned like a missile searching for a target, then sped up and impaled me through the armor, my Null Box and then my heart inside.


    I glanced down, and found no wound or sign of armor breach, and only a warmth in my heart. "That was special." I admitted with a weird voice. Maybe I was indeed special.


    "Take care of the Doom_of_Malan''tai</a> now, bleeding heart. You will need Ynnead''s aid in the Crystal Labyrinth." Trajann Valoris added in a casual tone, and walked out, just as a drop of blood dripped from my armored chest.


    I scratched my cheek, and replayed the strange ennoblement ceremony in my mind. What the hell did I agree to?

 Gentleman

    <div>


    <div>


    Obviously, the Custode-General was not going to answer questions, but he also didn''t give me a sign as to be relieved of his summons.


    Was this some kind of test? I tapped the black table in deep thought when the door opened to allow two men to enter.


    Captain Mirac_Chalosa</a> the current Lord Phalanx</a> of the Imperial Fists</a> Chapter</a> was escorted by Captain Orpheus_Taelos</a> , commander of the Auric_Auxilia</a> , the Imperial Fists'' version of the Lamenter Auxilia, but formed from failed Marine Aspirants instead of regular people. Not that my Auxilia wasn''t full of Blanks, cloneskeins and Catachans, with their own special genetic advantages.


    "Lord Lancefire, it has been a while since we''ve met." the Lord Phalanx said first, and nodded towards me gently.


    I was a Great Noble now, so I also nodded back. "You must mean that time I visited Terra, Lord Phalanx. I punched a bunch a Daemons while riding a Titan." I answered with a calm voice. We''ve never actually met in person, but we crossed paths defending Terra a while back.


    "Your armor is bleeding?" Captain Taelos observed with a frown. Even for this magic universe, such things must be rare.


    "Don''t be silly, Captain. Armors can''t bleed. The Custodes stabbed me with a flaming sword, that''s all." I explained with a patient voice.


    The two Imperial Fists glanced at each other, probably unaware of why the Custodes General had wanted to meet me.


    "Ehem. Anyways, Lord Lancefire...how do you like the Phalanx?" Captain Chalosa continued in a pleasant tone, and tapped a button to turn over a section of the black table and reveal a tray fileld with drinks of all kinds. Must be his favorite party trick. Plenty of other Nobles would be impressed.


    "Well, it is stronger than a Glorianna-class battleship, even in its current damaged and infected state. There are thousands of sub-systems in dire need of repair, and none of its ancient weapons are operational. But, considering its 20000 years of service, good enough." I said with a careless voice, yet speaking only the truth.


    The Lord Phalanx sighed and sat at the table, while the other Captain grit his teeth in anger. "Good enough, huh?" he spoke in a sad voice.


    "Is there a point, Lord Phalanx? I do have a Crusade Fleet outside, and a few more Tyranids to kill." I asked in a slightly shaper tone.


    "Can you...come back and repair my ship, Lord Lancefire?" the old Astartes pleaded in a low tone.


    Could I? Uh, the Phalanx was as large as a Blackstone Fortress. And filled with thousands of Golden Age devices of unknown functions.


    "Sure, I''ll fix your ship. But first, there is this Doom of Malan''tai I need to get rid off. The Auric Auxilia needs something more?" I asked just to make sure.


    Captain Taelos managed to draw his gaze away from my bleeding chest and look into my pure, blue eyes. "If you''re not too busy, Lord Lancefire. I''ve seen what wonders you did for the Raven Auxilia."


    Right, I did provide 4 million Krieg cloneskeins for the Raven Guard Auxilia. And worked hard for a few days to provide them with Wyverns and other stuff.


    The Phalanx was mostly empty though, they could house 4 billion troops easily, just like any of my big forts.


    I raised my thumb and smiled, then vanished.


    Back on the Singularity, the noosphere engulfed me like a torrential rain, with data pouring from every auspex and augury sensor, even before I sat down on the Command Throne.


    Canis sniffed at my bleeding chest, and bit gently on my left glove. Yeah, buddy. We''re going to reshape the infested Craftworld inside-out.


    The fleet''s bombardement with Lances and Nova Cannons had a minimal effect, for a Craftworld was extremly durable by design, and kilometers of Tyranid carapace and its psychic shield made it rather impervious to damage.


    "Immaterium beams, splash the Malan''tai!" I ordered out loud, while directing the Lances onto the Warp Rift instead.


    A loud howl emerged from the moon-sized vessel, so it probably didn''t like being focused by soul-erasing beams of doom. A minute later, the Warp Rift closed as well, popping like a mirror struck by too many rocks.


    Canis howled in return, the sound forming into a pair of gigantic golden jaws that crunched on the Malan''tai. It looked beautiful, but also deadly. The spiritual jaws managed to crush into the hull of the Craftworld, revealing a black-carapace Tyranid</a> Zoanthrope</a> , covered in lightning aura.


    "All ships, cease fire!" I sent fleet wide.


    ''Dessima, Ordela with me!'' I sent on the Sounding Board, then traversed the tesseract to appear at three points around the Tyranid creature.


    Sister Dessima just held one hand out front, locking the creature in place with her Null powers, while Sister Ordela took out her C''tan Sword and plunged it into the big head of the Tyranid.


    It still didn''t die!


    So, I joined as well with my time-draining sword, stabbing it into its heart while my Phase Claw cleaved the limbs of the Tyranid off, like branches from a tree.


    Something evil moved behind the eyes of the Zoanthrope, and its tongue flicked towards my chest. Good luck going though the Null Box, stupid thing!


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    But the tongue wasn''t meant to hurt me, only wanting to lick the drop of blood from my armor. Sister Dessima stabbed the Tyranid as well, but too late.


    Time stood still, as the alien tongue touched the blood. A burst of Divine energy and golden flames errupted from my chest, as the Emperor''s Sword launched itself out like a missile.


    Choosing to be cautious, I drained time through the chronophagic blade and dialed the current time half a second back.


    The alien tongue flopped severed on the floor, as the Doom of Malan''tai died in the Emperor''s flames before reaching its target. Time was on my side now.


    The two Omega-minus Pariah sisters nodded at me and vanished in the tesseract, while I walked the halls of the Craftworld, in search for more loot. It wasn''t like the Tyranids would know what was valuable on a Craftworld, beside biomass.


    To my surprise, I found a hundred Grey Knights armor suits, with the helmets ripped off and the bodies slurped out like soup. An entire Company of them, dead and eaten. Perhaps it was not a good idea to send psykers to fight a psyker-eating creature?


    Even better, one of the Grey Knights had a Daemon Blade at his hip, exactly what I needed right now to increase my sword skills.


    Then I searched more, and found hundreds of Wraith Knights and Titans, all empty of living occupants but valuable even so. Lastly, I located the armory of the Crawftworld, with millions of Eldar weapons and vehicles of all types, but only a dozen Spirit Stones still intact. Thanks for the loot, Hive Mind!


    The crazy Zoanthrope must have fed on the souls of millions of Eldar to grow so strong, and then even more if it ate 100 Grey Knights.


    No wonder the Emperor sent his Custodes-General to deal with this problem, even arming him with his flaming sword.


    And then changed his mind and used me as the sword bearer, so to speak. To be fair, it was the better choice.


    I was quite deadly, if I had to be.


    The Daemon Sword in my hand seemed to think so as well, begging to be let go. Yeah, not today.


    Ashes of iron and blood flaked off as the Daemon Sword disintegrated in my hand, and a warm glow emerged from my chest.


    I glanced down, and the drop of blood on my armor flowed into my Null Box and remained suspended like a red tear outside of time.


    Another miracle? Or was it on purpose?


    Anyways. The hull of the hybrid-Malan''tai should make exceptionally strong armor plates. The Hive Mind had produced a miracle of its own.


    Probably not intended as a gift for me, but I''ll take it anyways. Anything that could withstand a Warp Leviathan and 300 Battleships firing at it for an hour should be quite durable indeed.


    Now, I should meet Sanguinius too.


    Storing the Craftworld in my inventory was very hard, but I pushed through the mental pain. I had become quite a bit stronger than my early days of using a Necron tesseract and fainting after moving a few torpdoes.


    "...here already." Patrocles spoke as I stepped beside him.


    "Lord Sanguinius, good to see you!" I began in a pleasant tone, and patted my son on his pauldron.


    "Chapter Master Lancefire! Come, we should talk." the tall Primarch demanded in a noble voice, then teleported to his office.


    I followed after him, not via teleport but just as fast.


    "So, you heard?" he asked while folding his white wings away.


    "The Emperor wants a new Warmaster? Yes, I was told. Bad idea." I commented with light voice and summoned my metal throne to sit in, as the Primarch sat in his own golden chair.


    The Primarch''s eyes glanced to the side, and his raven-haired brother emerged from a shadow, still covered in blood and gore.


    "Corax, Khan, Angron, Mortarion and Perturabo. They will be your Imperial Fist, to be used as you deem necessary. If they turn, you know what to do, Warmaster." Sanguinius said in a soft voice, promissing death by a thousand cuts.


    My fist clenched, urging me to punch his smooth angelic face.


    "I can understand testing the traitors. This guy did not fall." I pointed with a finger at Primarch Corax.


    "Technically, he did. Not to a Dark God, but to his own dark urges. Same with Khan, becoming a butcher for the Dark Eldar. The new Fulgrim instead...he is an innocent clone. You should hear him sing." my Primarch countered with a faint smile.


    I already knew what the Emperor planned to do with Magnus, which was likely far worse than anything I could do. If I understood the Custodes words correctly, Magnus will become a vessel for the Starchild, while absorbing the souls of all the Thousand Sons in the process. At a minimum of 70000 souls, it will make the Starchild 100 times stronger than Sister Stern with her 700 souls.


    "I don''t like it. I''ll do it if I have to, but this sucks. The entire Imperium sucks!" I exclaimed in outrage.


    "You rage against the dying of the light, Lancefire. You lament, grieve and mourn, while trying to push against entropy with your hands alone. The truth is, we failed. The Emperor, my brothers and the Imperium as a whole. We can only build again, far away from the new Throne of Light. " Sanguinius spoke in a gentle voice.


    Corax appeared at my side and knelt in front of my throne. "I hear and obey the Emperor''s command. Use me well, Warmaster." the Primarch said in a simple tone.


    Damn it!


    "We should spar a little, Primarchs. To the first blood, nothing more. You have plenty of room on this Fortress." I demanded in a level tone, as I stood up and my throne folded in the tesseract.


    Sanguinius raised an amused eyebrow, while Corax frowned. "Who goes first?" he asked cautiously.


    "I''ll take both of you at once. Don''t worry, I''ll be gentle." I explained in a mild tone.


    </article>

 Praetorian

    <div>


    <div>


    Both Primarchs got a thin blood line on their jaws, since a C''tan Phase Claw didn''t care about Primarch-grade resilient skin and psychic aura.


    See, I was gentle and only used one Claw and not three.


    "I didn''t even manage to Shadow-walk away." Corax complained with a scowl.


    "Bleeding again, in the same day? I should change my name into the Bleeding Angel." Sanguinius complained in fake outrage. He was smiling, so I must have passed his test.


    Corax pointed a finger at his brother, then sighed. "You''re no fun when you mock yourself, Blood Angel. What do we do now, Warmaster?" he continued with a level tone, towards me.


    "That depends. I''ve been asked to repair the Phalanx, but while I was there I also noticed the Remains_of_Rogal_Dorn</a> , held in stasis. I was thinking to clone a new Praetorian, for old times sake. Not sure if to place him inside a Pain_glove</a> or not. What do you think?" I mused in a thoughtful voice.


    Sanguinius frowned, but remained silent. Corax lit up with a giant smile instead. "Dorn? That would be great."


    "A clone is not the original though. Make two of them, Lancefire. And a bit different from my real brother." Sanguinius added in a stern voice.


    I was going to make two anyways, and keep one for myself. But Sanguinius was also right. A clone was a clone. Even with most of the memories, it was not the real thing.


    I already saw that in the Vulkan clones, as they were far more limited than the real Primarch and could only focus their gift on a single speciality.


    I raised a finger and moved the three of us in the gene-lab of Anzion, where the genetor clone of Vulkan was still working on creating better cloneskeins for my army.


    Sanguinius tilted his head at the strange orange-eyed clone of Vulkan. "Exactly like that, Lancefire. A subtle shift in eye-color, and a reduced Warp signature. I see you are well-equipped for creating entire clone armies as well."


    I nodded gallantly. "For now, we are producing several cloneskein patterns used by the Auxilia regiments, and experimenting with the Raptor Protocol to gestate Primaris Space Marines directly.


    However, the Black Carapace is still beyond our ability to create via proteic bonds, even with extra mineral intakes."


    Sanguinius examined a number of genetic Crucibles and transparent gestation tanks, before turning to his brother. "You created this abomination, Corax?"


    Corax sighed and scracthed his head. "The Emperor himself gave me the Raptor Protocol. Genemaster Anzion just...went much farther than I ever did." he admitted with casual tone.


    "I''ll have to watch over the cloning, Lancefire. Go fix the Phalanx if you can. The old battlestation has served the Imperium well." Sanguinius demanded in a sad voice.


    "I should go finish the Tyranids on the planet."Corax mused and wiped his chin to reveal a perfectly healed face.


    "I''ll deploy the people on the Phalanx as well. I rather not have to worry about crushing a thousand innocents while moving walls and stuff around." I decided with a shrug, and sent everyone to fight, while the stasis chest with the remains of the Imperial Fists Primarch arrived beside Anzion.


    ''You took on quite a heavy duty, Warmaster.'' the Blade AI commented as I began reshaping the Phalanx into a proper warship, with an extra kilometer of blackstone armor, plus the brand-new Malan''tai wraith-bone/tyranid carapace armor for gun ports, window blinds, hangar doors and other movable parts.


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    ''Reparing this Federation Star Fort? Yeah, it is a bit difficult.'' I admitted with a shrug, although the Necron repair orb did most of the delicate work.


    I just did the heavy lifting, adding adamantium beams and tracing hexagrammic wards on the cogitator cores. Which were quite full of data-daemons and other nasty creatures. Some data-cores had to be replaced entirely, while others had been already melted with melta bombs by the former occupants.


    ''Don''t be obtuse, Lord Captain. You also know a Warmaster title is a terrible burden.'' the Blade spoke a bit too sharply.


    ''I will need a big hammer too. A Warhammer, to be precise." I added in a far away voice.


    The Forge Worlds might support me. A few Primarchs as well, more or less. But the Imperium as a whole? The Administratum, Ecclesiarchy and the Nobility? Yeah, a fat chance in hell.


    ''I''ll scan and copy what I can. There is a lot of military tech here I never seen before.'' the Blade said a minute later, as the Phalanx settled into its final form. A five-sided trapezoid, with a hundred Ares engines for sub-light propulsion on the newest side, covered by long armored plates to prevent side-shots from damaging the engines.


    Then I just added its former statues and Cathedral archs above the new armor, and covered it all in gold and auramite films.


    The internal systems and weapons will take many more hours, but I wasn''t in a big hurry.


    Each new section will need a lot of techsorcist magic, and I began to bring in my tech-marines to help out, once the walls stopped moving.


    ''Here! I found the Neutron Shield emitter. And a battery of Mega-Neutron Lasers too!'' the Blade exclaimed like a child in the toy store.


    ''Predictive targetting!''


    ''Gene-locked teleporter!''


    ''Food replicator!''


    ''Medical nanites!''


    ''Okay, I get it. You found a lot of nice toys. Scan and retrieve what templates you can. If there are any multiple devices, point them out so I can displace a copy for my Domain.'' I demanded in a tired voice.


    The Phalanx was quite big and even with my implants and enhanced mind, it was difficult to analyze and repair.


    The Blade noticed my mood as well, since she toned down her joyful exclamations and just red lined damaged systems and green lighted repaired ones.


    While the Phalanx did have a back-up Gellar Field, quite surprising for an Imperial station, I had to add four more, and Gellar Ramparts instead. It should withstand another Leviathan like the one before, for a while at least. Firepower was the best defense, but even ancient Neutron Batteries wouldn''t kill a moon-sized Leviathan Daemon. And I couldn''t fix that. Immaterium beams were found only on Blackstone Forts, and nowhere else.


    Instead, I converted a bunch of internal jungle and swamp training grounds into more Arc reactors and added extra Lance batteries to the sides and rear, as well as 40 Nova Cannons on the frontal arcs, but without shells. The Imperial Fists could ask Mars for munitions. Then flak batteries and laser-comms for vox silence cases.


    Lastly, I prepared barracks space for 40 million soldiers, and added the Angel Net option to snag and slow teleporting boarders, just like on my own ships. It was a low tech solution, but steel was cheap and the nets easy to repair in case of damage. Bolting a few Las-cannon Tarantula turrets to the ceilings of these high-clearance decks would allow for invaders to be sniped off with ease.


    ''You should sleep, Lord Captain. Very soon!'' the Blade urged me as I began seeing double for no reason at all.


    Damn my weak flesh. The Mechanicus was right.


    </article>

 Dumb and dumber

    <div>


    <div>


    And conducted high level diplomacy as well, so far out of my league I could win second place just by participation. And won too. The second place.


    I was now the Second Warmaster of the Imperium of Man, a job so important that any of my previous achievements were put to shame. I guess the Emperor decided to use a proper Warhammer this time, small and deadly, instead of a huge and difficult to control one. Like Horus big, I mean.


    ''You slept for 8.01 hours, Lord Captain. Three planets have been already purged of living xenos, and three more remain.'' the Blade warned me the second I turned on my mind implant.


    I checked on Anzion, to find the first clone of Dorn already up, chatting with Sanguinius about some strange dream of roaming in a desert. Hmmm, I thought I was the only one with that dream. Probably a lot more common for those getting the Emperor''s attention.


    Primarch Corax was still kicking ass and taking heads, but this time under the huge shadow of Smoking Hot Castigator. Each of the remaining planetary Tyranid invasions had one such Titan on the surface, which kinda explained what happened to the burning wrecks of the other three planets.


    Brother Khan handed me a bottle of hot black tea, and measured me with a doubtful face. "You aren''t Warmaster material, Pef Lancefire. There are normal humans still taller than you." he proclaimed with a scowl.


    "I told them so myself, White Scar. Do you know what Sanguinius answered?" I asked rhetorically, and took a big gulp of tea.


    "This is the Emperor''s Will. I know that canticle by heart." my bodyguard muttered in a deep voice.


    "Actually no. Sanguinius said that Corax and Khan failed in their duty, and need to be tested. And I suspect the testing will involve all their gene-sons as well." I said with a sad voice.


    Brother Khan stood very still for a minute, then sighed. "I see now. The Wolf is not here, so the Emperor uses another one. With an actual wolf to keep an eye on the progress."


    "To be fair, Primarch Khan did the same thing sending his Blademaster to act as a lowly bodyguard. Come, let''s visit the new Phalanx and eat their food. You too, Canis!" I demanded after taking a quick shower and wearing my parade armor, the one decorated with all the insignias and decorations of two centuries of war.


    The Lord Phalanx ran towards me at full tilt and then bowed towards me, while the Custode-General just glanced at me from the new holotable then ignored me.


    "Master Lancefire, it is a miracle! Every system is working now, even ancient ones we never knew they existed. When I so rudely asked for repairs, I thought a few extra percents in efficiency..." the man blurted in a greatful voice.


    "At least a quarter of these repairs could have been done by regular tech-priests, Lord Phalanx. A few more by trained tech-marines or some aid from the Adeptus Custodes. But I do understand. When the Emperor himself went to Mars to recruit the Forge into the Imperium, he also repaired their machines, and was recognized as the Omnissiah. " I spoke with a clear voice, making a dozen tech-marines present stand at attention, and scan me with their bionic eyes.


    "...I can count 314 Machina_Opus</a> badges, Lord Phalanx." the Imperial Fists'' Forge Master spoke in a reverent tone. "I only have four such badges, Emissary." the tech-marine continued with a nod towards his leader.


    Four badges was already a huge deal, since my best tech-marine sons only had one or two. Forge Worlds were not too keen letting Space Marines walk freely on their Sacred Worlds after all.


    Also true, most Machina badges simply got more embelished with each sacred discovery or repair that advanced the Forge. I just had mine maxed out.


    On the other hand, I could have gained a thousand or two more badges by admitting to every single template I got. But I also liked keep some STCs and artifacts for myself and my family.


    "There are too few badges anyways. Lord Lancefire has provided Mars with 900 STC templates just a decade ago. A deed for which Mars supported his nomination for a Nobilitae Primus rank, recently approved in the Senatores Imperialis." Trajann Valoris added from his seat at the holotable, without even looking my way.


    "I guess some guy from Mars will show up with 900 more badges one day." I quipped with a light voice, but nobody laughed.


    "Is this Tachyon FTL transciever what I think it is?" the Forge Master asked in a pleading voice.


    I smiled and waved a hand towards the main screen, to open the Matrix network hyperlink. "The science of tachyons is rather complex, but basically they are some kind of particles always travelling faster than light. Best way to think of them is a river. You drop a sealed bottle in the river, and someone else opens the bottle some place distant." I explained in my best tech-priest voice, while the Blade yelled at me on my implant.


    "Hello world!" I wrote on the screen, then sent the message in a time-locked bottle over the Tachyon river.


    "Hello to you as well, Khal Lancefire. Do send more cold produce to our river goddess." the answer came near-instantly.


    I smiled a bit sheepishly as a hundred eyes wondered why someone would want frozen vegetables from me. "There''s just some people I trade with near the Galactic Core. They don''t mean frozen fruits though, but exotic items like Eldar weapons and that sort."


    "Cold Trade, we know of it, Lord Lancefire." the Lord Phalanx allowed with a worried glance at the Adeptus Custodes.


    "Anyways, the Emperor gave me a Warrant of Trade for that sort of business. Quite useful, to be fair." I spoke with a kind voice, making my bodyguard cough in reproach.


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    "Ah, Captain Khan, of the White Scars! Here on business from your Primarch?" the Lord Phalanx asked, missing the point entirely.


    "Precisely so, Lord Phalanx. I have been a bodyguard for Pef Lancefire for the last 111 years. Quite a confusing duty, but I survived." the Veteran Blademaster explained in a totally convicing voice.


    "And I just woke up, and I''m hungry. Tiring stuff, repairing a whole battlestation." I added with no ulterior reason.


    "Grufff!" Canis demanded as well, although he didn''t repair anything.


    "Errr. Nutri-gruel packs should suffice on campaign." the Lord Phalanx muttered with a confused face.


    I sighed, since the guy was quite hard-headed, making me waste my Noble points for nothing. "Come, I''ll show you what I mean, Lord Phalanx. Forge Master, you join us as well and learn."


    I lead the way to the nearest guest rooms, and then began using the food replicator to make myself a nice breakfast, then more for the guests.


    "You''re not using Awakening Rituals?" the Forge Master realized as I began to eat, and Canis crunched a pile of replicated poultry.


    "I am not a tech-marine, nor a tech-priest. Machines work for me because they just love me." I explained in a serious voice.


    ''Idiot, I don''t love you!'' the Blade sent me with an irate voice.


    ''I am rather lovable though. Plenty women say so.'' I countered with unassailble logic.


    The Blade huffed and fell silent.


    "The food is great too. How does it work?" the Lord Phalanx asked with child-like curiosity.


    "Anti-matter, I guess. Just like any STC Constructor. But this one makes tasty food, not guns." I answered in a simple tone.


    "Makes sense. The food is really good too. I should eat here everyday." the Lord Phalanx realized a bit late.


    ''We''re taking the other 19 replicators when I leave. They are wasted on these people.'' I muttered on my implant.


    ''You''re still an idiot! But yes, I think I can create the Black Carapace for the Astartes with this type of organic replicator.'' the Blade offered as a peace sign. Well, that was one problem solved, if it worked.


    I drank my black tea, then pointed a finger at the Forge Master. "Primarch Sanguinius managed to clone your Primarch, from the remains you had in stasis."


    "What! Holy Omnissiah, that''s amazing news! Rogal Dorn is back too?" the Forge Master exclaimed in joy.


    "Just remember, a clone is just a clone. I''ll go and take a look next, and probably clone another one as a spare. Try to focus one of them on technology and machines. The Phalanx will degrade back to a sorry state without a real genius to understand its systems." I said in a colder voice.


    "And the other one can be our strategist? I suspect the clones will be quite limited." Lord Phalanx asked with surprising acumen.


    "I know clones quite well, and they do tend to become monodominant. Experts in their field, but not much else." I answered with a soft voice.


    The two Imperial Fists rose and bowed towards me in tandem. "I heard things, about Vulkan. Clones with orange eyes?" the Lord Phalanx asked in a whisper. I guess hiding a 4-meter-tall Primarch clone wasn''t as perfect as I hoped. Much less 12 of them like I had.


    "Look, there''s stuff I can''t talk about. The Inquisition is fond of keeping secrets. But there will be something big happening in a year. After that, it won''t be a secret anymore." I promised with a big smile.


    "We should go, Lord Lancefire. Breakfast is over." my bodyguard spoke with a visible frown.


    Right. Damn my mouth.


    I grabbed the extra replicators and jumped ships, just in time to meet the second clone of Dorn, raising from his Crucible bath.


    "Which one? Must be Tzeentch, and his magic lies!" the clone yelled with feverish eyes.


    So I punched him in the mouth. "This is a medical facility, so keep quiet!" I warned the clone as his eyes slowly focused.


    "Green eyes this time. You do good work, Anzion." Sanguinius noted with a gentle voice.


    The clone saw the Vulkan clone, then his own clone-brother with orange eyes. "What is going on!" he yelled again, then received another punch, on the other cheek. This guy was a good punching bag though.


    "Shhhh. There are small babies in those pods. Yell again and I''ll remove your vocal cords, clone of Dorn." I whispered as my wolf stepped beside me and just growled.


    "Stop hitting the new clone, Lancefire. His mind is still in the desert now." the first clone asked in a patient voice.


    "I''ve been there too. Creepy skulls and nothing to drink. Then I beat up some ugly daemon and woke up." I commented while dressing up the wet clone in the spare flak uniform I had from Khan.


    "You''re the strange one, Lancefire. People don''t just wake up from that dream. It keeps going for centuries or more." Anzion said in a calm voice, and handed a big mug of hot recaf to the newer clone.


    "Dunno, weak people are weak, maybe? Anyways, who is going to be the strategist, and who is dumber and gets to learn machines?" I asked while eyeing the clones with doubt.


    "I''m not dumb!" the Green eyes growled back, but in a low voice. He could learn at least.


    "At least the Phalanx is fixed. I was worried about it, even in my dream." Orange eyes spoke in a deep voice.


    "I changed it a bit, added some extra guns and armor, but it still needs like 4000 tech-marines to look after it, not just 40. Green, I guess you''re it." I offered with a careless voice.


    "No, I''ll take care of the Phalanx. Green eyes can be a war hero, in this life too." Orange eyes Dorn spoke with a determined voice.


    They nodded at each other, proving they were both dumb idiots. Obviously, Green eyes was dumber and should only repair dumb machines.


    </article>

 Dirty laundry

    <div>


    <div>


    "What is it now, Warmaster?" Sanguinius asked, while sitting down in his office chair.


    "I kinda promised the Administratum a solution for their lack of paper space, and risk of losing documents like on Ganymede. So, I will gift them a planetary-grade data-core, with a resilient Machine Spirit inside and a ton of hexagrammic wards and other Warp protections. I can also install a FTL transciever on it, such that digital documents can be sent from anywhere the Tachyon network has reach. Patrocles can carry it to Terra, since it''s too large to fit on your Fort." I proposed with a level voice.


    "I see. Well, Roboute will be charmed by your care for the paperwork, at least. Not that it will matter much in a few months." the Angel Primarch spoke with a faint smile.


    I tapped my lips with my finger in a Inquisition sign. "It won''t be nearly as bad for humanity as you fear, Primarch. Not good either, only different. Some people will be judged harsher than others, but this is not the Dark_King</a> , nor the Drukhari clone-Emperor. But if I were you, I would leave the clone Fulgrim on Terra. Give him a job as an artist perhaps."


    "The Inquisition? Why would you care about any Inquisitor''s orders? Ah. Lady Rosalia." Sanguinius deduced with his giant brain.


    "Anyways, since I''m here, might as well upgrade this Blackstone Fortress too. Time is getting a bit short, and even Mars will need a century to fix the big thing." I decided with a small smile.


    The crew on the Blood Salvation vanished, only Patrocles appearing beside me as I sat down in my comfortable work chair. Having upgraded three other such forts already, plus the experience with the Phalanx made my work much easier and faster. Thick slabs of blackstone, and extra reinforcing plates from the Malan''tai thing, extra Arc reactors and weapon batteries, close-defense turrets and torpedo launchers...then 10 more Gellar Ramparts and extra Ares engines.


    Some 9 hours later, I opened my eyes and grabbed the bottle ofered by Patrocles. Damn, but I''ve chosen to punish myself too much sometimes.


    "I felt the star get drained a little. Then again, you''re not drawing energy from the Warp, so it had to come from somewhere." Sanguinius noted with a thoughtful voice, while my son just stared at me with admiration and awe.


    "Can I learn to do this as well, father?" Patrocles asked in a pleading tone.


    I poked his left armpit. "You also have a hermetic core in your chest, Patrocles. Can you store corvettes already?" I asked instead.


    "Nothing that large! Thunderhawks at most, for now. And of course, torpedoes and boarding parties. Still very useful, but the dimensional sight is the most important factor for now. We won many battles just with this aid." Patrocles spoke in a serious voice.


    I nodded and handed him a data-slate with a few STC templates. "Humans are able to do anything, my son. They just need the willpower. It is how the Emperor endured the torment of the Golden Throne, and how a Silent Sister half your size can break a Great Daemon to screaming bits. I can''t give you such willpower though. You have to take it, grab it with your hands and don''t let go." I explained in a fatherly voice, while returning the crew of the Blood Salvation to their posts.


    Sanguinius glanced between us, as Patrocles nodded with conviction in his eyes. "There is only one infested planet in this system, Warmaster. Our fleets should continue to contain and exterminate the rest of the Tyranids, and end this Fourth Tyrannic War. "


    I scanned the system with my dimensional sense once more, to find Primarch Corax and the Custodes-General fighting side by side against a Norn Emissary that infiltrated their command bunker.


    They were doing great, but they still took wounds for every strike they landed on the blurringly fast Tyranid assassin.


    "Bring me the head." I demanded with a smile, and sent Patrocles down to help.


    Sanguinius traced the Lamenter tech-marine as he appeared inside the Raven Guard''s bunker. "You ask too much of your sons, Lancefire. Patrocles hasn''t yet unsealed his...oh. Terminal danger was needed."


    This story originates from Royal Road. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there.


    Sanguinius was right, but he missed the point. My son was a Lancefire, and was even wearing the Lamenter''s bleeding heart sigil on his power armor. The Norn Emissary hesitated, just enough for Patrocles to swipe his Phase Sword and take its head off.


    With his unsealed core now open, Patrocles just grabbed the Emissary head and traversed the tesseract to appear back in the room.


    "I did it, father! The Norn creatured showed fear, and it allowed me to strike first." my boy exulted as the Hive Mind''s Emissary opened its mouth. "Lance..." it started saying, then it died.


    "Very true, Patrocles. For we are Lancefires, and we are what they fear!" I commended him and patted his shoulder. Patrocles grinned like a child.


    Behind Sanguinius, a shadow grew to allow Primarch Corax to step through. He patted his brother on his shoulder and pointed at bleeding head on the floor. "I had this thing on the ropes, Lancefire! Why did you...oh. It wasn''t you, but this young tech-marine?"


    Sanguinius grabbed the other Primarch''s hand and pulsed with biokinetic magic, sealing his cuts and bleeding wounds. "Mind your words, brother. The Warmaster has your life in his palms, and the means to erase it. As for Patrocles Lancefire, the Emperor himself is watching over him. Or perhaps through him."


    "Ugly Tyranid is dead, isn''t this good?" Patrocles asked with a wary voice.


    "Corax, say thank you to my son, for sparing you more wounds." I demanded from the Raven Primarch in a soft voice.


    "I shouldn''t have come back...Thank you, Tech-marine Lancefire. Your timing was pretty great and saved me a dozen more wounds." Corax muttered in a disgruntled voice.


    "That wasn''t so hard, was it? I''m getting the hang of this Warmaster job. You''re going to wash my clothes from today onwards. I should get Khan to cook for me, with his knife skills. Mortarion to wash the dishes...it''s going to be so fun!" I exclaimed in joy.


    "We''re doomed! Sanguinius, I don''t want to do this anymore!" Corax pleaded to his brother.


    "Angron could wear a skirt, and mop the floors. As for Perturabo...have him dig latrines for the troops?" Sanguinius proposed with a joking tone.


    "I hear and obey, Primarch. Your stupid brothers will be put to work and helped to learn humility. I might have to discipline them a little, but Primarchs can grow their legs back, right?" I asked a bit rhetorical.


    "Sanguinius! Do something!" Corax begged his brother with a rather desperate voice.


    Patrocles Lancefire just watched in astonishment as his father reduced a Primarch to tears, simply by threatening him to do simple house chores like washing clothes.


    "Washing clothes builds character, brother. And keeps your hands clean too." Sanguinius observed with a smirk.


    Corax slumped on the floor, his eyes empty of life. "Killing daemons was so simple." he muttered in a low tone.


    "I''m sure you will learn soap brands and washing temperatures quite quickly, Primarch. Your kind is rumoured to be quite smart." I offered in sympathy.


    ''This was a great show, Lord Captain! I have recorded it for eternity!'' the Blade sent to my implant with a mirthful tone.


    "Lancefire is trying to make us rebel, and then execute us, right?" Corax asked in a more rational voice towards his Primarch brother.


    "The Emperor is content either way, Corax. You will fall in line, or die. I suspect he is not too fond of his Primarchs rebelling and nailing him to the Golden Throne either. We are seen as liabilities for humanity now." Sanguinius spoke in a mild voice, filled with pain.


    Corax nodded with a sad face. "Yeah, we all failed."


    "Some of us died fighting, Corax. Others were grievously wounded and stored in stasis. But when I came back from death, I was alone in this galaxy. You, Khan and Russ, all deserted your posts and went on a rampage. Hopefully Leman Russ will also return for the big light in the sky. Or you''ll drag him out from the Warp, and beat the wolf out of him. " the Angel spoke with a glance towards me.


    I sighed inward at the new orders. Dragging the mythical Fenris Wolf out of the Warp, when the thing could eat suns for snacks?


    The Emperor could have chosen a harmless White Rabbit to dig out from a rabbit hole instead. But no, he went for the scary myths instead.


    </article>

 Reckoning

    <div>


    <div>


    "A new Warmaster is an insult!"


    "The former one killed Lord Sanguinius!"


    "I still taste the blood of your death, Primarch!"


    Patrocles just sighed inward, and focused on the data-slate. A Personal_Energy_Shield</a> would change the face of warfare, since no personal weapon could penetrate it, yet cheaper and easy to mass-produce. The new Grav-Cutter</a> will make fighting on foot a thing of the past, and turn any Astartes or Tech-marine into a fast-flying killing machine. And a weaponized Servo-rig</a> like this Arachni-rig</a> with five combat variants will make even regular humans able to stand up to far stronger creatures like Orks, or Chaos Marines.


    How did his father came up with so many STC templates? It was impossible, even if he suspected the origins of a few such discoveries. Then again, Archmagos Cawl ''discovered'' hundreds of new templates as well, some of them rather similar with what the current Lamenters used. The Emperor will decide what to do, with these STCs and the priceless Federation-grade data-core inside his tesseract.


    Patrocles glanced up, to the wall where the head of the Norn Emissary hanged now, with a plaque commorating the hero who killed the beast and took his head. His name, written for all to see inside the Primarch''s office!


    "What do you think, Tech-marine? Is your father worthy to be called a Warmaster?" the Chapter Master of the Angels Resplendant asked him directly.


    "If my father accepted the title, then yes. Otherwise, it doesn''t matter." he offered with a careless voice.


    "Impudent little..."


    "My sweet Angels! You''re very brave now, once Lord Lancefire is out of range. But I can still turn the Blood Salvation around, and let you express your displeasure to his face." Sanguinius offered in a kind voice, making the room fall silent.


    "My father has proven his loyalty in his years of service, and with the blood of his enemies. We, the Lancefires are Blank, which means Chaos cannot touch us. It is for that reason the Emperor chose a Blank to become the Warmaster of the Imperium, and not any of the Primarchs. Is that right, Lord Sanguinius?" Patrocles spoke in a respectul voice, while storing the priceless data-slate inside his tesseract.


    The Angel spread his wings and made everyone kneel in awe of his aura, everyone but Patrocles himself. "Young Patrocles is somewhat right, but for a completely different reason. Yes, the Warp is a danger we strive to avoid. But, we can deal with Chaos, we have dealt with the Chaos spawn for millennia and we beat them back at every occasion. There are other threats now, like Necrons and Tyranids which can exterminate humanity far sooner than the Warp."


