40 Thousand Reasons

An hour later, I returned to the Governor Ball after making sure my Navigator would look after the new psyker and teach Lady Grindelle the rudimentary necessities, to avoid becoming a danger, to herself and everyone else.

Psykers could be a potent force multiplier if used correctly, in a dozen fields from medicine to warfare or diplomacy. They could also create huge trouble, if left undetected and untrained.

Even my gifted daughters with Rose would suffer from same risks and benefits, but I expected they were already on Terra by now, and receiving training from a Psyker group like Adeptus_Astra_Telepathica's Scholastia Psykana, all except Janice who went with Rose, possibly providing the same service as Justine had, only better.

Her mother did train the girls a little, establishing a core of mental fortitude and the use of a telekine dome which should protect them from bullying and other harassment.

But more advanced abilities, like the precious Gate of Infinity: teleporting great distances via a Warp corridor would take many years to master.

They were also strongly advised to request testing for the Inquisition, because the training would be much better and their powers in the Imperium would be nearly absolute, if they passed the trials.

Meanwhile, my own Navigator house was slowly taking shape, with a dozen adepts opening their third eye and undergoing basic training from the available Navigators in my fleet.

We don't talk about those who failed, but the Mechanicus priests have taken the mindwiped or exploded corpses to use them in various ways, from psycho-active purity seals and organic components for Gellar field generatoriums, to psy-cannons and psy-grenades and other esoteric and blessed munitions for my Astartes.

My Hive Capital is scheduled to receive a city-wide Gellar Field sometime in this decade or the next, depending on the affluence of more organic parts. I don't doubt there will be sufficient failures among the new Navigators, as even the venerable Houses have many of them. A new House like my own is certain to have over 90 percent failures, until we come up with a workable system, or we luck out with more dual Blank/Navigator genes.

Also, the Knight House is getting started, with over 100 young pilots training in holo-simulators and practicing live piloting on Armed Sentinels. And those are all my brothers, from my mother Justine and Lord Whitelance gene stock, but grown artificially by the tech-priests in a mechanical uterus. There were failures among them as well, and the nice Mechanicus tech-priests are using the salvaged parts for a more reliable targeting cogitator on the Canticle and more Machine Spirits, intended for the Volcano Sentinels and the Baneblades variants.

Best not to think about it too hard. It works and the Emperor protects.

By the next year, I had a new generation of kids born in the Blank Valley, and Victor provided a dozen more Blank descendants of his own.

Many more kids with my numerous noble and Catachans concubines, but the number of Blank kids stayed the same, still about 30 per year. It must be a hardwired limit somewhere.

And the golden veins of the Sanguinor's blessing have completely transformed my heart and lungs, giving me a lot more stamina and inner strength, and now the tendrils tingle towards my head and groin.

I really hope nothing bad happens, as I need both my mind and my spear to attempt my grander plans.

Not that relic Sanguinius's spear, although it will come in handy someday, but my other spear.

My daughter Larrise has sent word that she'll depart for Forge Antax soon, once the Fabricator at Forge Incaladion finishes preparing a light cruiser for her, another Endurance-class but upgraded with the Lima-class torpedo cells and twin Volcano batteries.

It isn't that much of a Favor, but the cruiser will be loaded with attack gunships and heavy tanks, which we cannot yet produce in the Fringe.

Forge World Incaladion is also building two types of corvettes, one a remodeled torpedo barrage Stalwart_Escort_Ship, without Warp engines and Navigators, and another escort-type similar to the Retribution-pattern I made for the Imperial Navy.

They also preferred converting the destroyer hulls already in production to the Los Angeles-class, as those were simpler and faster to build, and used more common or cheaper weaponry.

Logistics was always a big factor, and every Forge World had different capability and expertise.

Wentian had also departed towards Forge Triplex Phall, in command of a Lima destroyer while his son commanded the other. Nepotism was the name of the game in a Rogue Trader dynasty, and with every new and bigger ship that family branch grew in power, wealth and reputation.

Expansion to the north was due to restart soon with a fleet anchor point at Natale, just after the Chant for the Vanquished, the repaired cruiser, left for Antax and the new orbital forts were emplaced and armed.

The forts were still mere metallic asteroids with guns and shields, but why fix it if it works.

Illevar had about 50 such forts in orbit, and 50 more planned. This galaxy was dangerous, the distances vast and in space nobody could hear you scream for help.

I mean, they could...if you had astropaths, and they also had astropaths that listened, and there wasn't a Tyranid Silence or a Warp Storm blocking the transmissions. Better be safe, than hope some Astartes Chapter had a fleet nearby and ready to assist.

