40 Thousand Reasons

Chapter 150: Sandbox

While Forge World Telos V wasn't a big Forge, they did have dockyards and repair facilities, so it was easy enough to include Lady Sun Lee in my deals with the Fabricator.

As for Navigators, I did have a stock of them in my labyrinth, and even a few not outwardly corrupted.

But my aid wasn't free or cheap.

"You ask too much, Lord Lancefire. If you need House Ma' Kao votes, then yes. Me or my heirs will support your House for a High Lord seat, in perpetuity. Even a single Navigator would be worth it. Another one held in stasis as backup is a phenomenal luxury."

Lady Sun Lee explained over the table.

"I propose a test then. Lend me your Lieutenant Maya, the auspex officer. My son Tiberius needs a wife, for five years." I said in a calm voice.

The Rogue Trader measured me with caution. "Why for five years, what happens afterward?"

I shrugged and sipped the wine, which was quite good. "After that, Tiberius has to join the Lamenters, become a Space Marine. His new body will not allow marital relations."

"And the children?" she asked brutally.

"Blank boys will be sent to me, at the age of ten. Your House can keep the girls." I declared in a level voice.

She nodded thoughtfully, considering various scenarios in her mind. "Blank girls would be valuable, perhaps more than boys. An entire dynasty could be born, immune to Chaos."

I smiled genially. "Most of my daughters are ship Captains now. Being Blank almost guarantees the promotion, in my House."

Sun Lee sighed and gulped her wine. "You must have a thousand concubines then."

"My fleet will remain here to resupply for a week, before we depart on anti-piracy raids and then head for Footfall. Might I tempt you to join me for the first part? You may also bring your House Guards, just in case there is boarding to be done." I proposed in a gentle voice.

"Only me and the troops, huh? How will we get back?" the Rogue Trader asked with a frown.

"I started with a light cruiser too, you know? Everything I have now, I took it with strength or guile. Sometimes using enemies to my own needs, like the Raid on Commorragh or the Pandorax Campaign, where I captured 105 Ork Kroozers for my Dynasty, while the stupid Orks were busy boarding Abaddon's ships. Then we blew them all up and came home, much richer." I explained in a teasing voice.

She sobbed and poured herself more wine. "Teleporting Astartes are cheats! I could do it too, if I had teleporters."

"Prove it then, Lady Sun! There are 55 teleport rooms in my fleet. You may use 5 teleportariums and keep whatever pirate ship you conquer." I demanded while drinking more wine.

"Damn lucky bastard...I can do it too." the woman muttered half-drunk.

*****************

Much later, I allowed Lady Sun to obtain a heavy cruiser for her House, even though it cost her half her troops. She would have failed, unless I vanished most of the opposition, but I did like her.

And I captured two battleships and nineteen cruisers anyway. The new ships needed warp-less engines, so I sent them with a skeleton crew to Forge Lucius, which was the only big Forge in my list, in this Segmentum Obscurus.

I would keep a dozen cruisers and the battleships, and donate the rest to Forge Lucius for their work. Seemed a fair deal to me, and I even included Lady Sun in the deal.

And that sealed our alliance, in my bed.

"You're too pretty and too lucky, damn you." Lady Sun murmured as she rested on my chest and calmed her breath.

"I was injected with the blood of Sanguinius, my dear. At least you can be certain our children will be pretty too. Maybe even Blanks." I answered while fondling her tired body.

"No more! I can't do it again, not today." she complained and slapped my hand away.

"There is one last ritual you'll need to perform, Lady Sun. And is perfect that you're already naked." I announced and moved her in my training room, with a dozen Orks and a chrono-sword stabbed into the floor.

There was no such ritual, but she was a very good sword user. Took her less than a minute to chop down the confused Orks, and then reappear in the shower room.

"What stupid ritual is this? Naked against a dozen Orks? And what was that sword?" she yelled from the shower while rinsing off the blood and gore.

I waited until she emerged wet and angry from the hot shower. "My sons and I, we all train like this, clearing entire Space Hulks with only a sword and no armor."

"Oh Pef." she whispered and sat down to hug me.

"Never fight a Space Marine in melee, my love. You're good, but a hundred years too slow. And many traitors are millennia old." I advised her while conquering her body again.