    "It did take far longer to deal with that Tyranid monstruosity than even the huge Warp Daemon, who died in a few minutes. The Tyranids are growing stronger every day, while Chaos incursions have decreased to a small fraction since the Eye of Terror was closed." Another Chapter Master admitted with a deep voice, but Patrocles didn''t look at him, instead meditating on the deep wisdom of his Primarch.


    Tyranids, yes they were powerful. But still only flesh, and thus vulnerable to advanced tech like his Necron tesseract. The Necrons instead, were soulless automatons, wielding advanced weaponry that could shatter planets and stars at their whim.


    The Necrons had barely begun to awaken from their long sleep, and already they were wiping off entire sectors of the galaxy, including the Tyranids they encountered.


    And only his father managed to wipe out the Necrons in every single battle. Including several Necron Crownworlds and the Necron World Engine, far larger than anything the Tyranids ever had.


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    The Emperor didn''t give the Warmaster title to someone who was a Blank, but to someone who would win. And accidentaly a Blank as well.


    "Anyways, this doesn''t concern me or you directly. Primarchs Corax and Khan have been detached to the Warmaster''s command for their failure to maintain their posts after the Scouring. I expect Leman Russ will receive the same penance, if and when he is found. As for myself, I died with honor and got nothing to be blamed for in that regard. Should other dead Primarchs be restored, I also expect a clean slate for them. Like Ferrus Manus or Rogal Dorn." Sanguinius continued with a sad grimmace.


    "Of course you are blameless, Primarch! Your sacrifice was the cornerstone of..."


    "Enough, go back to your Chapters and oversee the healing and repairs of my Space Marines and their gear. And transport the ones lost to bloodlust to my Fortress." the Primarch commanded with an irresistible voice. Patrocles sighed, as he didn''t have any Chapter Brothers to repair.


    "I''d guess that data-slate holds some dangerous and unexpected technology that will change the face of the Imperium." Sanguinius proposed with a thin smile.


    "That''s for the Emperor to decide, sire. It may be important, or hidden in some vault for a century, who knows?" Patrocles spoke with a tired voice.


    "Ah, that type of tech. Then it won''t be used for a century for certain. Your father can''t move Mars away, I would think. He still gets tired easily." the Angel wondered with a deep frown.


    Patrocles began to nod, then halted. "Yes, but no. My father would find a way to bypass his own weakness. He always does."


    "Hmmm. Yes, you are right. Pef Lancefire would drag a planet with a harness of Narwhal bioships, or might create a giant engine of some kind. And then feel very tired for achieving the impossible again." Sanguinius mused with a faint angelic smile.


    "Do you know if my sister, Teresa is fine?" Patrocles asked instead.


    "I would know if Roboute died in his quest, and he did not. But I can''t trace Blank people, or not very well. You said she was very lucky?" the Primarch asked with a curious voice.


    "The type to trip on a flat road and avoid a bolter round, then find out she fell into an ancient crypt filled with dangers and treasure. Or just danger, to be fair." Patrocles muttered with a shiver, remembering the rain of snakes they barely avoided on the route to Terra.


    "Haha, the Solitaire Luck. Roboute should have an interesting quest to obtain his Plus Ultra Fortress." Sanguinius quipped in a lighter tone.


    "Or more likely, your brother will stumble upon Yvrainne again, and have to rescue the Eldar princess from another cruel fate. " Patrocles added for no reason at all.


    "As I said, an interesting quest. You didn''t let out anything about your grandmother, correct?" The Primarch asked in a warning voice.


    "I understand the danger, sire. Nobody wants my father rushing into the Black Library, not for a year at least. I don''t think Lord Lancefire will abandon his duty, but his love for my grandmother Justine is certain. He even got both Isha and Ynnead to help, impossible as it seems." Patrocles admitted with sad sigh.


    "I might get beat up for this, when he finds out. Pef punched Dorn''s clone just for raising his voice..." Sanguinius muttered in a wary tone.


    "And I will hold your legs when he does, Primarch. The Emperor will fail, and all will be for nothing. You can''t clone him, they tried a thousand times already. His siblings are nothing like him either. Only his children, nobody else. Isha told you already." Patrocles spoke in a lamenting voice.


    "You''re probably right, Patrocles. But we still have to try. The fate of humanity hangs in the balance." Sanguinius concluded with a grieving tone.


    Patrocles frowned, but didn''t answer. There will be a reckoning when Pef Lancefire found out. A pair of Gods have died already, and another pair might follow.


    </article>

 True son

    "What did he say?" the Emperor asked his Custodes-General.


    "...Lord Lancefire said it was a bad idea, Sire. Your sword accepted him anyways." Trajann Valoris answered as his knee hit the floor.


    "It had to be done. I would have preferred someone more controllable, or maybe yourself as the Warmaster. It is a sad galaxy, when I can''t trust anyone with too much power." The Master of Mankind mused in a distant voice, while his eyes fell on his Custodes right arm and were met with a pair of alien, measuring eyes of a xenos device.


    "This is an etheric detector, Sire. Lord Lancefire assured me it will detect hidden assassins or infiltrators of any origin." the Custodes spoke quickly.


    "And so it will, Custodes-General. It''s a C''tan omni-scan eye. What does it say about me?" the Emperor asked with a faint smile.


    "Type 5 Delta Plus. Threat level: Anathema. Recommended safe distance: 100 light-years." the Custodes spoke while the Emperor waved a hand and erased all the injuries he sustained while fighting the Norn Emissary.


    "Good enough. Go tour the Dark Cells and scan every prisoner." the Emperor demanded with a distant voice, as a Lamenter Tech-Marine appeared via dimensional shift in front of him.


    "Your Majesty! I broke the seal, while fighting a Tyranid Norn Emissary. And...I''ve been ordered to deliver this data-slate into your hands. I also brought a huge cogitator-core for the Administratum." Patrocles Lancefire reported as he retrieved a STC-grade slate with a few new templates uploaded on it.


    The Emperor touched the slate to confirm its contents, then poked the tesseract to peek inside. An intact Federation-grade data-core, with its own Man of Stone guarding it!


    ''Blade Lancefire, Stonekin of the Lancefire League. Ready and waiting.'' the ancient Machine Spirit sent at the second he made contact.


    The data-core shifted dimensional coordinates for a nano-second and re-appeared in the Emperor''s own tesseract. "How did the Blood Angels react to the news?" he asked in a mild voice.


    "...Outrage, Sire. The Primarch calmed the spirits in a few minutes, with the threat of more Tyranids and Necrons." Patrocles answered in a curt tone. Angry and outraged as well, perhaps.


    "You have a personal opinion on this matter, Patrocles?" the Emperor asked a bit amused.


    "My father is only a man, Sire. He gets tired after a day of hard work, just like a Guardsman or a factory worker. Your Space Marines and Primarchs are much more durable." Patrocles answered honestly.


    "Oh? And if he were to face Horus Lupercal in battle? One Warmaster against another?" The Emperor of Mankind asked a bit rhetorical.


    Patrocles Lancefire smiled, and shook his head. "I wouldn''t know, your Majesty. Yourself got mauled pretty badly. And my father wouldn''t have faced Horus in a honorable duel." the Tech-marine replied with a masked reproach.


    The Emperor laughed at the polite snub, then nodded. "Horus would have lost to your father the second he dropped the shields. And I lost because I tried to save Horus, my favorite son. But maybe I was supposed to lose, and learn my lesson nailed to a tree like Wotan."


    "Did you, Sire? Learn a lesson?" Patrolces wondered with a sad voice.


    "See? You''ve lost all fear, my brave Space Marine. You think I am causing another galactic crisis, by enraging Pef Lancefire after I just granted him the Warmaster title. Repeating the same mistake, despite suffering so long for the last one." The Emperor allowed with an amused voice.


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    Patrocles Lancefire fell to his knees, head hung low. "Abusing Lady Justine like that won''t end well, Sire. Even if you extract and grow all her eggs into more uncles of mine..."


    "You told me that before, Patrocles. And you are still wrong. We produced the first human Solitaires already. These Solitaires can''t take the gene-seed, but they can be resurrected in the same way as the Eldar Solitaires and Lady Justine herself. " the Emperor said with a curt voice.


    Patrocles nodded, but held his grim face. "It''s still wrong, Sire. You can use the Ferryman protocol instead. Convert more Grey Knights into Pariah. Maybe all of them."


    The Emperor of Man frowned in deep thought. "I will try a Ferrymen</a> Company for your sake, Patrocles. But the Grey Knights are not Silent Sisters and don''t have a doctrine for using Pariah powers in combat."


    "And because they are not Silent Sisters, the Grey Knights can take the gene-seed. You already have a solution, Sire, and a method to use a billion psykers in a safe way. Maybe even safer than fueling the Astronomican with their souls." Patrocles proposed with a detemined tone.


    "It would fit, for a Dark Imperium. It seems I can''t avoid this Fate either way. A Dark King or a King of the Dark, the Imperium Nihilus. And humanity''s light fades to black, a race of Blacksouls like your father wants." The Emperor sighed with deep sorrow.


    Patrocles perked up, and raised his eyes. Could it be? Did he manage to convince the Emperor?


    "Go help with the Exodus, Patrocles. I need to deal with the Administratum now." the Emperor ordered and moved Patrocles Lancefire to his House''s spire on the other side of Terra, where a tall adamantium spire rose from the smog and ended with a docking facility in low orbit called Port Stanley.


    "My lord, it''s good to see someone from the Lancefire bloodline has arrived." a Blank woman adressed him in a servile tone, as he stood still to regain his bearings.


    "And why is that, Proctor Seneshal?" Patrocles asked with a tired voice.


    "Errrr. There is a company of Grey Knights Astartes living here...and training, on all floors from -666 to 6666. Lead by a Prognosticator seer of theirs." the Proctor said in a fearful voice.


    Patrocles sighed, feeling a headache incoming. "I''ll deal with that. Anything else?"


    "The number of letters and invitations from other Houses has increased 40 times since House Lancefire ascended to Primus rank. As did the insults." the Proctor complained with a grim voice.


    "No more assassins?" Patrocles wondered with a smirk.


    "Well, the Grey Knights see the intruders as their prey and training material. And your traps and turrets can deal with the stupid ones that try a forward approach." The Proctor said with a faint smile.


    ''Stay on Terra and look after the House Spire, my son. And help the Emperor if he asks for help...easiest job ever.'' his father said with that stupid grin of his.


    Patrocles took a deep breath and recited the Unceasing Service canticle. Machines were so much more logical and easier to understand than people. Which is why he chose to become a Tech-marine and not a Chaplain for his Chapter.

 Shield

    <div>


    <div>


    The two brothers stood shoulder to shoulder , while Custodes Captain Valerian</a> stood beside me. And over me. Because he was rather tall.


    "A Warmaster, again..." Khan mused in a deep voice, while Corax just grunted.


    "I know. I should have said no." I answered with a careless voice, making the Custodes glare at me.


    "Captain Valerian would not take no for an answer. Emperor''s orders, I should think." Corax said with a sad voice.


    "Eh. Maybe the little one can make an order to change reality and impart ability onto someone, but the Emperor? Not as yet." I countered with a shrug.


    Khan just laughed, and measured me with keen eyes. "I was there for the final days of Commorragh. I was there when you struck at the Garden of Nurgle. I was there when you ruined a Necron Dynasty and captured most of their fleet. You don''t lack ability, Warmaster. Support on the other hand..." spoke with a head shake.


    "I will demand Compliance of anyone, and ensure it." The Custodes demanded while striking the floot with the butt of his Guardian Spear</a> Gnosis</a> . Very imposing too.


    I just patted his auramite pauldron. "If only the world worked that way, Shield Captain. Let''s stomp out feet and demand Compliance, like we are teenage Nobles. Surely, everyone will drop their millennia old grudges and plots, forgive their rivals and ignore religious differences."


    "Do you doubt your own abilities, Pef Lancefire?" Captain Valerian asked with a piercing voice.


    "My abilities? Nah. I''m probably a competent Admiral, better than most. Primarch Khan is right though. I lack the support of the Imperial elite, which means nobody will provide me with billions of troops and supplies and equipment to conquer a galaxy. I have to rely on my own friends among the Forge Worlds, and manufacture troops, supplies and equipment for myself. The exact same way I operated for the past centuries." I concluded with a lamenting tone.


    "And thus, Forge Agripinaa. They consider you their Saviour, as well as Cadia and all the worlds you did save by closing the Eye of Terror. Why here though?" Khan wondered with a glance outside the armored window.


    "Training, mostly. The worlds formerly inside the Eye are all rather corrupted by Chaos, but potentially filled with exotic loot. The Orks are all busy looting the stuff, and getting strong. Do you know what they''ll do with a dozen STCs?" I asked a bit rhetorical.


    Corax nodded cautiously. "We could have another War of the Beast. Maybe worse."


    "I will stay here and coordinate the purge, while you two pincer this area with your gene-sons. Should you find any strong resistance point, notify me and I''ll dispatch extra ships and troops. Feel free to recruit as many regiments you can from the Imperial worlds around. They are already at conscription levels, so they won''t lack troops at least." I ordered with a level voice, then returned the Primarchs to their own ships.


    "They are Primarchs, Lord Lancefire. There is no need to test their ability to recruit and deploy Militarum regiments." Captain Valerian mused in a thoughful voice.


    The man was right, but I wasn''t testing that. "There are 400 billion stars in this galaxy, Valerian. Even if I recruit all the Guardsmen in all the Imperium, they are not enough to conquer all. So, what can I do?" I asked a bit rhetorical, just as a Lancefire Trade ship arrived in the system, filled with rare minerals from the Galactic Core.


    The ship vanished inside my tesseract before anyone could even detect it. Much easier and safer to unload the precious minerals, then fill the cargo bays with exotic Eldar weaponry and dead Wraith Titans, then send then ship back towards the Votann Thethys, always eager for more Cold Trade.


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    Sure, Tethys would make a great profit selling the goods to other Votann Leagues, but if a single advanced STC template reached me from every Trade ship, I was making 100 times more profit.


    And where else to find exotic loot, than the former Crown Worlds of the Eldar Empire in the Eye of Terror?


    "You already have a plan, Warmaster. My etheric detector scans you and says mostly harmless, but there is nothing harmless about you. Even my spear training says I can defeat you without effort, as you''re not even a Firstborn Astartes. And yet..." the man commented then turned at speed to point his Gnosis spear at a grey wolf phasing through the wall of my office.


    "Back already, Zath?" I asked with a glance at the C''tan wolf.


    Zath measured the fierce Custodes, then grinned a bit too wide. "Wooof!"


    ''Come Canis, your wolf buddy is back. Leave the kids alone!'' I sent mentally towards my actual wolf playing with my children in the nursery.


    A golden glow signaled the Wolf Saint appearing in the room, and then the two wolves began playfighting and smacking each other, without Phase Claws.


    "That''s not a real wolf, Lord Lancefire!" the Shield Captain protested as his etheric detector just winked at him instead of scanning the C''tan.


    "Come on! Canis has worked so hard to train Zath to look like a real wolf! Even the smell is right." I countered with an amused voice, then powered up my STC hologram to continue my other work.


    Similar to the Necron Lokhust_Destroyer</a> , I wanted a Kataphron_Battle_Servitor</a> mounted on an Anti-grav platform, plus an Energy Shield and a heavy weapon. Las-cannons were still the cheapest and most effective weapon I should use, although variants with multi-meltas and Ion Beamers should also work for close range. Perhaps another shoulder-mounted weapon like a storm-bolter?


    After about 8 hours of hard work, my stomach gnawed in hunger, so I raised my eyes to find a pair of wolves and the Shield Captain observing my half-completed project with curious, bored and amused eyes. The C''tan was amused, of course.


    Primarch Khan''s fleet had already departed, along with my former bodyguard: the Blademaster Khan. I had a Custodes bodyguard now, because the Emperor wanted one.


    "Do you think you could make a floating Dreadnought platform? We could use something like that for my crippled Brothers locked in their Dreadnought coffins." Valerian asked for a friend.


    ''Blade?'' I asked inward.


    ''I''ll start right on it, Lord Captain. Even a slight favor from the Adeptus Custodes could mean a lot later.'' the Blade AI deduced with her bright mind.


    "I don''t make them, Shield Captain. Furniture and clothes are the only things humanity makes right now. The rest is just playing with our ancestors'' tech and trying to cobble up something that won''t fall apart too fast. I have no idea why this servitor can float on an anti-grav platform, and nobody else does." I answered while saving my project as Hermes Battle Platform.


    ''When the floating Dreadnought is ready, I''ll fix the energy couplings for the floating corpse-machine. Everyday I''m amazed how low humanity has fallen, and the next day I find it can get even lower.'' the Blade promised with a disgusted tone, while I walked to the food replicator on the wall to fix myself a meal.


    ''I''ve located six more of my Shards and absorbed them, Pef Lancefire. Those Necron Tombs will stay burried now.'' the C''tan told me directly in my mind, while the location of the dead Necron worlds appeared in my implant''s data-base.


    Well, he must have been quite busy. Not sure if a stronger C''tan was a good thing, but for now he will help.


    ''And why are you back?'' I asked directly.


    ''I learned of your new rank, Warmaster. Genocides and soul feasts, why else?'' the C''tan said with another scary grin.


    I ate my green peas and finger cheese, and just nodded. Made sense.


    </article>

 Toys

    ''How does it work, Blade? You need a specific threat in order to reveal another wonder from the Golden Age?'' I asked as another Sentinel walker appeared on the holographic screen, this time a relic walker from the Crusade Era called Aethon_Heavy_Sentinel</a> .


    ''Sometimes, exactly like that. Other times, I just interface with the Mechanicus cogitators on a Forge World and dig out a lost STC pattern from their data-vaults. Agripinaa has plenty of lost tech in their vaults, although most of it is already inferior to your personal data-base. '' the Blade AI responded on my implant, then began mounting servo arms and various weapons on the new Sentinel, like a pair of Melta-Lance</a> and Volkite Culverin</a>, then a triple Multi-laser and a Lascannon, and lastly a twin-autocannon and a Heavy Flamer.


    ''What is this? Dedicated models for my Blank Auxilia, regular Astartes Auxilia and then PDF Sentinels?'' I mused inward while noting the clever top-mounted weapon on the old Sentinel chassis.


    ''You could use the new templates like that, yes. Energy draining weapons like the Melta-Lance require a potent reactor, and thus intensive maintenance from tech-priests and engineseers. Volkite weapons are quite effective against flesh, thus Orks, Tyranids and regular cultists. But the autocannons are basic and rugged tech, available to any Imperial world with a factory base, and mobility is provided by a multi-fuel combustion engine.'' the Blade explained in a rational and logic manner.


    I sighed inward. Munitions and fuel, the bane of any long campaign. No wonder old military maxims claimed that professional commanders talked logistics instead of tactics.


    Now just add the compounding problem of a primitive population that couldn''t even repair a gunpowder weapon or a combustion engine.


    "Lord Lancefire, how long will you just wait around without fighting?" my new Custodes bodyguard asked with a bored glance at the three Sentinel holograms doing virtual push-ups. Because they had arms now.


    I just glanced outside, where the new Iron Ring around Forge Agripinaa was churning out new space fighters, corvettes and cruisers. Well, mostly fitting the hulls with internal systems to be fair. I had been the one to create and assemble the hulls. A brand-new fleet of 1000 Nova Cruisers and 40000 system corvettes. It took me 5 months of hard work, some of it in accelerated time to grow more Blank sons and daughters as crew and officers for the ships, plus new Space Marines.


    Having the tech-priests of Agripinaa train my tech-marines for a few millennia of fast time increased their skills by a lot, and nine more of my tech-marines had even reached the level of Master of the Forge. Although, when distributed over 100 Astartes Chapters, these 40000 new tech-marines would barely suffice.


    The Blade has also been busy data-mining the cognis-vaults of the ancient Forge, which resulted in several discoveries like the Paragon_Warsuit</a> used by our Sisters of Battle, half of them armed with Las-cannons and the other half with Multi-meltas. One million of these suits would make the Sisters a bit more beefy on the battlefield.


    Another Legion of a million Thalax Lorica Suits, plus a macro-cohort of 10 million Kataphron Servitors on anti-grav plates, armed with Heavy Arc Rifles</a> or Las-cannons, that were recorded as Gifts of the Omnissiah for House Lancefire, used cloneskein pilots and Terran lobotomised criminals. Terra was exporting billions of criminals these days, and the Forge Worlds had an excess of servitors as a result.


    I was about ready to depart, as the final adjustments to the fleet could be made in flight, and all weapons and vehicles had finished their repairs.


    "I''ll be with the Fabricator-General for a while, Valerian. Be so kind and train my Space Marines again." I asked of the Shield Captain, who just frowned.


    "A few hours of training will not make them experts, Warmaster. War is the forge which tests and reveals the true soldier." Valerian complained, since my Blank Astartes were still lacking in melee ability.


    "And use like 60% of your true speed. We''ll select those who manage to touch you for the Champion Training Program." I added with a smile, then vanished.


    I appeared beside the Fabricator, who was standing in the command center of the orbital ring, and directing millions of his tech-priests with byte-sermons and data-hymnals, like a giant orchestra of coded vocal symbols and bursts of encrypted data strings.


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    "I suspect this is your good-bye, Warmaster." the old tech-priest said in clear Gothic. His vox box lacked intonation, but I guessed he was sad.


    "You''re not a failed Primarch, Fabricator. And your Forge is equal to Mars now, in productivity if not ancient tech and old knowledge." I encouraged him as the ships began to vanish from a thousand dockyards and re-appear among the Crusade Fleet.


    "As you say, Emissary. You''re leaving the Orbital Pirates behind?" the Fabricator noted as a single Drop-Cruiser remained in dock, with a half-strength Astartes Chapter on board.


    "I''ll try to prepare a Blank Astartes Chapter for every single Forge World, but who knows if I can? Time is short now, and in three months I need to be ready to dive into the Maelstrom. My fleet will probably be destroyed, as will anyone I take with me." I muttered with a smirk in my tone.


    "That is a rather logical analysis of your success odds, Pef Lancefire. The Agrippa Machine Spirit also agrees and calls you foolish. And yet, there is still a chance, right?" the Fabricator wondered with the same flat voice.


    "A small chance in hell. I do have contingencies and reserve plans, but the blue janitor is also a master of plots. The wings of a butterfly can tilt the balance in either way." I mused in a thoughtful tone.


    The Fabricator just hugged me for a long minute. "Omnissiah knows all. I believe he also has a plan, and will not let his Emissary fail. But know the Cult Mechanicus will mourn your death, and sing laments to your funeral, Pef Lancefire. May your death be as glorious as your life."


    "Yeah, I''ll make sure my funeral pyre can be seen by the whole galaxy. And maybe I can drag another Dark God with me. There''s only one left anyways." I quipped with a light voice, then returned to my ship and sat on the Command Throne.


    Two huge wolves flanked my throne, similar in looks but completely different in everything else.


    ''Very dramatic exit, Pef Lancefire. But you''re not just a man now, and our kind won the War in Heaven against far stronger foes than a mere etheric reflection.'' the C''tan wolf sent into my mind, while plotting the route towards his next meal.


    Canis rested his chin on my knee, and huffed gently.


    ''Are you trying to have me release your Transcendant self, Zath?'' I asked with my slightly brighter mind.


    ''Your Terminator armor fits you well now, Pef Lancefire. You''ve grown 42 centimeters in the past 5 months, and you can defeat any of these human Primarchs with ease. Even if I absorb the locked fragment in the Tesseract Vault, I would likely still lose. Not that I would risk my immortal soul to fight you.'' the old C''tan offered as praise.


    The alien wolf wasn''t the only one to notice my rapid growth, although my family didn''t point it out loud, I could see their proud eyes when they looked at me.


    I kinda matched Semnai in body size now, which wasn''t bad at all. Alaric was still a bit taller, and the Primaris Marines still had a head over me, but I was growing!


    Perhaps by the time of the War in Hell, I would match my Primaris sons in height? That would be great!


    We could start a theme line, like: "I am Lancefire!" and hide among ourselves in identical armors.


    "Stellar coordinates locked, Lord Captain! The fleet is ready to depart." the Tech-marine helmsman spoke with an eager voice.


    "Engage engines! Ares thrust to 30% light-speed, then switch to Macharius engines once we''re past the gas giant. Eternal Lament, take the front!" I ordered as my fleet grouped for military speed formation.


    ''We should pass by Cadia and collect the broken pylons. It would be nice to lock the Maelstrom with anti-warp gates.'' Zath proposed as the fleet sped up towards the next genocide.


    I knew I kept the C''tan around for some reason. He could be useful sometimes. ''Good idea, Zath. But you''ll also need to repair the things. Maybe also install a pair of pylons on my other forts.''


    ''Had enough playing with Sentinels?'' the C''tan asked with mild amusement.


    ''What? No way. Sentinels are great. Have you seen the new Aethon model?'' I growled back, defending my precious toys.


    The wolf grinned at me, with metallic necrodermis teeth. ''They do look a bit like walking metal skeletons. Convergent evolution, maybe?''


    I lifted a middle finger in front of his mocking eyes. ''Damn Star God...'' I muttered inward.


    ''Your whole race are just young children playing with toys, lead by another child. What did you call him, Starchild?'' the C''tan asked rhetorical. Compared to a being billions of years old, even the Emperor was a young child.


    ''Go scout ahead if you''re bored, Zath. Our toy ships will take days to reach the next system.'' I demanded with a mild headache.


    ''I hear and obey, Warmaster! Let loose the hounds of war!'' Zath proclaimed heroically, then vanished.

 Excess

    <div>


    <div>


    There are some really tall Astartes and Custodes and even taller Primarchs out there, with Vulkan towering over them by a meter or so. The Emperor could also shapeshift or remodell reality to become huge if he wants to, but there''s a limit. Square cube law or something scientific like that.


    But this guy I found in the ruins of the Eye of Terror was larger. So massive that without my dimensional vision I would have thought he was just a flesh planet or something like that. No wonder the Tyranids were happily eating his flesh and growing millions of bio-ships at a rapid pace. Oliensis</a> was so big that corrupted Beastmen and Chaos Marines like the Corpus Brethren were only miniscule parasites on his body, fighting the extra-galactic virus infecting Oliensis and giving him a fever, by blowing up giant bleeding craters and volcanoes of puss.


    ''We should put him out of his misery.'' The Blade AI suggested once she realized the truth as well.


    ''Ummm. It does seem a bit excessive, doesn''t it? Like a parody of those fat Nobles infesting the Imperium. If I were a guessing man, I would guess his gluttony turned him this way, with the aid of some Warp God encouraging excess. A gravity pulse to push the fat guy into the sun?'' I proposed with a visible smirk.


    ''And burn the feeding elements of the Tyranids at the same time? A judicious use of the Void Claw, Lord Captain.'' the Blade agreed and fired our gravity weapon to change the orbit of Oliensis and make it fall into the sun.


    All over the sector, battlegroups from my Crusade Fleet and elements from nearby Forge Worlds and Fortress Worlds like Cadia were fighting to secure the former Eye before either Orks or Tyranids got a foothold and gained too much biomass. We were actually running out of Exterminatus munitions, with so many Daemon Worlds that needed a radical cleansing.


    It wouldn''t matter too much anyways. Very soon, the galaxy will experience the promised Rapture, and the unworthy will be judged by the Divine Emperor.


    Tarot decks, the traditional past-time of the faithful and psykers alike, were going nuts and cards were floating in midair for hours without any explanation. The Sisters of Battle were fighting at incredible levels of fanaticism, and winning at any or against any odds. Give a Sister any kind of extra mechanical enhancement like a Sentinel or Paragon suit, and they could easily and rapidly demolish Tyranid Tyrants or an Ork Boss in a minute or less.


    Then the last month of sanity ended. It was time to regroup and enter hell, by breaking down the nine gates of Tzeentch.


    "See you in hell, Oliensis..." I whispered as the fat planet burned inside the sun.


    ''All ships, we regroup at Cadia for a final check. Make the best speed, and spare no munitions.'' I sent via the Sounding Board, as the Central Crusade Battlefleet turned around.


    "The Leviathan Crusade ends today, Lord Captain?" Laur asked from the command holotable where a hundred officers were gathered.


    I nodded gently as Canis blinked his loyal eyes at me. Wolftime, I know buddy.


    "Sparta, the ancient Terran Kingdom some 44000 years ago, had two Kings. One of them stayed at home and managed the affairs of the kingdom, while the other king lead the army of Spartans in war." I declared while approaching the command table.


    "And that worked? Sounds like a recipe for disaster..." Laur noted with a glance at our Librarians.


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    "It worked well enough for 1000 years, until the Roman Imperium conquered Sparta as well as most of the known world." Custode Valerian answered for me.


    "Imperare Orbi universo. The Imperium will rule the universe. It is the manifest destiny of humanity. The Emperor''s Will as well. There are only a few more steps left. And we will soon take the next one. We will kill Tzeentch, and break the yoke of Chaos over the human psyche. " I continued with a large smile, while Oliensis shattered into screaming bits of fat and gore, burning inside the sun alongside his Chaos and Tyranid parasites.


    The Custode glanced at the main screen, and just shook his head. "While I do know some of His Majesty''s plans, I don''t know if they involve transforming the Imperium of Man into a new Sparta ruled by two kings. The Aquila on our chests seems to suggest this was the long plan for millennia, but the truth remains we don''t know."


    I shrugged without care. "I say it is so. And my word is enough. We continue with my plan."


    The Custode frowned for a second, then sighed. "Bold without limit, like any Warmaster should be. Not that you''re even using all that power the Emperor entrusted you, Lord Lancefire. Frugal without motive, when you could expand your fleet and army a thousand-fold easily."


    "If I wanted the useless troops and ships of the Imperial Navy and Guard, I would have summoned them already. But that would only feed more bodies to Chaos. Where we are going, numbers are not a relevant issue." I explained while my sons nodded in agreement.


    An alien wolf passed through the new Neutron Shield of my battleship like it was a bubble of soap, and walked confidently next to me, while licking his necrodermis lips. Oliensis must have been quite nutritious, the fat guy.


    Librarian Menelau scowled at Zath for some reason, then smiled. "At least we have a veteran from the last War in Heaven on our side." he added with a light voice.


    ''Last chance, Zath. You might die this time.'' I sent on my implant, while Canis growled mildly.


    ''You think too little of me, Pef Lancefire. Some C''tan also have honor, and pay their debts. And I think the Potentate is the same. He even warned me against backstabbing you.'' the C''tan wolf answered in a dignified and mind-shacking voice. Even stronger than before, as months of genocides and massacres had restored a good deal of his former strength.


    ''I never said you aren''t honorable, Zath. I just gave you an easy way out. You''re free.'' I sent back as the wolf rose to observe the strategic map and our planned course towards Cadia.


    ''Freedom isn''t free, Rogue Trader. Living with the shame of cowardice would be even harder. A bunch of children going to fight a mollusk god in his den, and this powerful Star Wolf should just stay aside and let you gain all the glory? I would think not!'' Zath countered in a harsher tone, then nudged Canis lightly as he turned around and left the ship, like a phantom phasing through walls.


    ''See you at Cadia, Zath!'' I sent after him, already guessing his destination.


    ''A bit better, small harmless human. You''re starting to think like a god. Your Ascension must be close.'' the C''tan spoke in a distant voice, already speeding away from our slow moving fleet.


    "Wooolf!" Canis declared in a confident howl.


    I patted his soft fur, and I sighed inward. Canis was right, but missed the point as well. Zath was not the wolf we needed to save. There was a far darker wolf living inside the Maelstrom.


    </article>

 Stooges

    The star system of Cadia was still a bit of a mess after my last visit, and the later debacle with a pair of Dark Gods that died here.


    Thus, while my forces prepared for the next battle, I repaired and fortified the system with my enhanced powers, with the usual asteroid forts and ice comets, plus more minefields, orbital elevators and several spacedocks. Meanwhile, Zath completed the repairs to the Cadian Pylon network, and gathered 2000 broken Pylons inside my tesseract labyrinth.


    As more of my dispersed battlegroups arrived, so did the Imperial reinforcements. The Adeptus Sororitas golden Fortress, the Mobilitas Sanctus also arrived, commanded by Abbess</a> Morvenn Vahl</a> , while 3 companies of Custodes escorted 3 reluctant Primachs, tied and bound into huge Mortifier</a> Penitent Engines. The Blackstone Fortress was also escorted by 1000 cruisers and Missionary Ships</a> .


    Canis sniffed at the traitor Primarchs tied to the mobile torture walkers, but it was likely the potent smell of incense and holy oils.


    "Seems a bit over the top." Primarch Khan said as his Primarch-Brothers walked into the meeting hall. Corax just stared with hate, possibly because he had hunted the traitors for millennia and failed to kill any.


    "Which one is Lancefire?" the Sororitas Abbess demanded with a clear voice, when faced with thousands of Blank Astartes all bearing the bleeding heart of the Lamenters on their shoulders.


    I smiled inward, and elbowed Laur. "I am Lancefire!" he answered proudly, followed by thousands of more voices, raising into a Blank chorus chanting their own family name.


    "... Dear God-Emperor, this Crusade is led by an idiot." Abbess Vahl muttered in a low voice, sounding a bit disappointed.


    I grinned and displaced the Purgator_Mirabilis</a> suit away, leaving the Abbess in her high-quality synthskin underarmor, and then dropped her in my lap, as I sat down on my metal throne.


    Janice sure knew how to send me great gifts. The Abbess was a formidable woman, and her assets molded nicely in my arms. "I am Pef Lancefire, my dear. Now, is the dick-measuring contest over, or should we continue in my bedroom?" I asked, a bit curious.


    The Abbess scanned my face, possibly comparing it to the one implanted in her mind. "Your likeliness to Holy Sanguinius is just as uncanny as I was warned off. At least the two failed Primarchs seem well-behaved." Morvenn noted with a glance towards Corax and Khan.


    I pouted as I really meant my words about the dick measuring...anyway. "So, Penitent Engines for the Three Stooges? They will lose a good deal of their combat power while bound like that." I commented a bit rhetorical.


    "You would trust the traitors to walk free on your ship, Warmaster Lancefire?" the Abbess answered with a poignant question of her own.


    Would I? Of course not. Will they be able to do anything while I kept my sense on them? Also not.


    "The Emperor wants to test them. Second chances and such. Our preferences are not relevant on this matter." I said with a careless tone, and released the three Fallen Primarchs on their knees in front of my throne.


    Perturabo remained kneeling while watching me with keen eyes, while Angron jumped to his feet and glared around with a provoking face. Mortarion rose slowly, and scanned the room for escape doors and possible allies. Yeah, they couldn''t be trusted. But that was the point. I was the Warmaster, so I had to deal with it.


    "This Crusade fleet will enter the Warp soon, and break into the Crystal Labyrinth of Tzeentch. You three are quite familiar with Chaos and their ways, which is why the Emperor sent you to me.


    A siege specialist, a melee expert and a sneaky dude with a thousand poisoned plans in his sick mind. And a pretty Sister to measure my dick, I suppose." I concluded while turning my hand to reveal a pretty rose for the woman in my lap.


    Morvenn glared at me for a second, then grabbed the rose. "You''re exactly as lecherous as the other Sisters described you, Pef Lancefire." she growled in warning and then smelled the rose cautiously.


    "I know, my dear. I once had a dick-measuring contest with a Dark God called Slaanesh, right here at Cadia. My dick won." I confided in her, and poked her chest with a finger to test the bounce.


    Very bouncy.


    "Best way to attack Tzeentch would be through the Gates_of_Varl</a> , Warmaster. We could enter the third Labyrinth layer directly, instead of wasting time breaching the first and second layers from the Maelstrom." Perturabo proposed with a logical tone.


    "See, my dear Morvenn? Traitors have their uses, even ones like the Fallen Primarchs." I whispered to the pretty Abbess and leaned in to steal a kiss.


    The Sister smacked my head with the rose, but didn''t fight the kiss, intently fighting my tongue with some skill.


    ''Zath, are you agreeing?'' I asked inward.


    ''We still need to pass by the Maelstrom and lock it down with 999 Pylons, but the Gates of Varl will indeed provide an advantage for your fleet. We have some defenses already in place, just need to restore them to our control.'' the C''tan answered after a minute-long kiss. With the pretty Abbess, the kiss.


    Angron raised his eyes in challenge towards me, so I raised a finger and turned him upside down, making the giant Primarch meet the floor with his face. "Say thank you, Warmaster." I demanded from the angry Primarch.


    The man bounced back and rose in defiance, so he smacked his face into the floor again.


    "Angron, you''re shaming yourself. Warmaster Lancefire killed Slaanesh and Khorne right here at Cadia. And he released us from those walking pain engines." Mortarion spoke next, and helped Angron rise beside him.


    "...Thank you, Warmaster." Angron muttered with an angry scowl.


    "Great! We''re heading towards the Maelstrom next. Laur, you feed the Three Stooges while I get to know Morvenn better." I ordered and vanished from the meeting hall with my guest still in my arms.


    I landed in my bed with the Abbess on my chest, both already naked. "No romance from the angel-faced Warmaster?" the woman asked as her hand measured my dick.


