40 Thousand Reasons

Chapter 218: Raptors

A Crusade against a xeno empire is different from a liberation Crusade of Imperial worlds. The standard Imperial tactics would require total extermination, and then perhaps sifting through the ruins to recover valuable artifacts or technology.

I have even taken part in the Ghouls Stars Crusade against the Cythor Fiends, the one where Primarch Sanguinius took command and made a mess of things.

For the Tau, I had different plans though. Burning planets would not recover my investment, after all.

Thus, I spent a whole month at Prefectia instructing my officers, and the other commanders that arrived to help with the Crusade. We had maps and estimations on the Tau forces, by the grace of the Ordo Xenos and some local Rogue Traders. We had enough ships and ground units to conquer the entire Tau species, although it would be very costly.

However, I did not want that. Only half. I'm modest like that.

"I want their researchers captured! I want their labs intact! I want their factories and shipyards as undamaged as possible!" I demanded in a loud voice.

The Cadian Colonels and the Navy Captains looked down and muttered to themselves, while the Adepta Sororitas and the Astartes Captains glared at me with burning eyes. One of them quite literally, because he was a psyker.

"You're making this conquest much harder than it has to be, Lord Lancefire. We have no need for filthy xenos technology or their scientists." a certain Sister declared in a proud voice.

I sighed inward and mentally shifted her congregation to another target, a Farside Enclave, replacing them with a Lamenter Company and five Auxilia regiments in the battle order for that Sept World.

"Please, Sister Beatrice. You need to consider what other groups in this Crusade need. The Mechanicus certainly needs that xenos tech. The Rogue Traders also need intact installations and valuable artifacts to recover their costs. The Ordo Xenos is mandated to examine the tech as well." I pleaded in a tired voice.

On the large hololith screen, the field deployment changed to slot in the Battle Sisters under Beatrice into their new positions.

"... Fine! My Sisters and I will fight to return the captured humans to the light of the God-Emperor. And, try not to burn more than necessary." the woman allowed in a steely tone.

I smiled pleasantly and pointed at the other end of the Nexus, which emerged somewhere west of Kar_Duniash, the main producer of Dominator_Cruisers in the Ultima Segmentum. And because these cruisers also had a Nova Cannon, this raised the importance of the Fortress World to absolute. Vital for the security of the Imperium, especially against the Tyranids.

"Lady Kalistradi, you and the Black Dragons will need to secure Kar Duniash at all cost. We are not certain how many Tau ships have already traversed the rift into Imperial territory, so be careful." I continued with a nod towards the friendly Inquisitor.

Several other Inquisitors raised a finger to signal their interest, and were added to the task force prepared to cross the rift and cleanse the Tau incursion. They came with warships and their own Stromtrooper regiments, their troops upgraded to Lamenter Auxilia standards from my own stores of spare vehicles, plus each had been granted a Deathwatch Company from my reserves of Astral Claws, so their help would certainly speed up the reconquest.

Of course, I wasn't actually worried about a Tau push into the heart of the Imperium, mainly because the Tau lacked fast FTL engines, and their methods required a slow advance with lots of defenses and logistical bases. The Tau were not Orks, to rush head forward into battle. They would consolidate their gains in the Nem'yar_Atoll first, and that gave me plenty of time to strike directly at the Tau heartland, conquer the Nexus gateway, and then lock the Tau behind me.

And with that final check, the Damocles Crusade was ready to begin.

The Lamenters and my Blackstone Fortress took the worst job, which was the Nexus itself and its formidable defenses, while the rest of the crusading troops were spread out for a simultaneous strike at forty Tau systems.

A week later, the Black Lament plowed through the railguns and torpedoes and mines that protected the stable rift into the Ultima segmentum.

My starfighters and corvettes began clearing up the overwhelmed static defenses, while I began filling my second tesseract with hundreds of Tau ships, advanced bombers and fighters and any movable tech I could grab.

In less than a day, we had the far end of the Nexus secured and I began deploying my own static defenses, starting with the upgraded Aegida Fortress and then thousands of asteroid forts and Mechanicus-made minefields.

Lady Amberley remained on the Aegida to begin interrogations and thousands of techpriests from Forge Retribution emerged from their Ark Mechanicus to examine the captured technology.

