I saw all the Generals and officers nod glumly at my description.
Then Major Sulla raised her eyes to look at . "We will die for the Emperor, Lord Lancefire. But perhaps...we might be given more weapons?" she asked in a calm voice, as if expecting to be punished.
I smiled gently and turned on the central hologram projector.
"More weapons, yes. For now, I've managed to requisition 5000 Basilisks and 10000 Hydras with extra ammunition. Thus, every regint will have 100 Hydras each, while the Artillery regints will receive 100 guns more. The Infantry regints will also receive 200 Sentinel walkers, and so automated Tarantula turrets. As for Armor, there are 200 Leman Russ tanks and 100 Macharius tanks available to be spread among the regints. At need, the Lanters will deploy our Auxiliary regints and provide drop pods with turrets and supplies. But, most of my efforts will be focused on stopping the bugs in the void. Once they manage to land, the Tyranids will devour any biomass and reproduce rapidly, growing in numbers a hundred tis." I explained in a level voice, waiting for soone to crack.
Reality was harsh in this 40k universe, and it will get much worse.
General Vann glanced at the hologram, showing the nice Macharius tanks in all their glory. "More tanks are great, my lord. But I already have 300 tanks in my regints, and even double that...it won't be enough. Surely there will be more reinforcents?"
Well, a normal Cadian armor regint had 30 Leman Russ tanks and 5 Hydras. Good enough for minor Ork raids and defending a city, but obviously not enough for a big campaign. The armor units were kept in reduced numbers by intent, to prevent them getting too strong in case they went traitor, as they often did.
I nodded at her question. "There are 700 more Sentinels and a few hundred Tauros and other light vehicles like the Centaurs. However, most of your job will be to simply destroy the bio-titans of the Tyranids, and prevent our static positions from being overrun or outflanked. There will be ships in low orbit to provide fire support and so spacefighters, plus ground attack craft from the Lanter Auxiliaries. I cannot speak for other Astartes Chapters, but I expect a few Companies might arrive, just like these Iron Hands and White Scars did. There are so Blood Angels with , and even so Silent Sisters, but they'll mostly target the psychic leaders of the Tyranids, with deep-strikes aid to disrupt their synaptic links."
And if the Catachan infantry regints 'accidentally' received so containers with artillery shells normally used by the Basilisks, well...they did like setting traps and mines.
After that, the long task of preparing a logistic chain and supply thod began, with the Navy cruisers obliged to load up the extra vehicles and munitions and the tech-priests and their servitors, while most vehicles and turrets were being hastily covered with blackstone armor, mostly provided freely from my own reserves that just appeared in empty fighter hangars on the carrier or my barge.
In this month, I did manage to strike a friendly relation with Regina, firstly over a working dinner, then a visit to my quarters to show her my trophies and exchange war stories over a few bottles of wine.
I bet Regina didn't expect my glands to still work, but she wasn't disappointed at all. Sadly, she had to return on her transport to oversee her troops, but her aide Jenit stayed as a liaison with a squad of her own Valhallan guardswon to feel safe. Well, it was very safe in my bed, that was certain.
With good relations thus established, I decided to conscript the entire Valhallan regint as Lanters Auxiliaries, both because we lacked a dedicated artillery group, and for the other more obvious advantages of an all-female unit under .
A month later, we arrived at .
That world was dood anyway, so might as well try to save it, even if the ans were sowhat...unorthodox. And then soone closed the Rapidity Warp Rift, and the installation stayed.
And then the astropaths received a ssage from an agri-world called Jollov, sent by a frantic chanicus tech-priest that was studying an STC fragnt, but was interrupted by a Tyranid splinter fleet.
I rushed my warp-less fleet ahead, heedless of the encroaching Silence, and began setting up hasty orbital defences, and blowing up wave after wave of Tyranid bioships and landing spores.
But the Tyranids were hungry, and this was an agri-world, teeming with biomass. Soon enough, they began ignoring my corvettes and the Battleship, diving heedlessly towards the appetizing food source.
A single Lanter Drop-cruiser managed to make orbit in ti, and began dropping turret pods and providing orbital support, while local regints retreated towards the spaceport. The Deathwatch company covered their retreat with relentless determination, despite being decimated for their actions.
Well, the Astartes were the defenders of humanity, clad in mighty armor and ard with the most powerful guns. Still, they shouldn't be wasted.
So I began to cheat, kidnapping bio-titans from their spore pods, placing Nova mines in the midst of landed hordes of Tyranids, while the Blood Angels began landing in the besieged periter beside my own Auxiliary PDF regints, including Lord Whitelance in his Knight.
And then we kept shooting and shooting, corvettes unleashing thousands of torpedoes and missiles, firing their plasma cannons and lances, while the Tranquility did the sa, but rarely and quite strongly. Blowing up a dozen bioships per salvo was very fulfilling though.
When the other naval forces managed to break through the Tyranid Silence on the realspace plasma engines, they found half the planet in flas, and a mountain of Tyranid corpses around the spaceport.
It only took a single week, and I already had to resupply my corvettes from my pocket a few tis.
And I even lost a couple of corvettes, although not the crew.
Corvettes may be cheap and easy to replenish, but good crew was not, and especially not my family.
Soon enough, the periter was cleared and corpses burned, and then the armor regints began attacking, with mobile infantry engaging stragglers and lurking organisms, hidden in swamps or rivers and lakes.
Three squads of Special Ops and the Blood Angels took over the task of locating and destroying the Lictors and lurkers, while spacefighters and low orbit frigates cleaned the skies.
Even Captain Khan went down to help, enjoying hunting Tyranids for sport. With his sword!
It seed madness to , but perhaps the best of humanity were that good. I still couldn't touch even Rafen in spars, not to ntion Ludvaius or the good Master of Blades.
"Mind if we join the fun, Master Lancefire?" a familiar voice asked from the vox channel.
Heh, I was so focused on the surface I ignored the orbit for a bit. "Brother Cassiel, I see you brought an entire Company with you." I exclaid in surprise, while checking the contents of that barge.
My own sons in the Blood Angels Chapter, all clad in Terminator armor and ard to the teeth. And lead by Captain Aphael, like he promised.
"You don't need my permission, Brother. I'm not even a real Astartes!" I quipped back in a joking voice.
"Forgive him Brother, for his idiocy is without bounds. Are you going to sit on that bridge, or fight beside your sons, Lord Pef?" Captain Aphael intervened in a sterner voice.
I sighed inward, feeling the pain of Commissar Cain for myself now. "Let's take that tundra region, above the last Cadian regint. I'll bring my good armor suit for the occasion."
Reason, my Knight, was feeling a bit lonely, even with Felicia oiling his joints every day. And I could practice those fancy blade moves in real combat.
Damn it, I was becoming an idiot like everyone else in this crazy universe.
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