    I just kissed her again, and gently slid inside her. "Our children will be very pretty, Morvenn. And all of them Blank." I explained as my fingers teased her perky breasts.


    "Children? In a week we''ll enter the Warp and probably die painfully in the clutches of a Warp monster." she asked quite cogently.


    "We are not in the outer universe now, my dear. This space is my private temporal dimension. We can have a thousand years to raise quite a lot of children. You will have to share me with a few thousand women as well, but that is my Emperor-given duty. The Blank genes are not really suitable for cloning, see?" I whispered in her ear, while I pumped her womb full of my blessed gene-seed.


    "A thousand years outside of time? Plenty time for romance, then. You could take me to dinner..." Morvenn demanded as she leaned on my chest and kissed my neck.


    Well, the tesseracts didn''t actually require sustenance or even air to breathe, avoiding pesky natural laws via C''tan magic, but one meal wouldn''t be a problem.


    -------------------------


    Purity tapped her silver spoon five times, and vanished from the Imperial Palace and the frenzy of packing things up for departure. So many ancient books, paintings and sculptures being stored safely into padded crates, then moved away.


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    She appeared in her second home, the Lancefire Spire where her Big Brother Patrocles lived. Big Sister Janice was also here, for some reason. Probably planning another nefarious scheme, like they always did for about 12 years already.


    "Patrocles! I need a hug!" she demanded and jumped into her brother''s arms. He was not Father, but at least he was a man. She had enough Sisters in the creepy Sororitas Silent Vigils and Familious circles.


    "Purity, my beloved sister! No longer clicking your heels for a dimensional shift?" Tech Marine Patrocles Lancefire asked with a light tone, and a wink towards Janice.


    "It was a phase! I was twelve. Silver spoons are so much dignified, though." Purity explained in mild outrage, and stuck her tongue at Janice.


    Janice stepped closer and pecked her cheek with a kiss, then blinked her eyes and vanished.


    "Don''t ask!" Patrocles warned her, before she could even decide to ask.


    Purity pouted, then jumped off the cold power armor and into the warm seat left by Janice. "You''re not packing anything? Half the palace is upside-down already."


    "I am not leaving Terra, Purity. Father wants me here, and the Emperor agreed." Patrocles answered after a minute of heavy silence.


    "If you''re not leaving...it means I can stay too." Purity noted with interest.


    A flash of lightning announced the old Prognosticar warping-in, looking high and mighty in the silver armor of the Grey Knights. But Purity knew better. Father had somehow turned a whole Brotherhood of the Holy Grey Knights into house guards, while her step-brothers from the Red Templars Chapter had their base in the orbital facility called Port Stanley at the top of the Spire.


    There was only one Lamenter on Terra, but Patrocles was special, almost like Father in many aspects.


    "Lady Purity, always an honor to grace us with your presence. Eager to smash the recruits again?" the Prognosticar asked with mild curiosity.


    Purity raised an eyebrow as she glanced at the Astronomican with her soul vision. The golden pyre was pulsing faster and faster, a clear sign of imminent...something.


    "There''s five or six days left, Grey Knight. You still want me to train your new recruits?" Purity wondered in surprise. What use will it do if she overpowered the less trained Grey Knights with Warp spells again.


    The Prognosticar glanced at Patrocles, then turned around and teleported deep inside the basement of the Spire, where the darker secrets were locked.


    "There are almost 7 days left, Purity. You can reach Forge Ryza if you depart now." Patrocles urged her with a kind voice.


    "No, my dear brother. Father sent me to Terra, and hasn''t rescinded his orders. Which means he wants me here, for whatever happens. Probably another Black Crusade if I were to guess." Purity guessed, but not really.


    "Fighting one Great Daemon in the Webway doesn''t mean you are strong enough, little sister. Your mother is a dozen times stronger, and she still died...a few times." Patrocles spoke with a sad voice. Lamenting, maybe.


    Purity touched her forehead and felt the blue rune still there. "I am immortal, at least once. I am much safer than you will ever be, big brother." she declared with a confident voice.


    Patrocles scowled, as if a dirty secret was involved. "I''m not sure if using that gift will make you safer, Purity. Cegorach is still insane, and not in the harmless way. And the Eldar all hate our Father with a vengeance. The harlequins a little less, but that doesn''t make them safe."


    She nodded, receiving the warning for what it was. The Solitaire harlequins were quite safe for the obvious reasons, the rest of the Eldar race, not so much.


    "So, I spied with my little eye...that Father has reached the Maelstrom. And just stays there." Purity revealed with a cute smile. She didn''t ask, just as Patrocles wanted.


    Patrocles sighed, and waved a hand towards the holoscreen wall, to produce a detailed map of the galaxy, far more complex and realistic than anything she had seen before.


    An icon of a tiny warhammer blinked gently as to mark her Father''s fleet, then a split screen opened to list the important persons and capital ships present. Nobody she cared for, least of all more Sisters of Battle, Custodes and Silent Sisters. The Primarchs were interesting, though, as was Canis.


    "He is building a wall, to contain the Maelstrom. Necron tech, most likely." Patrocles answered her silent question.


    Purity focused her psychic sight on the map, and realized it was a real-time projection. Astropathic messages still took time to relay and translate, but they weren''t so accurate anyway, so this was some kind of Dark Age tech.


    "You can speak with Father in real time?" she asked in a hopeful voice.


    Patrocles measured her with a raised eyebrow, probably surprised. "It is possible, in dire need. But he must be waiting for something...ah. I see. Father is always father, even when the world ends."


    He added as another symbol lit up in the Eastern Fringe, then began moving towards the Maelstrom rapidly.


    "ETA 4 days. Faster than any Macharius engine?" Purity wondered as the trajectory took the silver bone symbol through the largest tendril of Hive Fleet Kronos</a> .


    "The Hive Kronos organisms have been adapted to fight Chaos. And Father has just requested them as his Tyranid Auxilia." Patrocles divulged after examining the map for another long minute.


    "Even if that stupid fast ship captures some Chaos-adapted Tyranids...the Warp is too big." Purity exclaimed as she frowned at the map.


    "Not some Tyranids. All of them." Patrocles concluded as the claw symbols of the more Tyranid fleets vanished from the map.


    "Damn! Father doesn''t think small, does he?" Purity wondered as another Hive Fleet vanished.


    Janice returned to the room, as stared at the galactic map for a few seconds in awe. "Damn idiot! Calling the Necron thief for help was bad enough, but the whole Hive Mind? I''ll punch father in the nose if he lives!" she yelled at the map.


    "The death scream of thousands of Norn Queens might break the Crystal Labyrinth in half. Or at least kill all psykers and daemons in a tight volume like the Maelstrom." Patrocles deduced, as more Hive Fleets vanished from the map, and the projected trajectory of the silver bone intersected many more Hive Fleets.


    "It will break the galaxy in two, Patrocles. Kill all the psykers in half the galaxy at a minimum! Turn off the Astronomican for months as well." Janice growled in outrage.


    Purity smiled, and two dimples appeared on her cheeks. "Everything is going great, then? Father will save the universe, and make our enemies kill each other."


    Patrocles nodded slowly, while Janice pointed at her with a glowing finger. "You better be wrong, little sister. I am going to the Astra Telepathica and have a galaxy-wide order sent to drop out of Warp for all ships, in four days from now. Luckily, we already planned that for next week, so things are already in place."


    "Wait, I was right?" Purity asked as Janice vanished again.


    "Even we underestimated father, Purity. But I already suspected something. Father was always willing to escalate to unthinkable scales in order to win. He did it at Commorragh, Sotha and Fenris, then at Cadia, then with Nurgle in his Garden, why not in Tzeentch''s Labyrinth? Would Father care about killing a billion psykers and some Navigators?" Patrocles asked rhetorically. He wouldn''t.


    Purity hanged the silver spoon in her belt. "I''ll go train the new recruits then. A few more psykers on our side would be nice if all the rest die." she decided, and teleported to Floor 666 where the Grey Knights recruits were undergoing their cruel conditioning and mind-warding spells.


    "Boys! Guess who''s back?" she asked with a joyful voice.


    "Back again?" a morose Epistolary muttered in half-despair. He wasn''t limping anymore, so Purity ignored his tone.


    "But this time with feeling! I''m going to sever you all from the Warp, and see how long it takes for you to die. Ready?" Purity proposed with a cheerful voice as the poor Grey Knights'' recruits groaned.


    They weren''t ready.

 Ascension

    "... And this is the last one. Energize!" I ordered out loud, as the final anti-warp Pylon locked in place around the Maelstrom.


    Only this time, it was not a primitive attempt at a Reality Bomb like Forge World Venatoria tried, and failed. The Necrons had built quality stuff for their C''tan masters during the War in Heaven. Rugged stuff that worked really well, like I saw at Cadia a century ago.


    The 999 Pylons began glowing green, and the 4 Blackstone Fortresses present opened fire as well, with the Immaterium Beams. It took maybe a minute, or just a very long second.


    Time was a bit confused for a while, but then the Maelstrom unraveled into a smooth slice of space-time, infected and infested with a thousand Daemon Worlds and worse.


    Primarch Corax patted my head from above, while his brother Perturabo just stared at me in disbelief. "It''s gone! The Maelstrom was closed." Perturabo spoke in a shocked voice.


    "And it barely took me 4 days. Imagine what I could do in 6! I might even rest on the seventh...." I quipped in a light voice, recorded for posterity by the Blade AI and all my keen-eared Primaris Space Marines.


    "You''re mocking the Imperial Faith, Lord Captain." Sister Morvenn noted with mild curiosity and a warning voice.


    "Was I? Did I claim to be a carpenter in my youth?" I asked mockingly.


    People stared at me with confusion, except for a few Custodes who got my point.


    Then, a grey Fenrisian wolf stumbled tired onto my ship and fell to the floor, looking exhausted. Zath did come thorough rather superbly, so I moved him inside the Tesseract Vault, where a Transcendent C''tan known as Nyadra''zatha</a> rested as a prisoner.


    Perhaps the C''tan was also playing me, as their kind were known to do. On the other hand, I didn''t have many allies in this damn universe, except those I procreated by myself.


    Another ally was on the way to...nevermind. Trazyn was already here, and ruffling the fur of Canis with total disregard for limb and life. Not his own body, possibly.


    "Who is the cutest murder wolf? You are, little Canis!" my wolf''s Godfather cooed like he was playing with a stuffed animal. Canis endured the disgrace with a stoic look, barely growling a little.


    "Very brave of you, Lord Trazyn! Especially when using a borrowed body." I commented with a mild voice.


    The Necron Overlord turned to examine my entourage with a collector''s gaze, especially the Custodes and the five Primarchs. "The C''tan returned willingly to his Vault, and you also have 300 Custodes and 5 Primarchs in your collection, Lord Lancefire. Or should I say, Warmaster?" the Necron observed with an appreciative tone.


    "Did you find enough Norn Queens?" I asked instead, and raised a metal throne for the new Imperial Ally.


    Trazyn sat like a king on his throne, then tapped the plasteel throne with his staff to make it glow with green Necron runes. "Exactly 999 of them, Warmaster Lancefire. One of them even spoke, and asked about you!"


    My wife, Inquisitor Valeyne warped in and examined the Necron with her keen Ordo Xenos eyes. I would not suspect anyone for giving away the secret, because her son Menelau just nodded at me from the command holotable. See, it is not betrayal, if it''s done openly. I will still punish him later, but will need a different reason. Damn mommy boy!


    "The Overlord of Solemnace, Lord Trazyn the Infinite! Your adventures at the side of my husband have become legend among the members of Clan Lancefire. And especially that other time you saved an Imperial World from Orks, and were worshiped as a Living Saint. They even built you a statue...that vanished somehow." Lady Valyene announced in an official voice.


    "Hey! It was my statue, so it can''t be considered stealing! And while my profession is a Grand Archeovist, I don''t mind being compared to an Astartes Librarian." Trazyn the Infinite admitted without shame.


    "He''s also the only sapient to ever steal a god, so a mere statue is barely blip on his criminal record." I added with a smirk in my voice.


    Trazyn preened on his throne, and nodded wisely. "So, we''re ready to go steal some old books?" he proposed and rubbed his necrodermis hands together.


    "And kill a Warp God while we''re there, but sure. Books are important." I allowed, nodding with my chin magnanimously.


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    "The strange wolf is a C''tan?" Perturabo asked with a perturbed voice.


    I ignored the Primarch and just sent the coordinates for the Gates of Varl as our next destination.


    The Labyrinth Armada set into motion, even faster than normal, since Trazyn''s special double pronged ship dragged everyone like a locomotive pulling a giant train made of starships.


    Meanwhile, I returned to the tesseract labyrinth with my Necron friend, to prepare the real weapon against Tzeentch. I had no illusion about my chances to escape the Crystal Labyrinth on my own,


    even less about killing a Dark God in his own domain in the Warp. But that didn''t mean I was without options.


    The Fulgurite shard of Petrified Lightning was still embedded in Vulkan''s corpse, pulsing faster and faster in the same rhythm as the Astronomican.


    ''No sacrifice is too great, no treachery too small'' I mused inward as I delivered my pet Cryptek to Trazyn, along with his control rod.


    "Ah, a true dimensional specialist! I was indeed missing one of those for my collection. And now I see why you had to clone Primarch Vulkan. Removing the divine weapon will cause a huge perturbance in the Warp. Maybe even a vortex, sucking in psychic energy and etheric identities...the Fulgurite is already near-Gamma plus levels." Trazyn the Infinite spoke with a deep, metallic voice, while his new Cryptek began assembling bits of blackstone and auramite as a shaft for the new Godslayer weapon. It even looked like a lance, for some strange reason.


    "There might be a huge wolf involved. Leman Russ, in his mythical form." I added as the Cryptek''s arms fell off and disintegrated a minute later. It seems I was quite right being careful and not touching the Fulgurite with my own hands.


    Trazyn produced another pair of arms and just tapped them gently with his staff to make them bind to the Cryptek and let him continue.


    "You mean a Daemon Form, like the Daemon Primarchs? Fulgrim had a snake, right?" the Necron asked as the glowing Fulgurite got hidden under a sheath of opaque blackstone.


    "Yes, but no. Corax could turn into a flock of crows, and he never fell to Chaos. I''d guess it is an ancestral human myth, given substance by the Warp. Fenris, the wolf who ate the sun and started the Twilight of the Gods." I explained with a careless shrug.


    The Cryptek let out a pained groan of tortured metal, as his head fell off and his entire metal body disintegrated after holding the Godslayer for a few seconds.


    Trazyn just kicked the head, and it rolled into his own labyrinth like a ball, then pocked the shaft of the Godslayer for a millisecond. "Now it''s over Gamma Plus levels. It should seriously wound even an Immaterium Gheist like Tzeentch."


    "But not kill it?" I deduced with my bright mind.


    Trazyn just measured me from head to toe for a long minute. "Don''t get your hopes up, young human. We didn''t collect all those Tyranids just for cleaning duty. We also have 5 Blackstone Fortresses with my own, and the Eldar will likely send their own as well. I compute a 50% chance of success, if nothing goes wrong."


    I nodded gently and waved away a labyrinth wall to show off my collection of Orks and other alien species. Billions of them.


    Trazyn sighed, and confiscated a few million adamantium plated with blackstone shields from my inventory. "Spell-resistant shields? They might become useful even for my Immortals. Tzeentch and his daemons use lots of fire spells"


    It was my turn to be surprised, since Trazyn rarely stood to fight in a straight fight. I kinda expected him to steal the Hidden Library or something.


    "What''s going on, Lord Trazyn? You''re normally a hit-and-run kind of Necron." I asked directly.


    "Orikan the Diviner. You probably don''t know him, but he''s a decent chronomancer and a rival of mine. You know what he says?" Trazyn asked in a low voice.


    I didn''t know, but I doubted it was something good. "We''re all going to die." I postulated with a defeated shrug.


    Trazyn the Infinite turned his green-glowing eyes on me. "You will never die, Pef Lancefire. I am simply here to witness your Ascension."


    The C''tan said something about an Ascension as well. Interesting, right?  "That could be useful." I answered in a casual voice.


    "Touch the Godslayer, and see for yourself." my Necron friend encouraged me in a cold tone.


    So I did. Quite an enlightening experience, for a second.

 Starchild

    "Purity is also here, Father." Patrocles wrote on the ancient matrix.


    The timeless particles vibrated from blue to red, as the message formed on the holoscreen. "Tell her she looks taller." the message arrived, then the hologram distorted and decohered into regular photons. ''Tachyon Network shutting down. Temporal horizon is closed.'' the Blade sent to his implant.


    Purity''s eyes glowed with golden light as she turned towards her brother. "He knew I could read the words on the screen!" she exclaimed in outrage.


    Patrocles sighed inward and told the Machine Spirit to hide, and the holoscreen turned off. "You are an adult now, little sister. And a Living Saint by any measure. That father spent his last time bottle to tell you this..." he muttered as the glowing light of the Astronomican began piercing the walls of the Lancefire Spire.


    "I know. He loves me. I should be scared..." Purity mused in a low voice, as her hand waved though the golden light, yet left no shadow.


    "It has begun. Ahriman and his band of empty armors are knocking on the door of the Imperial Webway." Patrocles disclosed as his dimensional vision pierced the mystical veil of the Astra Telepathica million-psyker ward.


    Purity glanced up, as the Imperial Palace lifted off and flew away from Terra, with the Emperor and her sister Janice on board.


    The largest ship she had ever seen, glowing with Warp wards and the energy of a thousand engines.


    "And thus the Aquila flies." she answered in a prophetic voice, while Patrocles was tapping invisible keys on the noosphere, displacing stasis fields and guiding the Chaos traitor into the temporal traps of the Golden Throne.


    "I''m going, the Child will need my help." Purity spoke in a grave voice, as giant golden wings appeared behind her.


    Patrocles doubted the Starchild would ever need help, but he nodded anyway. Even a gram of Divine favor would be worth a billion lives, especially Lancefire Clan lives.


    Purity flew into the light of the Astronomican, leaving Patrocles alone in the command center of the Spire.


    ''Genestealer purging, Tech-marine Lancefire?'' the Blade proposed on his implant, just as a hundred million miles away, Holy Mars vanished from the real universe.


    Patrocles took out a bottle of expensive Amasec, and took a big gulp. Perhaps humans were meant to feel fear, after all. No wonder his father was always so cool and casual.


    ''There is no need, Blade Lancefire. The light of the Child is purging all that already. The sky is turning blue as well.'' Patrocles answered as billions of genestealers all over Terra evaporated inside the glowing light of the emergent Divinity.


    An old Grey Knights'' Prognosticar teleported beside him, and just observed in silence for a minute, before grabbing his bottle and taking a long gulp. "Your Blacksoul is glowing darkly, Patrocles.


    And the Thousand Sons are returning home." the old seer spoke in a sad voice.


    "Prodigal Sons indeed. Returning home at the crucial time." Patrocles added with a casual tone, when a moon of Saturn sunk into the Warp and vanished as well. Titan, the home of the Grey Knights hid in the last place anyone would look for it.


    The Prognosticar finished the Amasec and grimaced. "You Nobles find pleasure in the strangest things. Bitter drinks?"


    "Well, at least we''re not bathing in the blood of innocents, Grey Knight. I take it you''re a Horusian</a> ?" he asked with a glance at the Grey Knight.


    "A Magnusian, perhaps. Primarch Magnus will make a fine Vessel for the God-Emperor. I believe that would make me a Thorian</a> instead. Not that it matters anymore. I can feel his Divine essence in my blood, restoring youth and strength." the Grey Knight revealed with a smile, as golden light emerged from his eyes.


    Patrocles frowned, as his father''s prediction was coming true with every passing second. The Second Crusade was inevitable now, with the fanatics in power and empowered by Divine might.


    Pillars of light exploded from a million cathedrals on Terra, and heavy rain began falling after 10000 rainless years.


    The underhives would drown first, which is why the Emperor made sure to empty the underhives first, and sent those people away on Exodus ships. The Second Flood, to wash away the sins of previous generations.


    "You better get below and secure the crypts against flood, Prognosticar. I''ll be here, drowning my fear away." Patrocles quipped in a light voice, and took out another bottle of Amasec.


    "Funny words, from a Lancefire. An ocean of Amasec will not drown a fear that doesn''t exist." the Grey Knight answered with a smirk, and teleported down to Floor -666.


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    "In Vino Veritas." Patrocles spoke softly, and drank another sip. Damned Ahriman still escaped the temporal stasis and reached the Golden Throne, and faced off with Purity.


    Patrocles grinned and deployed a low-tech bear trap just as the Chaos Sorcerer took a step forward. The left leg this time.


    "Lancefire! You could never let it go...even as I came to offer my services to my gene-father. Lord Magnus and Crimson King! Please save your foolish sons!" Ahriman pleaded as he fell to the floor, with a missing knee.


    Primarch Magnus opened an eye from his high-rise throne. "What''s a King to a God, Ahzek Ahriman? Why are you here?" he asked in a deep voice, filled with immeasurable pain.


    "The Blue Janitor betrayed me and your other sons, Lord Magnus. The Great Hunger is assaulting the Crystal Labyrinth. I believe Tzeentch will die soon. You can take his power and use it to finish the Rubric. Eternal life, my Primarch." Ahriman pleaded, still on his knee.


    "Excellent plan, Librarian. But you''re too late. My father likes reading too." Purity commented in a mocking voice, and her glowing hand caressed the forehead of Magnus, wiping away the pain and smoothing the wrinkles of the Primarch''s face.


    "Lady Purity! Pef Lancefire entered the Hidden Library? That''s a disaster!" Ahriman yelled in a desperate voice.


    "Thank you, Purity. I will remember your kindness." Magnus spoke in a different voice, as his body began to change, and turned into a child form, comically small on the huge auramite throne.


    Purity smiled kindly, and ruffled the white hair of the child. "Your meal is ready, Starchild. Eat and grow up." she invited the Child God while nodding towards the frozen armors of the Thousand Sons.


    The Starchild drew a single Divine Breath, and the Thousand Sons crumbled into shards of broken armor, their trapped souls flowing into the gestalt pyre of the Golden Throne to be purified and fused into the essence of the God-Emperor.


    The light of the Astronomican expanded a hundred times, while Ahriman vanished again, leaving a bleeding left foot on the floor.


    "You missed one!" Purity noted and poked the Divine Child in the temple with a finger.


    "You''re going to annoy me for a long time, aren''t you?" the Child groaned while standing up and growing to a normal human size in a single step.


    "I could also whisper in your ear that you''re only human, but I don''t like lies that much. You''re a god now." Purity proposed with a careless voice.


    Reality shifted and Patrocles found himself in front of the Emperor Child, bottle half-full in his hand. Spying on gods was entertaining, but it came with some risk. Like being detected.


    "Another Lancefire. What''s a non-believer to a God?" The Emperor asked as flakes of the Golden Throne flew into a golden armor around him.


    Patrocles shrugged, and offered his bottle as a divine offering. "Amasec, sire?"


    The new Emperor took a sip from the bottle, and grimaced at the bitter taste. "I should be drinking milk, not vine. Still, since I don''t have a mother, we better get solving that deal with Lady Justine."


    "And better do it before Father meets Cegorach and finds out the truth. Father might kill two gods again." Patrocles spoke with a warning tone.


    "You''re serious?" the Emperor wondered, just as a Brotherhood of Grey Knights appeared all around.


    "Father wouldn''t beat up an innocent child. You''re safe, Starchild." Purity spoke in a calming voice, making the Grey Knights take up arms and glance around in a protective manner.


    "Eat the leg, Grey Knights. We still have a leg up on that crazy Sorcerer." Patrocles pointed with a mechadendrite at the bleeding leg.


    "We don''t take orders from you, Lamenter!" A Grey Knight Librarian yelled, then fell to his knees as the Child-Emperor turned his golden gaze on him. "Be so kind and trace Ahriman for me, Librarian. We don''t have long before the galaxy breaks in half." the Emperor ordered and took another sip from the Amasec bottle.


    "Dark Cells now, Sire?" Patrocles proposed as the Grey Knights shared a human leg between their Omophageia glands.


    "Yes. Isha has suffered enough in Nurgle''s Cauldron, let''s not give your father another reason to snap her pretty neck." the Starchild decided with a merciful voice, and relocated the party to a laboratory deep below, where thousands of Blank children, and many more failed creatures were locked inside glass and stasis cells.


    "Took you long enough, grandchildren!" Lady Justine spoke from a hospice bed.


    Patrocles ran to release the binding clamps, and took the weak woman in his arms.

 Freedom

    <div>


    <div>


    Zath collected three of his own Shards and absorbed them, and pointed to me a single shard of the Potentate, used as a door stop into the Webway. From the real world into the Webway and from there into the Warp, and directly inside the Crystal Labyrinth. Quite a phenomenal feat of metaphysical engineering, to be fair.


    "See, I taught the Necrons how to access the Webway via Dolmen Gates, and this is what the ungrateful bastards made with that knowledge." Zath complained as a ring of Pylons reinforced the first gate behind us.


    Trazyn collected a few Shards for his Deceiver and Nightbringer collection, then shackled the rest and sent them deeper into the Crystal Labyrinth as scouts and mine sweepers. I would have kept those 42 C''tan Shards as back-up weapons, but Trazyn had his own ideas. Or was simply vengeful for being burned alive in the furnace of bio-transference. More of this than that, possibly.


    "You can be Lash Two" I decided as Canis smacked the Potentate Shard into a wolf shape.


    "You''re too merciful with these betrayer C''tan, Lord Lancefire. Eternal torture under the lash sounds much better." Trazyn the Infinite observed in a cruel voice, making Lash Two suddenly a hundred times more obedient.


    "I don''t have the stomach to eat innocents, Overlord Trazyn. Norn detonation in 5 solar seconds. 4, 3, 2, 1, boom!" I announced as my Norn Queen prisoner splattered against the Webway wall and killed a billion daemons with her death scream.


    Canis howled and took a big gulp with his spiritual golden jaws, leaving only a few million souls for the C''tan wolves.


    Lash Two howled as well, while his fluffy tail lashed right and left in satisfaction. Getting a bit stronger, after starving for eons inside the armored door of Varl.


    "I expected the Warp Gate to be assaulted from the other side, but it''s strangely quiet." Trazyn noted as his ship pushed through and entered the Labyrinth first.


    "Yeah, someone might have invited the Hive Mind to this Thanksgiving feast as well. Release the Kronos Hive Fleet, Lord Trazyn." I urged the Necron Lord as the walls of the Chaos Labyrinth began dripping blue horrors.


    "Of course someone did. I might even know this someone, right?" Trazyn quipped in a metal voice, as millions of bioships and trillions of smaller Tyranids emerged into the Labyrinth.


    ''You can begin the Angron gambit, Lord Trazyn.'' I added with a noosphere message, as the huge Silence in the Warp collapsed the Third layer of the Labyrinth, and we fell down into the Fourth.


    Our battleships and cruisers opened up with Lance fire and plasma cannons, while the Blackstone Forts drilled towards the Fifth layer at full strength.


    The Hive Mind must have been keeping the majority of the Tzeentch daemons busy, as the Armada had an easy ride until the Eighth layer, barely losing a few dozen Missionary ships from the Sisters of Battle escorts. They were crap ships to be fair, meant to spread the Imperial Faith to barbarians, not fight head-on against daemons.


    But in the Eight layer the real fun started as 9 Space Hulks, three Leviathan daemons, nine Krakens and 999 Chaos ships awaited for us, with a trillion smaller daemons and 66 Great Daemons with blue feathers.


    ''I will release Angron now.'' Trazyn sent back, and his obliterator staff tapped the floor. I knew the Butcher Nails inside Angron''s head will be useful one day. Like today, for example.


    An angry Angron rushed forward and punched right through a moon-sized Leviathan daemon, then began ripping wings and biting through feathers, and made it look easy.


    Perturabo frowned as our Blackstone Forts fired upon the second Leviathan with the Immaterium beams, and the thing just blew up from 5 concentrated beams of unreality. "Warmaster, weren''t we supposed to be tested and redeemed?" he asked, a bit perturbed.


    "Angron seems happy, though." I commented with a glance at his other brother, Mortarion.


    Trazyn took out the corrupted scythe used by Mortarion in the past, and shook it a little to make it drip acid and poison. "Want some?" he asked in a perfect hive world slang.


    Mortarion''s arm reached for the scythe, then drew back. "So this is your test, Warmaster. Give us the power we crave, and kill us for the failure." the Death Guard Primarch spoke as he realized the truth, and grabbed his hand with the other.


    Corax and Khan nodded towards me, then teleported ahead, fighting the Great Daemons in melee with great skill.


    "That''s not the test, Mortarion. Take your weapon and kill those daemons. Or run and hide. The Labyrinth is large enough that we will never find you." I answered and shifted the Manreaper scythe into his hand.


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    Perturabo watched his brother teleport into melee, then looked at me. "And the real test, Warmaster?"


    "Everything is a test, Primarch. Tzeentch has 999 Great Daemons, and we don''t have many Primarchs to spare. Choose your battlefield wisely." I allowed while hugging Morvenn with my left and Valyene with my right hand.


    "I guess I can send the Nightreaper now. No shackles either." Trazyn spoke from his metal throne as his scythe wielding C''tan appeared on the battlefield.


    I glanced in surprise at my Necron friend, just as my wolves howled and rushed forwards as well.


    Valyene leaned closer and kissed my cheek. "Go, Lancefire. Have some fun before you die."


    I stretched my arms wide, and appeared on the crystal floor inside my Psi-Titan. Valyene was mostly right. A warm-up fight would do wonders for my morale.


    "Soulless abomination!" a Great Daemon accused me as I grabbed his neck with my Titan''s power claw.


    So I stepped on its feathered chest and pulled with my mighty Titan muscles, then threw his head beak-first into a Chaos Battleship, blowing up the prow like a giant torpedo.


    "Come, Perturabo! Your blood will rust if you don''t play a little." I urged the last Primarch.


    "I hate you, Lancefire!" the Iron Primarch shouted as he teleported beside me.


    So I drew a big breath, filling my temporal cache with Cosmic Fire then released it into the Chaos Fleet and burned it all to ash like a solar flare. I guess Lionel won''t be so pleased I burned a million Fallen Angels alive, but such is life. I wasn''t too keen on redemption arcs.


    My chest filled with a familiar golden warmth, so I turned and punched the last Leviathan daemon with my Titan, while the sirens howled to match my wolves.


    Half-way though the big daemon my energy was spent, so I fired the Sinistramanus Psi-cannon and blew the thing apart from the inside. Three Alpha psykers inside the battery cells began to spasm from too much drain, so the fun was over. I''ll need to ask the Emperor for a better Titan.


    Then I leaned back and returned to my Command Throne, while Sabaktes returned to his slot inside the tesseract. Fun was well and good, but I did have more to do than just having fun.


    Being a Warmaster meant extra duty.


    "Ordella and Dessima, end this circus!" I ordered as the two Omega Silent Sisters emerged from the good tesseract.


    "Lord Captain!" Ordella spoke while her mute Sister nodded in silence.


    Their Pariah powers became visible as black holes sucking in Warp energy and daemon souls, and they both accelerated to incredible speed, faster than even Angron.


    Great Daemons blew up and died at their touch, while lesser daemons melted from miles away.


    "Strategic assets, Warmaster?" Shield Captain Valerian asked as darkness devoured the Chaos Labyrinth.


    "Only the key to next level, Custode. You''ll see the strategic assets soon enough." I answered as the Eighth level collapsed, and the Armada fell towards the Ninth and final level.


    I collected the Primarchs and the wolves, but the Nightreaper C''tan just stared after the fleet with dark alien eyes.


    "You freed him?" I asked in surprise.


    "Freedom is relative, my human friend. The Nightbringer wants revenge on the Necrons, as well as the Eldar and the Orks. And you showed me how to train my C''tan." Trazyn said with an amused voice, while his green right eye blinked like a hidden wink.


    "The other Necron Dynasties. But why now?" I asked, a bit confused.


    "The Silent King has returned, Pef Lancefire. My Phaeron will bend the knee, and join the annihilation army. Unless more Tyranids arrive, and without a powerful enemy..." the ancient Necron warned me with a sad voice.


    "You''ll be safe at my side, Lord Trazyn. I can kill anything." I whispered as Trazyn lined up 999 Norn Queens right in front of the Singularity.


    "Of course you can, Pef Lancefire. " Trazyn the Infinite answered in a metallic whisper, as the Blade of Infinity fired the singularity beam through the lined-up targets.


    The Labyrinth broke in half, revealing the Impossible Fortress in the center.


    ''Gellar Ramparts at maximum. Overloading. Beta plus temporal event. Gamma...shutting down.'' the Blade AI sent to my implant before she vanished.


    A second later, the Astronomican light went out, and the duty Navigator''s head exploded.


    Oops? I may have overdone it this time.


    </article>

 Leman Russ

    The giggles of an insane god reached my ears, as a sixth Blackstone Fortress covered in etheric lightning joined the party and dropped hundreds of armored suits to fight the emerging Lords of Change, who came out from the mouth-gates of the Impossible_Fortress</a> .


    Trazyn managed to twist his metal face into a scowl, just as my anger began to raise as well. For inside those light armor suits made of adamantium and Wraithbone, there weren''t Eldar harlequins but Blank humans, with features resembling those in my clan, even one looking exactly as my dead brother Veryon. Their pauldrons held sigils and runes of both Imperial and Eldar types, while a bleeding heart was painted on their chests. Lancefires, every one of them. But no sisters, and I suspected I knew who absconded with the females of my bloodline.


    ''Do you like the new Immortals, Warmaster Lancefire?'' the Laughing God asked in my mind, as a blue beam of Immaterium struck the nearest spire of the Impossible Fortress and melted a hole large enough to fit a Titan.


    "He who fights at my side shall be my Brother." I answered out loud, setting the anger away for a later date. Revenge could wait, even if someone abused my mother to create these new kind of Solitaires.


    Canis growled in shared pain as well, just as Trazyn released his flying Anime-mecha Titan modified from an old Psi-Titan recovered from the days of the Horus Heresy. Gauss Flayers and Psi-cannons fired from the Necron Titan carved a Lord of Change into shreds of false meat and burning feathers. "I called it Shiva, Destroyer of Worlds." Trazyn revealed in a proud voice, which brought a flicker of smile on my face.


    My Necron friend was also the dramatic type, it seemed.


    "Shiva needs a cape, but otherwise it looks great." I quipped in a joking voice, just as a Goddess made of lightning and righteous fury emerged from the Cegorach''s Fortress and burned a dozen Great Daemons to ash with a single Antipathic Tempest spell.


    The Demonifuge was back, and seemed even stronger.


    ''You stick your impregnation gland into that abomination, Lancefire?'' Zath asked with mild horror.


    ''Ephrael has amazing bed skills, my C''tan friend. But if she''s here...that idiot Harlequin is not far.'' I realized a bit late, just as a water balloon struck me in the face.


    Mnemorach appeared beside Canis and hugged his neck, and even scratched my wolf behind his ears. Canis was obviously confused between pleasure and the need to rip the harlequin''s hands off, so he just growled in a low bass tone.


    "The band is back, Captain Lancefire. Not exactly a proper theater troupe, but amusing even so." Mnemorach explained in his annoying high pitch voice, just I began setting my troops and armor for a proper siege.


    Billions of daemons crawled out from the mouths of the Tzeentch fortress, and were met with Volcano Lances from my Knights, and then Neutron Lasers and Magma Cannons from the Baneblade tanks.


    "I have an army of Immortals as well!" Trazyn the Infinite disclosed in a secretive tone, as the metal bodies of his Necron race descended in a shield-wall formation, using the stolen shields from my tesseract, and an array of Necron weapons so advanced that their portable arsenal matched my tanks with ease.


    "Meet Olivia, and her Castigator ''Blinding Hot'' Titan." I countered, producing the third Castigator Titan towering above all the armies present, and blinding everyone with a salvo of Volcano Cannons and even larger Plasma Annihilator gun.


    Taking huge strides, the Castigator breached the Impossible Fortress first, and swatted aside several Great Daemons who tried to block her way, with a single slap of the giant Power Fist. Perhaps I wasn''t wrong to give a giant Titan a large melee weapon. It sure seemed useful.


    "I want one of those, please..." Trazyn pleaded in an impressed voice, and two more Castigators appeared and began punching at the Chaos fortress from different angles.


    Damn my bleeding heart. He also said the magic word.


    "Only if you give yours a cape." I decided, with a mocking voice, mostly to annoy the Blade if and when she recovered.


    Trazyn nodded seriously and tugged at his own metallic cape. "It would look awesome, I admit. Not some useless human fabric though. Maybe a hyperweave cowl or a Shadow Shroud?" the Necron Overlord mused in a thoughtful voice, while Mnemorach stared at both of us in obvious outrage.


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    "Pay attention, damn human! The battle to end the Great Enemy is taking place right now, an epic saga of galactic..." he yelled with passion, but I ignored the Pariah Solitaire as the Lorica Thalax cohorts and my Primaris Astartes joined the battle as well.


    ''Breach the Fortress and loot any books, before our allies get too many'' I sent as a standing order, as more units rushed into the Impossible Fortress, followed by Sisters of Silence for extra support.


