40 Thousand Reasons

Following Semnai, there were a hundred more corvettes, now equipped with void-steel chains that went missing from Footfall, and they pulled at the lost battleship like horses on a carriage.

With billions of horse-power per engine, but pulling even so. There were other types of methods I could have used, from mind-controlled Narvhals bioships and mechanical gravity generators, but none of those were quite feasible inside a Warp Rift.

Hours later, as the battleship began emerging from the Rift on our side, Semnai finally reached the Demon World and fired the torpedo manually.

We did cover the weapon in blackstone armor and purity seals, so it should last long enough to reach...well.

It was the damn domain of the Chaos Gods, after all.

Merely a second after the detonation began, it froze in place, an entire continent of fleshy spires and lakes filled with worms and disease was kept in stasis, even while burning.

"Who dares!" A powerful voice boomed while the Demon Prince himself appeared to confront Brother Semnai.

"I dare! Captain Semnai, Lamenters' Second Company." my brave Battle-Brother shouted and stepped out of his armored ship for a damn stupid duel.

"Oh? The failed Founding? Join me, and you can have immortality and an eternity of pleasure and war, blessed by Father Nurgle! Join me feast on humanity, and your body will never die!" the Daemon Prince announced with a really compelling argument.

"Well? Those green fangs full of puss and worms look very enticing. Go on, join Corruptis if you really need a lover." I advised Semnai in barely restrained mirth.

"Hahaha! This is the best fun I ever had in my life! A Daemon Prince begging me to join him." Semnai yelled and jumped forward to battle, firing his combi-bolter too.

With no effect, as expected. That thing could stop an Exterminatus torpedo in mid-explosion.

"You won't be laughing, very soon, Servant of the Corpse Emperor!" Corruptis promised, a bit irate his magnificent offer was refused.

"Are you praying yet, Rafen?" I asked with my real voice.

"Yes! Now shut up!" my bodyguard muttered harshly.

Even clad in power armor, and wielding a chronoblade, my Captain stood little chance against a Daemon Prince, merely providing me advance recon data for our own overpowered Warp weapon.

This new Angel was much stronger now, and so large it shouldn't have fit inside my apartment with wings the size of an airplane. But reality was merely a suggestion for beings on this power.

These dead eyes though. I would have to do something about them, one day. "Hello there! Lend us your sword, Mighty Angel! I promise I'll visit you on Baal very soon." I spoke with a level tone, and poked the thing in its armored knee. Felt solid enough.

The creature glanced at my left hand almost curious, then gently caressed Rafen and erased a nasty scar resulted from forgetting his helmet too many times.

Then a flash of golden light, and he was gone. A streak of energy passed the Majestic Light in the opposite direction, making the corvettes and the chains glow golden for a minute, and then Semnai appeared beside me, cuts and tears in his armor healing with golden foam over it.

"...That was...our Primarch?" my Brother asked after removing his helmet and puking his guts out on my carpet.

I just shrugged and took out my Necron cleaning wand to erase the mess. Very useful tool, the xeno vacuum cleaner.

"Anyway, I'm glad you agree it was a fun ride. Too bad your stomach is so weak, Brother." I answered instead.

Semnai took out his glove to examine the glowing left hand, as his skin grew back with golden flakes on light.

"How does it even work, I have a Null Wand on my hip..." the Lamenter Captain muttered in confusion.

I just raised an eyebrow and held my own left hand out, thin golden veins still glowing from the Angel's presence. "What blood flows through our veins, Brother?"

Rafen touched his head, where the healed scar was also glowing. "We are truly Brothers, Semnai. But today, you are Sanguinius reborn. Did you get beat up badly?"

Semnai snorted and glanced at his healing armor. "At least tell me when you're summoning another miracle, my lord. I thought I was truly dead this time, and your damn jokes were not helping!" the Veteran muttered and punched my shoulder.

I felt that even through my armor, so he might be a little pissed.

"You won't die of old age, Semnai. On the other hand, we have a new battleship and it seems almost intact. And now it's gone, until we return home and get it upgraded." I explained in a cheerful voice, and walked out for the bridge.

As we departed the Warp Rift, a flash of light emerged to illuminate the darkness in our wake, then the rift closed abruptly. I was quite confident of the success of our deep strike, as the daemon should have been easily defeated by our Angel, and the Exterminatus had resumed its explosion, with cleansing effects.

I still had plenty of munitions left, and plenty of Chaos traitors to hunt down and burn, plus the usual pirates and Orks.

