40 Thousand Reasons

There is a lesson in my mother's actions. This time it was a soporific drug, but an assassin could use something much more lethal.

I can't help but be a little wary of her, as the notion that I have a mother near me was so overwhelming I forgot her true identity.

How much of her helpless act was a farce or real?

Decima holds out a cup of real caf, in the morning. Ship morning anyway, since on Sotha there would be all the time zones at once.

"Thanks love." I say with a grateful smile.

"All the officers on the ground are dead." she announces in a grave voice.

I frown and power up the implant. All of them?

"And their replacements?" I ask with trepidation.

"Them too. Some type of Tyranid monkeys with sharp claws. They can tear through tank armor."

I hum to myself, scrolling through my mental database. Genestealers.

Luckily, the grenadiers and the armored regiment's officers were simple nobles or promoted veterans.

"The Battle-brothers lost many of our own, Captain. The tyranids almost broke into the fortress-monastery. Without the unexpected arrival of your personal guard...well. It would have been much worse." my own Astartes guard explains in a calm voice.

I know that voice though. Ludvaius uses it when death is near.

With tyranid access to the Scythe Chapter's geneseed banks, I am afraid to contemplate what could happen. Genestealers could manufacture or grow at least Titan-sized organisms, but in the millions.

As bad as they are in space, the damn Nids are a thousand times worse on the ground or even deep underground.

At least this wasn't a Hive world, so civilian losses are comparatively small, despite the wide scale destruction.

"I need to speak with the Chapter Master." I tell Ludvaius in-between gulps of warm caf. Not quite coffee, but close enough.

He just stares at me.

"Dead?" I ask in surprise. The old marine Commander was a legend from the old times, a contemporary of Primarchs and the living Emperor. He couldn't die so easy.

"The Tech-priests have recovered his brain and allowed him to speak once more. But Oberdeii refuses to be sustained by a metal body. He named Captain Thorcyra as the new Chapter Master. Xenophon, a Hunter-class_Destroyer has also arrived with the rest of the Scythes, and they have begun purging the xenos at full strength." the space marine concludes in a sad voice.

I frown and set the caf away, just as Rose arrives and gestures Decima to leave. To her credit, my wife asks me wordlessly for consent.

"You leave as well, Ludvaius. The Inquisition has big secrets too." I explain politely and nod towards the door.

He listens this time, and leaves taking Decima with him. "Yes, my Rose?" I ask politely and start warming my shoulders and back.

Perhaps it's time to begin the anti-aging treatment already. I'm only human, and I have grandkids already.

Get my clan gene treatments as well. Loyal people were worth their cost.

"The Xenophon encountered a large Hive fleet heading this way. It was only the beacon shift that saved them, as their course changed by a tiny degree." my lover announces in a stern tone, her face filled with worry.

"More tyranids...and we're fresh out of munitions." I muse out loud, and hug the Inquisitor to my side.

She nods and leans into me. "At least we gave the Necrons a bloody nose. Astropaths report sixteen tyranids fleets heading for Mandragora."

I lean over and power up the cogitator on my desk. The system opens on the holoscreen, Sotha surrounded by forts and debris, and 150 ships that will barely blunt a big bug swarm.

"There are positions that must not be defended, battles that must not be fought." I quote from old memories. "We evacuate Sotha. Armor and rock to seal the Pharos. And...incineration." I mutter to myself. Sometimes the best way to win is not to fight.

"The marines will not listen." she complains in a low voice.

I think on that for a minute. It is a bit too soon, but I don't have to promise a timeline. "They will. Get me a meeting with Oberdeii and Thorcyra, sealed by the Inquisition."

Rose blinks and takes out her Rosette. "Yet another amazing secret, miracle worker?" she asks rhetorically.

I almost nod, before I stop. "Secrets are of the past. For the future, we call them visions."

She smiles and holds out her Tarot cards. "In flux, the future is. And yet you're certain of this vision?"

"Primarch Guilliman will return. I know it will happen. The Eldar know it too. And now you do." I whisper the great secret while loading the Gellar STC design and spinning it around, hoping to find anything of use.

The phase iron components should have worked perfectly, but they didn't. Somehow, the Warp still managed to get through. Perhaps it was not the machine itself, but its spirit?

Cloned Blank tissue, or perhaps Pariah nerves and neurons? Justine was the key of this conundrum.

"I heard of rumors, the Primarch's cursed wound healing under stasis field. Would a Gellar field help?" Rose asks while glancing at my modified design with suspicion.

This broken machine? It can barely protect a small corvette, and even that not very well.

I shake my head. "If only it was that simple. Guilliman needs a God to help him. One such as Ynnead, the God of Death. Not sure why, as Eldar are beyond me just like Necrons. Perhaps a test, or stirring more revolt and bloodshed."

Rose is still an Inquisitor, and an Ordo Xenos at that. "There is only one true God, the Emperor of Humanity!" she yells at me in a pysker scream.

"There are other species in the universe, my dear. Yes, we have our Emperor. But Orks have Mork or Gork, the Eldar have others...even the Blood Angels have an incipient divine spirit: the Sanguinator. Not to mention the great enemy." I say in a peaceful tone, and sipping more caf.

Sadly, the drink has gone cold, just like my Rose.

"You want an alliance with the Eldar? The treacherous, slimy, craven..." The Inquisitor growls and seems rather pissed.

"I am not that important, my Rose. I know of it, but nobody asked me. It will happen anyway, at levels high above ours. The point is, the Scythes will follow me into Hell for this. And we get to exterminate a million Tyranid ships." I tell her in a soft voice, and draw her into a hug.

Slowly she calms down, and resumes her normal demeanor. "Into Hell. You're bolder than I thought, my dear trader. And I suppose you want me to join you?"

I kiss her neck and ear gently. "You need to think bigger, my love. A revived Primarch as a test. Who else is wounded to death?"

Rose tenses in my arms, and grabs me tight. "Truly?" she asks in a breathless voice.

"Eventually, yes. And even then, that's only one goal of mine. You felt the Shadow in the warp, right?" I proclaim in a level tone.

"Damn tyranid ability. It's horrible!" she says with revulsion.

"Now imagine humanity, with the same power. Immunity to Warp and demonic influence. No more mutations. No more sorcerers or xenos starting cults with fake miracles." I whisper as my hands grope and squeeze her full buttocks.

"Like mother, like son, huh?" she growls in my ear and bites it too.

I fall on the bed and begin kissing my Rose all over, exploiting the moment for fun and profit.

The Inquisitor is more skilled and better trained, so I quickly lose and get ridden like a bull. I don't mind losing though.

Much later, she rests on my chest and thinks it over. "We depend on psykers for galactic wide navigation and communications. If we all become Blanks..."

I caress her soft back, where scars can still be felt from some intense surgery or torture training.

"Yes, we do. You realize all of that is going through the enemy domain? They can see everything we send via astropaths. They can see our ships and what's inside. They can see into our minds and souls. And they can change it with some effort. We resist with prayer or logic, with Gellar fields or phase iron, but it's not a good strategy, is it?" I wonder out loud.

"What else can we do?" she asks in a moment of weakness.

Well then, my beloved Rose. Glad you asked.