61-69

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.

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..." 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 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.

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 that lies within the Maelstrom Zone 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 empires, 15 Hrud 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. 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 workedLudvaius 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 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 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.

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 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 at Forge World Konor.

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, the burned fortress-monastery in orbit above Sotha.

I had a few harsh words to speak with the Scythes of the EmperorThe 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 or the Cabal or many other secret societies invested in keeping their power base or destroying humanity.

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 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 chanceI 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 or perhaps Sarum. 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, 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, 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 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, 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.

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, 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.

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

🔊

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.

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 muchAfter 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.

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. 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. 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 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.

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 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 productivelyTime 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 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 faction, and stole his weapons and ring, and the ancient Flare_Shield 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 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.

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." 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 nowAlthough 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 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, 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 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!"

"Minoris, my friend. You see that Cyclonic Torpedo resting here? I need you to locate a worthy target for it. The Drukhari hidden city of Commorragh, 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.

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 consciounessI 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, 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. 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.

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, 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, 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