Planet Natale itself had a few billion people, but only a single Hive, the rest spread out in smaller towns all over the planet, split in warring factions of nobles and warlords. Much fewer nobles now, after Veryon pacified the planet in the usual style. The planet did have large river plains for agriculture, and even steam power trains and factories. 

They would be of great help for my colonization plans, after a generation or two of interbreeding with the Catachan regiment.

But the peace wouldn't last. I wasn't even surprised when my incipient Forge Retribution screamed for help, as the Warp disgorged a big Ork fleet and a Space Hulk crawling with a billion green mushrooms.

In an hour, I gathered what ships were available and departed for war. I did recruit tech-priest Minoris on my ship again, because his amazing brain power will be needed.

My wife Serena was bulging from my husbandry achievement and so was Henna, so they stayed on lllevar. Only dear Decima joined me on the rescue mission, and only the combat-able concubines. An Ork Waagh invasion was not a pleasure cruise for noble concubines, despite their pleas.

I had enough Astartes with me to consider capturing some Ork ships, as the metal hulls alone would be worth trillions of thrones. Other weapons and ship systems could be valuable as well, and that Space Hulk was an immense prize by itself, going by the astropath missive.

By next week we arrived at Retribution with my battlecruiser, 2 frigates and 6 destroyers and 400 corvettes of various types. Yet again, another corvette vanished during travel, proof of their weak resistance in the Warp.

The tech-priests and my ground forces were already under siege, a hundred million Orks having descended on the Forge World looking for a good fight and more plunder.

A single orbital fort was still standing, and a dozen corvettes had been lost by the defenders, somehow. It always amazed me how and why other people could lose ships against moron savages and flying bugs.

"Destroyers, change orbital plane below us and await orders to engage. Frigates, speed ahead towards the planet and glass whatever is infested and not protected. Corvettes, form in pattern Beta on the Canticle." I ordered after a single minute of deliberation.

The Orks were idiots, and it didn't take much to defeat them. Just avoid their armored prows.

We wisely avoided the large Space Hulk for now as it was too slow to chase us, and the Canticle soon confirmed a damaged Apocalypse-class_Battleship was embedded deep inside, only the gigantic engines and their known size and disposition allowing a positive identification.

Otherwise, the Ork fleet had a squadron of Kroozers and a dozen Roks, escorted by a ramshackle of hulls of smaller size, more than 500 in corvette size and two dozen in destroyer size. Nobody could identify the make and class of the original ships, because they were extensively modded and up-armored.

Minoris glanced at the holofield screen and cogitated for a minute. "Lord Pef, I predict the Orks will retreat before we can capture all of their ships. We should damage their engines."

Sadly, he was probably right. But only if their Ork Boss was alive to give that order. Also, a ship missing the brige would have a few small problems attempting to retreat.

"Retribution, this is Pef Lancefire. Please confirm the location of the Warboss, and any other large Orks that might continue fighting." I demanded as I delved into the Machine Spirit to have it listen at whatever vox and auspex return it could detect.

The system map soon filled with a handful of pulsing icons indicating the command centers of the Ork Armada.

Being tribal, the Orks would follow a command chain centered on the largest specimens, which in turn would obey the loudest and scariest Boss among the tribe leaders. And they did that without encrypting their vox channels...

Ludvaius leaned over my shoulder to allow his eyes to memorize the Boss placement. "Captain, we have sufficient Astartes on board, to teleport on their ships and terminate all these bosses."

I just sighed and turned towards Rafen. "Do you agree, Rafen?"

The Veteran was more cautious. "I expect you have a completely different plan, which will seem obvious and easy after you win the battle, Lord Lancefire."

I nodded wisely. "Indeed, my friend. Today you are Sanguinius reborn! Such wisdom from an Astartes is surely a sign the Primarch has returned from death inside your body." I proclaimed in fake praise, and Canis added a loud wail in concert.

I lowered my hand to scratch his furry head. "You think so too, my furry friend? Of course, you do. You just need a pair of wings, Canis. These silly Astartes will worship you and feed you expensive steaks, and maybe offer a thousand fertile bitches to create your own Canis Dynasty!"

"Wooooo!" my space wolf agreed in joy. Perhaps I should get him a few mates.

Then I urged the Canticle forward at best speed, and began lobbing atomic warheads on top of every Ork Boss, while adjusting the ship's course to stay parallel, but outside their Big Gunz weapons range.

My heavy lances didn't have that range problem and after two passes, the void was littered with listing Kroozers and burning escort vessels.

Easiest fight ever.