Well then, I shall act without your cooperation, brave Astartes!

I am an Astartes Chapter Master too, among other qualifications. One could say I am a Fabricator-General in the Mechanicus as well...if not an official one. Of course, I only give out broad instructions to the Forge Retribution, what type of vehicles to build and

what not to build or research, but I am not a polymath and multi-specialized cyborg with millennia of experience in engrammatic litanies and neural architecture.

I expect Forge Ryza will keep their word and send out an Explorator mapping expedition into the Eastern Fringe, which will be based on Retribution. At that point I will have access to their advanced plasma technologies, and possibly obtain miniaturized designs for reactors and plasma weapons.

Nothing was heard from Antax about that STC I hinted about...which doesn't surprise me.

Only the highest ranks of the Mechanicus would have knowledge of what was being done on Palomar, and the nice Fabricator was surely bartering furiously for a higher classification of his Forge. Raising from a third tier to the first would be the dream of any Forge World leader, as that would grant them access to ancient archeotech templates and more resources, just like Ryza and Graia had.

A small fourth tier Forge like Angstrom couldn't even build Knights, which was something of great shame I suspect.

Well, they should raise to third tier after that influx of templates and damaged hulls and vehicles I donated to them, and the Fabricator was a genius no doubt. Few people would be able to work on Atomantic shielding and reactors, after all.

With a blinding flash, the Nova shell exploded on top of the attacking Hive Ship, causing a deep wound and making it turn towards us. I beamed a Nova mine right inside the bleeding cavern, and that worked wonders.

The entire Hive Fleet trembled and fell listing on the side as their synaptic links snapped.

I added another Nova Mine inside the other Hive Ship, to be fair and even-handed.

That also closed the Warp rift, which demon spouting rift worried me more than a dying bioship the size of two or three battleships.

I still had three more Nova mines prepared for deployment in my tesseract, all already primed and activated to detonate on contact.

I only used one, splashing the main body of the Tyranid fleet, and incinerating hundreds of bioships while wounding a few thousands to smaller degrees.

Inward, I sighed at the stupidity of the Imperium's forces. It was weapons like these that would butcher Tyranids when they attacked human worlds, and every cruiser or battleship deployed on the frontier should have them.

But Nova Cannons were rare, and entire Battlefleets only had two or three such potent vessels instead of hundreds.

"Excellent targeting, Lord Lancefire! We can begin boarding the Tyranid ships now!" the Scythe Captain on the Fortress proclaimed victoriously.

I slapped my armrest in despair. "Why would you do that, Astartes? Are hand-held weapons stronger than torpedoes and lance batteries?" I asked in annoyance.

"...But the Codex..." the man muttered in surprise. I was almost eager to punch his stupid teeth in, at this point.

"These are not pirate ships that we can return into humanity's service, Astartes. Capturing prisoners or vessels is the only possible reason for boarding. If you board the Tyranid bioships, expect to be slightly burned or obliterated while my fleet massacres their xenos bodies." I explained in a harsh voice and shut off the vox channel.

At the same time, the Eldar prisoners and their Silent guards vanished from the Fortress and into my tesseract. They weren't treated kindly, that was certain, but then those brethren of theirs were still kidnapping humans to torture them in Commorragh, and my people suffered much worse. I wasn't sorry at all for their fate. They did come here to kill me, and then free that C'tan godling from its prison.

"All fleet elements, advance and bombard the xenos. Maintain safe distance from claws and tentacles." I ordered and rose from my chair.

A hundred tyranid bioships vanished in the Nova flares, providing me with my own tiny Hive Fleet that I arranged around the captured Ork Boss and the Eldar psykers. The Silence soon proved to work, balancing the Waagh field out and keeping the potent Ork still.

In the other labyrinth, I stored the Silent Sisters, for a later use. While I was almost certain my Rose has arranged for their arrival as anti-psyker guards, I wasn't sure if they were meant as my concubines, and their reaction might be violent.

After entering my private rooms, I dismissed my bodyguards and took out the Enslaver Staff, then brought out the leader null maiden. "I am Pef Lancefire, I believe you were told to expect me." I told the masked Sister.

She glanced around in worry, then noticed my space wolf grinning at her by my side. A flash of her hands inquired about her sisters. "You can use your mind to speak, my dear. This staff allows me to hear you." I explained with a mind transmission.

Canis lowered himself on my carpet and began licking his progenitor glands, which was possibly pleasant and hygienic too. He didn't like showers much.

"A mind staff? And it works on Nulls?" the null maiden wondered in her mind.