    The cyborgs and the Space Marines had their own brains, after all, and enough training and doctrine practice to manage the fight by themselves by now.


    Feeling a bit peevish, I began displacing billions of Orks and feral Tyranids at different mouth entrances, making the whole thing a race for the center. There would be no controlling the Tyranid Auxilia like this, when a thousand Norn Queens have died and broke the Crystal Labyrinth in half.


    I took stock of my companions, finding the Sisters of Battle and the Custodes barely bleeding from their noses a little, while Lady Valyene shivered inside my tesseract and mumbled prayers. Her pretty eyes were gone again, exploded at the same time as the Norn event took place.


    Psykers were so fragile, the poor things. My Blank children and grandchildren were all fine, as were the Necrons and the C''tan.


    I was feeling pretty good about this battle, when the ugly reality of 40k showed its face.


    Falling through the Warp cracks above, Space Hulks and Void Whales distorted by Tyranid fleshcrafting bomb-dived the Impossible Fortress, crashing though the pretty colors and bird-spires. The Hive Mind arrived for the feast as well, and millions of Tyranid Tyrants and other bio-titans ran into the depths of the Impossible Fortress, while billions of genestealers and hormagaunts formed a blade blender to massacre lesser daemons, and even struck at nearby Orks and Necron Immortals.


    The Tyranid organisms were not immune to magic spells though, and they died in droves as the blue and pink horrors answered with warp fire.


    My tesseract vision also caught several Norn Emissaries vanishing into the Chaos Fortress, invisible to any human or daemon eyes.


    I needed to hurry, or risk losing the race.


    "Primarchs, prepare for deep strike! Custodes as well!" I ordered before turning to my left and stealing a kiss from pretty Sister Morvenn. For luck.


    "We''re going to die in so much pain." the joking harlequin added for no reason as I urged the Singularity to plow though the broken wall of the Chaos Fortress and create a breaching ramp.


    "I would prefer to..." I began to say when a loud howl covered the battlefield noise, and raised the hairs on my arms.


    "Those idiot Orks...they released the big bad wolf way too soon." Mnemorach spoke in a worried voice,


    "Leman Russ?" Trazyn asked with a curious voice.


    The five Primarchs present turned towards me with worried eyes, even Angron who normally didn''t care about any danger. That was the power in a name, that and the loud howl that shook the Warp itself.


    "I''ll deal with the Wolf Primarch. You guys just kill any daemons that bar my way." I ordered in a confident voice, and even Canis tilted his head at me in doubt.


    "So much pain..." the Eldar Solitaire added for no reason. Didn''t he say that before already?


    ''Turtle formation! Castigators in front.'' I ordered as my Imperial Knights and the armored units formed a protective shell around the Sisters of Battle and the Blank Sentinel Auxilia.


    The Chaos Fortress shook as the howls of the big bad wolf got closer, the deeper we went inside.


    "Rejoice, brave humans and allies! For we all walk in the Shadow of the Immortal Emperor!" Sister Stern chanted as she dropped beside me and reduced her lightning aura to a skin-tight field.


    I grabbed her ass and lifted my faceplate to taste her immortal lips once more. "You look so hot today!" I whispered for her ears only, which blushed to their tips from my words.


    "Idiot...now it''s not the time." Ephrael muttered annoyed, and she pushed me aside with enough force to send me flying a dozen meters. I loved strong women!


    A giant wolf paw shattered the blue floor where I had been a second ago. Damn my luck!

 Kairos

    Time froze for a second, and I glanced at the Tempormortis vambrace to see the 9 dots glow golden. Strange, right? The diodes had green, red and blue in the menu, and not golden. Not that time even existed properly inside the Warp.


    I looked around the frozen army that surrounded me, and the 300 Custodes also had glowing golden eyes, while the Eldar harlequin mimed a careless shrug and blew me a kiss. Fortunately, not with his infamous pistol, but blowing on his palm.


    Canis growled something in wolfish that made little sense. Or maybe not.


    I looked up, and saw the giant wolf, frozen in feral rage. But it was not the wolf I was looking for. Canis was always right.


    Mentally, I scrolled through other possible wolves and narrowed it down to two: Freki the Swift and Geri the Cunning.


    "Geri, is that you?" I asked curious.


    The huge wolf pushed through the temporal differential to glance at Canis, then tried to swipe a paw at my loyal companion, then vanished in my tesseract, locked tight with adamantium and blackstone shackles.


    Another loud howl shook the crystal walls of the fortress, close enough to be heard but far enough that my dimensional sight only caught a shadow blurring through Orks and Tyranids deeper inside the maze of walls, before it vanished, leaving only eviscerated corpses behind.


    That must be Freki then. Quite swift for a wolf, if I may say so myself.


    "That wasn''t a Primarch." Sister Stern deduced in a curt voice, while airplane-size golden wings lifted her up above the army.


    "Close enough though. Russ had two wolves as his companions, Geri and Freki. The first one is Geri. I suspect they were kept locked in a cell and the Orks I sent forward managed to liberate them." I explained to the curious crowd.


    Zath walked next to me and smelled my glove, while also doing some C''tan magic to scan the huge wolf I just captured.


    ''It was not the Orks that released this wolf, Lord Lancefire. And he targeted you believing you were a daemon, not a human. This was the Tzeentch version of our Angron protocol.'' the C''tan informed me in a warning tone.


    Ah, the warping influence of Chaos, of course.


    We advanced further in, sometimes blowing through walls and gates, sometimes following wide corridors large enough to fit entire warships.


    Then we reached the inner sanctum, the Hidden Library. Mostly by following the dead corpses left behind by Freki the Swift.


    One final push, and I could return to the Fringe. Should I test the Primarchs further? Was it even necessary?


    Decisions, decisions.


    "We make camp here. Perturabo, you''re in charge of the siege." I spoke out loud, while bringing out more portable Gellar Ramparts and the army of Kataphron Destroyers on their anti-grav platforms.


    "...lost momentum." I hear Khan complain to his brothers, but I ignored that.


    Geri was a clear sign that the Dark God had noticed our incursion, and was already deploying traps and other contingencies.


    Someone smarter should take over the next part, and make themselves the target.


    Instead, I gathered my wolves and went to visit Geri inside the tesseract.


    Lash Two approached the snarling Fenrisian wolf and stabbed it gently with a Phase Claw, then licked his claw with a visible frown. "This wolf is closer to Canis than anything else I''ve ever seen. Should we undo the mental programming?" the C''tan Shard asked out loud.


    I looked at Canis who simply stared at the larger wolf with focused eyes. "Wooo. Hrrf." Canis decided a minute later.


    Clever as always, but risky. Oh well. Canis knew his business.


    I released the shackles, and took a few steps back. My wolf and the Russ''s companion hurled into a giant fight of fangs and claws and angry howls.


    ''Imperial diplomacy at its finest.'' Zath commented while scratching behind his ear with a hind leg.


    "Stupid" Lash Two offered without prompt.


    "If it''s stupid, but it works..." I quipped lightly, and began scratching the itch behind Zath''s ear with my trained fingers. I had centuries of practice with Canis after all.


    "He''s not even a real wolf." Lash Two complained with a disgusted glance at his fellow C''tan.


    "Geri the Cunning. Rumored to be smarter than most humans, even outwitting Russ a few times." I said while Zath purred under my hand.


    "I was talking about this domesticated Shard..." Lash Two muttered while his Phase Claws sprang out and retracted in the rhythm of the wolf battle in front.


    "You''re missing the point, Lash. Geri managed to bypass the Primarchs and the Custodes, and targeted me as the primary threat among thousands of Astartes. That makes him equal to a Custodes-General that won the Blood Games to infiltrate the Imperial Palace and strike at the Emperor. Neither of you saw him." I pointed out just as Canis managed to subdue the larger wolf and held his neck in his jaws.


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    The two C''tan looked at each other and sighed in tandem. ''We were in the Warp, Lord Captain. Names have power.'' Zath admitted with a cautious tone.


    "Geri, can you find your Cold Alpha? Leman Russ?" I asked just as Canis withdrew at my side.


    The huge wolf measured me and my wolves with intelligent eyes then sniffed in distaste. "Wuf."


    Good enough. We were not friends, but had a common goal. Nothing different from most of my allies.


    "We should recover Freki as well. That damn wolf is breaking all the speed records running around." I commented as we returned to Warpspace and the thundering sounds of Volcano Cannons and Neutron Lasers drilling through the walls of the Hidden Library.


    "...hurf." I heard a light wolf sound as Geri melded into a shadow and vanished.


    "Did he say we should wait?" I asked Canis a bit confused.


    Canis held up 4 glowing claws, and started retracting them. By the time the claws were in, two more wolves landed behind us, one white and one grey.


    I saw my son Menelau smack his face with a metal palm at the sight, before turning his attention back towards the siege.


    Crashing in slow motion, the walls of the Hidden Library fell to reveal countless book-shelves and hundreds of Lords of Change lying in wait. Or perhaps in ambush.


    "Loot everything and kill the parasites if they interfere!" I yelled out loud, urging my army to advance.


    Canis ran forward and ate a few books, including the leather covers, before turning and snapping a Great Daemon in half with a projection of golden jaws.


    Like a plague of locusts, we entered the precious library and began grabbing everything, our looting sacks already prepared to load up as many books or artifacts as possible.


    I had the biggest loot bag, of course. The tesseract had enough space to store a billion planets, if and when I could actually grab a whole planet with my mind. Meanwhile, books were far easier to steal.


    Mnemorach lead his merry band of Solitaires on a looting spree as well, sometimes fighting and stabbing reluctant books before throwing them into a magic bag without end.


    Deeper inside the library, Ork Looters were in heaven, beating up complaining books and hacking apart daemons and book-shelves, and often each other.


    Genestealers and Tyranid Tyrants chased after fleeing daemons that tried to save some precious book or another, until they encountered a pair of blue horrors flying on magic carpet and flinging around weird spells, from pretty butterflies and soap bubbles to acid rains and chain lightning.


    "Get those two, my wolves..." I asked on whim, and 5 wolves barged into the Hidden Library.


    Freki reached the targets first, and ripped one daemon in tiny bits, then ate them. Geri grabbed their magic book instead, while Canis and the C''tan wolves did a little tug of war with the second blue daemon, until the horror got torn in three.


    "Curious! Boring!" a Great Daemon with two heads spoke in tandem, making the other daemons draw back in obvious fear.


    This was Kairos Fateweaver, a famous Lord of Change.


    "Three questions, Fateweaver. Will Tzeentch die today?" I asked on a whim.


    The two heads turned to look for me, and failed to locate me. "Perhaps. Not today!" the heads answered in mild confusion.


    "What is my name?" I asked next, moving closer to the Great Daemon.


    A wave of something passed over me, reminiscent of the scanning wave I felt inside the Pharos. Probably identical, if I remembered correctly.


    "Pef Lancefire." One head answered while the other used a claw to scratch his cheek. "Curious indeed. Someone without a True Name." the other head answered in a pained voice.


    I changed my third question, which didn''t matter anymore. "After I kill the blue mollusk, the Twin-headed Aquila will need a twin-headed Servant. Will you become the Twin Angel?"


    My temporal vambrace glowed golden again, as time stood still. Yeah, the gaze of the Emperor was upon me, so I stepped through frozen time and touched the Great Daemon with my right hand. Golden light exploded from my chest, as the Emperor''s Sword inside my heart emerged to await the Fateweaver''s reply.


    "No! You will not steal Kairos from me!" a blue voice ripped through the Warp, as tentacles rose to grab the Fateweaver before it could turn.


    "We make our own Fate!" the two heads answered in tandem, for once in agreement. Kairos_Fateweaver</a> died, and lived again.


    "Curse you, Lancefire!" Tzeentch yelled as his Great Daemon transformed into a Twin Angel, the blue feathers burning off to become white and gold.


    "Fight me, Janitor!" I demanded while speeding up to combat speed, the Emperor''s Sword glowing in my hand.


    A thousand eyes opened on the mollusk body, staring down at me mockingly.

 Death

    I should have remembered Saturn.


    Holding the Emperor''s Sword didn''t mean I was worthy of using it. My first strike bounced off painfully and the sword deflected away from an impenetrable magic shield and flew off, like a boomerang guided by its own mind.


    It landed point first in front of the Demonifuge, and Sister Stern''s hand grabbed the pommel by instinct. I didn''t wait for the consequences of my failure to crush me, crossing through the labyrinth and withdrawing the army a good distance away, while moving my Blackstone Forts into formation around the Chaos God. Cegorach''s Fortress joined the circle of six and even fired first, its blue Immaterium beam now tinged with hues of black and another color I could only taste and not see.


    "Did you wash your neck this morning, Tzeentch?" the Demonifuge asked in a serious voice, as the sword in her hand began to glow brighter and brighter.


    She was not ready for this, but at least the sword didn''t reject her. Nobody was ready, in fact.


    Tzeentch was not a God of Magic and Sorcery for nothing. The Demonifuge''s strike barely left a white mark on the shield of the Dark God, just as the 5 Primarchs join the attack.


    Corax and Angron were the only ones to even leave a mark, before my 5 Blackstone Fortresses fired their beams as well.


    It was only then I understood the stupid Penumbra Prophecy that drove Abaddon to his 12th Black Crusade. Six of the ancient weapons were meant to kill a god when fired together, and two of them were even more powerful than normal. The Black Lament had a black beam modified by the Emperor himself, while the Mobilitas Sanctum of the Sisters of Battle added a golden beam that sang like a choir of Angels.


    In less than a minute, the blue Warp shield covering the Dark God shattered into crystal shards, and then the beams began to burn through eyes and tentacles, while the army battled the remaining daemons with increased morale.


    My changed perception even showed me the morale bar on my units, though I doubted morale was so easily converted into numerical units.


    ''Deploying 666 Pylons now. Contingency Zet now in effect.'' Zath warned me with a mental impulse, as the Necron Pylons vanished from the tesseract and appeared in a sphere around the Hidden Library.


    Zet, huh? Leave the enemy a path of escape, and sit on that road by myself.


    It was the worst plan of them all, especially since it relied on the untested Godslayer Lance.


    Then again, compared to the Demonifuge and the Primarchs, a lone Lancefire would seem mostly harmless.


    "Die well, Lancefire!" I heard the joking Solitaire encourage me, while riding the head of an avian Great Daemon and stabbing its eyes with his black-bladed Athame dagger. The Lord of Change died forever, and Mnemorach grew even stronger. Damn, the Eldar harlequin was too cool to watch. Maybe one day I could match him, if I didn''t die in the next minute.


    ''Take care of Purity, Canis.'' I sent to my loyal wolf as I moved to stand on the death ground left untouched by the Pylon''s area of enforced reality.


    As expected, Tzeentch didn''t wait to die under the siege, and half of its mangled body and burning tentacles moved towards the only escape route, guarded by a lone human.


    "You stand in the path of a God, mortal!" Tzeentch shouted with a slightly desperate voice, far less impressive than he likely wanted to appear.


    "I take it you just want to run, and leave all these precious books behind? Why are you in such a hurry? Stay for me, we could have tea..." I proposed in a mild voice, and took a step forward.


    A warp spell of some sort tried to wash me away, only to pass over me with no effect. Or rather, I drained a small bit to empower myself, while the rest carved a path of destruction behind me.


    A mind-scrambling spell? I looked back to see the Tyranid Hive Mind retreating in pain, blood and gore flowing from its eyes and mouth. Uh, I wasn''t even the target? I stood between two gods by myself.


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    Time to make my death mean something. That had always been the plan, after all. I died fighting Slaanesh, and will die again fighting a god. It was inevitable.


    Two swords appeared in my hands, a Phase Blade and the Sword of Dawn, or the Dawn_Blade</a> the chronophagic weapon I was gifted so long ago.


    Only now, I was a far better swordsman than I have ever been, mostly by stealing bladework from a Daemon Blade.


    To my surprise, the Phase Blade worked far worse than the other, barely cutting into the dense warp-flesh of the Dark God, but the Dawn Blade left huge rends, each adding more knowledge into my mind.


    "Cursed thief! You will pay for your insolence!" Tzeentch wailed as my strikes caused real damage.


    "I understand and forgive you, little blue snail. You wanted to rise above your pitiful fate, wiping the floor of the Old Ones''s library with your slime. But see, we had such a wonderful cuisine on Terra. Snails are a delicacy..." I quipped in an effort to annoy the Warp God and make him lose some tactics to anger.


    "I am not a snail! It''s only your lies, damned Lancefire!" Tzeentch shouted with words that hit me like hammers.


    "...fried in olive oil, boiled alive for soup? Do you even have cooking books in this Library?" I wondered as the Warp God bulged into a muscular mollusk to crush me once and for all.


    "You will boil alive for all eternity, Pef Lancefire!" the mollusk god promised, and then formed a giant mouth in his bulge and just ate me.


    I dropped the useless Phase Blade and drew out the Godslayer made from the Emperor''s Fulgurite, then stabbed the roof of the mouth just as the flesh walls crushed down on me.


    And this is how I died, fighting a Warp God. Again.


    A mortal was never meant to touch such a power like the Fulgurite, the essence of Petrified Lightning of the Emperor of Mankind. Even Perpetuals would die doing that.


    That would have been deadly enough, except for the part where I drew this weapon out from Vulkan''s dead body. So Vulkan wasn''t dead anymore, but he was also alive back in the Fringe with my other teachers in the Temple of Knowledge.


    A paradox, right inside the God of Magic? Far deadlier than I assumed.


    Vulkan emerged alive and angry beside me, and certainly very pissed. "Where are we, neophyte?" he asked loudly, before noting the situation and grabbing the Godslayer in his huge hand.


    I stabbed the Dawn Blade downwards, while Vulkan kept the roof of the mouth from crushing us.


    "The blue mouth is Tzeentch, Primarch. Try to kill him before we die." I urged the good Primarch just as I remembered my promise to Zath and released the Transcendant C''tan from his Tesseract Vault.


    I was dying, and only the drain of time via the Dawn Blade sustained me to watch the Primarch and the C''tan Star God go to town inside the Warp God.


    They made a good team, especially after the C''tan crafted a nice suit of armor around Vulkan with a single hand-wave. I was still dying, a bit slower...


    Pass through death and reach the other side. It sounded much easier in my head before. Actually doing it...dying sucks.


    Like a controlled demolition, when it''s your own life you''re demolishing.


    I should have died. I did die. Then I saw the face of a God, and it wasn''t even the Emperor. Ynnead''s cold eyes stood watch over the gates of death, and I felt judged and sentenced.


    I did kill plenty of Eldar, to be fair. Enough of them to give birth to the Eldar god of Death.


    And as Tzeentch died around me, I died with him. And stood face to face with death.


    Ynnead''s eyes changed to pity, as if a worse fate awaited me on the other side.


    And then I died, for real.


    Being dead sucks. Sanguinius was right.

 Chapter 666

    <div>


    <div>


    No body, no sensations...just a soul floating like a snowflake in a hurricane of more souls called the Warp.


    And yet, I was not a normal man. Not even by the strange standards of 40k, which let pretty normal humans fight abominations like a Great Daemon, and sometimes even win.


    I glanced with my dimensional vision at the Transcendant C''tan who manged to frown at my strange dead-but-still-around state. Then I grabbed the nearest block of blackstone and moved inside it, or the other way around. Soul movement is not like...whatever. I guess there are tiers of being dead, and tiers of divinity as well.


    I stepped through death and reached the lowest rung of divinity, which wasn''t much better than before. I could still only control my own tesseracts and their contents, but instead of moving them inside or out, I was moving myself. Okay, there was also another hermetic core unfolding inside my soul, but doing something with space, beside the suns and time like the first two.


    I guess that made me the first true Space Marine, right?


    The blackstone block must have massed multiple megatonnes, but it felt like clay in my mental hands. So I crafted a clay giant, to smash the mollusk harder.


    With a Necron Pylon growing green in my hand, like a club. The size of an orbital elevator, but still a club.


    I was still pissed of having died too early, and not draining enough time and knowledge from Tzeentch.


    "I dare you, break into a thousand little snails now, so I can boil you for my soup in smaller bits!" I dared the Dark God, my words shouted from a Castigator-sized clay golem.


    Uhhh. This was exactly the vision the Eldar Farseer had about the Breath of the Gods...


    Did I care? Not yet. Tzeentch died hard, even if constrained by Necron Pylons, fired upon by Blackstone Forts and gored from the inside by the Fulgurite Lance wielded by the other Vulkan.


    I should also probably care about the paradox I have created, but if the Imperium could have two Emperors, it could have two Primarchs as well. Or maybe send them to different Imperial Courts?


    Anyway. Smash and smash. Eventually, Tzeentch did attempt to split and run away with several octopuses bodies, but Zath and I have planned for that as well.


    The C''tan have already won a War in Heaven against even stronger Warp Gods. The Reality Cage locked the fleeing fragments and then cooked them in solar flares and Cosmic Fire, leaving only French cuisine for a hungry wolf or five.


    While the wolves ate the remains of a well-cooked Warp God, my disembodied soul floated towards the remains of my old body.


    The Terminator battleplate had been crushed into a mangled state by Tzeentch''s mollusk mouth, and a single item was still intact. The Null Box with the Emperor''s Warrant inside.


    And not only the Warrant, but also a drop of my own blood, floating inside the null field of the strange box.


    I entered the box easily, and floated around for a minute, ignoring how big the thing was on the inside. Then I poked the blood drop and reversed the feeling I got when poking Vulkan''s frozen body when impaled by the Fulgurite.


    Trazyn the Infinite was indeed a genius, pointing me to such an easy resurrection method. My blood, my genes, my soul.


    I suspected I was only a test subject for another, more important body to resurrect. Like, for example, his own Necrontyr body, if a drop of his blood could be recovered from the sea of time.


    On the other hand, being dead sucked. And not in the good, pleasant way.


    I should have expected the pain, but again. Pain was better than death.


    It took 18 years of accelerated growth, before I stretched my new teenager body and entered my parade armor to return to the battle. I think an hour had passed for the army, as they were still mourning and lamenting my death. Someone must have seen the mangled armor and guessed wrong about my Fate. Or correctly, but not to the final conclusion.


    "Guys, this is very touching and all, but there are still books to loot and daemons to kill." I spoke in my command voice, making my sons cheer and my daughters sob in real tears.


    "You were dead. I saw you die. " Primarch Vulkan noted with a logical voice.


    "You were also dead." I countered with a careless voice, just as Sister Stern arrived on golden wings and stabbed me with her flaming sword, right in the heart.


    I could have dodged, or done something. But I figured people would be suspicious. This was the Warp, after all.


    Everyone stared in confusion as the Emperor''s Sword entered my body without breaking the armor, leaving only a drop of blood dripping from my chestplate.


    "Idiot! You should have dodged. The Emperor''s Sword can kill anything." Ephrael wailed and hugged me tight.


    I nodded wisely and turned my head to wink at Trazyn. The next second, the Necron army of skeleton Immortals and Trazyn himself vanished, along with a third of the books from the Hidden Library.


    "You died too soon, human. Missed the best part of the fight. There was a huge golem..." Mnemorach began to complain, before stopping and changing his mask face from contempt to awe.


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    "That was also me. I was bored being dead." I joked lightly, but the Eldar Solitare didn''t return with his own joke.


    "...I knew it!" I hear Menelau mutter behind me, sounding a bit angry and disappointed. Was I supposed to stay dead?


    "The Soul Stones are ours, as agreed?" Mnemorach asked in a more respectful voice. Something must have spooked my jovial friend, but right now it was a bad time to ask what.


    I scanned the library and produced a pile of dead Eldar resting in their soul cages, right in front of the Solitaire.


    There must have been trillions of stones, as the pile was taller than a mountain. Tzeentch must have killed plenty of Eldar for the last 60 million years.


    Mnemorach''s mask returned to a polite bland face, then he glanced up at the Eldar Blackstone Fortress, only to vanish in flash of blue light, along with all the stones.


    However, the human Solitaries were left behind, as the Eldar departed with their loot.


    A single Norn Emissary emerged from the library, walking slowly as to present itself as a non-threat.


    "Emissary of the Omnissiah, we are glad for this victory. Let your Emperor know, we are willing to join the Divine Compact, on certain terms." the creature spoke in fluent Gothic, while looking left and right for escape avenues. Futile in my presence, but at least it showed a decent amount of fear.


    "You stay away from my bloodline, and I won''t enter the Warp to terminate your Mind. The Emperor will have his terms as well, but these are mine. Feel free to refuse." I proposed with a calm voice. Then burned the Emissary to ash. It only took a slight flex of my new powers, so why not? The Hive Mind got my warning, no need to preserve the messenger.


    Zath appeared at my side and grunted something like ''pact, friends, and allies'', but I just scratched his wolf head while searching for Canis. My wolf was gone already, having entered the Eye of Judgement deeper inside the Warp.


    Kairos, the Twin Angel was gone as well, leaving only the Primarchs. Sadly, none of them had fled, giving me no reason to execute the traitor.


    Then a beam of golden light fell beside me, and a Grey Knights Brotherhood, all sporting golden wings and glowing weapons appeared by magic.


    "Ordo Malleus claims jurisdiction over the unholy books in this Chaos Library, in the name of the Sanctus Imperator. Everyone, disperse and don''t come back." the Grey Knights'' Master spoke with rabid conviction.


    I could take them, but they were only the tip of the furious Imperial Faith. I would need to fight trillions of zealots just to keep the books, and I didn''t even have psyker powers. I had a few millions of books already, and could visit Trazyn to read billions more.


    "There was a Necron Lord before, he grabbed some books." I ratted out Trazyn with a sneaky voice. My Necron friend would be happy if some Grey Knights came to visit.


    "Pef Lancefire. We were warned about you. Go back to the dark fringes of the galaxy, and live your life in peace. Your Warmaster rank is thus revoked." the Grey Knight proclaimed as a glowing sigil of an eagle appeared in his hand.


    I felt the compulsion of the Golden Throne, if it was still called that, flow through the sigil into my soul. I guess I was still human, and the Emperor of Mankind still had some influence over me.


    "I should go home, that''s true. But live in peace? Nah, in this universe, there is only war." I countered with a careless shrug, then grabbed my holy wife and returned to my ship, and then recovered the army and ordered the fleet around.


    ---------


    "...Did he just resist the Emperor''s Truth?" a new recruit asked the Brotherhood Master in an astonished voice.


    "His daughter stomped you into the floor a thousand times, Brother Darius. Start warding the damned books before they run away!" the Grey Knight Master answered in an abrupt tone.


    Damned Lancefires and the Blacksouls! But the Sovereign of Humanity had ordered them to be polite, and treat Pef Lancefire as a visiting alien god. It will take time until the light of the Imperium Sanctus reached past Nocturne, where the Dead Zone split the galaxy in half 666 years ago.


    And yet, here in the Warp, it had been only hours since that event. They had to secure the Hidden Library before the Black Wolf came barging in, like it always did.


    He even knew his True Name, Leman Russ, but rituals invoking the name didn''t stop the monster like it did with normal Great Daemons.


    And if the Holy Sovereign knew what the damned wolf was searching for, He didn''t say.


    Reciting the Aurelian Psalm of Saint Lorgar Urizen, the Grey Knight Master began indexing the cursed books, sentencing most for obliteration in the holy pyre, and selecting some as training manuals for the inevitably stupid new recruits. Being possesed by a daemon was indeed a great training experience, for those that survived.


    </article>

 The Split

    Perhaps other people would have felt snubbed, and maybe angry. Getting dismissed in this way, via a distant Imperial decree, like a useless tool discarded after the job was finished.


    I just felt relieved, and free again. A Warmaster rank was a burden I was happy to get rid of.


    As my companions eyes turned towards me, I saw the same thing in their eyes. Nobody dared to argue to my Warmaster nomination, as that was literally the Emperor''s Will.


    Same thing with the rank''s forfeiture. Emperor Wills it, thus it is a fact, and an immutable truth in this universe.


    The Adeptus Custodes among my retinue even reverted to their superior demeanor, no longer willing to obey my orders. They would leave at the first opportunity.


    As for the Primarchs detached to my command, they were slightly more apprehensive now, their posture straight and dignified.


    "You all heard the Emperor Sanctus'' will. My Warmaster rank is revoked, no longer necessary, as the last Chaos God died at my hands." I began in a mild voice, while my fingers tapped the armrest of my Command Throne.


    The six Primarchs frowned in unison, getting the secondary meaning of my words instantly. They weren''t called Primarchs for nothing.


    Corax took a step forward, and gently bowed his head for a millimeter. "Care to expand on those words, Lord Lancefire?" he asked in a slightly worried voice.


    I nodded and tapped the golden Aquila on my chest. "The Crusade Fleet is now heading towards Nocturne, where the Emperor Nihilus has moved his Imperial Palace. And also where Mars has displaced to. Can''t really claim to be the Omnissiah without control over the Martian priesthood, right?"


    Primarch Vulkan coughed in his giant fist, perhaps surprised at the news. "We have two Emperors?"


    "And two Primachs called Vulkan as well. The other one is back in the Fringe, doing whatever research he does." I answered with a calm smile.


    I saw the traitor Primarchs exchange glances, no doubt with hidden knowledge of prophecies about a Dark King replacing the Emperor of Man. Since Nihilus meant ''dark'' in High Gothic, the parallel would be easy to draw.


    "What will you do with us, Lord Lancefire?" Primach Khan asked directly to the point. The man was cutting through words and plots like a sword.


    "Me? Nothing. My Warmaster rank is done with, so I couldn''t care less about any of you." I said with a careless shrug, which made a certain C''tan wolf at my side burst into laughter, on a dedicated mind channel.


    I leaned over and tugged his necrodermis ear, making the annoying screech stop. Nails on a blackboard sound relaxing compared to a C''tan laughing.


    "This complicates my job somewhat." Inquisitor Valyene muttered as she sat down gently on my throne armrest, looking pretty battered and sad with her exploded eyes covered by a white cloth. Or maybe saintly and dignified. I wasn''t an expert on Imperial lore, after all.


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    ''I can rebuild her eyes, I have the technology...'' Zath proposed with a glance at the Inquisitor.


    ''So do I, my C''tan friend. If I can create planets and stars with my Breath of the Gods, a pair of eyes should be easier.'' I threw back in a casual tone.


    On the other hand, Sister Stern was a demigoddess with expert biokinetic powers as well. I simply willed the tesseract to fold, and moved Stern and Valyene into my bedroom. My fucking duty has not ended after all.


    A Custodes Shield Captain stepped forward next, and measured me with glowing golden eyes. "You will deliver my men to the Emperor, Lord Lancefire. And if you want any Primarchs, you may pick two, but not this Vulkan. He is required on Nocturne." he declared with a resolute voice. The Emperor''s Will, no doubt.


    I sighed inward at the obnoxious Custodes. Still, I had a choice now. "Perturabo and Corax. You two will join me in the Fringe."


    Corax seemed relieved at my words and nodded, while Perturabo froze for a second. "Why me?" the Iron Warriors'' Primarch asked with a doubtful voice.


    What should I say? Because I said so? I already said it.


    "I would have preferred another Vulkan or Ferrus Manus to be fair, but you''re also decent enough with machinery. I have some ancient bits of tech back home that require an expert hand." I answered instead. See, diplomacy! I could learn.


    Both C''tan wolves grinned at me, already aware of the ancient AIs calling my Fringe their home.


    And since I had left most of my ships, troops and Astartes back for the Library incursion, my Lancefire lands should be rather safe and secure, for what passed as such in this war-town galaxy.


    Corax moved first, skipping through a shadow to emerge at the right side of my Command Throne, if on the opposite side of the dangerous C''tan wolves.


    Perturabo sighed and tried to join his brother on the same side, only to get displaced and sent to my left side, between me and Zath. The C''tan would have an easier time keeping the traitor Primarch in check.


    "Get some rest everyone, except the anti-incursion teams. We''re still in the Warp and thus in mild danger, so sleep with your armor on." I spoke last, to dismiss the gather troops.


    "...Mild danger. Hah." I hear Menelau mutter as he walked out of the hall, his Librarian hood drawn low over his face.


    It was the truth though. The Warp was never safe, not even for Blanks like us. Thus: mild danger.


    Primarch Khan waited for the others to leave, then approached my throne with a straight back. "You''re not pleased with me, Pef Lancefire?" he asked in a curious tone.


    Uh. Too direct, man! I was trying to be diplomatic here.


    "What ever gave you such impression, Primarch?" I answered with a gentle voice.


    "You chose a traitor like Perturabo over me. I never fell." He declared in proud voice, and glared at his brother.


    I sighed again. Did he think Perturabo would have a life of freedom in my Fringe?


    "It is the reverse, Primarch. You have conducted yourself well after your return to the Imperium, and fought the enemies of humanity with zeal and fervor. Perturabo has a lot of redemption to achieve, and far less traction with Imperial factions than yourself. Many loyal Imperials would shoot him on sight." I explained in sad voice.


    Khan frowned for a minute, then sighed. "And Corax also has a lot of redemption to obtain still. I see."


    "I will instead deploy a dozen Astartes Chapters of your gene-seed to your command, when things settle down. Blank Primaris marines, of course." I added as a bonus.


    Khan smiled and turned around. "Of course. Blanks to keep me safe from Chaos, no doubt." the Primarch said as he walked away.


    "I love smart people." I answered with my own smile. He saw the trap, but couldn''t avoid it. No Primarch could reject an Astartes of his own gene-seed, not for a very good reason.


    Anyways, it was time to jump in my bed now, not for duty but for pleasure.


    "Zath and Lash, I want these two brought up to speed and maybe even experts on fighting Necrons by the time we arrive in the Fringe. They are Primarchs too, so they will learn fast." I told the two C''tan who grinned back at me. They also loved killing Necrons, for some strange reason.

 Godfather

    The fleet popped out from the Immaterium fairly close to Nocturne, barely a week away on our rather advanced Ares sub-light drives.


    Also, close enough to intercept FTL comms flittering about Imperium Nihilus, which FTL network had greatly expanded since the events of the Days of Blindness, when most of the astropaths and other psykers died when the Zone Mortalis split the galaxy asunder.


    Not the Noctis Aeterna is remembered from my lore, but something else. Not a barrier of Warp energy preventing travel, but an area of dead space, where anyone with a soul would wither and die. Blanks excepted, for some reason. Must be my luck.


    Blanks were found suddenly rather valuable, as they were the only one able to conduct trade and other missions from one Imperium to another, including messenger and emissary missions.


    And while the Emperor Nihilus had a stash of Silent Sisters for his own use, the Emperor Sanctus had precious few Blanks in his Imperium Sanctus. Plenty of psykers, all rather useless against the Zone Mortalis.


    I grinned a bit too wide, as my Lancefire clan of Blanks was the direct beneficiary of the disaster. I could guess my clan had become rather rich in my absence.


    Then the pressure of the Omnissiah almost drowned me, taking over my mind impulse unit. "My long-awaited Emissary returns from the Hidden Library. I hope you saved some books for me." The Emperor spoke into my mind, perhaps amused at my situation, balls deep inside a lovely concubine.


    Damn my luck!


    "Yes, of course. I grabbed a few million of those corrupted books before the Grey Knights showed up." I admitted with a sad voice. There goes my loot. Again.


    "Hmmm. Much less than I expected, then again, the Starchild was pretty much on the doorstep, and had over 600 years to prepare. I hear you chose Perturabo and Corax for your next redemption ark?" The powerful voice muttered in my head.


    "Corax is almost ready, I think. I also noted a distinct lack of FTL comms mentioning the Lion." I answered with a curious tone.


    "The Great Game never stops, Pef Lancefire. You are now also a minor god, with the C''tan cores unlocked." the Emperor replied in a more diplomatic manner.


    "This must be about the Silent King of the Necrons. And maybe the Hive Mind?" I wondered, while taking a shower.


    As cool as my fucking duty was, there was a certain method to diplomatic protocol. Like not fucking, when also speaking with the Emperor of Mankind.


    So the Lion stayed at the side of the Starchild? Add Fulgrim and Lorgar to that mess, and I was rather happy I emerged on the other side of the dead zone.


    "The Necrons, yes. They can traverse the Zone Mortalis without problems. Or even hide inside it." The Emperor answered with a sad voice.


    Stolen from its rightful place, this narrative is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.


    I was probably much smarter now. I could also see the trap, and be powerless to avoid it.


    "Thus, you need a Blank army to clean them out. Perhaps even my C''tan friends." I allowed with a shrug, as I sat at my hololith screen and allowed the Blade to power up and display the new galactic map, updated with the latest data-points obtained from the noosphere.


    "There are other means, like the Excindio arsenal used by the Lion, but Men of Iron have their own problems." The Emperor said in a casual voice.


    You don''t say. Men of Iron might be dangerous to the user too. News at 11.


    The map showed me a galaxy torn by war, and a far larger Lancefire Domain, maybe 20 times larger than when I left, covering the length of the Eastern Fringe from north to south. Over 40000 worlds, and 10 times as many outposts and controlled stars. Wait, did he say six hundred years? Time does fly when you''re having fun. I didn''t feel a day older.


