40 Thousand Reasons

Chapter 91: Hollow

With a twist of my left glove, the Ordo Xenos Inquisitor is frozen in my labyrinth, because I have need of the Pharos, and no need for foaming at the mouth extremists ready to flay me alive for my heresies.

I know I should be able to use the tesseract to teleport myself anywhere, same as the cheating Trazyn does, but I am still learning how to use it, and I suspect my dear skeletal friend didn't give me the complete instruction manual.

"Come, dear Fidelia. Let me introduce you to my crew, and observe the battle with the Hive fleet. " I say gently once the hug becomes too long and perhaps uncomfortable.

We walk onto the bridge hand-in-hand, just to preempt any zealous bodyguard from overreacting.

"Pef! You found another Sister!" Alana exclaims and rushes to embrace the stunned null maiden. She'll get used to hugs soon, I suspect.

"Lord Pef! I thought you took a break, not gallivanting after more wives." Ludvaius says with a smirk, but still holds a thumb up.

I just shrug as if this was normal. "Blank kids need mothers. I do my duty, just like everyone." I explain without actually saying anything of importance. This always works, even now.

Then I examine the fleet situation, and the state of the battle with the xenos. More Nova shells have been fired at concentrations of Tyranid ships, and melta torpedoes on the largest exemplars.

Weapon batteries and lances keep blasting away, from our fleet and the besieged defenders of Sotha, and the Hive fleet is getting slowly reduced in numbers.

Very slowly, as even inactive the bioships are quite difficult to kill. "Signus, come to the teleportarium. We need to beam atomic warheads inside these larger bioships before they recover and eat everyone. Otherwise, great job, crew. Stay vigilant!"

With a plausible reason for my absence, I leave the bridge again, followed by my bodyguards.

"Teleportarium...you wouldn't try to run away again, Lord Pef?" Ludvaius wonders and pokes my pauldron.

I grin mischievously. "Perhaps I will hide away with a Silent Sister somewhere. They are famous for keeping secrets, after all. Even the Emperor had a legion of them inside his palace. And not just for their voices." I reply with a teasing hint.

Fidelia stomps her foot and glares at me for my heretical words. "You think the Emperor, used to bang a legion of Sisters?" Rafen asks, just to make sure.

Well, I'm not going to answer that. I mean I will, but directing the revenge onto another target. "These days, there is a branch of the Inquisition, called the Illuminati, that actively hunts a particular type of people. They are Eternal, not subject to age nor the dangers of Warp. Some of them are both Blanks and Psykers, just like their parents were. The Inquisition calls them Sensei, and fears them...because they would be the rightful rulers of the Imperium, as natural heirs to the Living Emperor."

I can see both Ludvaius and Rafen begin getting red in the eyes, which is exactly the result I wanted. Fidelia is even more amazed, and pats her neck in voiceless anger.

"Big secret though. So keep quiet." I murmur as the elevator doors open at the teleportarium deck.

My enginseer Signus meets me here after a minute, and goes to his command console to begin preparing for teleporting warheads.

Normally, the active Silence in the Warp would prevent most teleports, and only powerful psykers like Librarians or Inquisitors would be able to reach a Hive bioship. Not so much right now, while the Tyranids are trembling in synaptic overload.

No wonder the Scythes wanted to teleport on board the bioships to battle the Tyrants or other xenos creatures in melee. Damn idiots!

"Rafen, stay guard and check every coordinate twice. Don't want to blow up a friendly ship or fort." I explain while I retrieve my Rosette and beam onto the planet, where the locator beacon pointed.

Ludvaius and Fidelia get included and beam alongside me, and they can only stare at the imprisoned C'tan which lay on the wall, slightly dissected.

"Pef Lancefire. Please tell me I don't have to endure that foolish Inquisitor, much longer." the C'tan Zarhulash asks in an annoyed voice.

"I was never here, Mighty Zarhulash. You never saw me, because this is an Inquisition base, and I don't have clearance to be here or know about it. However, it has come to my attention that Drukhari raids still continue, probably from Port_Carmine in the Webway." I explain politely, and produce an incendiary torpedo right in front of me.

The C'tan examines me and my retinue with murderous eyes. "What do you want, Rogue Trader? You always trade for things, and this time I have something you need."

I nod politely while I link with the Inquisitor's apparatus and download his findings in my mind-impulse implant. Obviously, the mind probing device was of Mechanicus origin, since only they make anything technical for humanity.

Then, I extract the Sounding Board from the good labyrinth and connect it to the Pharos once again. The galaxy opens in my mind's eye again, with slightly better controls and fidelity.

"Can you guide an Exterminatus torpedo onto Port Carmine?" I wonder while I locate a host of new targets in the nearby Hadex Anomaly.

"I could, for a price." the C'tan answers in a hateful voice.

I sigh inward while I locate the world of Stigmartus, and consign billions of souls to oblivion. The flames engulf the low orbit as well, incinerating the orbital shipyards and a hundred Chaos vessels based on this cultist world.