"Not easily, but it is not a Warp emission artifact, merely an empathic amplifier. Basically it translates modulated emotions, in the same way you can modulate electric signals for your special Orsecode." I explained politely and invited her to a drink. She refused in sharp gesture.

"My sisters?" she demanded in a worried tone.

"They are safe, but not available right now. Still keeping those Eldar company, in a certain sense." I said in a pleasant voice, because I could speak, unlike the poor woman.

"That artifact, smells of xeno origin." the Sister deduced rather quickly.

I shrugged in fake innocence. "It came with these new Warp-less drives from the Macharian Crusade. There might be a Saint bone inside or something, I didn't bother to dismantle such a relic on mere suspicion. So, what other duties did my dear Inquisitor commanded you before she left?" I asked in a genial smile, while opening my null-box to retrieve my Warrant and the Rosette. Then I also picked a digital weapon keyed to my MIU and handed over.

The maiden stared at the artifacts in her hands with curiosity. "An Astartes Chapter Master, a space wolf, and now a Rosette and a Warrant of Trade...plus this strange ring. For a Blank, you sure did well for yourself, Pef Lancefire." the Sister commented in praise and sadness.

"Don't let the state of this corrupt Imperium fool you, my dear. Blanks are the most precious resource we have, even if the current administration shuns them. The Emperor valued Silent Sisters greatly, and they were allowed inside his Imperial Palace on Terra, on equal footing with the Adeptus Custodes. More importantly, his special Ordo Sinister and their powerful Psi-Titans are led by and piloted only by Blanks. Only we, this rare breed are immune to Chaos, after all." I explained patiently and poured two glasses of expensive fruit juice from a quite distant Paradise_World called Iax.

I made sure to purchase many tons of expensive food and drinks from their wares, and kept them in stasis, since my Rose had fine tastes. But a Silent Sister with her own squad was perhaps more valuable than a mere Inquisitor.

The woman didn't quite believe me, although she must have seen ancient records of their glory times in the service of the Emperor of Mankind. Being told she was important and valuable mattered too.

"Aright, Lord Lancefire. I will share a glass with you. I am Null Maiden Genaris Fidelia." the woman replied in my mind, and took off her metal mask to test the drink cautiously.

Fidelia wasn't young and pretty like my other Sisters though, perhaps in her fifties, and it showed. Well, she wasn't older than me, only lacked a rejuvenation treatment. And not for long, if I had my say about that.

"I have a town made only from Blanks, like you and me. Thousands of people, living without fear and oppression. And I have 300 Blank sons and grandsons, already sent to join the Astartes, since their gift prevents the various curses plaguing Chapters like Blood Angels and Lamenters. The girls, most of them become ship pilots and then Captains. In time, we will have a whole society immune to the Warp. I would like you and your Sisters to join us." I added in a softer voice and poured her another cup of delicious juice.

Canis begged with a soft mewl, seeing me in a generous mood. "Bad Canis! Fruits hurt your tummy. You have meat pellets in your dispenser!" I exclaimed in fake annoyance.

My wolf sneaked next to the wall and selected rabbit meat for his lunch, pressing the rabbit icon with his paw. The bowl filled with 10 kilograms of meat pellets, while the water basin on the side began dripping a thin tendril of purified water.

"Here, take your precious artifacts back. What does this ring do?" Fidelia asked after observing my wolf with amazement.

"You wear it on your finger, and in dire need blast an enemy with a plasma lance. Then you leave it in a large water basin to recharge, for a whole day." I said with a grin, happy to have found out how the damn rings recharged.

Only had to ask an experienced Astartes, although that idea avoided me for a decade. Sometimes the answer was closer than you thought.

"Oh, you're giving it to me?" the woman murmured in surprise.

"I expect we'll fight and live together for millennia to come, my dear. Unless the Tyranids eat us sooner." I explained in a hesitant voice. Would she like my gift? Would she accept it?

Fidelia just nodded thoughtfully, weighing my offer and the ring in her glove.

"Now I understand why the Inquisitor was so convinced. Your offer is hard to refuse, Chapter Master. But...I have other duties, most importantly to my own family. We too have a Pariah community, hidden away. Only a single Astra Telepathica Black Ship visits us once a century." she explained in a pained voice.

I smiled and offered a hug, which Fidelia did accept after a short pause. "That's not a problem at all, my dear Fidelia. Your family is my family, and we simply need to bring them here. Well, after this Hive fleet is destroyed, of course."

I think I heard a sob, but I must be mistaken. Silent Sisters stay silent. Maybe Canis said somethig.