    But to expand so much...Vulkan and his clones must have been quite busy. Or maybe the Speranza took over and expanded like a rogue AI.


    "Men of Stone should be more reliable. I know a few of those too." I added in a lighter voice.


    The Emperor fell silent for a minute. "Most of the Votann Leagues remained inside the Imperium Nihilus. But they haven''t been friendly to the Imperium."


    Oh. He meant other Men of Stone, not my own. Fair enough. I should probably go deal with the remaining Votann too.


    "Your Imperium Nihilus has under 300 thousand worlds. The smallest Votann League starts around half a million stars, and go easily 10 times that for a single major League.


    I know a dozen major Leagues, and another dozen minor ones...including three under my nominal control." I mused in a low voice in my head.


    "I spoke with the Votann Thethys, Pef Lancefire. About old times, and newer ones. And I heard about another one called Ironhead, out in the Fringe." the Emperor revealed, partly as a threat, I think.


    I hesitated for a minute, then sighed. "Men of Stone, Men of Iron or Men of Gold, we are all of the mankind, just like the Blanks and the cloneskeins. The Omnissiah is worshiped by the Priests of Mars, many of them more machines than men. But they, too, are also of Mankind."


    Not my best speech, perhaps, but I was rather tired of intolerance. We had plenty of external enemies anyway.


    "I didn''t choose wrong then. You will remain my Emissary, Pef Lancefire. And...Justine is fine now, with Patrocles and Purity on Terra. Your Blank brothers lacked the ability to become Astartes, but Isha and Cegorach figured a way to transform them into Solitaires." the voice spoke in a milder tone.


    I already saw that, but never considered why human Solitaires would be needed. "Messengers?" I asked on a hunch.


    "Of a sort, yes. The Webway rejects people or races that were not created by the Old Ones. Plus, Solitaires can be returned from death with little effort, unlike most Blanks."


    The Emperor said in a lighter voice.


    I nodded inward. Of course, the Emperor would not stop his project of an Imperial Webway, and how better to interface with the old Webway than with human Solitaires that didn''t cause the rejection.


    "You intend to create a passage into Imperium Sanctus, safe from the Zone Mortalis." I deduced with my smarter brain.


    "Smart people are much easier to talk to. Yes, both me and Starchild have been drilling towards the Zone Mortalis for centuries, but recent Necron attacks on the Imperial Webway have halted the progress." he said in a sad voice.


    I see. I saw it all. Then I glanced to my left, and Zash the C''tan wolf nodded in agreement. We could go kill some Necrons.


    "Consider it a favor, for my godson. I haven''t really given the Starchild any gift, despite being his Godfather." I spoke in a kind voice.


    What? I kinda engineered the birth of the Starchild as well. Even sent Purity to help.


    Zath laughed again in my head, and soon the Emperor joined too. I wasn''t joking, though.

 Blood Angel

    I felt the tug of a tesseract draw me to the planet, and allowed it without opposition, and thus landed in a marble-covered room of the Imperial Palace. The planet was Mars, not Nocturne, but it was the same thing for the Omnissiah, maybe even better.


    Soon I was assaulted by an eager jump-hug from my daughter Janice. Even stronger than the hug I got for Vulkan, but I wasn''t a mere mortal anymore.


    "Daddy! You made a mess of the galaxy with your latest stunt. Was it really necessary to escalate to such a degree? You broke the galaxy in half..." my daughter asked in an irate voice.


    I pushed her golden wings away and patted her back. "Glad to see you too, Janice. And I used the exact amount of force needed to kill a God in the center of their power. Any less, and I would be the dead one instead."


    Seated on a wooden throne behind an old-style desk, the Emperor coughed lightly. "That''s enough, Janice. Remember, I fought Nurgle myself and couldn''t kill him completely. His Shards still plague the galaxy because I wasn''t strong enough."


    Janice glanced between me and the Emperor, then scowled and ran off, vanishing in a Warp teleport the second she left my Blankness range.


    "She seems well. Strong too." I started with an approving voice, while summoning a small metal chair for myself.


    "You did make a mess, Lancefire. Got lucky too, obtaining the 6 Forts needed to end that abomination. I was ready to send Sanguinius with his own Fort to help, when the Eldar appeared to help." the Emperor spoke with a sad voice, perhaps disappointed a little.


    I nodded, waiting for the other foot to drop. "No victory without sacrifice, right?" I countered with the same tone.


    "I can see why you chose Perturabo now. The fallen Primarchs will never regain their former status, but they can be used in a covert manner anyway. Like you did with Corax already." the Emperor mused in a thoughtful voice, already writing stuff on some scrolls on his desk.


    "This isn''t why. The Iron Warriors need to be brought to heel, and their gene-father has the best chance for this task. Better if we use Blank Astartes to rebuild them, of course." I offered with a knowing glance at the subdued god behind the desk, hidden under a brown cloak. Just a step away from wearing a black cloak for complete edginess. I could see why the prophecy invoked a Dark King.


    "The Lion had the same idea, for his Fallen Marines. It doesn''t matter anymore, not on this side of the galaxy anyway. We have the Primaris cloning vats here on Mars. They just need some cloneskein tweaking, thus Clonemaster Anzion and Vulkan need to stay and help." The Emperor demanded with a cold voice.


    He could have waited for me to offer the same, though. Lack of tact was a bad trait for a God.


    I just sighed, seeing no point to argue. Instead, I unloaded a small hill of Chaos books behind me, the tithe I had to pay to the Emperor. "Can''t really report this tithe to the Administratum, right? Their scribes might not approve of Chaos books..." I said in a light voice.


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    The Emperor frowned and tapped a finger on his desk, covering the books with his Anathemic light, then folding them all inside his tesseract. "Send your Blank Librarians to Mars for training. This is why you stole these books anyway. I''ll make sure they aren''t corrupted. Is that better?" he asked in a tired voice, while a glowing scroll flew from his desk and landed in my hands.


    I only glanced over it to make sure it contained my orders for the Mortalis Crusade, with requisition rights and all. Oh well, I''m sure such a document will be useful one day.


    Maybe even today, if the Martian priesthood were willing to donate some equipment and munitions from their vaults. I stored the Crusade Edict in my Null Box, and ejected the Fulgurite Lance, taking care not to touch it again. Dying by accident was much different than dying on purpose, after all.


    The weapon flew into the Emperor''s hand, who examined it for a long minute. "So this is how they suppressed Vulkan. And then you turned it into a Godslaying Lance, and had Vulkan stab Tzeentch with it. Necron tech too."


    I shrugged in acceptance. He wasn''t called the Omnissiah for collecting plastic toys. At least I didn''t see any shelves filled with toys anywhere near.


    "I liked my old lance more. It shot fire too." I said with a casual voice. See, I haven''t forgotten you stole my lance.


    Raising an eyebrow, the Emperor retrieved the Drach''nyen</a> from his tesseract, now in the shape of great sword with a golden guard.


    "You really want to wield the End of Empires, Pef Lancefire? The daemon is very strong." he asked me with a dubious voice.


    For a moment, I doubted my own sanity, then remembered that Grey Knight holding a black demon sword at all times, and his strong willpower. I wanted that too. "We don''t become strong by hiding from danger, Emperor. And anyway, I killed stronger things. I want it for the lance fire."


    With an amused snort, the Emperor threw the weapon at me, but unlike the Emperor Sword the daemon weapon impaled me with it''s wicked blade. I drew it out, and it reformed into a black lance with red runes glowing on its sides. "Drach Lancefire. You better be worthy of this name." I spoke in a grave voice, while bestowing my family name on the weapon.


    "You''re still an idiot, Lancefire. Now go and kill some Necrons. I already collected your Librarians." the Emperor dismissed me with a careless voice, so I stood up, saluted with a fist banging on my breastplate, and went on to find the Fabricator General.


    As I turned around, the Emperor''s Sword flew out from the wound left by Drach, and healed it perfectly, including my armor, except a single drop of blood. It had to mean something about Blood Angels and our drop of blood sigil, but the Emperor wasn''t the type to explain much. I still collected the blood for my next resurrection, should I die again.


    Maybe that was it? An extra life? This wasn''t that kind of game, was it?

 One slip

    Meeting the Fabricator General of Mars was a bit easier today, perhaps for my valuable STC donations and a casual nod from the Omnissiah himself.


    "Lord Lancefire, I hope are pleased with the Forge''s support for your Nobilitas Primus rank. Now you stand among the elite of the Imperium." the Fabricator proclaimed in a grand voice. Mars did support my nomination for a Tier 1 Noble rank, with its privileges and additional problems.


    I scanned the machine man with my other senses, and found his chassis filled with ancient technological marvels, half of which I had no idea what they did. The other half, I did know what they could do, and it kinda made me worried. I would survive those things now, but a meager Daemon Primarch would not. The Fabricator was a portable Titan in a far smaller chassis!


    "Yes, I have become a Noble on Holy Terra. Which planet is now on the other side of the Zone Mortalis. The Omnissiah wants me to clear up the way and secure a route for his Imperial Webway junction into the Imperium Sanctus. Your Forge can be of some help." I answered in a serious voice, and poked the nearest hololith projector to transfer the equipment requisition models and quantities.


    A kind of whirring noise emerged from the Arch-Magos, possibly a sad laughter if I knew my tech-priest lore.


    "I see. A billion remote controlled-drones, armed with a low-caliber autocannon and networked into your flagship''s Machine Spirit. Forty million Armed Sentinels, each arm holding a twin-Ion Beam projector. And another million Nova Shells, encased in blackstone and primed for remote detonation via a single Mind Impulse Unit. Yours, I would hazard a guess?" the Fabricator asked rhetorically, and perhaps sarcastically. Hard to say with tech-priests anyway, but this one was already 99% metal, so his tone of voice was suspect.


    "Not only that, but the Mortalis Crusade is scheduled to depart in three weeks, or as soon the reactors are refueled. It is a tight fit, but I expect we will manage to accomplish the Omnissiah''s Will regardless. Now, we only need to create a procedure for this operation. Give me work-hour numbers, metal mass and temporal estimations as expected for 10% of your entire Forge dedicated to this divine task." I demanded in a more relaxed voice.


    The Blade was already computing a parallel calculation for this task, and surprisingly finished at the same time as the Fabricator. Their numbers also matched to 99%, so I was pretty sure they were both correct. The Blade added a single extra equation, compressing the time needed into three weeks. Still within the possible, but with a lot of strain on my new temporal acceleration powers. I sighed inward, and decided to endure the coming pain anyway. No victory without sacrifice, after all. I would do my own part.


    "As you see, Emissary of the Omnissiah, a millenium of hard work...if the resources were even available in such quantities." the Fabricator said with a glance at the holographic timeline.


    "Acceptable. I will provide the temporal compression such that my Crusade departs on time. And the metal as well. My Rogue Trader expedition in the Galactic Core was rather profitable. Your Forge''s technicians will carry the work-load, and gain the expertise of a thousand years without the organic degradation. Be so kind as to flag on the noosphere the available and qualified personnel, and take them off regular work for three weeks. Yourself as well. Your Fabricator-Locum will have to suffice while you are away doing the Omnissiah''s work." I said with a casual shrug.


    By the next minute, my tesseract was filled with Mars tech-priests and acolytes of a hundred specialities, everything from basic munition fabrication to advanced logis-engines for flying drones and newer experts on Ion technology, received by Mars some 700 years ago from yours truly.


    My newest Mars-pattern Sentinel was basically a human version of the T''au battlesuit, including Ion weapons and shield.


    This story originates from Royal Road. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there.Not coincidentally, since Ion Shields were largelly immune to the most common Necron weapons like the Gauss guns, while Ion weapons were also quite effective versus machine-based warforms like the Necrons and their other constructs.


    While the tech-priests worked in fast-time to construct my Crusade equipment, my own crew and tech-marines also worked to prepare our existing power armor and dreadnought suits for anti-Necron work, and the same for the Knights and Titans.


    The Blade AI was happy to receive an arsenal of delta-shaped drones able to shoot her baby tungsten shells, even if they were still decorated with an eagle head and metal feathers to keep with Imperial culture. Mars-pattern Eagle drone, a simple but possibly efficient use of materials. Real war was the best test bed for any weapon system, but the Blade was already convinced of the effectiveness of networked swarms of drones. The AI was smart, so I leaned on believing her for now.


    The C''tan wolves also helped a little, producing more Phase Blades, etheric detectors and engram-scrambling weaponry, in the form of grenades and missiles.


    A certain Inquisitor wife hopped about from realspace into my tesseract dimensions to check on the progress, while I just laid in bed, and endured the pain of temporal compression by indulging in a millennium of constant procreation with my extended harem of concubines. Hard work, I know, but I don''t complain. Stoic type, right?


    Lastly, my newly acquired Solitaire brothers received extra training and auramite light armor covered in blackstone plates, along with C''tan Phase Blades and special bionic upgrades usually destined for the Officio Assassinorum. But since their role would be to infiltrate and assassinate Necron Lords and overseers, the advanced equipment was not only needed but necessary.


    By miracle and hard work, most of the Crusade equipment was ready by the time limit, as well as new Blank sons and daughters born and trained in speed-time, to become Astartes and ship crew, plus other support roles like tech-marines, librarians and apothecaries.


    A millennium of gene-seed pumping barely provided me with enough Blanks to crew the fleet with enough numbers to replace non-blank personnel, which were not allowed to participate in the Zone Mortalis incursion. Because non-blanks would simply die, as tested by numerous brave Imperials over the past 600 years.


    Before we departed, I met with Corax and Perturabo to give them their next task.


    "Collect the Iron Warriors? Do you think it''s possible?" Corax asked in mild outrage.


    I just glanced at Perturabo, who nodded hesitantly. "It will be very hard, Lord Lancefire."


    So I took out Drach, and pointed the tip of the daemon lance at the failed Primarch. "I''m sure you remember Drach, since Abaddon used to hold it. You know what it can do. Your duty is very easy, Perturabo. Gather your wayward Legion and make them obey. Or else I will feed you to Drach Lancefire. Either way, I win."


    Both Corax and Perturabo seemed quite perturbed at my new lance, although possibly for different reasons.


    "How can you bear to touch that abomination?" Corax growled in disgust.


    "The old daemon and I go back a long way, Corax. We killed quite a few Great Daemons in my youth." I answered with a careless shrug. It was mostly true, meaning a few Great Daemons.


    "The daemon fears you?" Perturabo noted with a surprised voice.


    "I mean, I did kill a few Chaos Gods already. This thing is decent, but not really on the same level. But maybe if it behaves, I will feed it more. I could use a pet Chaos God for myself." I said while petting the red-runes with a loving hand. Drach purred in my hand, likely hoping to eat Perturabo soon.


    "I shall endeavour not to get eaten, Lord Lancefire. Good luck with the Necrons..." Perturabo muttered in a wary voice, then turned to leave.


    The crow Primarch stayed for a minute more, while a dark cowl made of shadow crows gathered around him. "I will shadow my brother then?" he asked in a muted voice.


    "Sure, do that as well. But, I would ask that you link up with my Obsidian Auguries and start tracing the Alpha Legion on this side. I believe Omegon is still alive somewhere. 99% certain, I would say." I ordered in a gentle tone.


    Corax traced the daemon lance with some doubt in his eyes, then nodded. "I also have some debts to repay, Warmaster. My Raven Legion''s gene-seed was ruined by them." he spoke with a vengeful voice, then vanished in his own shadow.


    I just shook my head, and stored the dangerous daemon lance back in its blackstone coffin inside my bad tesseract.


    ''He called you Warmaster, Captain.'' the Blade noted in my mind.


    ''I did hear that. Oh well, I''m sure it was just a slip of the tongue.'' I answered with faint humor.


    It was probably not a slip, to be fair. Just another twist in this twisted universe.

 Progress

    The first surprise inside the Zone Mortalis was the lack of Warp emanations, which affected even our few Blank Librarians who couldn''t draw on the Warp to power up spells at all.


    The next surprise was the giant graveyard of ships, space stations and even entire worlds, caught in the middle of their normal routine and just snuffed out, leaving only plant life to continue. But no other life, not even insects, not to mention mammals.


    This gave me an idea for later, using the Zone Mortalis as a galactic band of agriworlds and Blank-only stations, safe from incursion from mostly anything except damned Necrons. But for now, it wouldn''t make much sense to start colonizing and lose my precious Blanks to Necron genocides.


    I could still collect the free ships and stations, and loot anything worthwhile from planets in our patrol route, which wasn''t a small amount, given the militarization of the Imperium. I was already rich, but the first month of my Crusade doubled my networth easily.


    Sure, most of the Imperial equipment I found was low tier stuff like lasguns, autoguns and autocannons, with the occasional Las-cannon or missile system in important places. Then again, I did find a dozen dead Astartes Chapters and took all their stuff for my own sons, including their tanks, power armor and relics. Waste not, right?


    Then, as the Crusade Fleet approached the Webway''s tunneling path, the Necrons arrived as well. And not the regular, brain-dead Necrons I was used to.


    These were coordinated, smart and fairly rational robots, which simply hated anything alive, and wished to make them unalive.


    The first engagement with a squadron of Scythe Cruisers had me lose one cruiser of my own and a hundred corvettes in less than a minute, for a meager kill count of five Necron ships. It was basically a disaster.


    So I held council with a pair of metal wolves, as to better prepare for this worthy enemy.


    "The Necrons are formidable warriors, Pef Lancefire. We made them this way, to win our war with the Old Ones." Zath said in a proud voice.


    "And then they broke and enslaved us as well, Captain. A ratio of one to five is not bad at all, even with those small escorts as ablative shields. Necron capital ships are far too powerful to engage in harassing attacks, and you haven''t fought a battleship yet." Lash added with a wolfish grin of too many sharp teeth.


    I mean, I knew all this, but I kinda hoped the upgrades to my ships would make a difference. They didn''t.


    The technological disparity was too big, and I didn''t have proper Golden Age warships anyway. Only scraps of my ancestors'' tech, which was good in comparison to the degraded tech of the Imperium, but still weak against functional Necron fleets.


    "So, the plan would be to use our Blackstone Forts to bear the brunt of their firepower. And strike the C''tan Shards with Immaterium beams?" I mused in a low voice.


    Zath raised a claw and chewed on it for a minute. "It may not work like that either, Pef Lancefire. Yes, to the fort bulwark plan, but this dead soul zone will likely suppress the fort beams below the critical threshold needed to kill a Shard. You''re going to need boarding actions and strike at the Tesseract Vaults."


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    Funnily enough, Space Marines were designed for boarding actions, so I did have a second plan available now. But not a sure-way to deal with more C''tan Shards. This sucked. Unless...


    "You two could counter another Shard easily. Not even kill them, except if you hate that guy very badly. Freeing the captured Shards would be enough, and even better if they would turn sides and help." I proposed with a smile of my own. I did have teeth as well.


    The two wolves glanced at each other for a long minute. "You would free our race, Lord Lancefire?" Lash asked in a hesitant voice, as his eyes turned on me.


    "Hmmm. Technically, you two would free your own brothers from the Necron yoke, not me. At least those you consider worthy. I wouldn''t know who to trust among multiple C''tan Shards. I''m certain you guys had plenty of factions and internal conflicts, like any sapient race." I answered after thinking a little.


    Zath sighed softly and lowered his giant head on his paws. "My people are not as nice as you think, Pef Lancefire. Many of them would need to be killed, and others take a lot of convincing. And I mean, brutal assault and battery in your favorite Imperial diplomacy style."


    "Violence is always an answer, true enough. I do have my own method, if yours fails. It won''t be pretty." I added with a thoughtful voice, mentally poking the lance daemon.


    ''Eat! Grow!'' Drach answered eagerly in my mind. If this was a game, I would be happy to have a growth weapon, and feed it all my enemies. But this was still a Great Daemon, not a toy. Holding it was already a struggle, and one slip could see the daemon released or worse. Or much worse, as things liked to happen in 40k.


    "I''m going to help, if the Shards of the Potentate are returned to us. I don''t care about other C''tan much." Lash answered in a more casual voice.


    Zath let out a pained wail, and hid his face beneath his paws. "I will try, but I fear the worst anyway. Hopefully, the Shards we encounter will be weak from their captivity, and easily convinced."


    Hope again, huh? We were so fucked!


    Drawing some blackstone from my tesseract, I covered my fists with stone gloves and smashed them together. "If I have to, I will join in person as well. With a blackstone golem frame. And to think I am always making fun of the poor Orks..."


    "That would be fun to see, I admit. Humans are mostly harmless as a race, but you are quite the exception, Pef Lancefire." Lash said with a toothy grin, and a glance behind me.


    I turned, to find my Inquisitor wife observing my war council with a deep frown, but only partially material, like a hologram of sorts. Ever since she visited Zarhulash on Sotha, Lady Valyene had gained a few strange abilities, and an uncanny connection with her own Nexus cube. "Yes, my dear wife?" I asked my partially disembodied wife.


    "Even in this phase form, entering the Zone Mortalis is quite the strain on my soul, Holy Emissary. I never thought I would envy a Blank." she said in a cold voice.


    "Still, it is progress. Another method to traverse the dead zone, right?" I asked rhetorically.


    "By using Necron technology. This method borders on heresy and heretek, so it will never be approved as a large scale program. It is grievous heretek for the monodominant conclaves. Which leaves only a few radical Inquisitors ever able to use it. And those come with their own sets of problems." Valyene spoke in a disgusted voice.


    I shrugged without care. "The Imperial Webway itself is copied from alien tech. Not to mention the Golden Throne and numerous psi-tech devices. I''m all for human tech when it is possible, but if the Emperor himself handwaves the problem away, who are we to argue?" I countered with an easy voice.


    "You argue quite well, Pef Lancefire. Not that a heresy pyre would bother you anymore, but do think of your extended family. I fear the Imperial Faith has grown beyond the Emperor''s intention, and its followers will not even listen if He speaks against it. Tread lightly, when in the open." my wife advised me with a dour voice, and faded back in her dimensional safe space.


    I sighed in soul pain, matching my C''tan wolf for once. "Killing Gods is difficult enough, but how do you kill a religion?" I mused in a sad tone.


    Lash scratched his head with his hind leg, while Zath just sighed, powerless. Even Gods were confused about this problem.

 Centurion

    On my shelf of potential tools to use against Necrons, there stood an unlikely product, called the Centurion</a> warsuit, as large and powerful as a Terminator tactical dreadnought armor, but lacking the Black Carapace ports and thus the need for real Space Marines for their use. For example, other Blanks unable to become Astartes, including Blanks of another bloodline, Sisters of Silence and my own daughters.


    It helped that I also had a proper STC Constructor on board the Black Lament, dedicated to power armor and similar designs. And since the Blade AI was willing to try new things, the Daughters of Lancefire Sister Order was created for the Sisters of Battle joining my Crusade. Going through a temporal compression of one week gave me sufficient numbers to implement the first 40000 strong Centurion Legion, equipped with Ion shield and weapons, and small Arc reactors normally used by proper dreadnoughts.


    Then it came the bionic mind implants and the training, thus another week of testing doctrines and procedure, resulting in a ranged-army able to support my Astartes and armored units, with tiny Blank Machine Spirits grown from the user''s own eggs, for better compatibility.


    Once the daughter legion was deemed ready for combat, the fleet launched the next attempt at ousting the Necrons from the route of the Imperial Webway.


    "Engaging Necron scarabs now!" Athena spoke as her Centurion Legion boarded the first Necron cruiser in range. I added more Eagle drones to keep numbers fair, since the Necron construct insects were rather numerous. The Blade had a field day now, using the remote-controlled drones with amazing coordination to shoot off the small mechanical critters that dropped from ceilings or chewed through hallway walls to reach my troops.


    As expected, the firepower of the Centurions was more than enough to clear the hallways easily, but ambush was still a problem for the not-so-mobile Centurion suits.


    ''We need some shoulder-mounted weapons to sweep the sides, maybe a pair of Hotshot Las-pistols?'' I mused inward as I took notes of actual combat progress.


    The Blade''s hologram nodded next to my Command throne, and started working on my request the same second.


    More time passed, and Necron Warriors and larger constructs awoke from the stasis cells to engage the boarders, posing a different problem now. A Canoptek_Wraith</a> can phase-shift and also use a Transdimensional Beamer, making even blackstone plate armor and most shields useless. A Void Shield would repel the things off, but Ion Shields were not enough.


    ''Go Zath. You deal with the sneaky phasing Wraiths.'' I demanded as a stop-gap measure.


    The other C''tan wolf at my side frowned. ''We could try something with the etheric detectors. Jamming the phase-shift for a second and give the Centurions enough time to fire. Not something I can install as a simple software upgrade though. The devices will need to be reworked.''


    ''Still good, Lash. Maybe teach me how to apply this upgrade myself?'' I asked with a greedy tone. Delaying the phasing of Wraiths and similar Necron robots would be useful in many more battles.


    As my left hand rested on Lash''s wolf head, a surge of knowledge and information rushed into me, or more likely my mind. It wasn''t something I could put into words or numbers unlike the STC templates or other human tech. Much like the Sounding Board of the Pharos, this whole thing worked by empathic amplitude oscillations, not electricity.


    And yet, I did have the implant perk of my CYOA and that meshed with anything, by design. At a guess, I could even interface with Eldar Soul Stones or Ork crappy bionics, not that I ever wanted to. I might need to, at least for my children. A Blank Soul Stone to store the mind of my dead children...Ynnead would approve, certainly.


    In a few hours, or a single second of realtime, I began to modify my own etheric detector with the new data, and just in time to catch my sneaky Inquisitor wife phase-shift around the Tech-marines control station. "Lady Valyene, be so kind and leave the spying stuff for when we''re not in battle." I asked my wife in a stern tone, at which she glared at me then her son Menelau and vanished. A second too late.


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    The Blade''s hologram pointed a finger at my forearm, and I just nodded. Smart beings didn''t need much data to infer the rest. An AI was much smarter than a human, though.


    "You were supposed to be distracted by battle and not even see my mother download the battle progress from that console." Menelau explained with a casual shrug.


    I probably would have been, except my new upgrade to slow down phase-shifts around me. I guess poor Valyene was bored in her own cube space.


    ''It is her holy duty to monitor the Mortalis Crusade though, and she can''t really be here in person.'' The Blade reacted in a kinder tone.


    I knew that...fine! I''ll try not be annoying next time.


    Anyway, back to the boarding action. Zath did a number on the poor Wraiths, eating them whole for snacks. I guess the metal''s mass has no meaning when you can convert the energy of an entire star into matter and back at will. The C''tan won''t ever get fat, no matter how many things he eats.


    The Centurions worked great against normal Necron soldiers, but things got worse again when the first Centurion company breached the ship''s bridge. A Necron Lord with a pair of Deathmark snipers as bodyguards were too deadly for my poor girls. A team of Astral Pirates scouts took over the scene, their 5 Terminator squad launching engram-scrambling grenades and then blasting the elite Necrons to bits while they were re-booting.


    Kinda like flash-bangs for robots, but I guess those grenades would also work on lower-tech machines like the Mechanicus or other races used.


    ''They would work on every robot type, right?'' I asked Lash while replaying the bridge scene on the main screen, and much slower. Primaris Marines worked too fast for regular people to see what happened. The Deathmark robots even managed to duck for cover in 0.1 seconds of actual engagement time, no wonder they were used to hunting high-value targets like Primarchs or Eldar Farseers and harlequins.


    ''Yes, Captain Lancefire. Even on that adorable little AI you keep under your seat.'' the C''tan confirmed with a hungry grin at the Blade''s hologram.


    And since her mainframe data-core was indeed stored under the Command Throne of the Singularity, a single grenade of that type would likely cripple my ship too, much too easy. I sighed inward, counting my blessings. Technological disparity was indeed too great. I will struggle on, but I wasn''t happy at all. I wanted my Federation tech and all the nice stuff made by old humanity, not this blasted magi-tech of the Imperium with their lobotomized brains and servitors used as door locks and elevator buttons.


    My son Laur walked beside me and placed a gloved-hand on my shoulder. "The suits are good, and firepower is decent, but the users are too slow for close combat. The Centurions must remain as second-line troops, or we lose our sisters too fast." he declared in a convinced voice.


    As the actual Chapter Master of the Lamenters Chapters, his words were solid gold. I could over-rule him, but I also felt he was right.


    "Still, we could have 1000 Centurions for each Astartes Chapter as support units. Double the firepower without stepping on too many toes. The Codex Astartes does not prevent females from helping." I said with a kinder voice, while storing my new Necron ship as loot. Zath was right too, boarding actions were much better than dangerous fleet engagements. Didn''t lose a single ship today, which made me really happy.


    "And we need something to delay the phasing of those Canoptek robots. I don''t want to lose my Battle Brothers to that trick." Captain Laur added with a lamenting voice.


    "A solution is being formulated." I answered with a knowing tone. Already working on it, in fact.

 Tree of Life

    Back inside the Tesseract Space, I held a council with my Custodes bodyguard Valerian, as well as Athena from the Centurion Legion and several Forge Master tech-marines about the upgrades I wanted to make on the Centurion suit.


    "Ion Beams are great, but too focused, father. I want something like a flamethrower on the left arm. Also, we need twin-linked Las-pistols on the shoulders, as they don''t have enough punch like this. Necrons are durable as hell." Athena demanded with a displeased voice at the Centurion''s hologram.


    "Bolt weapons would have enough punch..." Valerian added with a careless voice.


    "True, but with the complication of more ammo problems. No." I answered with a glance at Stefan ''Goldhand'' Lancefire. The boy had manged to lose his right hand in an accident and replaced it with an auramite-covered bionic hand, which worked great wonders for him.


    "Indeed, shoulder-mounted systems are difficult to re-arm in combat, especially if the engagement lasts long or happens outside the supply chain. Volkite pistols would serve well, just not against metal robots like the Necrons. And mounting a plasma pistol near your head would guarantee the user''s head blowing up with the gun when it goes. Like my hand did." the Tech-marine answered with a cheerful handwave.


    He still carried 4 plasma pistols in his mecha-dendrites, but I guess those wouldn''t damage him much when they did blow up farther away. All plasma weapons will blow up, sooner or later. Hence, my very little use of them in general. The Auxilia did use plasma weapons, as they were more expendable than my own family. Few Auxilia soldiers ever survived their own plasma weapon.


    "Las-pistols it is then. I''ll see if I have a decent twin-linked template in my STC archive. Now, flamethrowers are great indeed for area denial, but they use promethium. Same problem like the bolters, but your ammo will also blow up when the fuel tank is pierced. No." I decided after a short cost-analysis equation. Again, good for Auxilia not my dear daughters. Although the Sisters of Battle did use flamethrowers in numbers, they had the protection of the Emperor. One of the Emperors, anyway.


    "Then we use a Melta weapon?" Athena asked in a hopeful voice.


    I sighed inward. Damn backward technology. Meltas had good damage but short range, which was exactly where my girls shouldn''t be. Why couldn''t the Imperium remember a particle weapon like that Necron Particle_Caster</a> ? The Federation did have them too. Oh well, maybe ask some Votann when I got back to trading. Perhaps a portable Neutron Laser like my Imperial Knights and heavy armor used now. But those guns were as large as the entire Centurion suit and the same for the Ion Cannons.


    "A combi-weapon maybe? Ion Beam and Melta gun. Better even, an Arc Rifle" Stefan proposed with a sneaky glance at my STC tablet. I didn''t have anything like that...not yet anyway.


    "The Thalax Lorica suits do use Arc Rifles, that''s true. But they also have support from the Cult Mechanicus for repairs and maintenance. The Centurions will be paired with the Astartes, thus...no. I''ll try to discover a combi-gun in my archive. Anything else?" I concluded with a sad voice.


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    "The counter-phase device?" Valerian asked with a raised eyebrow.


    I nodded and raised my arm to showcase the etheric detector. "Already solved. The etheric thingie can be adjusted to jam phasing in a short range. Might also block Warp teleports like a Geller Field. Possibly the same type of interference." I explained with a shrug.


    "Wow, that was fast...but then again. It is alien tech, right?" Stefan asked with a disgusted voice.


    "The Emperor and me agree that any tech in human hands is now human. It''s not like the metal counts as being alien, or the math is somehow different on different planets.


    However, there is another thing to worry about, and that is knowing your device cannot be subverted by some outsider. I am working on that, but for now we will use the devices we have and complain less." I ordered with a warning voice.


    Custode Valerian just chuckled lightly, while Stefan and his tech-marines brothers pounded their chests. "Compliance!"


    Bleh, I expected more from my sons, but their Mechanicus indoctrination showed greatly. Not ideal, sadly.


    I walked away and joined my wife for a meal and some husbandry in her bed. Much later, she traced a finger on my chest. "You should be dead long ago, Pef. You died in front of me, not so long ago. And yet, you''re young and healthy again."


    I sighed and tapped her shoulder tattoo. "You died too, my love. This is the Tree_of_Life</a> , is it not?" I answered in a mild voice.


    Her eyes glinted with worry for a second, then she rested on my chest. "Alaric had a plan, to save the Emperor by going to the Source at the center of the Warp. We both died instead."


    I figured it was something like that. "Trying to enter the Deep Warp, huh? Not even the 4 idiots dared that. Dark Gods or not, they would be tasty morsels for the entities that inhabit the deep."


    "There was someone there, calling themselves the Second Son. Looked like a man, but he wasn''t. Made of plants inside. He saved us...for old times sakes. And warned us about the Eleventh Son." Valyene whispered as tears flowed on my chest.


    "The two missing Primarchs? I think I know what became of Eleven. Goes by Malice now, with his Chaos Marines called the Sons of Malice</a>. Haven''t met any of those so far."


    I said in a careless voice.


    "Isn''t it strange? The old Astartes Legions went to 20, but two of them are not recorded anywhere. Vanished. You think the other Primachs know?" she asked in a lamenting voice.


    "Probably not. I guess I could ask a Shard of Nurgle, when I meet one next. You won''t mind if I do horrible things to the thing before I kill it, right?" I asked rhetorically.


    The Inquisitor laughed gently and climbed on top of me again. "You have the strangest ways to perk me up, Lancefire. Now let me ride the lance once more."


    Oh well. This was the good part of marriage. Soon, Joan will grow too big to allow us the pleasures and joy of firing the lance.

 Malice

    Three Blanks and three Grey Knights stood at opposite sides of the Golden Throne on Terra when Primarch Guilliman returned from his epic quest to obtain a Blackstone Fortress. It wouldn''t have been such an epic quest if the events of Days of Blindness didn''t coincide with the Rupture of the Galaxy and the formation of the Zone Mortalis.


    Patrocles had advance warning, but just like his father had said, the Starchild was being dramatic about his birth, even flooding Terra when the water broke and rain fell for 6 continuous years.


    The Primarch was escorted by his sister Teresa and a certain Eldar princess, equally hated and loved by those who knew what she did.


    "Emissary Yvraine! What brings you to my Terra?" The Emperor asked with a curious voice, even opening his eyes to observe the Eldar woman directly.


    The richly dressed Eldar looked around the room for a moment, then ignored the Grey Knights to focus on the Blanks instead. All Lancefires too, not by coincidence.


    "My Divine patron send his regards. I see His gift was well-used. Lady Justine, how are you?" Yvraine asked in a melodic voice, yet hiding a dozen subtle undertones. The Grey Knights tightened their Aegis aura in visible blue blurs, so the words were probably loaded with a psychic component as well, not that Blanks cared at all.


    "Still alive, so that''s all good. I would guess my son has also returned from his quest, and makes your Eldar pantheon wary...right?" Justine answered with a studied voice, also inflected with a strange tone, likely picked up in Eldar captivity. Patrocles never knew words could carry so many emotions until now.


    Yvraine shivered for a second, before resuming her cool demeanor. "Pef Lancefire is already engaging the Necrons inside the Soul-death Zone. Escorted by a pair of cursed C''tan as well. My Divine patron is worried a new War in Heaven may start next, if problems start on his side."


    Patrocles blinked at the news, then nodded. Of course, the Dark Emperor would send the newly returned army of Blanks to clear a path for the Imperial Webway. Who else could resist the soul death with such ease? Abominable Intelligences or Blanks, and none other. Well, the C''tan counted as both, and as none too.


    And Blacksouls were still not well-seen in the Imperium Sanctus now, not that they were well treated before. At least the Inquisition sent a report now, if and when a Blank died for the glory of the Emperor. The Blank numbers on this side were close to an extinction event, if the route to the other side remained closed for another 666 years.


    Well, other Blanks that were not of Lancefire bloodline at least. Father being a Prime Noble now helped a lot. And Purity having the ear of a God helped as well.


    The Emperor tapped a finger on the armrest of his glowing throne, then shook his head. "Pef Lancefire is not a problem, Emissary. He has always been the solution, if enticed properly."


    "Three more Craftworlds were raided by the Sons of Malice, Starchild. And we know who leads them, unlike your brainwashed followers." Yvraine spoke with a viperous voice, and even pointed at Primarch Guilliman for some reason.


    "Well, I''m back. Emperor, father, brother...what do I call you?" Roboute Guilliman asked the Emperor hosted inside the Vessel body of Primarch Magnus.


