By the end of the decade, Forge Retribution had finally completed the long shaft towards the planet mantle and installed the Reality Cage, which did in fact prevent Warp-engines from working next to it, and also gave hundreds of techpriests and acolytes terminal seizures. Nobody was certain why that happened, but many humans did have latent psyker genes, including the Cult chanicus mbers.
However, it wasn't all bad. Those psyker techpriests were also the most likely to fall to Chaos, like the Dark chanicum had.
As for FTL communication, we had the Forge's astropaths secluded on a distant moon, near the edge of the system, and they weren't blown up by the island of reality. They just couldn't see the planet or commnicate directly, instead having to use Manifold transmissions via encrypted gravity waves, or even laser or vox communiques for pict or voice ssages.
It wasn't perfect, but it worked well enough that I gave the go ahead to install such devices on every large world in the Lancefire Dynasty. From Natale to Radium, then Illevar and Liberation, then lastly Salvation.
We should work out the kinks and potential problems before using the Reality Cage on the Cardinal World. Well, it was more of an agri-world and Fortress World now, the first Hive City being slowly dug downwards instead of raised.
The Hive City would be much less exposed to air and orbital attacks that way, plus the earth itself will provide structural resistance, instead of relying on expensive materials and complex technologies to keep those spires up.
I had a much better use for adamantium than holding up a thousand skyscrapers dozens of kiloters tall.
For example, building a thousand starships.
Imports of immigrants continued at increased rate, both criminals and indentured serfs from the nearest Hive Worlds.
And when Amberley finally arrived, she did not co alone. Beside the Catachans and the Drop-cruisers, she had brought her daughter Cyrene, and another Inquisitor of her Order called .
Good stuff, and also very expensive to import. A barrel of it was as expensive as a Fury starfighter.
The new Inquisitor lady asured with suspicious eyes, before turning to her colleague. "Are you okay with this, Inquisitor Vail?"
Amberley just shrugged and began taking off her leather suit in response. "Just sit back and observe, esteed colleague. I kinda missed my lover, and he's grown even taller. Should be a lot of fun, my Pef darling."
A couple of hours later, Ashuria had emptied my bottle of Dammassine and her face seed rather red and hot. I waved her closer, and stole a gentle kiss. She tasted like almonds, which was very sexy.
Much later, I had both won resting beside , while I caressed their sweaty skin.
"I could get used to this, even if it would delay my task." Ashuria murmured and kissed my shoulder.
"Then we shall do our best, for a month or so. Afterwards, I have to visit Forge Retribution and check the progress of the anti-Ork virus."
Both Ordo Xenos Inquisitors raised themselves and started interrogating in various ways, until I spilled the beans.
"I'm quite certain experinting with xenos weapons is forbidden and considered heresy." Amberley muttered while playing with my progenoid glands.
I shrugged and drew Ashuria into a long kiss. "Out here in the Fringe, I speak for the Emperor. Everything I say or do is divinely inspired. To disobey is heresy." I explained in a patient voice, while playing with Ashuria's body as a counter-point.
"One more ti, Pef?" she pleaded in my ear in a throaty voice.
I smiled inward. Angelic genes were quite useful today.
By the third week, I decided to test the Ancient device on Amberley, and see what it could do. Should I have been surprised, to see her psyker powers jump from Gamma to Alpha-level in ten minutes of exposure?
Well, I wasn't. The device was working exactly as promised. Amberley now had her own powers back at Gamma-level even with the Null-bone staff, and the Inquisitor was very grateful for my gift.
"This is amazing, lover! Oh, you're getting so fucked this week, til you won't be able to walk!" the blonde woman claid in a determined voice, making Ludvaius chuckle to himself.
I signaled 'Silence!' with two fingers before grabbing the horny woman and making her look in my eyes. "This one ti, for fun. You're pregnant already and our friend Ashuria is not. Plus I have many other concubines."
Amberley pouted and jumped on the bed, her bountiful body enticing to just keep her in bed for a few decades. "I'll be back in two years anyway. And perhaps I may find you a nice gift in return."
Sadly, my duty demanded more than just pleasure.
I still had a hundred Catachans, a hundred nobles, a hundred Valhallans and a thousand Blank won to impregnate, and then a thousand Ogryn females waiting for at Forge Retribution.
Yes, I did not forget about that project, although I might spread that difficult duty to so of my sons as well. Even their prettiest exemplars, and not yet fully mature, and they were taller than and twice as muscular. And not that pretty, as you can imagine.
Perhaps do it from behind and lights turned off? And then close my eyes and think of Terra.
And on Terra, things were going quite bad from what I could glean. Of course, most reports were Redacted, or expunged or re propaganda but a Cardinal dying couldn't be hidden. Nor could the Master of Astra Telepathica, despite claims of a long illness.
Their place in the Senatoris Imperialis had been taken by the Lord Commanders of the Astra Militarum and the Imperial Navy, which pointed to a more militaristic conduct for the Imperium in the next decades.
Primarch Khan was rrily butchering his way sowhere in the Segntum Tempestus, reinforcing Forges and moving dozens of Astartes Chapters over Hive Worlds instead of their preferred Feral Worlds, which had nearly no value.
In the east, Primarch Guilliman was still gathering troops and ships for the Defendarius Crusade, which simply ant more and more Sentinel Worlds being set up, and his characteristically brutal cleansing of corrupt officials.
If the Imperium had three more Primarchs they might make it through the future crisis, but they did not.
It seed I had to 'accidentally' wake up Lion El'Johnson, the Primarch of the Dark Angels.
And also, chat up my insane Necron friend, and obtain extra technology based on the Tau database.
The next week however, I did depart for Retribution with Ashuria and her retinue on board the Canticle. She even had a Genetor Magos willing to follow her, which would be quite a boon for the Fungal Research Division, those making the glass-virus against the Orks.
My battlecruiser finally had warp-less engines now, plus gatonnes of extra armor and a Nova Cannon, and so did all the battlebarges and battlecruisers under my command. The Lanter Starfort was being plated over with even more armor and Blackstone, and configured to serve as a mobile base for future operations.
However, the battleships will still take decades to be ready for combat, even those sent for repair at Forge Triplex Phall.
They were just too big and complex machines, and so of the upgrades I demanded wouldn't be easy to install anyway.
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