Another incendiary torpedo moves in its place, inside the Pharos. "That was Stigmartus, in case you were wondering. I hear flames are a great purifiers for sins." I explain in a low voice.

Ludvaius pats my head, while Fidelia simply hugs me with one hand. Good enough, I guess. Perhaps a warmer reward in my bedroom, one day.

"How many of these torpedoes do you have, Lord Pef?" my Astartes friend wonders, as I begin to activate the new warhead.

"Over a hundred. Those guys in the Astral Claws sure collected plenty of the Exterminatus munitions for their rebellion. And now, they are mine to use, on whomever I deem fit, as a Chapter Master." I muse out loud.

No more need to ask my Rose for permission. I only listen to the Emperor, after all. So better start talking, dear Adam!

I listen for a few seconds to make sure, but my best buddy doesn't speak.

The Fortress World of Magog joins the screaming pyre, despite the Warp Storm surrounding it. Thousands of traitor space marines vanish in the hellish flames, as do whole Hive Cities infested with mutants and other chaotic cultists.

A single structure remains in orbit, intact and impossibly massive. A Blackstone_Fortress now devoid of life and most demons. I even have a buyer for this Necron artifact of old. A Necron of old.

My knees start trembling from the mental effort, but I should be good for one or two more deep strikes.

"Lord Trazyn. How goes the search for those Reality Cages?" I ask a minute later.

"Oh, the mysterious stranger. That Badab War you predicted wasn't all that exciting. I expected entire sectors to burn, in inter-chapter conflict among Astartes." the Necron magician complains, and doesn't answer.

So he didn't find them, which isn't so good. Probably too much Chaos interference, but I have a cure.

With some effort, I prime another Exterminatus warhead, this time a dual stage Cyclonic torpedo. "Store this weapon, and release on the Hell-Forge of Xana_II." I whisper in his mind.

As expected, the Necron Lord simply pokes the torpedo and it vanishes inside a labyrinth. "I see. This is to aid me explore the Eye of Terror without so many impediments. And it was even released from those complicated safety protocols."

"As for our future trade, I have found an abandoned Blackstone Fortress in orbit above Magog, among the Charon Stars. Paid in advance, so you may as well collect it now." I mutter while I bring out the final warhead, another incendiary.

Then I just wait, until Trazyn teleports and collects the Fortress, as it is rather rare and valuable.

"I have to admit, you do find the most wondrous things somehow. Do you even know, how valuable such an ancient station is?" Trazyn asks me, possibly to check my knowledge.

I just shrug. Not that much value for me, since I wouldn't be able to activate it. "If you can close the Hadex Anomaly with it, then it might be worth something."

A minute passes while the insane Necron considers my words. "You even know its true purpose, how amazing! So what do you need from me?"

Well, I can be shameless now. "I want a certain C'tan shard called the Crimson God, from the Necron World of Dhol. Of course, I want it trapped and enslaved and ready to work, in a tesseract with complete instruction manuals."

The Necron Lord hesitates. "That is a crownworld, stranger. Even if it belongs to another dynasty, my race would frown if my forces attack them."

"Dhol has already been attacked, by a huge Ork Waagh! Most of the Novokh Dynasty troops have been killed, and the surface burns. Should be easy enough for someone with skill and patience to sneak in and abscond with a C'tan shard." I advise the insane Necron while pushing on my Enslaver bone staff.

He shakes his head as if disturbed. "That's a compelling argument. Both an Ork attack and an Exterminatus? Perhaps the Crimson King has begun to slip up. Another C'tan shard...for that Fortress. Ah....what to do? What to do?" he mutters in indecision.

"Esteemed Overlord, have you heard about something called a Psi-titan of the Ordo Sinistrus?" I add without letting him think too long.

"What? Tell me more!" he demands in a rush.

"Look at the time! I have to go, for my other job. Do we have a deal, or should I contact say...a certain Hollow Sun?" I wonder in slight pain.

Damn mental connection over thousands of light years is tiring, who knew?

"Yes! I'll manage somehow. And do not dare to trade with those criminals from the Hollow_Sun. " Trazyn warns me in a categorical tone.

I turn off the link, and stare at the Mighty Zarhulash.

"You were saying something about a trade, Mighty C'tan?" I ask in fake innocence.

This being is still alive and can still feel fear. I know it, because I can see it in his eyes. Whatever Trazyn does to enslave his C'tan shards, it must be horrifying enough to induce such fear, into someone tortured by an Inquisitor for years without anything sign of discomfort. I suspect he was only mildly annoyed.

"Of course not, Pef Lancefire. You are a merciful being, worthy of praise among the stars. I shall endeavour to aid your Exterminatus warhead reach Port Carmine, in the Webway. Purge the Dark Eldar!" he proclaims valiantly. Someone has spent too much time with the Ordo Xenos.

Ludvaius coughs in surprise, and a soft breath enters my ear from Fidelia's side.

Oh my! I think someone is in love.

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