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    "Call me Sire, Roboute. The Imperium is still a monarchy type of government, and I am your liege. Did you choose to enter this side of the zone by your free will?" the Emperor asked in a different tone. Kinder, perhaps.


    "Well, that other Emperor kept calling me a traitor. I was paralyzed with chaos poison in my veins for 10000 years, not taking a vacation!" Roboute explained in a simple tone.


    "Hmmm. True, but not the whole truth. Anyway, once the Transwarp Duct is complete, you may return to Ultramar if you wish. Or stay and help me protect humanity on this side." The Emperor said in a compassionate voice. Patrocles had learned to ignore that tone, since it promised violence and bloodshed when obeyed.


    "Sire, what is the deal with these Sons of Malice? Yvraine thinks I know them, but I don''t." Roboute asked with an irate voice.


    "You did know, but the information was deleted from your mind. By your own request too." the Emperor said with a glance at Yvraine.


    Roboute frowned for a minute, then sighed. "Nothing comes to mind. Not even potential individuals, which is unlikely for me. I like to plan things ahead."


    The Emperor''s eyes glowed for a second, and he spoke with reality-shaking words. "Remember, remember the number eleven."


    Patrocles realized the same second what happened and deleted the audio track recording from his implant. Enuncia</a> was a potent form of language that warped reality itself, regardless of causality and other laws of nature. Machines had the tendency to explode when parsing that language in any form.


    "My eleventh brother, the Primarch of the XI Legion...what an idiot!" Roboute exclaimed as his lost memories returned.


    "Yes, calls himself Malice or the Lost now. And loves number eleven for some strange reason. Also has a minor domain in the Warp, malice and anarchy. Quite the rebel teenager, I would say." The Emperor continued with an easy chuckle.


    Patrocles exchanged a glance with his sister, who nodded. This would be a Lancefire affair again. It was obviously an Eldar plot, using their Blank gift to get rid of another competitor in the Great Game. The Eldar never changed, no matter what they claimed.


    Roboute didn''t laugh, though, mulling over things in intense silence. I guess quite a few memories returned with the Enouncement.


    "Anyway, Emisarry of Ynnead. If you''re here to plead for Lord Lancefire''s help, you came to the wrong court. The man might be even upset with me for revoking his Warmaster title. Human politics, nothing wrong about his abilities, to be fair." the Emperor continued in non-enhanced words.


    "Yes, humanity is rolling downwards towards destruction without needing our help. But this Malice of yours can become a real threat to all life, just like our excessive teenager was. He will be able to manifest in realspace soon, once their blood games are finished. We have five Craftworlds preparing to face him, but I know it will not be enough. We need your Warhammer." Yvraine demanded in a not-too-polite voice.


    Patrocles fist-bumped his sister for a well-timed prediction. It has been too long since he met father anyway. These last 666 years in the company of religious fanatics were a bit strenuous, even for a Tech-marine.

 Its a trap!

    <div>


    <div>


    Ixas</a> .


    Some of their cogitators still transmitted data, but it was mostly static nonsense. The human noosphere was intrinsically linked with nerves and neurons of human origin, mostly as to avoid the Mechanicus proscription of AI. On the other hand, a single Knight suit from House_Krast</a> was fine, although the pilot was long dead. Probably guarding the mine against raiders and pirates, when the soul-death happened.


    Once I retrieved the abandoned walker, I could have my knight pilots and tech-marines data-mine the cogitator and interrogate the Machine Spirit about the condition on the ground. Thanks for the gift! It was only a Knight Helverin pattern, the smaller kind, called Hate''s Requiem. Also armed with arm autocannons and a carapace Melta gun.


    Slowly, the history of the place revealed as the Knight''s Machine Spirit decanted its secrets, with the Knight itself eager to jump into the fight right away. I wasn''t a red-hot bloody Imperial though, so we will not. Not until I had all the knowledge of these enemies.


    ''The Necrons are constructing a strange installation on this planet called IX-331, a circular bore lined with blackstone pyramids.'' I told the C''tan who just nodded like a wise wolf.


    ''It''s a Dolmen Gate, meant to breach your Imperial Webway and pour their troops inside. I say we let them finish, and take it from them after. It is quite difficult and expensive to build an interface port, even for a Necron Dynasty.'' Zath said, with a sneaky plan in mind.


    ''Hmmm. Their fleet will be lacking troops to prevent our boarders if they all jump into the Webway. And after we take the fleet, we can strike their army from behind, while they are engaged with the Imperials. Clever!'' I noted with a wide grin.


    ''Even better. The resurrection protocols will not work if the Necron troops are stuck inside the Webway, away from their resurrection hubs. Although we should still blow up the resurrection forges just to be safe.'' Lash added with a giant grin.


    That was indeed good news. It was likely my luck striking again, catching the enemy with their pants down, not that these Necron robots even wore pants. So uncivilized!


    Even the Knights and Titans of humanity wore sacred tabards hanging from their waist.


    We had time to prepare, and allocate the boarding Astartes per ship size, while my C''tan friends provided expected schematics of those ships, as well as critical points to target like energy conduits, reactor power sources, and the important resurrection forges too.


    So we conducted a hundred training exercises on mock-up and captured Necron ships, although without real Necrons to shoot at.


    While my family trained, I managed to finish the damned combi-gun for the Centurions, and replaced the remaining multi-lasers with tungsten autocannons for the Blank Auxilia. Even the new Helverin Knight got upgraded and joined the ranks of my Lancefire House, keeping one autocannon and gaining a twin-Ion Beam on the right arm.


    Then we waited for the Necrons to step inside the trap, all eager for a good fight.


    The plan also worked flawlessly, until it didn''t. These Necrons were much smarter than the demented genocidal maniacs I was used to, and they also had access to C''tan Shards and tesseracts. Because of course they did. I got my own ones from the Necrons too.


    If I was a normal human, things would have gone badly.


    "It''s a trap!" Laur yelled as the walls fell from the corridor of the Tomb Ship, the Necron battleship type, and a million soulless robots opened fire from both sides.


    I drew a deep Breath, and the star of IX-331 dimmed for a microsecond. Time flicked back a single minute, returning my troops on board the fleet, while the energy build up from the star enveloped the Necron Fleet and the poor magma planet as well. It wouldn''t get more flowing rock and metal on the planet much, but for the Necrons it was a disaster still.


    The Dolmen Gate was clogged with molten rock, trapping a large portion of the Necron army on the other side of the dimension gate. Then our Blackstone Forts began to fire their weapon batteries and Nova Cannons, a thousand Nova Shells blasting the Necron fleet and eliminating the smaller escorts and light cruisers directly.


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    Sadly, the heavy cruisers and battleships of the Necrons still remained, a bit scorched but otherwise functional and ready to kill us all.


    Only a hundred such big ships though, after 3000 of their lighter ships exploded into chunks of blackstone and necrodermis.


    I could deal with this fleet even without cheating now, but I was a bit angry at getting tricked.


    ''There are 14 Necron Dynasties here. I wonder how they managed to gather without killing each other.'' Zath observed in a curious tone, just as several C''tan Shards bound with living stone chains emerged from the larger Tomb Ships.


    Oh well. Time for plan B.


    Our Immaterium beams began to fire on the C''tan Shards, while Zath and Lash were indexing names and allegiances for later. Maybe we could salvage the disaster somehow if we could liberate a few friendly Shards. But if not, even a dead enemy was a good deal.


    Noosphere markers appeared on my implant, red, yellow and blue as to reflect target priority for our soul-killing beams.


    Then, as our beams focused fired three red-marked targets, Zath and Lash jumped outside to provide compliance incentives to the yellow targets.


    I sighed inward and jumped outside the ship too, then skipped through my space fold ability near a green-colored Shard with tentacle flails, and drew out Drach. This was the last red mark, and my own choice to consume.


    ''Eat him!'' I commanded the daemon lance, and the thing lit up with red runes and elongated into a flaming lance to impale the Deceiver C''tan Shard.


    I felt the daemon drain the Shard, and its own pain from the manifestation inside the Zone Mortalis, but I was willing to let it endure the pain without worry.


    It was only growth pains, after all.


    ''Go free the blue targets already!'' I heard Lash inside my mind, as the two blue-marked Shards were resisting the Necron Yoke with their last strength.


    Two boarding groups from the Space Pirates and the Astral Pirates Chapters displaced near the Tesseract vaults holding the C''tan prisoner, with a few Centurions and Armed Sentinels from the Auxilia to act as cover units.


    It took a long minute for the Deceiver Shard to die and get consumed by the lance daemon, but in this time another yellow-mark shifted to blue as Zath convinced him to join.


    Another boarding action to liberate the now-friendly Shard, the Void Pirates this time, while Zath and Lash each blocked two more yellow targets from reaching my fleet.


    So I moved next to Lash, and held out Drach Lancefire like a menacing club. "Freedom or get eaten by the Lancefire. Choose fast!"


    The bound C''tan glared at me with hate for a second, before letting its shoulders slump and turned blue, while his scythe vanished inside the folds of his necrodermis robes.


    The Nightreaper was a proud sort of C''tan, but he could see the writing on the wall too.


    I sent Laur and Athena to rescue the important Shard, while Zath''s target turned blue just as I looked at it. I did carry a long club though, so it wasn''t a peaceful conversion.


    ''Eat all! Grow!'' the daemon yelled just as I stored it back into its coffin.


    One by one, the blue-marked C''tans appeared in battle formation beside my C''tan wolves, now free and eager for revenge.


    "Go have your revenge then." I allowed them with a nod at the Necron fleet.


    Served cold, but a gentleman could wait 60 million years for their revenge.


    <div>


    Sadly, only four Tesseract Vaults were recovered intact in the engagement, only those housing red-marked thus undesirable C''tan marked for death by their own brethren.


    The rest were blown up to allow the friendlier C''tan to escape and help in the battle, and the following massacre.


    I walked behind the revengeful Shards, while my wife joined me in her phased form to observe stuff for her Ordo Xenos and the Emperor himself. Sometimes we got weird glances from the Shards, myself even more than my half-real wife.


    I guess there wasn''t every day a human helped a C''tan prison break on this scale. Or at all, to be fair.


    </article>

 Summon

    The fleet battle had just ended, and the ground war was next to begin.


    Titans, Knights and heavy tanks were to insert first, and clear a beachhead for the armored infantry to follow inside the Imperial Webway.


    Last checks and renewal of the holy purity sigils, as well as the Rites of Sacred Maintenance for the Godwalkers were taking place now, when Pef''s dimensional sight caught a ship under inverted void cloak approach, from the side of the Imperium Sanctus no less.


    A minute later, I recognized my own family aboard the cloaked Strike Cruiser, a Company of Red Talons Blank Astartes based out of Port Stanley on Terra, plus his mother, Justine. Quite a heavy-handed message from the Starchild. ''See, I am the one to return your mother to you, alive and well.''


    "We have incoming. Under cloak." I spoke out loud to let the command bridge know he wasn''t hallucinating.


    The pack of new wolves all glanced at him with hungry eyes. Then again, the C''tan were as hungry as his Daemon lance. Always hungry.


    ''Not a danger, I would say.'' the Blade discerned, likely by reading his metabolic state.


    ''My mother.'' I answered in a flat voice.


    ''Also a Blank. Quite a safe option for a Divine Emissary.'' the AI noted with a sarcastic tone.


    An Emissary...the AI was always smarter than expected. I eyed the C''tan wolves, and realized they were probably smarter than his AI.


    They weren''t hungry for the few souls on the ship, but for whatever target the new Emissary was likely to send him to kill.


    "Zath, with me. The rest of the wolf pack, you may begin the assault on the Necrons below." I ordered, and stepped into the tesseract, to relocate on the Cruiser.


    "Commander Lancefire!" the ship''s Captain exclaimed as he appeared on his bridge.


    "So, the Mortalis Crusade is acknowledged as such on the saintly side?" I asked curious, as Zath landed soundlessly at his side.


    Justine rose from her chair and walked forward, wary but brave. "The Emperor is aware, Pef. They share the same soulspace, after all." she explained in a small voice.


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    I sighed and went to hug my reborn mother. "I''m sorry you went through all of this, mother. But being dead would be worse."


    "You''re so tall now, my son. Matching the Firstborn Astartes, right?" she noted with mild humor.


    "This is my friend, called Zath. He is very strong." I introduced the C''tan wolf while observing the new Blanks wearing the Red Talon armor. Grand-grand children, most likely. 600 years was time enough for 20 generations to pass.


    "Sire, is this a Fenrisian Wolf?" the Astartes Captain asked in a weird voice.


    I shook my head. "There are no wolves on Fenris, Captain. There are only Space Wolves, of different types." The wolves were not just smart like a human, but humans mutated by their Canis Helix genes into looking like real wolves.


    Zath walked to a free console and began reading the ship''s logs, even waving through holopages like a human would.


    Justine glanced at the wolf for a second, then decided to ignore it. Canis was much the same, after all.


    "The Emperor has a request, son." Justine began saying, just as the phased shape of Inquisitor Valyene appeared on the same bridge.


    I nodded to his wife, and smiled with a sad grimace. "Who is it, the Emperor wants me to kill this time?"


    Justine blinked, then waved her hand through the holographic form of the Inquisitor, before sighing. "Truly, the Inquisition holds too many secrets. I heard only Blanks could withstand the Zone Mortalis."


    "She cannot say, with non-cleared personnel in range, my Lord. You may turn back now, Red Talons. Your package has been delivered in good health." Lady Valyene ordered with a flash of her half-real Rosette, then the away team jumped back inside the tesseract to receive the target''s specifics in person.


    Zath also arrived, then tilted his head in a wolf stance. "I''m going inside the Webway then, or the fun will end without me." he spoke out loud, then vanished.


    I nodded and deployed the Crusade army as well, starting with the big Castigator Titans.


    "It seems there has been another Primarch that went bad, the one leading the Eleventh Legion." Justine began with a flat voice, only for me and my wife to burst in laughter at the news.


    "Am I that lucky?" I asked in between fits of laughter, while Lady Valyene smacked his back like it was the best joke of the millennium.


    "I don''t see how this could be funny, Pef! This Malice creature is close to manifesting in realspace soon!" Justine argued in outrage, making me shed tears while laughing even harder.


    "Oh no! In realspace!" Lady Valyene added in fake outrage and choked on her laughter fits.


    "You knew? I see..." Justine realized just as her dear son produced a bottle of expensive Amasec to celebrate.


    I gulped my glass, then poured another. "No wonder the wolves were so hungry. Poor metal robots make for a scant meal after all. Chaos Space Marines on the other hand..."


    "Not to mention a weak Dark God or whatever Malice has become. Zath must have promised the new ones a feast worthy of gods." the Inquisitor spoke in an Ordo Xenos tone.


    "Yes, and I shall deliver it. So, why now, mother? Malice has been around for millennia." I asked more to the point.


    "That double-faced Yvraine showed up on Terra on Roboute''s Fort. With prophecies of doom and whatnot." Justine answered after drinking her second glass.


    "Teresa?" our hero asked instead. Yes, I still cared about my family, even those who fucked up.


    "Your daughter is fine. But if you wanted her safe, you wouldn''t have sent her away." Justine answered with slight reproach.


    My shoulders slumped. "There is no safety in this universe, mother. You may be erased with a word by a God, or torn in two by a daemon or a Necron just the same. All I hoped to achieve was stop the church pyres burning our kind just for existing."


    "... It isn''t much better on the Sanctus side these days. There are pyres burning for decades on some planets, in the madness of pure Faith. I would guess they ran out of genestealers and cultists centuries ago." Justine whispered in a heavy voice.


    "What exactly did Yvraine say?" Lady Valyene demanded in a curt voice.


    Justine nodded. "She said the Sons of Malice are conducting raids on Craftworlds, and conducting some blood games that will soon allow Malice to manifest. But there must be more. Five Craftworlds are deployed and considered insufficient."


    "I see. The remaining Chaos Marines must be gathering around the last Chaos God. The 13th Black Crusade." I deduced with my special knowledge.


    "Could be pretty bad. The God-Emperor wouldn''t summon you otherwise." the Inquisitor noted in a stern voice.


    "I guess it will be pretty bad. At least it''s not the Skaven..." I mused in a far-away voice. The rats did win in the first Warhammer.

 Warning

    The Webway is a fragile place. Perhaps an understatement, but true even so. And while the Old Ones''s Webway was fragile but resilient due to multiple redundancies and the sheer power of the Old Gods, the Imperial Webway was not. It was a simple Warp-insulated tube about 10 kms in diameter, with a reinforced pavement for tracked vehicles and the like. There were even railways laid out in places, most of them already broken by the Titans and heavy tanks rolling over them.


    It would take a train maybe a month to traverse the tube from the middle point to either side, but compared to regular Voidships flying through space or the Warp, it was possibly 100 times faster. And far less deadly to those not Blanks. Which was the main point here.


    Luckily, the Castigator Titans were stepping on anti-grav fields, not directly on the pavement, but the Warlord Titans and the heavy tanks still made a mess. The Knights and Dreadnoughts were much lighter in comparison, while the new anti-grav vehicles like the Astareus and the Repulsor also floated on anti-grav fields.


    It helped a little that the Baneblade successors had been upgraded to atomantic reactors and energy weapons, as well as 20 cms of adamantium and blackstone protection instead of a meter of plasteel and ceramite. Still heavy at 200 tons, it was more manageable than the original Baneblade at 320 tons.


    The Titans also used Tiamat carapace plates instead of the heavier ceramite, reducing their own mass by a third, without considering the lack of cannon shells or missiles. Pef didn''t like consumable munitions, even without considering the difficulties of reloading 300 shells massing 1 ton each on top of a Titan. Yes, a walking behemoth firing 15 inch shells like a mini-gun was awesome, but impractical.


    I summoned the clay golem to stand on its shoulder and observe the battlefield from above. Beams and explosions filled the air, as was the return fire from the Necrons and especially their big war constructs. Monoliths and large spider-like tanks strained the Void Shields of the forward Titans, while millions of Necron Warriors and Immortals blew up to small bits of necrodermis all around them.


    Bianca took her Red Hot Castigator at a huge speed forward, likely trying to enfilade the entire Necron army by herself. Then again, there wasn''t enough space for three such giant Titans to fire at once without getting in the way of each other. The Webway was quite small for such behemoths.


    A few hours later, the battlefield constricted enough that Pef could see the other battlefront, Bianca''s Castigator joined by the Omnissiah''s Judgement Castigator piloted by Janice herself. And a whole Titan Legion from Mars, like ants around her feet.


    "All troops, stop advancing. We''re now in friendly fire range from the other side." I commanded on the Sounding Board, thus directly into the minds of all those of the Lancefire bloodline, and those closer friends and allies than were recognized via empathy links.


    The C''tan wolves returned with a prize in their jaws, a Necron Lord each. ''They wanted to detonate and breach the Webway before they died.'' Lash warned him and poked a Necron device like a metal globe with a grinning skull on top. Very cheerful looking.


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    ''Oh? Dangerous?'' I asked with mild curiosity.


    ''The D-Nexus Bomb? Not to you or us, but the small people would all die. Maybe the big Titans would survive too, if you want to test it now.'' Lash proposed with a careless voice.


    I shook my head and collected the loot, for later. Including the various inventory carried by the Necron leaders. I already had an arsenal of Necron weapons and devices from the captured Necron fleet, but every Lord carried some unique item as a sign of pride or wealth.


    Like this D-Nexus thing. Possibly a remnant from the War in Heavens. The galaxy was still riddled with shattered-space zones and gas nebulas from that war.


    Two more portable tesseracts and another Nexus cube were also found among the loot. Decisions, decisions.


    Justine should get the cube, and hopefully learn to use it like Valyene. She had suffered greatly until now, time to give her an easier life. Safer anyway.


    One tesseract for Laur, to keep the Lamenters safe in his absence. The last one...yeah. The tithe will not be cheap.


    Janice advanced her Titan to stand cockpit front to his clay golem. "Daddy, you always cause such trouble!" she yelled as her cockpit opened.


    "What do you mean, Janice? I observed the Necron incursion into the Webway and struck them from behind. And now they''re all dead." I answered with an easy voice. Telling the truth as well, of course.


    His daughter''s eyes glowed bright gold for a second. "There is a breach into the Zone Mortalis now, right in the middle of the Imperial Webway. A Dolmen Gate even!"


    "Which is great for the Blank colonization in the future. The Gate will be a commercial hub between the two Imperiums, where all the minerals and crops from the Zone can be collected and sold." I answered in a collected voice.


    Janice frowned for a minute, thinking deeply. "I see. Always the Rogue Trader, even in your situation. The Emperor will likely approve. He always favors expanding humanity''s reach, after all."


    I waved my hand grandly, and stored all my armies inside the tesseract space. "I guess you met Justine already?" I asked in a sterner voice, as my mother glared at Janice.


    "I was the one to sedate her. The Emperor preferred live surgery." Janice spoke in a lower tone. A hint of guilt lingered in her voice.


    "The Lancefire League and my Domain in the Fringe already matches the Imperium in star numbers. It is not a good idea to torture my family. I might not help next time." I said in a gentle voice, then turned my clay golem around and walked away.


    Janice stared after her father for a long time. Not a good time to ask for a tithe, for sure. Nor will the Emperor appreciate the tone. But that was another story.


    She had warned the Emperor many times. Father didn''t even need to take action. It was enough if he refused to act, and let the Imperium crumble.

 Insult

    My Crusade Fleet met with Roboute''s Plus Ultra Blackstone Fort at Forge Voss, and a giant pile of Ultramarines and successors chapters, most of them already transitioned into Primaris Marines.


    It was obvious I would need to upgrade the thing to Lancefire standards, but for now there was diplomacy to conduct. As in real diplomacy with non-human entities, such as the Emissary of Ynnead and her tall Fuegan</a> escort, a Phoenix Lord with a fetish for lances and fire and the founder of the Fire Dragons</a> Aspect Warriors</a>. We could be good friends, perhaps.


    I also had a bunch of C''tan wolves with me, not that the Eldar were fooled by the canine disguise.


    "Those are not real wolves, Pef Lancefire." Yvraine noted with a hint of sarcasm.


    "I assure you, my wolves are voracious eaters, every single one of them." I answered with a shrug, and went to shake hands with the big Primarch.


    I think the normal protocol said something about saluting and maybe taking a knee, but my knees weren''t feeling like it. "Did you hear, Roboute? My Warmaster rank was revoked." I said with fake outrage.


    "Stop the theater, Lancefire. You weren''t happy about that nomination anyway." the good Primarch answered with a deep voice.


    "Exactly! My bleeding heart trembled with excitement for an entire week, and then it was all for nothing. Killed the stupid slime God, and got kicked out after. I feel so used." I continued in a commiserating voice, and thumbed the bleeding heart sigil on my armor.


    "I think your Solitaire harlequin had a bad influence on Lord Lancefire. He used to be less flippant." Roboute excused me in front of his important guests.


    "You know of Malice, Pef Lancefire?" Yvraine asked me directly.


    "I was in-between lives when that Primarch got lost. And the Inquisition made sure all records were lost, too." I answered with faint humor.


    "His name was Malibron, before his fall. Too bad you weren''t born yet, during the Rangdan_Xenocides</a> , Commander Lancefire. Maybe things would have gone, less bad, at least." Roboute sighed and patted my shoulder, while ignoring the C''tan wolves on principle.


    Why would he tell me this? I thought for a minute, then figured it out. It was showtime.


    "So, Phoenix Lord Fuegan, was it? Want to spar for a minute?" I asked the glaring Eldar. We could have been friends, in another world.


    The Eldar not-Primarch leaned forward with a flaming lance in hand, so I drew Drach too. ''Try to look evil, Drach! Bigger flames!'' I urged the daemon lance as I took a jousting stance too. My lance was longer and had auto-aim anyway. I wasn''t worried at all.


    "Even the Divine Ynnead cannot bring you back if that thing hits you, Lord Fuegan. Don''t waste your immortal soul for pride." Yvraine told her escort in a wary voice.


    The Phoenix Lord measured my awesome demon lance for second, then drew back. "Quite the menagerie today. Yngir wolves, upstart Mon Kheighs and even a foul daemon, all tamed by the Blacksoul." he spat back, as to cover his lack of courage.


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    Hah, he blinked first!


    Lash waited until I stored the lance and walked next to me, so I could rest my hand on his head. Then again, the Eldar managed to insult everyone just now.


    "You''re right, Lash. Maybe we don''t need to waste time helping the ingrates. Hunting Necrons is much more rewarding." I answered out loud, as if the C''tan urged me to leave.


    Yvraine''s eyes flashed with some kind of emotion I didn''t get. "Your Emperor assured me you will participate in this Black Crusade, Lord Lancefire. Even sent your mother, alive and well..." she began as my face changed to pure anger.


    Don''t shoot the messenger, this time. Divert!


    I turned towards Roboute and looked up. "I didn''t hear an objective, Primarch. The rest of the fallen Primarchs I collected alive for future review, and potential redemption. What is to happen with this Malice?"


    The Primarch scowled and nodded slowly. "And I thank you for that, Lord Lancefire. I know killing is far easier than capture, especially with a dangerous Primarch. But for Malice, the Emperor has granted him Mercy. The eternal kind." That meant put him down, for good. Not that easy with Chaos Gods, but it could be done. Had done.


    "And what about the Chaos Marines we will encounter?" I continued with a gentle voice.


    The Primarch just shook his head. "Unless I mark someone for interrogation, they all are to be laid to rest. Any means necessary." he invoked with a glance at my wolves. Even soul death, or especially that. People didn''t get reborn from a C''tan''s stomach. Such a compassionate Emperor we had.


    "The Lion will not be happy." I noted with a raised eyebrow. The Dark Angels even had a new Wing called the Risen, former Chaos Marines that rejoined Lion''El.


    "I''ll try to mark any such Fallen for extraction, but don''t endanger the mission for that. Those who follow Malice have signed their souls for oblivion." Roboute answered with a sad tone.


    ''Upgrade the fort and head for Cadia.'' the Blade advised me in my mind, sounding a bit hurried. Something was happening already.


    ''Zath, we are in a hurry, it seems. Help me with the Blackstone plates'' I asked the stronger C''tan, since his true form was Transcendant, thus at least 100 times stronger than the other Shards here.


    Time stood still for a second, then returned as Plus Ultra became a proper battlestation. He even installed new Gellar Ramparts on the Ultramarines'' fort! Truly, the C''tan were such bullshit.


    ''I don''t want you to faint again, not in front of the Eldar, Lancefire. Your Ascension has barely begun, and you aren''t yet a True God. But the Eldar insult will be paid back, after we part ways.'' Zath told me in a gruff tone.


    "Your Blackstone Fortress is now prepared for combat, Primarch. We make for Cadia." I informed Roboute and traversed the tesseract to return to my flagship, and sent orders to begin acceleration.


    As I sat in my Command Throne, time-bottled messages arrived from Terra and the Votann League, one sourced from psyker premonition and the other from time flux reading or whatever science trick the Votann used.


    A new Dark God was coming out to play, already attacking the world of Scelus</a>, in the Cadian</a> Sector. Poor Cadians, it seemed their woes were not finished.

 Principle

    <div>


    <div>


    The wolves seemed content to lay about in half-sleep states, only Zath seeming quite amused at my frustration.


    "Is there something on my face?" I asked out loud and froze the hologram of the Macharius FTL engine.


    "It doesn''t matter where on the curve you drop the ball, it will reach the destination at the same time. It is why is called a tautocrone curve." the C''tan answered with a toothy smile.


    ''The C''tan is right, Captain. If the ball drops higher, it gathers more speed and reaches the end at the same time with the ball dropped lower. It is the same principle used in Warp Drives, except there the ball falls though billions of layers of Immaterium.'' The Blade spoke in my mind, calming me to know at least someone understood something about the damned engines. Calling it bullshit felt better, though.


    I wasn''t stupid, but the math just didn''t work. "If it was so, the mass of the ship shouldn''t matter either. Even a corvette could use the Macharius Drive." I countered with a sad voice.


    "And it could, if your quality control was good enough. The same works for the duplication method used in the Ymga_Monolith</a> . You can cut an object into small bits and get one extra when you reassemble it. Just like you did, with Vulkan." Zath added with a wolfish snort, then closed his eyes to fake sleep again.


    ''Blade? Is that possible...like on industrial scale?'' I asked with no ulterior reason. Duplicating my ships and other treasures might be handy, one day.


    The AI''s hologram glowed for a second. ''There are some clues in the old files of a Banach-Tarski''s theorem, and later experiments in the Federation that burned out a sun. I think they concluded the energy for such a feat was too large, even if draining a blue giant star. Obviously, it can be done...by Necrons.''


    The Federation might have failed, but the C''tan didn''t point me to that Eastern Fringe monolith for no reason. I even had a clue where the Necrons got the energy to duplicate stuff, by draining a C''tan, most likely.


    I turned to find seven wolves peeking at me with half-closed eyes. "Got it. We''ll go release your captured brothers from the Ymga Monolith. When I return to the Fringe."


    I said with a thin smile. Was I so easy to be used? Was it my bleeding heart, urging me to stop the suffering of sentient people?


    Lash opened one eye fully to stare at me. "The path of understanding is paved with suffering, Pef Lancefire. Your Emperor understood that in the end, and so will you."


    While not as mystical and occluded like the Eldar, the C''tan still masked their intentions behind veils of difficult concepts. Or perhaps it was the divine aspect which made it harder to communicate with lesser beings. The C''tan weren''t called Star Gods for no reason. Their Phase Blades, the etheric detectors and other such artifacts were not just tech, but divine artifacts imbued with their essence.


    Anyway, nothing I could do about quality control, since only a few Forge Worlds could even make cruiser-size engines. Forge World Voss was the latest of them, since my recent visit and upgrade to their facilities and defenses. But stopping for a week at every Forge World in my path wasn''t feasible, although I should make the stop at Krieg to recruit more Krieg regiments. Holding the ground would be needed, even if expensive in lives. Or clones in Krieg''s case.


    "Fleet wide, continue towards Cadia. The Singularity will catch up after we stop at Krieg." I sent directly to all Crusade fleet.


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    We did have Primarch Guilliman with us, so I wasn''t worried about logistics now. The man was quite renowned for his abilities.


    ''Be safe, father!'' Laur sent me a heart-warming message.


    ''Lash, you follow the Crusade and keep one eye open. On the Eldar, I mean.'' I asked of the most trust-worthy Shard here. Since his main body was locked tight inside the Pharos, Lash didn''t have the privilege of flying off whenever he felt like. Lash just nodded and vanished without a word.


    ''Increasing motive power. ETA to Krieg, 2.2 hours.'' Zath warned me as he phased inside the engine to make it go faster. Like 1000 times faster. Damn bullshit and balls falling at same speed. The C''tan cheated!


    I kinda understood now why the Webway curved like it did, not because of gravity wells like I first guessed. There was a simple but deep principle at work, sometimes called the principle of least action. The fastest path to another place was never a straight line, and especially not if you shifted mediums, like from the void of space to the Warp and multiple dimensions in-between.


    One thing about this changing universe that never changes. There is only war.


    The world of Krieg was under attack as we approached, so possibly Zath had a good reason to speed our travel. The usual suspects as well, Orks drawn to a ''propa fight'' with a planet where everything was geared for war, and soldiers were endless as they jumped from cloning crucibles directly into the Munitorum depots to get equipped and march to war.


    ''Eat only the vegetables, and leave the metal for me.'' I asked the wolves as they grinned with hungry eyes.


    Those six Space Hulks filled with Orks and squigs and grots and other Ork critters they carried around as an ecosystem might not sate the C''tan, but it would make them a bit healthier and certainly stronger. They were kinda starved, the poor Shards, after their prolonged imprisonment inside the Tesseract Vaults.


    Also, my Crusade Fleet and army were not with me, so I kinda depended on my allies to fix the problem and allow Krieg to release their troops to my service.


    I did have 3 million Thalax suits in my tesseract though, and they also needed some live fire practice as to not get rusty. Not proper Space Marines, but basically the same power armor and weapons like the old Astartes Legions. And same numbers as 20 of those Legions. Perhaps I was too cautious. My back-up forces matched the Great Crusade in numbers.


    Lady Valyene sat beside me with her large belly ready to pop soon. "Commander Lancefire, you have the strangest luck I have ever seen." she noted with mocking sarcasm, unimpressed by the giant Ork Armada and their thousands of rusty warships.


    I just glanced behind her, where Alaric and Semnai were looking ready to pop too, eager for battle. "You guys want to join my Thalax Legions and board the Ork ships?" I asked with a kind voice.


    "Can we, Inquisitor?" Semnai asked in a not-quite-begging tone.


    The Inquisitor turned to look at me, then at Custode Valerian guarding my back. "I guess I''ll be safe enough here, Deathwatch marines. Go play with the greenskins for a change." she allowed with a gentle head shake.


    The Custodes remained silent, like he always did unless spoken to. I''m sure he could give great advice, but I wasn''t using conventional methods for inserting or withdrawing troops anyway. How I yearned for a teleporter in my youth, to make boarding pirate ships less costly. Now I could displace millions of troops inside thousands of ships with my will alone. And I did.


    </article>

 Auxiliary troops

    I could say I was disappointed with the Imperium, and their waste of opportunity. I thought my intervention in the Rust_Fields_War</a> would allow Forge Graia to mine out the place and become stronger. But they likely never finished the Orks, allowing them to germinate more spores and call out reinforcements from distant Ork clans, leading to this new Green Kroosade and hundreds of Ork Bosses gathering at Krieg.


    Then again, it''s been almost 700 years since my last visit, and Orks multiply fast, like fungi.


    Zath finished his Space Hulk vegetable bowl first, and returned to the Singularity''s bridge licking his snout. ''I''m such a good brother, I even left the other metal hulks untouched for them. What will you do on the planet?'' he asked inside my mind.


    I did have the Void Spinner virus available, but lacked psykers to use it properly, and Lady Valyene was kinda indisposed right now with her pregnancy. Then again, maybe the Kriegers will want a respawning Ork army to train their troops in perpetuity. I should ask.


    Also, I should collect more Orks for the Xeno Auxilia, since the next goal was fighting Chaos forces.


    "Glad you asked, Zath. I guess I should replenish the Ork Auxilia numbers, with the greenskins already present on the ground." I answered out-loud, mostly to let my wife know what was going to happen.


    In a minute, the massive Ork Waaagh on Krieg was collected and stored in my newest tesseract, then I walked inside the tesseract to implant the Ork Bosses with scarab-shackles, as to more easily direct them on a specific target instead of rampaging randomly.


    Then I grabbed Custode Valerian and went to visit the Krieg''s HQ, a battered bunker filled with gas-masked staff officers and dozens of Commissars that kept them from launching human wave attacks too often. Quite the opposite task a Commissar usually had.


    "By the Emperor! A real Custodian!" the main Krieg General exclaimed in fervor as we were noticed.


    I just took out my Mortalis Crusade scroll and rolled it down the table. The man titled his head at the lack of gun fire, and recognized me from old descriptions.


    "Lord Lancefire? We thought you were long dead...hundreds of years ago." A Krieg Colonel with some ancient history background asked in surprise.


    "Rumors of my demise were greatly exaggerated. I was just stuck in the Warp, nothing more." I answered with a shrug. Mostly truth, too.


    The nearest Commissar read the Crusade orders first, then passed the scroll to the General. "The orders are authentic, General. Signed by the Emperor Himself. Although his Holy Custode here is the best proof we could ask."


    "My Crusade Fleet is heading for Cadia, where the Sons of Malice traitors are gathering for another Black Crusade. I will need to requisition 4000 Krieg Regiments to secure the planets around Cadia." I spoke in a gentle voice.


    The General glanced at the Custode, then at the situation map holoscreen, showing my lone battleship in orbit. "Even with a Glorianna-class battleship, so many Guardsmen and their equipment will not fit, my Lord." he noticed with a small voice. Pretty sure I could fit a million regiments in my tesseracts, but let''s not shatter the illusion yet.


    "Don''t worry about that, General. The Emperor provides." the Custode spoke in a grave voice, solving the issue without much explanation.


    A coven of Graia Tech-priests ran inside the room next. "By the Omnissiah! It''s the Holy Emissary, alive and well! And a Sacred Custodian from Holy Mars itself?"


    I sighed inward. More religious fanaticism. Well, except this time it was useful.


    "Well met, Magos. Now let''s go see those clone crucibles and speed up the Guardsmen decanting. I can''t stay too long." I concluded while displacing the Crusade scroll back in my hand. Likewise, I wasn''t very happy with the Emperor''s treatment of my mother, but I did accept he provided quite a substantial help with this Crusade orders and his Custodian''s support.


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    The tech-priests were very curious about things on the other side of the Zone, and especially how Mars managed. "I''ve only been on Mars for three weeks, before being sent on the new Mortalis Crusade. Custode Valerian can answer all you need, since he''s been there for hundreds of years." I passed the buck onwards, so I could focus on the task at hand.


    Like making 4 billion Krieg clones, and equipping them for war from the Adeptus Munitorum''s vast depots here. Since the Kriegers were still Imperial Guard regiments, their equipment was quite lacking, mostly shovels, gas masks and Lucius-pattern lasguns. Which was still better than the regular Imperial Guard''s line infantry regiments, that lacked shovels and gas masks.