Should keep my fleet busy for a few years, and who knows, there might be more Rogue Traders around to recruit into my alliance.

**********

Two months later, we had just demolished a Death Guard fleet over the Fortress World of Komarek, and I even captured a certain Typhus, the so called Herald of Nurgle.

I wasn't sure what to do with him, since his body was a nest of plague insects, that were constantly trying to escape the tesseract labyrinth, even when surrounded by Tyranid bioships.

He wouldn't keep, so I just materialized him into Komarek's sun, without his armor. The armor and his Manreaper Daemon weapon would sell pretty well, if you knew certain collectors.

Maybe another giant Space Hulk, spread among my friends in the Forges. Yeah, probably something like that.

Decision made, I returned to my fucking duty, and continued pounding my current ally, a certain Rogue Trader Lady named Aspyce_Chorda.

She might be a ruthless Captain, but in bed all cats are black.

It took me quite a few hours of hard work to break her willpower, but in the end the result was always the same.

"Please, my lord. No more...I will break..." Aspyce whispered in bliss.

"Is that what a slave would say, my dear?" I asked curious.

"No more slaves...or drugs. I'll hunt pirates or xenos, just let me rest." the woman pleaded with a pitiful voice.

I turned her over, and massaged her heavy breasts while she swayed in a daze. "You could be so great, my dear. Your own kingdom and armies, fleets of warships and cargo vessels. Have Admirals beg for your help, even lead Crusades and conquer a hundred worlds."

Her eyes opened in a suspicious stare, daze gone and ruthless trader back in charge.

"And for this, what do I have to trade?" she asked in a level voice.

"Blood. Your family and mine, mingled in marriages until you are all Blanks, immune to Chaos and mutation. Let's say you visit Brycantia in a few decades, with a hundred Blank men to trade to the Iron Knights. Your Blank women as Captains, your troops armed with Sentinels and gunships. And even that...it's nothing to what the Blood Angels successors Chapters would be willing to trade, to be rid of their blood curse. The Flesh Tearers...for example. That name is not an euphemism, my dear." I said in a teasing voice, making the hard work ahead sound like paradise.

Aspyce began riding me harder, eyes glazed with desire. "I will need to set my entire clan on this, pump out babies as fast as possible...starting with this one."

"You'll need to release your sisters from stasis, and convince them to contribute. I can spare two weeks to make sure you're all with child." I proposed in a flat voice.

The woman grunted and slammed into my lap harder. "Not what I imagined for them...but sure. You're very convincing too, my lord. I'm sure between the two of us, we'll form a tight bond."

"And keep an ear for other possible allies. Free Captains that need a home, destitute Rogue Traders with a Warrant but no ships, rogue Navigators, and all those other cases of potential profit." I demanded in a serious voice.

Lady Aspyce leaned closer to offer me her breasts, and signaled her acceptance.

It wouldn't be an easy alliance, but it will work in the end. All I needed was to pass two of my assassins as distant cousins and insert them inside her crew, and soon enough all potential obstacles will start having accidents and food poisoning troubles.

By the third week, I had all five Chorda sisters in my bed, eager to carry my children and get rich for it.

The Rogue Trader men would be much harder to ally, simply because they already had as many women they could want. Simply visiting some feudal world could provide him with a thousand beauties that worshiped him like a god, descending from the sky on wings of fire. Human lives were cheap in the galaxy, especially for those with spaceships and power.

I could provide them with an upgraded Los Angeles-class destroyer, and that would cement an alliance for decades. Might do that anyway, just to spread new technologies everywhere.

Ask for their daughters, perhaps? Marry them to my sons and grandsons?

That might work, eventually. In the worst case, accidents could happen and that daughter would remain the sole heir.

With a flick of my fingers, I sent the five women back on their ship, letting them sleep in their own beds.

I sensed a certain Inquisitor arrive in the system, and had to clear my schedule for her.

Soon enough, Rose arrived with Sister Alana and a new Silent Sister named Asurma.

A flurry of finger talk began, the woman demanding a million questions without stopping. I just gently took her hands and drew the untouchable woman into a hug.

"You're home now, Asurma. Keep silent if you want, but know I will always hear you." I spoke directly in her mind.

The woman hugged me back, while tears filled her eyes. "I'm so glad..." she whispered back in my mind.

"You must be hungry. Steak or nutrigruel?" I asked to make sure.

Asurma kissed my neck in silence. "Just let me hold you a minute longer, Lord Pef. And then we can have that steak." she asked in my mind.