40 Thousand Reasons

Chapter 106: Shadow

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 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 car, and emplace a Tarantula 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!

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 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 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.