40 Thousand Reasons

"Ordela, you start preparing your sisters for the A ritual we talked about. I guess we'll do it on Klaisus, as it's an ice world of less importance." I spoke towards my special ace in the hole.

Sister Ordela was the strongest Pariah in the galaxy right now, and the among the most skilled ones. Her presence on a world was always a nightmare to normal people, and fits-inducing or even out-right death to some psykers, even without using her Omega-minus active abilities.

That made deploying her in battle a constant concern, despite her obvious effectiveness against demons or sorcerers. Having my own Auxlia troops lose morale and sob uncontrollably during a major battle wasn't all that fun to deal with, and for normal civilians it was even worse.

Sister Dessima was only an Omega-level Pariah, which had mostly the same kind of consequences when she was deployed, but on a lesser range. Continent-wide instead of planet scale.

She should work fine on the Elysian Fields of Cadia, where the major Chaos push was taking place right now.

Captain Chyron let out a pained grunt when the Pariah Sisters emerged from stasis on the bridge. "So we're still doing that plan, my lord? You know it's pure lunacy, right?"

"Just make sure this Kharn doesn't die yet. Remove his limbs and subdue him, that's it." I demanded in a stern voice, and nodded towards Sister Ordela.

The woman tried to smile then abandoned the attempt in the middle. "Don't die, Lord Pef. You promised me we'll have children, one day." Ordela spoke in a sad voice, then slammed her visor down before I could see her blush.

Unlike Dessima, I have found Ordela before she could take the silence vow, which was sometimes handy. It didn't matter as much, since she simply couldn't live among normal people. Her blessing was a real curse too, denying her a normal life.

Other Blanks had it much easier, though still not great lives among normal people, still being subject to discrimination and being isolated. Being accusing of smelling bad or looking suspicious wasn't all that nice, even for minor Blanks that didn't even know they were psychic Nulls. It got much worse when they were found out, from being tortured or exploited to being converted into weapons, as assassins or simply psyker-countering ash.

I just shrugged carelessly, mixing confidence and arrogance in my expression. "I've died before, Ordela. It's no big deal."

A minute later, I had Sister Dessima get ready for the Champion abduction, with dreadnought Chyron serving as the mechanical vice and the Pariah Sister as the pliers.

A thousand starfighters dove for a ground-attack, while I spread incendiaries and grenades over the invasion force, to keep their heads down for a moment.

In the midst of flames and explosions, a small team inserted via the tesseract, a squad of Terminator armored Lamenters, a mighty dreadnought and a thinly armored Sister.

"Grab the axe too!" I mentally urged Dessima as she landed feet first on the Chaos Champion's shoulder, and breaking his god's protection with her Null aura.

Then Chyron just moved, impossibly fast and precise, his Power Claw slicing away arms and legs, while the other Power Fist grabbed Kharn's neck in a steel-crushing grip.

Meanwhile, the Terminators unleashed their barrage of gravity-guns and ancient atomizer cannons, creating a deadly perimeter.

Now, normal procedures for extraction wouldn't work right now, so Dessima just slapped a teleporter beacon on the back of the Champion and then flared her Pariah Shield to overcome the Warp Rift.

The second the rift closed, Kharn was teleported away and guided towards the sacrifice altar being raised on the glaciers of Klaisus, while my Lamenters and Dessima folded neatly back in the Tesseract, along with the looted Gorechild axe.

"It won't work, human. Your Emperor warned you as well." an alien voice spoke from the door of the bridge, just as I retrieved the axe to observe it in detail.

It was a heavy and gory axechain, made of adamantium and whirling chain teeth made of real dragon teeth.

"You mean the ritual, Solitaire?" I asked the newcomer.

"Yes, the ritual. And I'm not just a Harlequin. You should know when to listen." the Eldar muttered in a displeased tone, just as the ritual began forming on the ice world, with Ordela guiding the powers of her sisters to reverse the Khorne's blessing over his Champion.

Can't say I was actually surprised at his admission. Cegoragh was a god too, and had access to millions of years of advance knowledge and technology, plus reality-warping powers.

"Of course, messenger. But things are rarely what they seem, in this universe. Perhaps I do know better. And perhaps I am not working alone on this." I whispered just as another Blackstone Fortress arrived in the system.

Although the new battlestation was sporting Forge Venatoria markings, and carried thousands of Venatoria techpriests, a Titan Legion and the entire Soul_Drinkers Astartes Chapter, I knew very well who was holding their strings.

A mad robot with an infinite amount of resources and no moral compass to hold him back. No soul either.

The Solitaire Harlequin measured me with a piercing gaze, before slowly turning towards the exact spot where Trazyn and his blackstone warship has just emerged. "... That's an insane risk you're taking, human. You're lucky we had a backup plan, and our own Talisman." He murmured in a soft growl, just as the third Blackstone Fortress emerged into the system, cloaked and invisible to any sensors, almost.

I just pointed in silence at the new arrival.

The Eldar messenger just blinked slowly, and before his eyelids raised, he was just gone.

"Stern, you're next!" I sent directly in the Demonifuge's mind, and moved the Polaris Psi-Titan right beside Ordela and her praying Silent Sisters.

