Once the battleship was brought under control, with not too many shots fired, to everyone's surprise, I returned to the Aegida Inquisitorial Fortress.
Another flick of tesseract powers concluded my victory, as I confiscated all the damaged hulls remaining, including Ork and Eldar derelicts from the previous invasions. I will need those hulls for my Forge friends.
For now, Sotha will have to fend for itself, with the aid of the Scythe Battle Barges and Strike Cruisers, plus the ring of orbital forts.
Of course, my Rose will continue interrogating the prisoners, and await her designated C'tan expert to handle the imprisoned shard. I was highly doubtful on the guy's chances of success, but it wasn't exactly my problem.
Over the next three weeks, I continued using the Pharos to collect intelligence for my next objectives, especially around Badab and the conversion shield. "I am real, my friend. No need to banish like a demon." I quipped and blinked a bit surprised. Wasn't expecting such electrifying welco.
"... Errr. Sorry about that, Captain. There have been so strange occurrences on that Apocalypse-class battleship. Voices haunting people, servitors strangling themselves..." Dominus mumbled, as he drew his crackling chadendrite back sheepishly.
"And thus, you imdiately installed a dozen Gellar fields, to impose reality on the haunted ship?" I asked wryly.
The tech-priest blinked in confusion, then waved his tentacles while spouting orders, in binharic and techno-lingua. The cogitator screen ca alive with thousands of lines of code and construction routines, so reasonable, others quite irrational.
Then again, such was all the chanicus, and the Imperium was much worse. Reason was almost forgotten. Only faith and fury.
Another red-robed Magos entered like he owned the place, with an Antax symbol on his cog. "Dominus! Why so many Gellar...oh. Captain Lancefire. I am Fabricator Locum Yridann 0119." he introduced himself politely, and without trying to burn alive.
Progress!
"Go on with your duties, Fabricators. I'll be around inspecting my new Forge World." I said politely and walked out, nearly breaking my face into Brother's Delos chest plate.
"Delos, well t Brother! Where is Brother Cassiel?" I asked while patting the man's shoulder in greeting. For a psyker, this guy was quite decent. Didn't even flinch at my Blank aura.
"Reciting the Canticle, like you have ordered, my Lord. It seems to work great, and the Rage is almost conquered." Delos explained, and then grinned warmly. He even seed happy to see again.
"And, you have not departed for Baal. For what reason?" I asked in slight worry. Astartes wouldn't disregard orders easily, so whatever it was, it was bad.
"... I considered prudent to not expose Brother Cassiel to more stress. Being lost in ti for 10 millennia was a great shock, plus whatever he endured in his captivity. I also detected so kind of alien implants, inserted in his brain." the Chaplain told softly, with a few fingers signalling "Xeno origin confird." in Astartes battlespeak.
"Alright, soone did things to him during these millennia, and thus you imdiately contacted the Fabricator to have these strange implants removed, right?" I asked rhetorically.
The Chaplain changed faces a few tis, settling on sha and defeat. "I haven't considered that, my lord. The chanicus...they are heathens and worship the Machine God."
I tapped my chest again. "See these two eagle heads, my friend? The Emperor and the Forge, united in a single body on Mount Olympus. Your armor is made by Forge Incaladion, right?"
The Chaplain starred at his black painted pauldron, and nodded in understanding. "So, are you saying we should trust the tech-priests?"
I shook my head. "You should not trust anyone, by default. Only by word, deed and intent. One day, when humanity will be made only of Blanks, and travels the stars without entering Warp, then it will be different. But until then, always be cautious and ready to shoot. Especially Inquisitors and Adeptus Ministorum priests. Power drives people mad, and absolute power corrupts absolutely. It was the sa on Old Terra, and now is a million tis worse."
Delos muttered a prayer and seed to diate on my words. "Absolute power...like all Inquisitors have as Agents of the Throne." he concluded with a scowl.
Soon enough, we reached an Emperor's chapel where the ancient Blood Angel was praying, while staring at so grotesque icons of beasts and spears and lots of blood.
They surely helped calm his fears, I hoped.
"What is death?" I shouted, using my empowered Vox box.
"It is our duty!" the Astartes answered in a chorus.
"What is your duty?" I continued the chant.
"To serve the Emperor's Will !" ca the accepted answer.
"What is the Emperor's Will?" I asked curious.
"That we fight and die!" they proclaid with perfect conviction.
"And who tells you who to fight?" I wondered, breaking their protocol.
Both Blood Angels turned towards in confusion. "We go where we are called, Lord Lancefire." Chaplain Delos answered after a few tense seconds.
"And who calls?" I inquired in a softer voice, pointing at the bloody icons.
"The Emperor!" Brother Cassiel exclaid like it was obvious.
"Of course, all Astartes will obey the Emperor. But Emperor Adam of the Imperium of Man, is not quite healthy these days. Other people give orders in his na. Sotis, they order Astartes to do evil things, and yet they obey." I mused to myself, while opening the null box to extract my Rosette and the Warrant.
The engrams imdiately subdued the brainwashed Astartes, who just stared at like I was a divine ssenger.
"Brother Cassiel, do you recognize the authority of these artifacts?" I asked gently.
"Of course, my lord. A Rosette ans the bearer is an Agent of the Throne. The Warrant of Trade marks you as a Rogue Trader, speaking with the Emperor's Voice, outside the Imperium." the displaced Space Marine declared without any hesitation.
"What about you, Chaplain Delos?" I asked with a wry voice.
To his credit, the psyker Astartes fought through the mind-addling engrams to retrieve his bolter and shoot in the chest.
The bolt vanished in a flare of white light. "You are not corrupted, Lord Lancefire. I had to check." Delas said in apology.
"Good! Always check. You are Astartes, the best of humanity. The next ti I see any of you obey orders without checking, I will shoot you. Is that clear, Astartes Cassiel?" I asked the new addition to my team.
"...Things have really gotten so bad in the future?" the stunned Blood Angel murmured in surprise.
"A million tis worse, lost Astartes. Now, report to the Biologis ward and have those xeno implants removed. Two curses are sufficient for any Chapter, we don't need a third to act up at so inopportune mont." I demanded in an angry voice, while storing the precious items back in the null box.
Another bolter round splashed the Rosarius shield, right in the direction of my armored pauldron. "Nothing personal, my lord. Only following orders." Cassiel said in a more relaxed tone.
"Keep that smile, Astartes. I hear the tech-priests enjoy testing pain resistance of their dical subjects. Always trying to prove the flesh is weak." I muttered as I sat down to clear my thoughts.
I had a campaign to plan, and a whole load of logistics to complete. Ruling an inter-stellar empire wasn't so easy.
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