By next month we parted ways, me and my fleet towards the Koronus_Expanse and the big prize of the Light of Terra, while Lady Sun had people to bury and mourn. Even victory was bitter in 40k, although she gained much more than she knew.

And her promise of support in perpetuity? She will live to uphold it now.

There are many words that can describe Footfall. A giant mountain sculpted in the form of the Emperor of Mankind, with field made of a thousand asteroids around it, all tied with chains and bridges.

A port into the Expanse, home to many Rogue Traders or Free Captains, the unfortunate ones without a Warrant of Trade.

A hive of scum and slavery, chaos cults and heretics of a thousand kinds, xenos and mutants, psykers and techpriests, many of them renegades.

But in my eyes, it was perfect. An immense looting ground of exotic weapons, rare aliens and even STC patterns, and a sandbox for my labyrinth.

They never knew what hit them, especially when Orks appeared in the millions in a surprise Waagh and 'forced' me to restore order, using Armed Sentinels as foot soldiers, Knights and Leviathans and even a Reaver Titan for shock and awe.

The Mechanicus Altar-Templum-Calixis-Ext-17 was looted by the marauding Orks of everything of value, especially extensive research into xenos weaponry and vaults of invaluable samples and Mechanicus relics, while the corrupt Administrator was defenestrated by an unknown party and splattered at the feet of the Emperor's statue.

A dozen Ministorum churches and Cathedrals were savagely looted as well and nearly thirty priceless relics were lost forever, while a thousand fat priests and bishops emptied their bellies, literally. Some even had silver throne coins mingled inside their dripping intestines.

By the time my forces were able to restore order, 90 percent of the locals were dead, excluding the freed slaves and the manufactorums workers, plus the dockyard guys.

I blamed the Dark Eldar for this debacle, although only a thousand were actually present. I made sure to produce ten times more, and had them burned on huge pyres along with all the other dead. It made the survivors very happy for some reason.

The Dockyard's Foreman was elected to rule the settlement by the time my Lamenters and Knights withdrew, although the occupation lasted two months, because my techpriests had to repair pretty much all the damaged buildings and gravity generators, plus install surveillance networks and train two of my Emperor's Blades how to use it properly, plus the teleport pads took time to assemble.

It wouldn't last very long, the imposed order. I was quite aware of this.

But newcomers will be easy enough to log and watch, their deals and ships monitored and reported to the appropriate Imperium's organization.

As for the ships already present on Footfall, I generously donated them to a couple of nearby Forge Worlds, only keeping a Grand Cruiser in nearly perfect condition, with a Warrant of Trade in the vault. It seemed the former owner was one Calligos_Winterscale, now deceased. He named my daughter Finona as his heir for some strange reason, and she reluctantly accepted his dying wish.

"Thank you daddy! Did I tell you how much I love you, lately? Even if you had me married to that ugly Winterscale, for an entire minute." Finona exclaimed as I handed her the Warrant and kissed my cheek very reluctantly.

"Lady Winterscale, may I expect your support for the position of High Lord of Terra?" I asked instead.

"You can bet a throne on that, Lord Lancefire. Now, I just need to get my ship some real engines and my own regiments. May I count on your aid, in this matter?" she demanded coyly.

Couldn't say no to my own beloved daughter, could I? Now, where should I send her?

"I can only recommend you head towards Forge Shenlong. There are some presents in the ship vaults, plus the Fabricator is a good friend of mine. We fought together once and even killed a traitor Primarch." I answered after thinking for an entire minute.

The new Rogue Trader nodded politely, and ran away to her Catachan husband waiting outside, while jumping over the corpse of her former husband.

Rafen grinned at me as the armored door closed.

"Always a pleasure to see you work, my lord. One day we will reach Terra itself." he admitted with a happy and hopeful voice.

I just shook my head. "Not until Roboute takes the sword, my friend. The Hexarchy is forming already, and I don't want my family as their target."

"I see. That would be a problem...especially the Ecclesiarchy." he mused wisely.

"The Tyranids and the Necrons are still the bigger problems, Astartes. I need something powerful to stop them, relics from our ancestors. For starters, a Glorianna Battleship for my Chapter." I explained in a gentle voice.

And then a big gun for that ship, something that could shatter worlds, just like Abaddon had.