Leaving the Fortress behind, I boarded the Singularity battleship, flanked by seven other battleships of my Dynasty and entered the rift to clear the Imperial side, and then establish a trading port copied after Footfall, the Rogue Trader haven in the Expanse.

I didn't have a name yet for this new port, but the majority of my clan already named it Port Lancefire. It would take a decade and major work from the techpriests to connect thousands of asteroids with voidsteel chains and raise buildings and artificial gravity generators, but I expected the port to become profitable even sooner.

There were already 54 Rogue Trader ships in this Crusade, and the news would spread fast to others in our profession. Profit was a great motivator, after all.

Less than a week later, after the first defenses came online at the Aegida Nexus, I continued the advance towards the major Sept World of Dal'yth. Without qualms about cheating, I began filling the tesseract with ships and panicked locals, while with my good tesseract I deployed the occupation troops and an initial batch of colonists.

Dal'yth had been a Water caste world, thus it was filled with factories and trading depots, with goods from a thousand different worlds being offered in trade. There were also dozens of embassies from various minor species hosted here, which were of great interest to the Ordo Xenos. Since the Imperium rarely allowed for diplomatic relations with xenos, learning how other races managed would be quite important.

From Dal'yth, I once more boarded the Singularity and departed in a rush for the Tau World of Kuu'lan where some unexpected events took place.

Sure, in war there are always surprises, but this time in was an Astartes Chapter, the Raptors that were involving themselves in my Crusade, without even sending me notice.

After a quick status report, it came to light that the Raptors were asked by the Governor of Dolumar_IV to abduct an Ethereal leader and bring him back. Task which they almost accomplished, until they were ambushed by a large Tau fleet consisting of five modern battleships and a dozen cruisers.

Their single battlebarge was nearly failing by the time my fleet arrived, and they had already lost three Strike Cruisers and nine Gladius Frigates. Possibly not very inspired of them, to attack the Tau as they were on a war footing against a Crusade.

"What do you think, Inquisitor?" I asked with a suffering voice, towards Lady Valeyne.

The Inquisitor glanced at the ongoing space battle on the screen, then sighed. "If you have enough forces, stay and conquer the Kuu'lan system as well, Lord Pef. I'll go solve this Governor problem, but I will need Sister Dessima, just in case." she claimed in a cold voice with holding out her silver cube.

"Take the Canticle then." I offered and deposited the Overlord battlecruiser near the Singularity. It was the fastest ship I had available, and it also had the most modern weapons and defenses.

By the time the battlecruiser sped away for Dolumar, carrying three Deathwatch Companies and a squad of Silent Sisters lead by the Omega-level Dessima, I was already dropping my troops on Kuu'lan and clearing off the last remains of the Tau Navy.

Of course, I could conduct these maneuvers with my eyes closed by now, and even engage in polite conversation with my guests at the same time.

"Master Lias Issodon, here is what is going to happen. Because you and your Chapter have volunteered to take part in the Damocles Crusade, I will give you a fair chance to recover your loses. Your barge, the War Talon will be repaired and upgraded, and your Chapter will receive five new cruisers and twenty destroyers to replace what you've lost."

To my side, the Chapter Master of the Raptors simply nodded, waiting for the other foot to drop. "We are very grateful for the rescue, Lord Lancefire." he muttered a minute later.

"I am certain you are, Master Issodon. I will even provide your Chapter a hundred Blank recruits and training for a thousand techmarines over the next decades. However, there will be a price. Your Raptors will remain here, in the new Sector we are conquering from the Tau, and provide security for the human colonists. You will raise a thousand Auxilia regiments and enforce Imperial law, in conjunction with the Astra Militarum and the Navy. I suggest you base your Chapter at Dal'yth, where a new Forge World will be made to exploit the technology of the Tau." I demanded in a forceful voice.

The man glared at me for a second, then turned his eyes back on the screen, where the Leviathan Dreadknights were battling the advanced Tau warsuits and grav tanks.

"Any chance we may receive a few Leviathans?" he wondered in a sad tone.

"Of course, my friend. Every Blank Astartes will be gifted one. I take care of my children." I answered with a wry smile.

Plus, it was only fair that the Imperium based the new Sector at the same place where the Dal'yth_Treaty was signed some three hundred years ago, after a major defeat of Imperial forces.