During the trip back to my distant empire, I focused on creating a host of rugged but simple and cheap machinery for my own people.
Here, I wasn't limited by the crazy regulations of the Imperium, which forbade innovation and invention. Not that I would even be able to create sothing like a is 5 tis larger and maybe a thousand tis more expensive. Pilots might be needed, as skills and reflexes would make a big difference.
I already had the light Weasels for infantry support and suppression, but I made a Chira variant with a twin autocannon and krak grenade launchers for backup and elongated the troop hold by 6 ters, to allow the carrier to carry 50 guardsn in relative safety. The upper tracks were lowered in height by half, to allow firing ports on the upper hull, for the infantry inside.
Heavy stubbers, or classic machine guns would be easier to make, but also quite irrelevant against almost any enemy. Tyranids, Orks, Eldar or Necrons would just shrug off normal bullets, so I didn't see the point of trying to build them.
Perhaps for police units, against fragile humans.
You may think those flying machines are easy to design, being many eras older than the current tis, but the original makers had thousands of engineers and years to work with. I finished everything in 2 months, saved them on different dataslates, and marked them as ancient STCs from Old Terra. It was almost true, anyway.
Just in ti, as we arrived at Illevar the next day, so I got so sleep.
The Vox channels instantly filled with a thousand urgent requests from everyone with access to a phone. Radiophone.
I waited for an hour and filtered through the transcripts. Years have passed since I last ruled from my capital, and many people seed to have forgotten .
Others had grown rich and powerful, especially the rchant and nobles houses allied directly to via bloodlines.
It seed Larrisa made it to Forge Incaladion just in ti to cash in a Favor, blowing up two Ork Battleships and supporting the chanicus to contain a large Ork Waaagh.
The adamantium of those enormous warships would be lted and reforged into new destroyers and a fleet of missile corvettes, plus a hundred Doomhar heavy tanks, just like I needed. The tanks would have to be converted into the better variant at Antax, but such is life. Can't win them all.
Wentian was still guarding Forge Shenlong, and their fleet was growing. The next two Lima-class hulls should be finished in a year or two.
And Veryon was still crusading to the north, his fleet increased with 4 more destroyers and an older cruiser captured from the locals, who used it as an orbital fort and trade station for lack of repair.
He did manage to lose 4 corvettes sohow, so the total numbers were much the sa.
But I couldn't expect everyone in the clan to have my cheater luck, although Larrisa seed to have inherited that trait, instead of the Blank gene. Fate is a fickle mistress, right?
I imdiately dispatched three thousand tech-priests on the Litany light cruiser to Natale, the location of Veryon's outpost, to repair the cruiser hulk enough for a single Warp trip to Antax. Old ships wouldn't help us directly, but a Forge World could indeed create another amazing vessel like the refurbished Lant cruiser. It's hard to imagine, but consider finding another Great Pyramid sowhere, with a treasure of gold and bronze relic weapons inside, or another Sistine Chapel. That's how the chanicus view old ships being found, cleansed and lovingly restored as the Omnissiah's armored fists.
Old ships might also contain forgotten cogitator codes and rites, logis-engines with sacred data-engrams never seen before and so on. Lost star charts, hidden vaults buried in walls, so rusted unpowered weapons that in fact can one shot demons or planets...the archeotech from the Dark Age of Technology might be lost, but could also be found.
With my Canticle here in orbit over Illevar as defense, the Litany could be spared for other duties, such as supporting the Hymnal in the northward expansion. There were still so 20 human feral worlds out there, free for the taking, til we would et the Orks.
A Catachan regint and two armored battalions departed on the Litany, with 2 corvettes as escort and an Astartes bodyguard for my daughter Finona, the new Captain of the Litany. His na is Alactus, and I'm glad he didn't have to die this ti.
Then I landed at the Blank Valley, which had grown again, and got welcod with a dozen more Blank girls prepared to beco my concubines. It wasn't just duty, as they were pretty and eager to contribute to the salvation of mankind. I tried to make it quite clear to every Blank what we ant for humanity, as our genes would protect our descendants from Chaos and demons. To be part of such a grandiose plan was enough for most of them, and having a life of safety and luxury in this quiet valley was a better life than most of the humanity could hope, in the grim 40th Millennium.
My wife Serena summoned a huge welcoming ball for the next week, where all the big shots would send daughters and sisters to entice into becoming closer linked to the high classes.
She even marked one of the noble won as a potential wife, should Decima agree. I glanced at her pict capture and kinda agreed.
But pictures were not everything.
As I got close and took her hand for a dance, Grindelle scread in agony and fell to the floor. Blue smoke started flowing from her eyes, and my Astartes quickly ford a defense periter.
"Lord Pef! The woman is a witch!" Rafen shouted and drew his special bolter out. The one with phase-iron munitions.
I held my hand out for calm. A psyker no doubt, and perhaps a telepath, making her way up the noble ranks, with more ease than simple womanly deceptions and wiles. Reading people's thoughts and perhaps influencing them to her will.
But a witch? That ant sothing else. I have seen Chaos servants, and they had a certain sll.
Couldn't marry the woman anymore, not if she fainted from a single touch, but I had other jobs of similar importance.
Astropaths of my own perhaps. Another mother for Navigators. Battle psykers...if only I knew a good psyker that could help . Wait, I did.
"Lord Hulburn. et at the dical labs on the south spire. Astartes Rafen will wait for you." I asked on the vox channel to the Canticle.
"So you have t the blue soul woman...her light is blinding ." his reply ca as if he was dreaming. He probably was, I just realized. Navigators didn't see ti like all of us.
"Bring an astropath and a Biologis Magos with you. You know which one...the scary one with twelve scalpel arms that hangs around the nursery." I continued without letting his tarot cards scare .
I made my own fate. Better send the woman to Terra, and avoid the worriso prophecy.
I should give that tech-priest a na. The Juggler, maybe. He made the kids laugh, by juggling his scalpels with unfailing accuracy and grace.
Better not think how fast those blades could exterminate all the nursery and guards. Possibly all the crew with so virus...
"... As you say, Captain Lancefire. Beware the 13th hidden blade." he muttered prophetically and closed the vox channel.
I was now quite certain he didn't an a hidden scalpel, but the Black Crusade to co. I wonder if he knew what his visions ant. Probably not. The words would co true, but they wouldn't an what you thought when you heard them.
And likely make you turn on an ally, and make him beco your enemy. Damn seers.
That's why I hated the crazy Eldar. They would always point you in the wrong direction, at the wrong the target.
If they were so wise, how co they created Slaanesh then?
No, I would trust my own judgent. It hasn't failed yet.
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