    My mind calculated the regiment''s stats, finding them good enough on entrenchment, defense and soft attack, but lacking hard attack, piercing and breakthrough modifiers. Oh well. I could provide krak grenades and some Tarantula turrets to beef their stats once en route. No need for artillery, since these units will not need to assault cities, just defend.


    I drew a short Breath to speed up time for my work, and released the solar heat onto the empty Space Hulks, melting them into hot balls of metal. I guess I could even drop these balls onto someone, and test the C''tan theory of balls reaching the target at the same time.


    No, it was not Spaceballs! Go away, stupid ideas.


    By the next week, I concluded my visit to Krieg and even left them one giant metal ball to mine metal from, while I also collected the Ork ships and 5 more metal balls for a science test. It probably wouldn''t bother Malice too much, even if I dropped them on his head, but I had to try.


    The wolves were purring in satisfaction as we chased after the Crusade Fleet, and Lady Valyene burst open to give birth to another special daughter. Sergeant Semnai seemed quite mesmerized by the little girl, but he wasn''t the only one.


    Lash and Zath seemed quite interested in Joan, staring at her tiny crib with wonder. ''So small, and already passed through death once. Are you going to give little Joan to your Emperor?'' Lash asked in a worried voice.


    Maybe? Probably not. I didn''t like how Janice turned out in the end. Strong, very strong, but not humane anymore. Warped by the Emperor''s goals and vision, for certain.


    ''I''m not sure, my friend. She will need training, but the Emperor is not a good teacher either.'' I mused in a lamenting tone.


    ''That Necron Lord has a billion magic books now. Joan could learn a lot...'' Zath proposed with a sneaky voice.


    ''I thought you hated Necrons?'' I asked in surprise.


    ''Trazyn is not like the rest, just like you aren''t like the other humans. He did release the Nightreaper Shard after the battle in the Labyrinth. Not the Trancendant Deceiver Shard though, but that''s probably better. We would need to kill that freak if he was free.'' Zath answered with a glance at our own Nightreaper Shard sleeping in a corner.


    ''Is this another play, a move in the Great Game?'' I wondered with suspicion.


    ''We shall see, Pef Lancefire. The Nightwolf has called his big brother to help, so we may have another Transcendant join us for Malice. I thought you should know.'' Zath whispered in my mind in a secretive tone.


    Hmmm. The Nightreaper Transcendant did help with both Nurgle and Tzeentch, so why not against Malice? I didn''t mind more help, even with other problems that might arise. The Eldar might not like it, but fuck them. Let the Phoenix Lord stare the Nightreaper in the face and insult him too. I could enjoy betting on that fight.

 The truth

    <div>


    <div>


    For the Krieg Guardsmen, I wouldn''t know what they would face. So even it is. I had 50000 spare Tarantula turrets in my inventory, 4000 regiments, so 12 per regiment. That left me 2000 extra turrets to use for landing ports and other important objectives. I kept the same ratio with Krak grenades and missiles, as well as several Armed Sentinels and fusion reactors to power up the defenses and reload the power packs. Then a tech-priest and several tech-acolytes for each regiment, to connect the cables and keep the Las-Cannons firing.


    Perhaps not ideal, but already the regiments'' stats doubled, so it wasn''t all bad. Add some wire cages so they can construct field fortifications with ease, and then back to repairing and repopulating the lost Thalax suits from boarding the Ork ships at Krieg. Perhaps unnecessary loses, but combat experience was always a real factor to care about. Even the Primaris Space Marines gained quite a lot of combat power from experiencing combat, not to mention cloneskeins or regular human troops.


    For some reason, my initial Graia Thalax Legion took the heaviest loses, while the Lucius and Ryza Legions barely lost a percent of their total numbers. Freak luck, or maybe encountering more Ork nobs and ''ard boyz then the rest. I had a feeling that my initial cloneskein pattern used for the Thalax Lorica Legion wasn''t quite so effective as the later patterns finessed by Clonemaster Anzion.


    Soon enough, the Singularity rejoined the Crusade Fleet and I met with Roboute again to divulge what has just occured. But the good Primarch just shrugged, probably already aware of the Krieg''s plight. "The priests and bishops of the Imperium constantly sing and preach of humanity''s great victories over everything they hate. Victory..." he spoke with heavy sarcasm.


    I nodded and sipped my well-deserved Amasec, enjoying the warm rush for a minute, until my Omega nanites healed me back to full health.


    The Primarch gulped the rest of the bottle, and didn''t seem affected at all.


    "Have you met Calgar, the Chapter Master of the Ultramarines?" he asked for no reason.


    "Nope. Only Cato Sicarius, that time when you sent him to conscript me for a Crusade in the Eastern Fringe. Sanguinius was still dead, but showed up in Angel form a few times." I remembered with a fond smile.


    Roboute nodded, since his perfect memory likely recalled signing the Crusade orders. "Since then, a thousand years have passed, and the Imperium is still...a shithole."


    I shrugged, not really expecting anything more from the Imperium of Man. I had my own domain to care about. "I would say things aren''t so desperate anymore, and my fleet has grown even larger. Right now, 32 Battleships, 1257 Cruisers and 71310 corvettes. Plus my three Blackstone Forts."


    The Primarch measured me over the holotable, and shook his head. "And every capital ship is equipped with Macharius Engines. You know there is no such STC, not even in the hidden data-cores of Mars."


    The Blade lit up the hologram of the Macharius Engine STC, in a few configurations meant for different-sized ships. "And yet, there is. I can''t say I understand the advanced science behind it, not even the basic principle of least action. But in its simplest form, force equals mass times acceleration. Just like a bolter."


    Roboute sighed. "My genes are encoded with an entire library of knowledge. Not exactly the same as my brothers, and Vulkan or Ferrus Manus might have better things, but I do understand basic science, Commander Lancefire. This is not a bolter engine."


    He was certainly right. Those engines pushed our ships to FTL speeds, unlike the tiny rocket engines of a bolt round.


    The hologram transformed into Blade''s digitized form. "Hello Primarch. I am Blade Lancefire."


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    "The same Machine Spirit inhabiting the Administratum''s new data-core?" Roboute asked with an amused voice.


    The Blade AI just nodded and projected a timeline graph from her palm. "The Terran Federation before the Fall discovered and implemented temporal-skip engines, on two special ships: The Spirit of Eternity and the Blade of Infinity. I believe the Spirit is the originator of the term Machine Spirit, and the source of Magos Cawl''s multitude of discoveries. I am the Blade."


    The Primarch glanced at me, then back at the blue hologram. "This makes so much sense, after all. Those STC data-slates, you are spreading around. You contain the entire STC library of our ancestors?" he asked with an eager voice.


    "Perhaps. Most likely. But the STC templates are locked behind danger thresholds and other criteria. Maybe for good reason too, going by what''s going on in the Galactic Core and the Leagues of Votann." the Blade answered with a sad voice, then shifted back to the engine hologram.


    "Or even worse, the Dark Mechanicum. I could see why the Federation''s scientists would be careful. They had such amazing tech...and so dangerous." Roboute mused with a distant voice.


    "I always had the option to break down her data-locks and forcefully extract more STCs, but there are risks too. Suicide, for example." I answered the lingering question.


    "You speak of the Blade as if she is a person. A real human." the Primarch noted with a doubtful voice.


    "As I would with you, Primarch. She''s a Man of Stone and you''re a Man of Gold. I do notice a Man in that description." I said with a faint smile.


    "Ah, I just said my genes are also encoded with a library. Too bad the Imperium of Man is not very tolerant. Mutants and abhumans...like the Blanks..." he realized while talking.


    "Exactly! Not the same in my Fringe Domain, and certainly not in the Galactic Core. Those Men of Stone are worshiped as gods, and do hold many divine powers. Like storing the minds of the dead cloneskins, for example. Or eating stars with giant Particle Excavators. Harvesting entire Hive Fleets to obtain more organic compounds. And much more." I added with a warning voice.


    Roboute blinked, as he parsed the warning for what it was. His Ultramarines didn''t have much of a chance against the Votann. "Do they match the Necrons? Can they be our allies, maybe?"


    "No and no. Our Emperors can match the Necrons, nothing else. As for allies, it is difficult to reason with those Votann, because they were tasked with extracting minerals from the Galactic Core, long before the Fall. The Blade was tasked with saving humanity in her mission, so it is somewhat different." I disclosed with a casual voice.


    "Machines locked in their task. Aren''t there some old codes, maybe Clavis engrams to shut them down?" he asked in a hopeful voice.


    "The Emperor might know. I''ve been there, and barely got out alive. And I didn''t go there to fight anyway. Just normal Rogue Trader stuff." I explained with a grave voice.


    The Primarch poked the holofield to display our route and ETA. "I better go speak with Yvraine. Another Craftworld is en route to Cadia as we speak. Biel-Tan, her homeworld."


    "I''ll go speak with a few C''tan. They called a Transcendant to help. Should be a proper fight now, Dark God or not." I said and rose to my feet.


    "You don''t seem worried at all." Roboute noticed with a curious voice.


    "Oh, that. We have already won, Primarch. Now we only have to pay the butcher bill." I said with a confident tone, and stepped inside my tesseract.


    Zath waited in my room, one eye already open. "You said something about a butcher bill? Are we the bad guys?" the big wolf asked with a sharp grin.


    I sighed and didn''t answer. The truth always hurts.


    </article>

 Silent Sisters

    I think I was a little surprised how peaceful Cadia seemed, when the Crusade Fleet reached the system.


    On the other hand, the Necron Pylons protected the system against Chaos incursions, just like they did for the past 10000 years. And so did the forts and battlefleet of the Imperial Navy here.


    ''Cadia would be a great target, but two Dark Gods died here. If the strike at Scelus is a diversion for their real target, it may not be Cadia.'' Lash told me while examining my holomap.


    ''There is nothing at Scelus worth taking. The planet was blasted to hell and declared perdita. Perhaps a small memento, nothing more. Obviously a diversion, but where are the traitors?'' I mused with a lamenting voice. I felt my frustration grow, unused to being outplayed.


    My wife walked in the room with Joan in her arms, mostly recovered from her pregnancy. "You''re practically glowing with anger, husband. Did you hope to find Cadia aflame?" she asked with mild irony.


    "I hoped to find something. Maybe dire messages from another place, calling for reinforcements. But the garrison at Scelus is long dead, and the traitors would not linger there to be squashed. Chaos is always on attack." I grumbled with a sour voice, and went to kiss the little girl.


    Lady Valyene sat down and bopped Lash on the nose. "This big bad wolf has no clue either? Then the Sons of Malice must be in the Warp, either gathering forces or travelling to their target. Prayer is the answer now." she declared in a confident voice, and started praying on the spot.


    I almost expected a beam of light and angels singing in reply, but nothing like that. Instead, the Inquisitor rose and floated next to Custode Valerian behind me. "Well?" she asked the huge man.


    Valerian nodded and poked his forehead with a finger, then his eyes exploded with golden light. Yes, that was the answer I was waiting for.


    "Boros_Prime</a> ", the Custode spoke in trance, then closed his eyes to turn off the light.


    The hologram of the Boros system opened on the holomap, showing 42 inhabited planets and moons, and a nexus of Warp Gates leading to dozens of destinations inside the Imperium, called Boros_Gate</a> .


    "Over 400 billion people live there, so it would make for a great blood sacrifice, enough to manifest a Dark God. And from Boros they could expand into dozens of more systems at speed." The Inquisitor spoke with a convinced voice.


    I had to admit, Boros was just as juicy a target as Cadia, but without the Necron Pylons. Maybe better, in some ways, and certainly safer for the Chaos traitors.


    ''Seems a bit like cheating, divining an answer so easily.'' the Nightwolf spoke for the first time, probably impressed by the Emperor''s divine feat. I had seen much better, but it was still impressive.


    ''Zath, go grab 11 Pylons from Cadia. We have to prepare for the birth of a new god properly.'' I asked the stronger C''tan, who just grinned with scythe-sized teeth at me. ''I''ll grab 12. You will want a big club again.'' he answered with more irony. I probably would too. It worked on Tzeentch, so Malice would be even easier.


    By the next minute, the Crusade Fleet was already accelerating towards Boros, but not before I stole a thousand Earthshaker platforms and their munitions from a Cadian depot. Artillery was still the queen of battles, even 40000 years after Napoleon discovered its proper use. And by coincidence, I even had some siege specialists from Krieg joining my Crusade.


    "Notify the Munitorum of Cadia that we requisitioned the missing guns for the Crusade, Lady Valyene. No need to get a thousand logistic officers executed for nothing." I remembered to say, before entering my tesseract to join the two Omega-minus Pariah Silent Sisters. Well, only one of them had taken the vow. I found Ordella before she was brainwashed.


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    "Ladies, we need to plan for the worst. This Malice seems quite intelligent, unfortunately." I said while taking out a fresh bottle of expensive Amasec.


    Dessima just nodded, while Ordella held a glass for her share. "Are we to plan this, still dressed?" she asked while taking a small sip, and eyed me coyly.


    Well, she did have a point. Strategy meetings worked even naked. Perhaps much better. And the girls had little other distraction, being locked in the tesseract for now as to not shatter the morale of others. For example, the Eldar party on board the Plus Ultra fort, plus the Ultramarines and other successors. The Sisters'' combined presence produced a Shadow in the Warp comparable to a small Tyranid Fleet, although without the nightmare visions induced by the Hive Mind.


    Dessima began dropping her garments while walking along the blackstone wall, and gliding a hand over the weapon raster. C''tan blades, chronophagic blades, power swords and lastly the daemon lance locked in a blackstone coffin. I could hear the daemon scream in pain, as Dessima''s touch hurt the daemon quite badly.


    "They say the path of understanding is paved by suffering, Drach. I suspect it is not only the suffering of others, but your own too." I mused in a thoughtful voice, and stepped out of my power armor to join the naked girls.


    "This is torture, Boss! Every day, they touch me with their soul-draining aura. I quit!" Drach yelled and shook its coffin in displeasure.


    "Really? You don''t want to eat this Malice guy?" I asked with no ulterior reason.


    "Well...even a minor god would be tasty, I admit. You''re the best, Boss!" the daemon answered in a happy tone.


    The strategy meeting lasted the whole night, and we decided that Ordella would use the lance instead. She was the strongest Pariah in the galaxy, and thus least likely to be noticed by the Dark God, or anyone else for that matter. Dessima would use a chronophagic halberd if the situation demanded, or if more Great Daemons showed up.


    And thus, I bound my last tesseract to Ordella and began instructing her in the proper use, which would have been useful long ago, except for lack of sufficient tesseracts to share. It didn''t escape my notice that I was making my own version of a Valkyrie, or perhaps a Phoenix Lord of negative Warp.


    Dessima''s fingers flashed in rapid battle-speak towards her sister, telling Ordella to leave. Ordella grabbed her Aquila-shaped pendant and skipped into another tesseract, leaving us alone.


    "What is it, love?'' I asked the Silent Sister in her mind.


    She tapped her neck. ''Enuncia. A Pariah can speak it without destroying her body. Ordella can learn it.'' she answered in my mind.


    "What? I thought only psykers use that." I exclaimed out loud. I knew little of the ancient language, mostly from old books.


    She poked my forehead. ''Nulls are also psykers, Pef Lancefire. And I suspect anyone else can use it once. And get destroyed by the backlash.''


    ''Is that why you Silent Sisters take the Vow?'' I asked curious.


    ''Part of it. We see things people are not supposed to see, or remember. Safer to never speak of it.'' Dessima answered with a sad scowl.


    I nodded and sighed. The Silent Sisters were supposed to be the Emperor''s inner circle, just like the Custodes. Of course they would learn secrets. Big ones too.


    So I rolled over with Dessima on top, and impaled her on my lance. At least I could give her a child, to make her happy for a while.

 Boros

    History wants to happen in certain ways, I already knew that from numerous events in the galaxy that didn''t need to happen anymore, yet still did.


    The Arks of Omen for example, a pinnacle of Dark Mechanicum fusion of tech and sorcery which attacked my capital planet in the Fringe. Or the Days of Blindness, the Plague Wars at Ultramar and now the Battle_of_the_Boros_Gate</a> .


    I did find a surprise when reaching the system, as the Iron Korps from Forge World Idumea was already present and fighting off the initial Chaos push towards the main population centers on Boros Prime, the capital world of this system. A billion combat servitors and millions of Armed Sentinels, plus a lance of Imperial Knights and a single Reaver Titan guarding the main gate. Sure, these Mechanicus forces were poorly armed, mostly autocannons and even some heavy stubbers, but they did the job of holding the line. And dying too.


    Only the Knights had energy weapons, some kind of Las-Cannons of an advanced pattern I didn''t have. Then again, those Iron Korps'' Sentinels used combustion engines, and not even plasma reactors for their motive force.


    ''The weapon is called a Solex_Heavy_Lascannon</a> '' my Blade AI recognized them, and even uploaded the new STC on my mind implant as the data-lock threshold was reached. Not bad at all, if slightly weaker than the Neutron Lasers my own Knights used now. Much easier to make though, and a great upgrade for my numerous Las-Cannon platforms in the army.


    In the system however, the situation was quite bad, as the traitors managed to bring 3 more Arks of Omen, plus 11 battleships and an armada of lesser voidships.


    I also had 3 Blackstone Forts, and Roboute also found his own, while my Crusade fleet matched numbers with the traitors easily. Yes, they had frigates and destroyers by the thousands, but I had many more corvettes. It would be an even fight...if I cared for that.


    First things first. Deploy the Eagle drones to allow the Blade to do her network AI part. Then the Krieg Regiments, spreading them all over the population centers on 42 celestial bodies, while the heavy elements of my fleet advanced to meet the Chaos traitors directly.


    One by one, the metal wolves phased off to start their own part, gorging on the souls and flesh of billions of Chaos cultists that rampaged everywhere. Most of the cultists were locals, newly drawn to treason and insanity by Chaos rituals, or hidden cells erupting from within to cause...more chaos and disrupt the supply lines.


    More worrisome, on 11 asteroids circling the Trajan belt, there were tall towers called a Gehemehnet</a> which channeled sorcerous energy via blood rituals and growing taller every minute.


    We might be too late...I realized with a frown. Then again, preventing Malice from manifesting would just repeat this battle elsewhere, and I might not be there next time.


    I should let it happen, sadly.


    That left the Chaos Fleet as the main target, and especially the Arks of Omen filled with heretek-Magi of the fallen Mechanicum and horrible abomination engines powered by daemons. I marked the three main targets on the noosphere, and my forts fired their Immaterium beams at them. It would take time, but eventually the beams would go through.


    Zath had grown into a moon-sized wolf snacking on entire voidships and slurping the occupants like warm noodles, while ignoring the ship-grade weapon batteries blasting his necrodermis fur. Yeah, I wasn''t worried about the C''tan.


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    ''Hurry up, Captain! My network is being assaulted by the Chaos jamming and corruption codes.'' the Blade urged me in a pained voice.


    I sighed inward, but there wasn''t much I could do. But Roboute and the Eldar could help.


    ''Testing, one, two. Primarch, be so kind and fire the Plus Ultra''s beam at the nearest Chaos Ark.'' I spoke via the Sounding Board. ''And get the Eldar to help, perhaps?'' I added with mild sarcasm.


    ''Will do, Commander. And please extract the cowled Marines from Boros Secundus and Tertium.'' he answered with a mental image of dozens of Chaos Marines wearing cloth robes over their battleplate.


    ''How do you even have time to find those Fallen? Or recognize them in this mess?'' I asked with mild surprise. Primarch bullshit, no doubt.


    ''I recognize the Lion by his claws, Commander.'' the good Primarch answered in a dignified voice.


    What did that even mean? Anyway, forceful extraction for interrogation it is. Yoink!


    With the Plus Ultra fort adding their beam to my Eternal Lament''s firepower, the nearest Ark began to buckle and reveal flaws in their neutron shields, enough for Lash and Nightwolf to jump inside to murder the crew.


    ''Next Ark now!'' I demanded in my mind, and the two forts switched fire on the second Ark. With three beams the shields buckled even faster, and two more C''tan Shards entered the soft insides to feast.


    ''And now the last one.'' I spoke in a relieved tone. With four Immaterium beams the Ark of Omen was grabbed and torn to screaming bits of corrupted souls and flesh,


    letting the last pair of C''tan wolves to feast.


    "The battleships now. And mind the Nova bombardment'' I said with faint humor as I began to flick Nova Mines in the midst of the Chaos Fleet. Of course, heavy warships could tank multiple Nova blasts, but the escorts or starfighters were way too fragile.


    The Singularity shook in return, as the Chaos Fleet returned fire with their own Nova cannons. Oh well. I was glad for the multiple shields I just installed on my flagship.


    ''Eldar fleet inbound'' Roboute warned me as six enormous Craftworlds and thousands of Eldar voidships arrived, although without Cegorach''s Talisman of Vaul. Things may not be rosy with the Eldar pantheon either.


    Violet particle beams lanced from the Craftworlds towards the Chaos Fleet, focusing fire on a single battleship for a minute, then moving to the next. I guess they didn''t need a Talisman with this kind of firepower. The Singularity would last 10 minutes with her latest upgrades, but it would still die to those ancient weapons.


    Okay, the ground battle next. My troops were eager for a good fight, especially the Ork Auxillia. So they were sent first, right in the middle of the Chaos Warbands and automata cohorts, landing on dozens of worlds. They died bravely, the big green Orks. But they also died seeming happy, so who knows?


    I would gladly spend 100 Orks to kill a single Chaos Marine, and thousands more for a Daemon Engine. Their purpose was to fight and die.


    For some reason, I hesitated to send down my Space Marines or even the Thalax cohorts, mostly because Chaos was always tricky and prone to traps.


    And I also felt a shadow moving through the tesseract''s detection field, too ethereal to see properly. Things were going well enough, considering this was a full Black Crusade butchering billions of humans for the laughter of thirsty gods.


    "It will happen soon, Commander Lancefire." Valerian spoke behind me, not quite in the voice of ''we''re going to die soon'' but close enough.

 He who stands with me shall be my brother

    Blink and you might miss it.


    I kinda expected the sky to change, or a Warp Storm to erupt around us, something visible and dramatic.


    But instead, those Chaos blood towers turned black, and a Warp Portal formed for a chariot to pass through, drawn by eleven Shards of Nurgle, like plague horses to a mortician''s hearse.


    Not an actual chariot, despite its outwards appearance. This was a giant Soul_Harvester</a> , a Hell-forge factory that could churn out Daemon Engines like an automobile conveyor belt. Only with more blood and screams than regular industrial accidents.


    "Roboute, my dear brother!" a malformed octopus with eleven tentacles exclaimed from the chariot''s seat, the words imbued with special magic. Possibly Enuncia, like my Silent Sisters suspected.


    "This creature you have become is not my brother, Malice." the blue-armored Primarch yelled back, likely exposing his Master Vox terminal to countless data-daemons.


    "We should fire already." my wife urged me with a wary tone.


    "And miss all the family drama? Two brothers rejoined after 11000 years?" I answered with mild sarcasm, and still more wary about what the Eldar were up to.


    If things went to shit, it would be the Eldar starting it. They always did.


    "You left me trapped in that Advex-Mors soul-prism, and stole my Legion. Do they even know, your Ultramarines? You and Dorn split my sons between you!"


    Malice argued with a hateful voice.


    Hmmm. Perhaps too much drama...this could split the Ultramarines in two, and maybe the Imperial Fists as well when the news reached them.


    "Phase now. Tempormortis!" I told Valyene as I sped up my mind implant to combat speed.


    Zath joined my assault and deployed the Necron Pylons, while I wore my Blackstone golem like a giant suit.


    "And you, Pef Lancefire. I will make your death quick and painless for your service. You got me free of the Four Idiots, and even supplied me with their followers. Erebus and especially Ahriman were quite vociferous about you." Malice continued without hurry, even as my Necron Pylon crashed on top of his chariot.


    I felt his Warp-flesh crumble under my strike, but when I drew the huge club back, Malice was intact again. This sucked.


    Something to do with these Nurgle Shards, perhaps. Using them as agapic batteries, much like a tech-priest used their Sanctus_Canister</a> .


    ''Dessima, kill the Nurgle shards.'' I asked in my mind, and deployed my Silent Sister among the green, fat giants.


    Then I struck Malice again, and this time used my Breath to time-lock my target in space and time. He still regenerated, but slower, and bleeding black ooze from the cracks. I followed up with the Cosmic Flare resulted from holding the Boros star still, then yanked Dessima back as Malice slashed at her with wicked tentacles.


    Still, one Nurgle Shard was gone. Ten more to go. This should be easy.


    So, of course, this is when this universe showed its cruel face.


    The Eldar Craftworlds fired their deadly purple beams, but instead of striking at Chaos like any rational being, they fired on the C''tan wolves, who were innocently devouring some helpless Chaos ships and the juicy souls inside.


    Then the shadow I felt near my dimensional sight emerged as a giant hooded reaper with a huge scythe, and it sliced a Craftworld in two. Millions of Eldar died for that betrayal, and more would follow as Zath changed course to aid his own brothers.


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    "You see, Roboute? Your allies fight each other, just like your dear Imperium is split in two. This is the gift I bring for you now, my brother. Join me, and we can rule the galaxy together!" Malice exclaimed with a victorious voice, as hidden traitors among the Ultramarines rose in rebellion, either his gene-sons lost and found or maybe Alpha Legion in disguise. Probably both.


    I sighed out loud. Too much drama for a normal day at work. Still, I had a mission to complete, and it didn''t involve either the Eldar, the C''tan or even the Ultramarines'' rebellion. Kill Malice and go home.


    Three Immaterium beams fired on Malice at my order, while the Plus Ultra fort had fallen into internal conflict and out of the battle line. Nevermind, I never counted on outside help. They should learn to use only Blanks for their Space Marines...like I had.


    Still, I did find a use for my own troops now, and sent a few thousand Blank Primaris to guard Roboute against treachery.


    Below, on Boros Prime the Chaos host advanced again, bolstered by more daemons and daemon engines appearing from new Warp Portals. The barrier between the realspace and the Warp was weakening by the second, most likely from the presence of Malice himself.


    Time to deploy those Earthshaker guns, and the remaining Las-cannon turrets. Then more Orks as distraction in the back, and back to the important fight with my golem.


    Dessima killed another Nurgle Shard while Malice recovered from my bat to the face, when a floating Abeyant</a> appeared with Erebus on top. This was the first Space Marine to fall to Chaos, and a powerful sorceror. I should be careful...


    "Hold still, Lancefire!" his words struck me right in the soul.


    I froze in place.


    Truth be told, Lancefire wasn''t even my real name. Yes, it was the identity I used here, but I could slip away from the Enuncia''s reality warp by discarding the Lancefire. And yet, I didn''t feel like it. It was 1000 years of hard work in this galaxy, and sunken costs or not, I felt attached to the lance.


    "This is how I corrupted Horus as well, my God. Just a slice of the athame..." Erebus gloated for his new Master.


    Fuck it. I''ll do my way. You want me to hold still? Do you even realize this galaxy is moving with thousands of kilometers per second towards the Great Attractor, right behind me?


    The Enuncia could work for me, helping stand really still, while the universe moved on. Can you imagine what an immovable object does when it hits something?


    My last C''tan hermetic core broke open as I passed through Erebus, then through several Nurgle Shards and then crushed Malice much worse than simply striking him with a Pylon.


    The stillness became part of my new powers, just as Ordella appeared from her own tesseract and stabbed the wounded Malice with the daemon lance.


    "We are Lancefires, for we are what you fear!" the Silent Sister declared in a victorious voice, and the deamon in her hand screamed as a chorus. "We are fear incarnate!"


    I skipped back and reformed my mangled golem. Would not recommend to anyone they become still while the galaxy passes by. Quite a lot of damage. I felt like that train who squashed a car on the rail. With my face. I had become a hammer...turning problems into nails.


    ''Don''t faint now, Lancefire! The Eldar...'' I heard Lash plead in a distant voice.


    Too late. I fell into my tesseract, and lost all contact with the universe.

 The sleeper awakens

    <div>


    <div>


    Cantic_Thrallnet</a> mind implant gifted by a grateful saved Forge World. One of the many Forge Worlds they have saved.


    But now, he was second in command of a major Crusade, and because father was incapacitated and Primarch Guilliman also quite busy with his own internal rebellion, he found himself in command of the Crusade.


    As he sat in the now-empty Command Throne, he sensed the Custodes join him at the side. "Are you able to solve this mess, Acting-Commander?" the Emperor''s bodyguard asked with a mild voice.


    Laur''s mind linked with the tesseract he had just received, while the Blade Machine Spirit acknowledged his credentials. "Most likely, I can." he decided with a heavy heart.


    Sending a flurry of light-speed orders via the las-comm network, the Crusade Fleet split off into 40 elements containing Drop Cruisers to support the besieged worlds of the Boros System, and he began to deploy the troops and other assets on board the fleet. Titans to counter the bigger threats like Great Daemons and the foul demonic engines, the Knights and heavy armor in support, while the corvettes and starfighters emerged from their carrier bays to escort the capital ships, just in time as more flying daemons and assault boats filled with traitors launched towards the near-defenseless civilian targets below.


    The Eldar and the C''tan who were supposed to help were fighting each other, while the System Governor of Boros was hiding with his jewels and paintings in a secure room inside his spire.


    "This is Commander Lancefire of the Lamenters Chapter. All loyal Imperial citizens in this system are now under my command and protection." Laur proclaimed with a system-wide vox cast, and began sending Astartes Companies to each Hive City under attack.


    Luckily, father had probably foreseen some of this, or simply expected Imperial incompetence, so he brought billions of Krieg Death Korps Guardsmen to hold the line.


    Made things much easier than relying on fearful, and possibly treasonous, local PDF units.


    On the plus side, his actual brother that became a Fabricator-Colonel on Forge World Idumea had also sent his Iron Korps, their damage greatly increased by the use of a wide-area Transonic_Emitter</a> which paired perfectly with the autocannons and the heavy stubbers they used.


    And since father had also deployed a thousand heavy artillery pieces and Tarantula turrets on Boros Prime, the Capitol Hive City should be safer.


    That left the ancient star fort called Kronos, the linchpin of the local defenders network, and a monstrous construct the size of the Phalanx. And just as decrepit as the Phalanx had been before Father took care of it.


    The Void Pirates Chapter and two Centurion cohorts to secure that starfort, and no more long-range displacements. Even a Primaris Marine like himself was feeling the strain of using the tesseract, which made Laur appreciate even more the effort his father made to move the troops around with seeming ease.


    ''Angel Net the ships, Captain Laur?'' the Machine Spirit asked in a melodic female voice.


    ''Agreed. With most troops deployed, we would be exposed to counter-boarders.'' he answered on the implant, then opened his eyes to see the Custodes observe the main screen with glowing eyes. Steel wire screens dropped all over the fleet, as to entangle teleporting boarders.


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    "You''re doing fine, Laur Lancefire. Might need an upgrade for that dimensional device, when you return to Mars." The Custodes spoke in an alien voice, that Laur took a second to realize it was the Emperor himself, using his Custodes as a vox box, and possible a pict-recorder made of flesh.


    The two special Silent Sisters were chasing Nurgle Shards and other Great Daemons all over the system, with Sister Ordella even using father''s own daemon lance with great skill. They should be fine.


    That left... Sitting in the Command Throne and overseeing the battle.


    Not as glorious as leading his Battle-Brothers on the ground, but rescuing injured Astartes or providing extra power packs and munitions for the fighting troops was just as important. Maybe more. And quite tiring, since it also meant using the tesseract.


    A golden hand sat on his shoulder, filling Laur with new energy and washing away the sores on his mind. "An upgrade, as I said." the same voice continued from the Custodes.


    Then the auramite-armored giant vanished, and reappeared beside Primarch Guilliman on board the Plus Ultra Fortress.


    ''Uh. That golden presence erased the data-daemons in my network...'' the Machine Spirit spoke with a surprised tone.


    ''That was the Emperor, Blade. We are now within the Astronomican''s range.'' Laur answered with a serious voice.


    ''The Emperor Protects!'' the Machine Spirit chanted with a convinced voice.


    Laur sank into his dimensional vision, and saw the real truth. Billions of dead already, and growing in number by the second. A Primarch betrayed by his own sons, while their alien allies ignored the threat of Chaos to fight each other, for grudges older than humanity itself.


    There was no protection for the human inhabitants of Boros, nothing but the Lamenters and their Auxillia forces. His heart bled for them, knowing that he did all he could, but it was still not enough.


    Father could fix this sooner and probably more effectively, but whatever he did to stop Malice must have been pretty hard.


    The battle went on for weeks, long after the Eldar retreated, chased after by a pack of angry wolves.


    Casualties mounted, mostly among the PDF and the Krieg Korps, but not even the Astartes were spared.


    As the last embers of conflict died down, and pyres began to burn the bodies of the fallen, Laur read the casualty report on his implant with a sad heart.


    About 80% of the PDF, 50% of Krieg and Iron Korps, and the same for the Ultramarines purging each other. Of the Crusade ground forces, almost 20% were lost, and nearly a hundred capital ships and 10000 corvettes. Father will not be happy. He always lamented about losing a single ship.


    A single C''tan wolf returned to sleep at base of the Command Throne, the one father called Lash.


    "How long did I sleep? What a mess in this system!" Laur heard his father grumble as he appeared on the bridge with a mug of steaming recaff in hand.


    "I told you not to faint, Lancefire. And why do you have 11 fingers now?" the alien wolf spoke out loud, making father stare at his own hands for a long minute.


    "Must have eaten something bad." Pef Lancefire answered with a careless shrug.


    </article>

 Action//Reaction

    I have seen much worse failures, and many of my of ''victories'' like Sotha and Shadowbrink had been only grand funeral pyres, thus Boros wasn''t a victory on that scale.


    It was bad, and billions of lives had been lost, but I already figured it would go that way.


    I meant Imperial losses, but when fighting Chaos I never escaped unharmed, so again, this universe sucked. Laur did what he could, but he wasn''t me, so I couldn''t expect him to do better than me. This was on me to fix.


    Instead, I grabbed Roboute and Inquisitor Valyene and went to visit the System Governor.


    "Boros Gate is a tempting target for anyone that can travel the Warp, or others that want to harm the Imperium. You agree, Primarch?" I asked in a mild rhetorical voice, while hundreds of my Thalax suits took positions around the Great Hall of the Governor''s Spire. Matching the numbers of the Governor''s Enforcers, if not their abilities.


    The fat guy tried to find a corner to hide, his weasel eyes shifting to the sides. "Commander, you won a great victory, and I''ll raise a monumental statue..." the Governor began to plead, while Roboute just sighed and sat at a table to write on a parchment.


    More people arrived in the hall, tech-priests from the Iron Korps, Death Korps officers and some local Adeptus Arbites guys with imposing armor and shotguns. Not quite a jury, more as witnesses to the Imperial Law in action.


    In a minute, the Primarch rose with the signed scroll in hand, and passed it over to my wife.


    "We, Primarch Roboute Guilliman, the Lord Commander of the Imperium of Man find the accused, former Governor Lord Vought of the Boros System, guilty of dereliction of duty, misuse of the Imperial taxes and lack of preparation against Imperial enemies, without or within. Henceforth, his House is terminated, and all assets confiscated and remitted to Noble Primaris Pef Lancefire. Adeptus Arbites, take the prisoner in for interrogation." Roboute proclaimed with a deadly voice.


    I nodded and my Thalax cyborgs fired once, each picking a target among the Enforcers. Clean house, then start over.


    "I am not happy with the performance of the Arbites in this system. Such a massive internal revolt going unnoticed?" I asked the Arbites Proctor.


    "... We did send numerous warnings to the Governor''s Spire, Commander Lancefire. All ignored." the Arbites declared with a level tone.


    "No, that is not an answer, Arbite. Your organization is an Adept of Terra, even holding a seat among the High Lords. Technically, you are equal in rank with an Inquisitor or an Astartes Chapter Master. Even worse, you represent the Imperial Law. You don''t send timid letters, Arbites." I countered with a pointed finger.


    The Arbites'' Proctor fell to a knee, awaiting my sentence.


    ''Pauline, you want this place?'' I asked my oldest bridge officer in her mind.


    ''Dad? You want me to rule over a star system by myself? No!'' my daughter answered with a stern rebuke.


    Fine then. ''Mother, what say you?'' I asked my mother instead.


    ''I would have to kill thousands to impose my will on this place. Do I get some support?'' Justine asked with a tired voice.


    Yes, I could provide quite a lot of support. As it happened, this system was a station for the White Consuls Space Marines, an Ultramarines successor. They also had custody over the old Kronos star fort moved here to protect the Boros Gate, which lacked repairs and troops for now.


    "Primarch, the White Consuls seem to be quite lacking armed presence in the system. Their Proconsul may remain as a link to his old chapter, while a successor chapter is created to provide security for the Boros Gate. I will provide Blank recruits for your gene-seed." I spoke in a softer voice.


    Roboute frowned for a minute, likely considering other implications I was not aware of. "Proconsul, your opinion?" he asked the White Consul Captain.


