40 Thousand Reasons

Chapter 168: Ace

No words can really describe the horror of Hive Fleet Leviathan. I will try and fail, just to give you a glimpse.

Imagine a mountain, majestic and imposing, durable rock and sharp peaks jutting out.

Now, imagine the pebbles, flaking off the abrupt slopes clinking away into a valley. And now, imagine that pebble is formed of millions maybe billions of molecules, viruses and parasites, unholy creatures with tentacles and claws and teeth.

And now, imagine each and every one of those molecules is the size of a spaceship, kilometers long and filled with attack vectors made of bioplasma and more claws.

After a month of burning through a dozen such pebbles, each formed from a dozen billion Tyranid bio-ships and their xeno cargo, my fleet barely made to it to Forge World Gryphonne IV, to lick its wounds and rearm.

Our spacefighters were just gone, the weapons barrels worn out and distorted from too much firing, torpedoes expended, and missiles critically low.

The cruisers had long scratches and gouges into their armor, the protective side-panels had been eaten away by acid bombs and all of our teleport room were out of atomic warheads and spare parts to repair the platforms.

In a single year, my mighty fleet had been reduced to near refugee status, and the gigantic, humongous mountain that made the giant beast rising from beneath the galaxy with spinal thorns made of Tyranids Hive Fleets...it was actually larger.

Devouring thousands of worlds, Imperial, or Ork and Eldar and dozens of other xenos.

Not even the Necrons were able to withstand such onslaught, many robots just fleeing on board their Tomb Ships with barely any resistance, while the Tomb Worlds were being devoured for whatever traces of biomass or useful minerals the Tyranids needed.

Of course, Necron Ships were quite valuable trade goods, so whenever possible I captured the ships and evicted the crew back into the bellies of the largest Tyranid Hive Ships, to give them a small indigestion.

Quite the same with Orks and Eldar Corsairs, confiscating a thousand ships and allowing the xenos to battle other xenos inside the hungry belly of the flying beasts.

They wanted adventure, and raids, or a gud fight? Well, I was glad to help out.

Whenever possible, entire human planets were simple evacuated inside my tesseract, kept in stasis for a late release back in the Fringe. I was kinda picky though, and didn't grab everyone.

First because every human world had dregs and scum and criminals, plus the priesthood and the most nobles weren't on my gift list. They could negotiate with the gangers for their lives, while waiting for the Tyranids to land, and then get eaten anyway.

On the other hand, a slim and tiny woman named Ignacia_Horstein requested my help, as the Rogue Trader was also evacuating some miners. Possibly stealing everything of value as well too, but her cargo holds could barely store enough gold bars and uranium rods to recover her investment in time and risk.

By the time her ship arrived along us to my destination, we had become good friends. Sadly no sex, but an alliance was still made for a High Lord seat and some Dynasty marriages, plus covering the repairs and a warpless engine on her light cruiser.

In the end, Ignacia confessed to having psyker powers and being slightly horrified of me and my soulless Blank retinue.

"You're being silly, my dear. Nulls are psykers too. Every living thing has a soul, it just looks different for Blanks. Psykers can also turn into Pariahs by inverting the nature of their soul, gaining nega-psyker powers instead. Banishing demons and all that."

I whispered while squeezing her hand gently.

"How...? Nevermind. I don't really want to know, Lord Lancefire. It's just a gut feeling that yells at me to punch your face and run away screaming." the woman murmured in an embarassed voice.

Must be my amplified Blank aura then. Did not have quite this problem til now.

"I understand. Still, you've met Stela, my ace pilot daughter? She'll be 18 this year and piloted her Fury starfighter against the bugs for a year, scoring a thousand kills. And she even came back alive. I don't have a Captain seat for her yet, but your cruiser could do well with a Blank Captain that will never fall to Chaos." I offered while drawing back a little to restore her calm.

"The red-headed one, right? She'll have to start as a junior officer on my ship. Work her way up and learn the tricks of trade for a decade. Just Stela?" Lady Ignacia asked while chilling her wine casually with a warp spell.