Almost immediately, a new sun rose in the Cadian system, as the world of Klaisus was engulfed into a blinding golden light, a result of the ritual channeled by Miss Stern and amplified by the Psi-Titan soul circuits.

This wasn't mere light though. I should have suspected the Emperor have read my memories and plans, and made the necessary arrangements.

His goals had not changed in past ten millennia, after all. He had simply gotten a trillion times stronger.

I took a step, through my labyrinth and arrived beside Trazyn the Infinite, the Necron Overlord with his own giant collection of valuable artifacts and people.

"Hello again, Lord Trazyn." I spoke gently, and held my hand out to retrieve Canis, just in case.

"And as always, the stranger with his puppy is once again a step ahead of me. You called the Eldar too?" The Necron asked while a thousand Astartes stomped down just one time behind him.

"Just get ready, Necron Lord. I counted over 2000 broken pylons on Cadia. A third of the field power is gone, so I had to improvise a quick fix. Cegoragh himself was amused with the idea, and lent me a hand." I argued with a small white lie.

I mean, my analysis of the situation was not wrong, only my contribution. But Trazyn should be a bit more wary now.

The necrodermis robot turned to stare at me, and my wolf, with dispassionate green-glowing eyes. "Hmmm. Collecting what I wanted will be much more difficult now. You'll owe me again, Pef Lancefire." the Necron demanded in a glacial tone.

"We'll trade, value for value, Lord Trazyn. Right now, you're under my protection, as agreed by the Emperor of Mankind himself. How long until you can restart the field?" I asked, pointing at the fortress world of Cadia, and its 5000 remaining blackstone pylons.

"There is a certain Inquisitor in the control room. And a certain Custodes too. This brings back memories, right?" The Necron Lord asked instead, avoiding my own question.

Should I be worried? Nah. It had worked before too, even without Trazyn being involved directly.

In a second, we flashed through Trazyn's labyrinth to arrive before Inquisitor Greyfax, and her Custodes watcher.

"My lady, you look amazingly well." I observed with a wide grin, while measuring my one-time lover.

"Pef. There is a green alien robot at your side. And I suspect it's exactly the one who held me and the Custodes captive for centuries." the woman growled in a slightly angry voice.

I just shrugged and patted the metal guy on his back. "Mysterious ways, Lady Inquisitor. Anyways, leave the xenos to the Ordo Xenos, I'd say. Or did you quit Ordo Hereticus since we last met?"

If looks could kill...well, they can, unless someone is immune to psyker spells.

"You humans can flirt for an hour or two. I'll get to work now." Trazyn advised me with a robotic smirk, and summoned his hieroglyphic menu to start up the Necron engines under Cadia once more.

The Custodes simply ignored the Necron as if it was a statue beneath his notice, and stepped forward to pet Canis like an old friend. Even without my prompt, the wolf just purred in delight and enjoyed the scratches, making Lady Greyfax scowl even more.

"Hmph! Boys and their dogs. You look taller, Pef." the Inquisitor remarked in a warmer tone, and approached me close enough for an awkward hug.

It was a simple fact, but somehow her telling me that made me feel better. "Hmmm. The Emperor must have given me larger shoulders, for a heavier duty. How is Amalia?" I wondered about our Blank daughter.

"On a Blackship, learning her powers. She keeps a diary already, with all your exploits. And her wolf is fully grown already." she whispered in a gentler voice.

"Good. Perhaps in a decade, our family can gather in the Fringe at once. Like a family reunion." I proposed in a soft tone as well.

She drew back a little, searching for something into my eyes, probably just to make sure I was serious.

"Perhaps. So what is the Necron doing here?" she asked coldly, back in Inquisition mode, Ordo Hereticus style.

Should I tell her? Not everything, of course.

"Lord Trazyn was instrumental in closing the Hadex Anomaly, and dozens of other Warp rifts. His expertise is needed once more." I explained in a level tone, then glanced towards the always present Eye of Terror, its purple gaze present even underground in these Necron caverns. It wasn't actually emitting light either, just like the new golden sun in this system.

"And I expect to be repaid in full for my efforts, humans. Don't forget that." the Necron added in a morose voice.

"That too." I mused a bit amused.

A giant scream of anger and wrath emerged from the giant Warp rift, followed soon after by a similarly giant claw. A few seconds later, another claw but a pink one erupted from with the Eye of Terror.

"That's...not Khorne." The Custodes whispered while his eyes began glowing with gold light.

I gulped a wad of saliva, as the two claws started to cross the vast space towards Cadia. Then again, perhaps it wasn't all bad.

"Two out of four? It's my lucky day!" I quipped in a joyous voice, mostly to raise morale among my party.

Canis glanced at me like I was stupid. Lady Grayfax and the Custodes were not very impressed either.

"Hold them off for an hour, the infrastructure is a bit damaged and re-routing the energy is not easy." Trazyn asked with a calm and certain voice.

Definitely not visiting in person then, the brave Necron Overlord.

Well, I didn't really have a plan for two Chaos Gods coming out to play. I might need a miracle, and very soon.