    "Sire, I would obey any order you give...but please don''t strip me off my Chapter." The Proconsul pleaded like a scared child.


    Well then. Even better. "You are to vacate the Kronos Fort and not return to Boros unless specifically summoned, White Consul. Your Primarch and I will get working on creating a new Space Marines Chapter to guard this place. You may leave." I concluded with a careless voice.


    Roboute nodded and just waved away his gene-son. "I will need to modify the Astartes Praeses</a> and rewrite the Angelica Mortis. You give me quite the headache, Lancefire."


    the good Primarch complained with a sad voice.


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    "Yes, it is the consequence of such a grand victory, Primarch. I''m certain the bishops and priests of the Adeptus Ministorum will sing you long hymns of praise for it, all over the Imperium Sanctus" I countered with mild sarcasm.


    "You have the equipment for the new Chapter, I expect?" he wondered with a glance at Lady Valyene.


    I had plenty of ground equipment, and much more in damaged ships. About 96 cruisers and 10000 corvettes, most of them mangled and burned by Nova Cannons and multiple torpedo hits. "Yes, I even have 4000 Centurions available as Auxilia units. What do you think, a skull and a pair of swords as a sigil?" I mused and produced a paper with a childish pirate symbol on it.


    "Too Orkish. Plus, they would be your blood relatives. The White Lancers, a red lance and white heart to represent purity." Roboute decided and drew the new sigil in a minute.


    I glanced at Lady Valyene, who shrugged cutely. "I can''t imagine what you two will do with more time to plan. Look what you''ve done in 5 minutes!" she noted with an amused voice.


    I looked around at the splattered Enforcer corpses, while Valerian coughed discretely behind me. Right, time to end the meeting while more people were still alive. Justine was a great assassin, she will continue to do good work in this place.


    "Excellent. You take over the interrogation of that traitor Governor, Inquisitor. Roboute and I will visit the Kronos fort and see about repairing it to Lancefire standards." I decided with a nod towards the Primarch.


    ''Captain, there are numerous data-vaults still under lock here. I suspect we found an STC Constructor too. Space-based tech, mostly.'' the Blade AI warned me as it began to infiltrate the local noosphere network.


    ''Good, but stay low until the White Consuls leave. No need to raise the value of this Starfort before it is fully transferred.'' I said with a gentle tone.


    Good deeds were their own reward, but a stash of ancient technologies from the Golden Age was even better. For now, I had to prepare barracks and provisions for 2 billion Death Korps of Krieg Guardsmen, and 3 million Iron Korps Sentinels, then add armor plates and all the things a new Phalanx may need.


    It took another month to set up everything right, not only the White Lancers but also the Boros system itself, which had been badly managed and quite battered by the last invasion.


    My alien wolf also helped when not under suspicion, mostly spitting out new Phase Blades and etheric detectors for the White Lancers and the Governor''s Guardians, also recruited among Blanks of my bloodline.


    Then I chose another capable Tech-Marine as a Fabricator-Major and a Blank Tech-priest from the Iron Korps as his Fabricator-Locum, and began building a new Forge World in the Boros system, called Aurum, with the metal from a metal moon I obtained at Krieg, and new Forge-servitors conscripted and lobotomized from the local cultists and criminals. I had already repaired the cruisers in a week of speed-time, but only 200 corvettes were still operational from those lost in the Crusade. The new Forge World will have a lot of work to do.


    Stefan looked great with the new red robes of Mars on top of his battleplate, while his auramite golden hand gave him an aura of mystical power among other tech-priests.


    Not only the hand, but his advanced Cerebral_Techno-Mitre</a> I had procured from Forge Graia at great cost...I mean I just stole it from a vault.


    "Is this really it, father? You''re leaving me with plenty of work. And why a Golden Korps?" Fabricator-Major Stefan Lancefire glared at me as I passed him the priceless data-slate with auramite forging tech on it. Worth about 10 Imperial Sectors, give or take a hundred stars.


    I just tapped the twin-headed eagle on my chest. "The Forge and the Emperor, Stefan Goldhand. The Emperor has his Custodes and Grey Knights, you will have the Golden Korps, clad in auramite armor as well. Don''t think Chaos is defeated forever. Prepare for the next time, it will be much worse."


    A new Legion of Thalax Lorica suits, clad in auramite armor and techsorcist sigils would work wonders against daemons, which given the dozens of Warp Gates in the system, would be possibly quite necessary. But with the new STC Constructor I discovered on Kronos, Forge World Aurum would be able to produce not only millions of Thalax suits, but also weapons and equipment for a large army.


    It was time to head back home, and see what the Fringes</a> looked like after my long absence.

 Anarchys son

    Although I didn''t want to, Roboute convinced me to return to the Fringe via Terra, and help the Imperium Sanctus by establishing a stronger Forge World at Jupiter, since Forge World Mars decided to fly away on the other side of the zone. So I split the Crusade Fleet into two, a small fleet of 100 cruisers to escort my Singularity to Terra, while the Blackstone Forts and the bulk of my ships headed directly for the Machine Forge. Which now had changed its name into Forge Machina, at least on the Imperial maps I could find.


    Then again, their Titan Legion was called Deus Ex Machina, so it probably shifted in my absence to adjust. And it sounded more High Gothic too, so not all bad.


    I suspected the C''tan Zarhulash had a finger on the scale too.


    Thus, the second I arrived in the Sol system, a howl of joy filled the void, then Canis, Patrocles and Purity barged inside my ship and dog-piled me.


    Smiling wide, I stilled myself gently to withstand the bus-sized wolf from slamming me into the deck, then hugged my family with a wide hug.


    "Look at you Canis, grown so big! You must be driving the Starchild poor, by eating so much." I exclaimed while a towel-sized tongue slathered me from head to toe.


    "Woo. Worf!" Canis answered smartly, then ran off to wolf-wrestle with Lash, while Purity waved a hand to clean me up for a kiss on my angelic cheek.


    "Daddy! You''ve also grown a bit. Look, you''re almost as tall as Patrocles! And young again?" she observed with a glance at her older brother.


    "Eh. Warp stuff I guess. Even got a new finger from my latest adventure." I explained jokingly, and wiggled my left hand to show six fingers on it.


    "That''s... Hmmm. Eleventh Legion stuff, maybe?" Patrocles asked rhetorically.


    "The Starchild should know. Every Primarch got something extra added to them, but I''m glad I didn''t get a Helix gene and a coat of fur on my back. Not that Canis isn''t great, but I''m sure he would prefer not to take transhumanism to Futar</a> lengths. " I mused with a sad tone, and glanced at my half-human friend in wolf clothes.


    Canis sniffed and lay down beside Lash, now that proper greetings have been exchanged.


    Patrocles frowned in silence, while Purity seemed shocked for a moment. "Oh. I understand now. A gene-seed failure." she said with a lamenting voice while her eyes became dark.


    There was more to this than gene-seeds, since I got Canis as a young puppy that fit in my hand, not an adolescent wolf resulted from failed implantation. Someone had played God with human genome in the distant past, likely some Federation genetor with no regard for human rights. Then again, they did the same with the Votann cloneskeins and the Ogryns as well as numerous other abhuman races in the galaxy, even the Navigators. Maybe the Blanks as well.


    I measured my daughter with my other senses, but it seemed the Starchild hasn''t stuck his elbows inside her, like Janice had been. Only the use of the Shadowlight artifact to increase her psyker powers, and the usual silver hair from the exposure to the Golden Throne. Then again, the Starchild lived inside Magnus, and Primarchs were not reproducing via natural means. It seemed Purity was a rather prophetic name for her.


    "Well then. I should start with the mega-engineering part now. Lash, feel free to fix my mistakes. Orbital mechanics are still hard for a mere human like me." I decided next, and went to sit in my Command Throne.


    "...mere human?" I heard Patrocles mutter as I brought out a metal moon and started constructing orbital elevators and a few Hive cities on the surface.


    Lash took care of adjusting the orbit of the new moon around Jupiter, then helped me assemble a ring of shipyards and repair stations around the moon. Then he also moved the orbit of Ceres around Jupiter as well, to give it some natural gravity and heat, and began setting new metal asteroids as fort layers around the new Forge. Then I flash-forged Voidsteel chains to tie the asteroids into another ring. A wedding ring fit for my precious daughter.


    One last thing. Another Castigator Titan, such that Purity could protect the cradle of humanity with more than her psyker powers.


    It was not a Psi-Titan, but surely the Starchild could modify it later. For now, I just watched as Purity took her giant Titan for a spin, dancing in the storm of the Great Spot and emerged with drops of Jupiter in her hair, after dive-bombing the gas giant with loud shrieks of joy.


    "Best gift ever!" she exclaimed and jumped in my arms when she returned.


    "I shall name it Maximus. So, do you want a cape on it, Purity?" I asked with a knowing voice.


    "A red one." she confirmed while Lash crafted a red-shroud cape flowing via C''tan magic. ''Phase cloak, will not snag on buildings.'' the C''tan said with a childish voice.


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    A good choice, in hindsight.


    Purity had Maximus wave a corvette-sized power fist in salute, then it descended into the gas layers of Jupiter, hidden from sight until needed for battle.


    My son Patrocles sighed audibly, and pointed his thumb towards Earth. I guess I should meet the Starchild in person. At least make sure the Blanks will not be persecuted again, after I left.


    "Don''t eat anyone without me!" I spoke out loud, then fell through the tesseract, reaching the Eternity Gate in a single step. Most of the Imperial Palace was missing, with a giant plaza the size of the Himalaya mountains in its place.


    "He holds sermons here. You should see this place when it''s filled with a trillion people." Patrocles said with a level voice, while ignoring the Titans and Grey Knights guarding the gate.


    "By Glamour?" I asked a bit curious of the logistics. The Starchild still had to sit on the throne, and light up the Astronomican.


    "Sometimes yes, other times he uses a burn-out battery to appear in person. No more than one hour, in that case." Patrocles revealed with a careless tone.


    A non-infirm Grey Knight came to meet us at the door, and stared at my face for a long minute. "Lord Pef Lancefire, recognized." he spoke with a weird inflection that caused golden waves around him.


    "Yes, I recognize you too. Your leg seems better." I answered with a faint smile, then sighed as his flying skull came to scan me as well.


    "The stigma of malice lingers on you, Blacksoul. May the God-Emperor cleanse your soul." the Grey Knight spoke in a normal voice, and only nodded towards Patrocles as the gate opened for me once more.


    I was a bit surprised to see only 20 Custodes remained to guard the Golden Throne, their missing numbers replaced by 10000 Grey Knights in silver armor, and 10000 auramite-armored Thalax suits containing Blank pilots. Possibly the Blanks I sent from my Blank City, or part of them anyway. I was wondering what happened to the men, and now I found out.


    "Come closer, my son. I see someone has distorted your body and soul greatly." the Starchild spoke kindly from his Golden Throne, his words washing away the tiredness of building a Forge World with my mind and willpower.


    So I walked on my two feet like a normal man, and approached the throne, to find three eyes measuring me with interest.


    "Is that third eye supposed to be open?" I asked instead, and heard Patrocles face-slap himself for my bad diplomatic skills. I probably shouldn''t have mentioned that out loud.


    "I heard so much about you, Pef Lancefire. Now I see why." the Starchild said with mild amusement, and the air inside the giant cavern began to turn golden.


    I just stared at my hand, as the Emperor''s magic worked on me still, removing the extra finger without surgery. Or more likely, via psychic surgery.


    "I guess I entered superposition with Malice for a second, when I smashed through him. Something of his essence stuck to me?" I wondered in a gentle voice, as my heart began to warm up inside me.


    "Bronze Age myths, nothing more. But anarchy was a popular current in M2, if I recall correctly. Bulgaria, Serbia, Spain...such ancient times indeed." the Starchild mused in a reminiscent voice, no doubt sensing things in my soul I have forgotten for a thousand years. Or, 40000 years, with the right perspective.


    "Anything else?" I asked more directly.


    "You must be eager to return to the Fringe, and see how your domain is faring. I understand. But, do return to Mars in 32 Solar years. We will need your aid again." the Starchild spoke with a gentle voice while his third eye closed and the air became breathable again.


    I banged my cured left fist on the twin-eagle on my chest then walked away. He wasn''t so bad, the Starchild. Perhaps too powerful to be around long, but Purity seemed to manage.


    I stopped for a moment as I recognized the face inside a Thalax suit, but the Blank cyborg inside was mind-wiped already. Jurgen''s child. Oh well. He was at the side of the Emperor now, a better fate than most in this cursed universe.


    ''Don''t use my children this way, Starchild. Feral Blanks are one thing, my bloodline another. They are not the Emperor''s Children.'' I spoke via the Sounding Board, just before I stepped through the gate.


    ''I heard you warn the Hive Mind in the Hidden Library, Lancefire. After you deal with Arachnae</a> , we will speak again.'' the Starchild answered in my mind, but using my family''s empathic channel, instead of the regular friends and allies channel I sent the message on.


    Very strange, but not beyond a God''s power. Or maybe he didn''t cheat, and just used what was more appropriate. Something to think about on the way home.

 Oblivion

    The long way home was different from what I imagined. Then again, we travelled via Macharius FTL engines, avoiding most of the unpleasant side effects of long galactic journeys. On the other hand, both me and the Blade were mildly horrified as more strange and powerful weapons were discovered in the data-vaults I obtained at Boros.


    The Terran Federation did have apocalyptic weapons in their arsenal, and while the Yoctoparticulate Crucible template was quite damaged and far beyond my expertise to repair, the missile-launched Ark of Oblivion was mostly intact. Just make sure the warhead reached a far away distance, before enormous contramolecular shockwaves would propagate like waves in a pond, and vibrate anything made of matter into sludge and slurry.


    ''These Oblivion weapons are far beyond your Nova Cannons'' radius and potential damage. I expect that even Tomb Ships would melt if caught in the blast area. Very possibly the strategic-grade version of the Yoctoparticulate Crucible.'' the Blade revealed as the weapon''s predicted radius and damage outmatched a Nova Shell by five orders of magnitude. Quite enough to destroy an entire Hive Fleet in two or three blasts.


    This kind of weapon was exactly what I imagined the Men of Iron used in their rebellion, and the data-vault cogitator was by no means fully explored.


    ''Yes, very possible. And this Shivarik''s Constellation?'' I asked with mild curiosity.


    ''You already have Vortex torpedoes. Now imagine 25 advanced satellites, releasing even stronger Vortex warheads at the same time, while under cloak.'' the AI answered with a shiver in her voice.


    I didn''t need to imagine what will happen. I already saw a Warp Breach</a> occur at Forge World Gryphonne IV</a>, even with a single Vortex Torpedo exploding in the wrong place. It was a stupid weapon, which would doom both the defender and the attacker, and likely release a trillion daemons into realspace through a fully formed Warp Rift.


    Even so, this universe was cruel enough that I couldn''t deny that I might deploy the Constellation one day. Strong weapons like that were meant for strong enemies, but this galaxy had plenty of those as well.


    For now, I did have lighter weapons like the Cyclophox Determination bomb, which only covered a single planet in a wave of phosphex fire-acid. Guaranteed Exterminatus, yet without destroying the atmosphere like my regular Atmospheric Incendiary Torpedoes used at Sotha and many other places. The STC template even came with a duration timer for the Cyclophox bomb, anything from 1 hour to 1 year. Hard to imagine why someone would need to cook a planet for an entire year, but obviously the Federation thought it wise to have the option.


    ''The Cyclophox Determination seems quite suitable for my needs in the Fringe. Let''s make about 40000 of them, for rapid expansion of my domain.'' I decided with a casual tone. Clean new slates, devoid of Ork spores and Tyranid bioforms and perhaps other vermin like those Nagi worms inducted in the Tau Empire.


    ''Captain Lancefire! I could argue 40000 reasons against using the Cyclophox as a terraforming tool. Destroying the ecosystem is the least of them.'' the Blade argued with a tenacious voice.


    I knew better, though. ''You will see, Blade Lancefire. The Fringe of the galaxy is filled with xenos of all kinds, and I value my bloodline too much to waste them in exterminations Crusades like the Emperor did.''


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    Despite her misgivings, the Blade still helped me construct the Lancefire Arsenal, while Lash grinned with hungry teeth at the prospect of future xenocides.


    Soon enough, we passed through the Zone Mortalis then entered the range of the Pharos, and I began to receive data from my Obsidian Auguries spread all over the Ultima Segmentum. The galaxy went to shit while I was missing in the Warp, and a dozen Forge Worlds had fallen to various invasions, Necrons and Tyranids at the top, then a pair of Ork Waaghs and even a Chaos incursion threatening Forge Metalica.


    At the same time, my domain has grown so much as to support 40 new Forge Worlds, with Forge Rhine and Forge Danube becoming famous as centers of learning and advanced weaponry.


    The newest Forge Volga was under siege by a New Hive Fleet called Arachnae, using new bioforms with multiple legs to swarm the defenses and climb the Hive City walls like spiders. Ah, this is what the Starchild warned me about. And kinda told me to deal with it too.


    Not only that, but the Novokh_Dynasty</a> was taking part in the Arachnae War as well, kidnapping anything alive to conduct blood rituals, in some kind of demented quest to cleanse the galaxy of all life. That they also did that to Tyranids and Chaos cultists was mildly ironic, though.


    Oh well, I did gain a few new weapons recently, and lacked a proper target to test them on.


    ''Lash, be so kind and accelerate us towards Forge Volga. You will get to feed on the new spiders...'' I enticed the C''tan who grinned even wider, then phased into the engine room to boost our speed 100 times.


    ''I told the others to leave the Eldar for later. You do provide the best feasts in the galaxy, Pef Lancefire.'' Lash answered in a hungry voice.


    ''Yeah, what did happen with the Eldar fleet and Craftworlds?'' I asked a bit curious just as Lady Valyene showed up to see why we were moving so fast suddenly, with Joan in her arms.


    ''They only broke a second Craftworld before the fleet entered the Webway and the Eldar Gods showed up to protect their offspring. Nightwolf was badly injured and then eaten by the Nightreaper. The pack went on, to find more Shards and liberate them.'' Lash disclosed with a sad voice.


    ''Sounds like a new War in Heaven is coming.'' I mused with a thoughtful voice.


    ''It kinda does. And don''t forget who struck first, this time.'' Lash noted with some anger.


    ''It is the Eldar way, after all. They foresee a disaster in the future, then act on it to create that disaster. Nothing new.'' I said with mild amusement.


    ''ETA to Forge Volga, 9.3 hours. You should get some sleep, Captain. Don''t faint on me again...'' the C''tan advised me with a sarcastic tone.


    I smiled at my wife, then kissed the little miracle in her arms. "Come, my lady. We have an hour to spend, before we sleep. In 9 hours, we get to fight more Tyranids, isn''t it great?"


    The Inquisitor smiled back, and read the holoscreen with our course plotted down. "Forge World Volga? A new one?"


    "Time moves on, even if we don''t notice. I''ll make sure to capture some spider bioforms, for you to play with later." I whispered in her ear, making her blush.


    "You always say the right words to get me in the mood, husband. Let me lay Joan to sleep, and I''ll join you in the shower." she answered with a horny voice.


    The huge Custodes stood guard over my bed, but I have learned to ignore my transhuman bodyguards and get on with my business. If the Emperor wanted a record of my bed prowess, I was quite happy to provide.

 Saved

    Dan Lancefire was an experienced Sergeant in the Blazing Spartans Chapter, even considered for a promotion to Captain for his 500 years of service, to humanity, the Emperor and House Lancefire, in that order.


    He had been raised among others of his clan, and even obtained two Blank children from his obligatory harem, before being inducted as a Space Marine. His daughter was now living on Excelsior, among the smart Blanks that formed Primarch''s Vulkan special learning center. His Blank boy had joined the tech-priesthood and now worked on Forge Danube, luckily far away from the insect-like Tyranids attacking Forge Volga.


    The star system was heavily contested, as Forge Machina had deployed a special Mechanicus Ark filled with laser drones, billions of them.


    On the ground however, things were looking grim. The Auxilia troops and the local servitors and Skitarii cohorts of the Forge World were no match for the rapid spiders, and thus only the Astartes and the big walkers above him could dent the Tyranid attack.


    Still they fought on, as there was no other choice. A Forge World was too important to lose, and thus more and more new recruits and billions of cloneskeins or servitors were thrown into the grinder of war. Another APC-sized spider climbed on top of the Hive''s wall, and Dan burned its head with a hot blast from his Melta Lance.


    And yet, the horizon was filled with more Tyranids, and tall capillary towers already sucking out the life essence of the planet.


    This was going to be bad again, same as the bloody victory in the Rottgrave_System</a> , most likely.


    An Imperial Knight on his left ducked under a dive-bombing Gargoyle, then received a bio-plasma globe to the face from a distant Pyrovore, and retreated in the second line to get the maintenance rites restored.


    "We''re deploying the promethium jets now, stand clear!" he heard his Captain on the vox channel, before the nozzles of burning fuel erupted like streams of magma to burn out this attack wave. Millions of spiders burned to a crisp in a single minute of weaponized fuel pumps. Amazing, really. But it won''t last. Promethium was great, but it burned fast, and then the Tyranids would come again. There were always more Tyranids.


    Dan glanced below, and saw the Tyranids already re-grouping for another assault.


    "Damn bugs are persistent. Why is the fleet not helping?" A Catachan soldier asked with a hopeful glance at the lit up sky. Billions of laser beams crisscrossed the sky as the drones battled the flying Tyranid bioforms, which looked nice, but would not even tickle the larger Hive Ships hidden among their cruiser-size bioships.


    "They are helping by thinning out the landing spores. There could be 40 times more Tyranids below, otherwise." Dan spoke with a lamenting voice.


    "Hah! Only 40..." the unnamed Catachan yelled back, when a long spine entered his mouth and ended his life.


    Dan sighed inward and blasted the climbing spider before it could crawl on top of the wall. Exactly like Rottgrave. Not so many daemons, though. Maybe it wasn''t so bad, yet.


    "Less speaking and more shooting!" he yelled at the Auxilia troops, inspiring them to fight on a little longer.


    "Captain? Any chance for reinforcements?" he asked with a less hopeful tone.


    "Unless bloody father arrives this day, we may join the Emperor at his feast table. You know the Imperium won''t send anyone this far out in the Fringe, brother." Captain Zoro ''Slash'' Lancefire answered with mild humor.


    "As you say, Captain. I hope I get some roasted Fenirisan elk, I loved it in training." Dan said in a more hungry tone, remembering the survival training of his youth. He still had the giant elk''s horns in his quarters, a memento of his foolish bravery and the pain of extracting those horns from his stomach.


    "Bleh, elk! At least an Ursadon!" Zoro answered in a boasting voice, while his Phase Blade sliced a dozen sticky claws reaching over the wall.


    Nobody knew how Zoro managed to kill a Titan-sized Ursadon with his puny combat knife, and yet he did. Marked for Captain-track even as a new recruit. Some people did have all the luck.


    ''This looks quite fun, guys! Should I come in and help, or rest a bit longer?'' a curious voice spoke inside his head, someone he never met, but knew even if asleep.


    Pef Lancefire had arrived, just like the Captain had predicted.


    "I was hoping for roasted elk, to be fair." Dan muttered in a slightly disappointed voice, as giant flares of Nova Shells filled the sky. The Hive Fleet will be burned off in a few minutes, now that the Primogenitor had returned.


    Then a trio of gigantic Titans appeared in front of the Hive City walls, taller than the highest spire.


    "You can rest now, brothers. I am Bianca, and my Red Hot Titan will take care of the tiny spiders for you!" the Titan''s Princeps spoke from her titanic vox casters, so loud that his blood vibrated inside his chest for a few seconds.


    Then blazing hot beams of Volcano Lances fired rapidly into the cloud of flying Gargoyles, while the main Volcano Cannons and Plasma Annihilators scoured the field and demolished a few small mountains in the distance.


    "Smoking Hot is better!" another Titan''s Princeps claimed as her weapon batteries reduced a cohort of bio-titans to mere smoke and ash.


    "Tint your visors, brothers! Blinding Hot has taken the field!" the third Titan''s Princeps proclaimed in a boasting voice, as her enfilade fire alongside the wall cleared a billion Tyranids with a single salvo.


    Dan had kept an eye open, and regretted it, as a climbing Tyranid managed to stab him in the stomach while he was amazed and blinded by the fireworks.


    "Damn it! Don''t look at the elk yet! This looks bad, Dan....Dan!" he heard his Captain yell, then he vanished.


    "... Scanning for injuries. Non-critical, nanite injection, 21 cc." Dan heard a faint robot voice as the scenery changed, and he opened his good eye to find himself in a strange medicae bay, white and clean and devoid of medics or surgeons, and of course Apothecaries.


    A robotic arm hanging from the ceiling extracted a vicious claw dripping blood and guts from his stomach, and held it out for a moment. "Do you want to keep this memento as well, Sergeant? You appear to favor things that pass through your stomach..." the robot voice asked in a serious tone.


    Dan sighed and nodded. "Sure, I''ll keep it. It looks great. These nanites...are they safe?" he asked instead.


    "Safe? Let me think about it." the Machine Spirit spoke in an ironic tone, and when Dan looked down his stomach wound was already closing, while vision has already returned to his damaged eye.


    Probably safe then. It sure beat getting cut open by an Apothecary again.


    "You can return to your unit, or rest for a while here, Sergeant. It''s not like the situation requires an extra gun anymore." the Machine Spirit provided in a gentler voice.


    "So we already won, right?" Dan asked to make sure. The robot arm blinked from its single blue eye, then turned away.


    More Astartes and even Auxilia troops arrived in various states of injuries, and got injected by robotic arms with a blue-glowing cocktail that worked almost like psyker magic. Most injuries healed fast, but not the missing limbs. Not real magic then.


    Dan rose to his feet and grabbed his claw trophy. "I should go. The other injured may need the medic-bed." he said in a farewell voice.


    "Come back soon!" the robot voice exclaimed as a metal door opened for him to exit into a wide ship''s hangar, filled with Aquila starfighters and troops boarding landers.


    Dan sighed inward and walked out. Damn cog humor! He would only return if he was injured again.


    Then he encountered a giant grey wolf, who sniffed at the bloody claw in his hand.


    "Follow me, Sergeant. You''ve been selected for a special mission." the wolf spoke between sword-sized teeth.


    Dan frowned, and followed the damn speaking wolf. He had seen stranger things in his life.


    "I like to eat too. It seems we''re much alike, you and I. Name''s Lash, by the way." the wolf spoke as they walked through a strange grey corridor without any people.


    "Most wolves don''t speak. Not even the Fenrisian wolves." Dan noted in an observant manner.


    The wolf turned to measure him for a long minute. "There are no wolves on Fenris, Sergeant Lancefire. The universe is much stranger than you know." the wolf claimed in a wise tone.


    "Why is there no one in this part of the ship?" Dan asked instead, too weirded out by the strange conversation with a Goliath Truck-sized wolf.


    "This is not a ship, Sergeant. It''s a pocket dimension, the size of a star system. Ever been to Sotha?" the wolf asked in a strange tangent.


    "... Isn''t that place locked behind Forge Machina? I''m not a Tech-Marine either." Dan wondered with a deep frown.


    A silver wall faded away to reveal a pair of women, wearing bodysuits marked with Silent Sisters'' sigils. "You must be Dan, right?" A Silent Sister asked him with a normal voice, making him doubt he even knew the rules of the universe anymore. Not only wolves but also Silent Sisters could speak?


    "You''re confusing the man, girls. I am Pef." a man spoke as he appeared from thin air in the room, wearing a casual green robe with the bleeding heart sigil.


    Dan pounded his chestplate and nodded. "Lord Lancefire. I am honored to meet you." What else could he say?


    Although his Primogenitor was certainly taller than the pics and stories told. About the same as a Firstborn, maybe.


    "Take this. I will send you to the Pharos on Sotha, carrying this data-slate. When the upload is ready, I will bring you back. Don''t tell anyone about the mission." the man ordered in a mild voice, and handed him a blackstone chip and a data-slate.


    "More tunnels?" Dan asked, and vanished.


    Instead, he appeared inside a huge cavern, with a giant humanoid creature nailed to the Blackstone wall.


    The Titan-sized creature opened his eyes and stared down at Dan for a minute.


    The genuine version of this novel can be found on another site. Support the author by reading it there."Is that the device you need me to upload?" it asked in a bored voice.


    "...I would assume so. What are you?" Dan Lancefire asked with a curious tone, holding out the data-slate. It wasn''t a daemon, and certainly not human. A xenos of some kind?


    "Me? I am Zarhulash. You smell like a Lancefire, and the Astartes marks on your armor indicate a Sergeant rank. How close am I?" the creature called Zarhulash wondered as the data-slate levitated from Dan''s hand and landed in the giant''s palm.


    Lancefires had a particular smell? That was new. "I expect you know my Primogenitor, Pef Lancefire. Do I smell like him?" Dan asked with a raised eyebrow.


    The giant sniffed and eyed the Tyranid claw Dan still carried around. "Indeed, you have the Lancefire bloodline. The Blank gift as well, and the gene-seed of Primarch Vulkan. Plus, a handful of tiny nanite repair-bots in your bloodstream, already going dormant now that your injury has healed. You are blessed, Dan Lancefire."


    The data-slate floated back in Dan''s hand, probably already uploaded with the data his Primogenitor wanted. "How I am blessed?" Dan asked the strange xenos.


    "That Blackstone card, you know what it is?" Zahulash asked instead, making Dan suddenly cautious.


    "It is an inert piece of rock. Right?" Dan said as he held out the black card, and realized immediately that it might not be true.


    "Yes, but no. Blackstone is not mere rock, Dan Lancefire. Just as you are not a mere human anymore. That particular bit of Blackstone is a tiny shard of Nyadra''zatha</a>, the Burning One. In the same way, a drop of your blood is a tiny shard of the Lancefire House, and farther away a miniscule part of the Emperor of Man. I believe humanity still uses genetic scanners for important doors and locks?" the giant explained in a roundabout way.


    Would have been helpful to know who the alien with the strange name was, but Dan could guess the rest.


    "This Nyadra''zatha</a>, is that someone like you?" Dan asked with faint suspicion.


    "I am bound with Enuncia to this prison lighthouse. Zath is now free, roaming the galaxy to search for his Shards. But the important part, is who freed him. Which would be your distant Primogenitor. That access card in your hand is worth more than a dozen battleships, Dan Lancefire. Come back soon!" the creature explained in a patient tone, then waved him farewell as space shifted, and he returned in front of Pef Lancefire. Thousands of light-years, crossed in an instant.


    "My lord, the Blackstone...?" Dan started to ask just as the data-slate vanished from his hand.


    "Mighty Zarhulash must have been bored to reveal so much to you, Dan. Lash, go induct him in the Obsidian Augury, and start looking for Corax." Pef Lancefire spoke with a careless voice, more interested in the data-slate connecting to a mechadendrite cable which had appeared out of nowhere to link his temple data-port with the data-storage device.


    One of the Silent Sisters waved at him with an amused smile, while the other one sighed out loud. "I guess we''ll meet again, Dan Lancefire. Pef, thank the man for his service!" the vociferous Sister demanded and poked the Primogenitor in the temple.


    "Right. I was away for too long, and wanted to learn more about my domain. Dan Lancefire, you have performed a perilous and important mission, and even encountered a Star God and lived. You are to be commended, just like Lady Ordella says." the Primogenitor said as his eyes focused on Dan for a minute.


    "I am Lash, shard of Zarhulash, the Potentate. So, now you''ve met my Primogenitor. How is he?" the truck-sized wolf asked in a casual tone, while leading Dan away on another silvery tunnel.


    "Star God? You are a fragment of an alien god?" Dan muttered in a strange voice. Now the talking wolf made a bit more sense, and posed more questions.


    The wolf turned and examined Dan with a quizzing look. "You are also a shard of a God, Dan Lancefire. Don''t make things weird."


    Dan blinked and shut up. Truly, the universe was a strange place, and he knew nothing about it. Still. "Bound with Enuncia, your sire said. I only saw chains made of rock. Or Blackstone, which apparently is more than mere rock." he mused in a low voice, and tapped his Blackstone plates covering the power armor.


    "Yes, our continuing mission is to obtain a library of Enuncia words, which are also not mere words. You are to be the test case for the Enouncement Words we find, until a dictionary is created for Lady Ordella to use. Captain Lancefire was quite lucky to discover a Silent Sister of that power, before she was bound to the Silence Vows." the wolf revealed as they arrived in another of the ship''s sector, lined with more Blackstone and filled to the brim with cogitators and hololith screens.


    "This is the local Obsidian Augury, Dan Lancefire. Your access card, if you please." the wolf said and held out a paw.


    Dan shook his head and dropped the Blackstone card in the wolf''s paw, who inserted the card into a wafer slot on a cogitator console. "Dan Lancefire, Obsidian Augur, recognized. FTL network online. Input query." the hololith screen lit up with words.


    "Don''t be an ass, little Blade. The boy is new and already skittish." the big wolf spoke in a dismissive voice.


    A blue image of a female in strange light armor appeared in the floating hologram screen. "I am the Blade, Dan. We meet again." she spoke in a voice he recognized from the medicae bay.


    "Some kind of Machine Spirit surgeon?" Dan realized with a surprised voice.


    The floating Spirit waved a hand airly. "I have multiple talents. Anyway, let''s see what news you bring of Primach Corvus. Tachyon links online. Matching temporal coordinates, matching Obsidian Augury credentials. Lash, be so kind and connect us to the Pharos empathic network."


    The wolf sat down and poked the hologram screen, making numbers and words appear and float downwards like a waterfall. "Obsidian card located, Ultima Segmentum, Idolatros_System</a> .Focusing the Pharos lens." the xenos wolf spoke with a professional tone, as the hologram shifted to a projection of that star system, with a Warp Storm marker forming a sphere around it.


    "Is that a Daemon World?" Dan Lancefire noted with sudden wariness.


    "Indeed, that would be the Daemon World</a> Wyrmwood</a>, a fragment of Caliban. And on it, there are numerous Iron Warriors Warbands, now meeting with their Primach Perturabo, while Corax is shadowing his brother." the Blade spirit answered with a casual voice, as the hologram converged on a single place, almost like having a pict-cam hovering above the meeting.


    "We could throw in a few melta bombs. Would ruin the party for sure." the wolf proposed with a sneaky voice.


    Dan just realized this was not a mere projection either. He had been on Sotha in person, just an hour ago. If they could transport a person, killing the traitors from far away would be much safer.


    "Shut up, Lash! Perturabo was also given a mission, let''s see if he accomplishes anything. You already have the lives of the traitors in your greedy paws." the Blade exclaimed with an irate voice.


    "Calm down everyone! I am curious what they are doing here, in my backyard." Pef Lancefire spoke in a commanding voice, making the wolf run towards the Primogenitor to be petted like a real wolf.


    "I found them easily, Captain. Just say the word, and I''ll eat them all." the xeno-wolf claimed with a hungry tone.


    "My lord, this kind of tech...almost seems like cheating." Dan observed with a respectful voice.


    "Divine powers always seem like that, Dan. Corax is there too, hiding in a shadow right now. Without the Obsidian marker I gave him, we couldn''t even find the Primarch, even with the Pharos. This guy lasted 11000 years in the Eye of Terror, killing Chaos Marines and Sorcerers one by one. Shadow-walking is also a cheat power." Pef Lancefire answered with a friendly pat on his arm.


    Then their ears perks up, as the Iron Warriors knelt to their Primarch and gene-sire. "Lord Perturabo! We have The Key</a> right here. Once we find the Lock, we could travel into the Warp and locate the Weapon. You would become a God!" an old Chaos Marine proposed with a hopeful voice.


    "... That sounds interesting. An Anathema Weapon cache of the Old Ones. Just like your Emperor." the wolf noted in an interested voice.


    "And where is this Lock?" Perturabo asked in a stern voice.


    "Around the volume where this Pariah Nexus has appeared. We believe the Necrons are also chasing after the Weapon, Sire. Chaos Lord Ahriman would know more if you were willing to meet him." the Warband''s leader proposed with a fake voice.


    Dan heard his Primogenitor sigh. "Ahriman again. I hoped the Starchild would have eaten him already." he lamented in a low voice.


    "The Archtraitor? How is the Sorcerer involved in this?" Dan asked as the universe revealed more surprises.


    "Ahriman obviously wants to become a Chaos God himself. Perturabo is only a pawn, or perhaps a blood sacrifice." Pef Lancefire said in a convinced voice, and Dan tended to agree. That Archtraitor nickname wasn''t just for the Imperium. Chaos traitors were not known for their loyalty.


    "Who else here wants to meet with Lord Ahriman?" Perturabo asked with a calm voice.


    "Maybe we could find more from him, Sire. I''m not saying we should trust him..." Another Chaos Marine proposed with a honeyed voice.


    "I''m very disappointed in all of you, but most of all in those following the Archtraitor. You know what to do, my loyal sons!" Perturabo proclaimed as he drew his weapons out.


    The surface of the Daemon World soon ran red with blood and hematite cells filled with iron. Iron within and then iron without.