"Stela has a small puppy as a pet, and eleven Catachan bodyguards. All women." I replied with a careless shrug.

"Women won't be a problem, since the crew will love them for sure. As for the puppy, your girl will need to clean after it. All right, Lord Lancefire! My ship will refit and hastily depart this war zone, possibly towards the peaceful Segmentum Pacificus. And if those five STC templates sell well to the Forges, you will have a loyal ally in me. Although, I'm pretty sure your Primarch can simply name you whatever rank you want." the Rogue Trader declared with a small grin.

"If I gave you a Glorianna Battleship, my dear...how long could you keep it?" I asked instead, and raised an eyebrow ironically.

"... Until someone stronger came around and took the ship, a cardinal or techpriest or Astartes... Perhaps you are right. When you gather enough strength, you can simply take whatever you want. Without strength..." the woman mused and struggled herself to come closer and shake my hand.

"There will always be a place for you beside me, dear Ignacia. Head to Forge Graia first, and outfit your ship with a grenadier regiment and an armor battalion. Teleporting pads too, for bombs or boarders as needed." I advised her and made her wine glass vanish.

A minor trick, but it should warn her off, from dubious paths.

"My glass...you really are a psyker too? I didn't feel any warp signature!" she exclaimed in awe.

I held my hand up and made the lights dim visibly. "Very minor powers. I can't become invisible or close Warp rifts, but that's why I have Silent Sisters around me. One day they'll have back their place beside the Emperor, like before. Before traitors took over the High Seats and corrupted the Imperium."

"I wish you good luck then. I prefer staying outside the Imperium, for the usual reasons." Ignacia said politely and walked away, taking care to avoid Canis outside bite range.

I envisioned a lot of surprise when that puppy in Stela's arms grew just as large.

Plus that red hair? Inherited from Elixa, just as her infocyte skills. Stela did not actually need a bodyguard. She was the bodyguard for Ignacia and her entire House.

Soon after, I met with the Fabricator of Forge Gryphonne to arrange coordinating the defenses. A hail of pebbles were heading this way, and it was inevitable that some will get through the fleets and land.

My armor and walkers were deposited at key locations, and fortifications were started for the infantry, while in orbit a giant network of asteroid forts and weapons batteries were being assembled in a titanic effort.

Nova Cannons and shells became the main priority for production, then the new Ragnarok tanks in various configurations, from Conqueror and Exterminator variants, to AAA platforms.

I mostly stayed in the system to help with 'procuring' asteroids and Space Hulk fragments, while the cruisers ranged back and forth to bombard the approaching tendril with gigantic barrages of Nova Cannon bombardment and laying down Nova mine fields.

Troops and reinforcements poured in from all over the sector, refugees as well, who were gladly accepted as workforce and troops.

Forge Gryphonne tripled its population and production during a couple of frantic years, while millions of new Skitarii and thousands of battle-automata were converted from the more undesirable elements.

And just as the Shadow in the Warp started covering the system, a Reality Cage sprang out around the planet, preventing the usual mass panic and rebellions associated with the influence of the Hive Mind.

After this, the tendril split up to avoid the mine fields and devour the outer barren planets, which somehow had sprouted millions of Orks, out of nowhere.

The landing spores were not intercepted, and billions of critters emerged to devour the Orks, who were a bit confused but glad to fight anyone on principle.

Only they never finished eating, as somebody launched Exterminatus on those worlds, destroying half of the Hive Fleet's feeder elements, in thirty separate events on different moons and planets.

Nova Cannons finished off the low orbiting bioships, vaporizing thousands of them with each shot, and wounding even more of these gigantic critters, whom were forced to crash-land into seas of flame and boiling lava.

Then lastly, just as a Vortex torpedo struck the humongous Hive Ship and broke it in two, everything got worse. Because, it can always get worse.

The Warp rift expanded, pulled apart by a pair of giant hands, and a Great Demon emerged, followed by trillions of demons, thousands of Chaos warships and a trio of Glorianna Battleships, including the Planet Killer.

I have tried to change history, and it seemed I had succeeded. I still had my hidden ace, and I will have to use it now.