40 Thousand Reasons

Lady Adrielle waited patiently beside me as I opened my eyes.

"Well?" she asked curious.

"It is done. The Hadex Anomaly was closed." I replied with a glance at the C'tan God.

"A fine blow against those warp-ling creatures from the Immaterium, Pef Lancefire. Now you'll have to repeat that...several more times." Zarhulash spoke with a slightly impressed voice.

I picked up a Null Wand from mid-air and offered it to Adrielle. "I think you should stay here, for a few decades. Keep an eye on the new Forge and raise a few children."

Adrielle had a bionic eye, so my joke wasn't all that tactful. "This is a xeno artifact, Pef. My left eye was made by a Jokaero, and it picks up certain xenos vibes." she explained while twirling the wand in her hand.

I just shrugged and hugged her to my side. "One day humanity will make even better tech. But it would be a pity to blow up your brains, if you let a demon inside or some mind-controlling xenos gets hold of you. Your children will be sad to grow up without a mother."

She sighed and glanced at the C'tan. "This creature better cooperate then. I won't waste two decades for nothing."

I smiled gently and began setting up a holographic screen, matching cogitator components from my inventory. "Lady Adrielle has level two access, Mighty Zarhulash. Lady Ezu and other authorized visitors, level one."

The C'tan wasn't a stargod for nothing, and he measured my lover with curious eyes. "It is a pact then. For my safety." he demanded in a cold voice.

I just smiled and flicked a comm cable at his foot's pinky toe, where the connector just merged with his toe, seamlessly. Then I grabbed Canis and the Sounding Board, and stepped through the Pharos directly on Forge Retribution.

No point wasting travel time and fuel to reach my own domains. "Fabricator Dominus, you heard the news?" I asked the techpriest in a gleeful tone, making him jump in surprise.

"Lord Pef! You mean about this Inquisitor who appeared out of nowhere?" the Magos said and pointed at a holoscreen to show Lady Ivixia conducting interrogations on my Knight pilots.

"Related to that. This woman has just closed the Hadex Anomaly, with the aid of some deviant techpriests from Forge Venatoria. Quite an achievement, wouldn't you say?" I explained while bringing out Canis and preparing a few cups of drinks for my guest.

Dominus stared at me for a moment, before looking at the screen again. "Some kind of Reality Cage? But the energy for that..."

"It was way more complicated than that. The energy came from a Blackstone Fortress, my friend. Plus some really deviant procedures." I spoke softly and twisted my labyrinth to bring Ivixia in the room.

"Lady Ivixia, meet Canis, my puppy." I announced with a genial smile.

The Inquisitor stared at me, and patted her hip where she had the new Null Wand. "This was another teleport, without using the Warp." she concluded while examining Canis with a long stare.

"Wooof! Wooo." Canis explained logically.

"Tea, peach juice, recaf?" I proposed with a kind smile.

"Tea will do, Astartes. Lamenter Chapter?" the Inquisitor demanded with a stern voice, and went to pet Canis while examining his shield collar with expert eyes.

I poured tea and waited, while discussing with Magos Dominus through our Manifold circuits. Much faster exchange of data that way, and more secure.

I had lost plenty years and had much to catch up, but Forge Retribution has not been idle.

Fabrication lines for the new infantry Hellguns, Lascannon Tarantula turrets and Armed Sentinels were already operational, while the new Forge districts for Guardians and Macharius tanks were almost ready.

Nearly a billion immigrants have been imported via Antax, mostly servitors and new acolytes.

In orbit, there were six dockyards now, four for escorts and two for capital ships, and the Canticle battlecruiser had been already finished upgrading to my specifications. Primarily extra armor, new reactors and better shields.

Even better, my mentor Explorer Magos Gyron had sent a short message saying "Entry found", which most likely meant he was inside the Speranza now.

Wherever he was, he was not in the Pharos range, which didn't surprise me at all.

"I am not the usual kind of Astartes, my lady. Must be my Rogue Trader origin, but I prefer using my brain instead of muscles. For example, I prefer using Blank Astartes in my Chapter. Pretty much zero chance of falling to Chaos and being turned against humanity. Sure, I just copied what the Emperor did with the Silent Sisters, but since it works then it surely means my adoptive grandfather approves." I explained in a polite voice, and sipped some recaf to recharge.

"Blank Astartes...how does that even..." the Inquisitor grumbled inward, and handed me the Null Wand, but I waved it away. I was a Null myself, after all.

"There is a big difference between Blanks and Pariahs. The first kind is a mere adaptation, to withstand the energies of the Warp, just like dark skin protects someone from the sun or windows tint to block weapon flares. The second kind, it's more akin to photosynthesis and solar sails. Warp energies are used to provide that person with extra power, beside simple immunity. Power to close the Hadex Anomaly, for example." I continued in a soft voice, and raised an eyebrow knowingly.

The Inquisitor nodded in deep thought, now realizing why those heretek techpriests had asked for her scrawny Pariah so insistently.

"This means...we need to grow and protect Blanks until they produce more Pariahs. Such weapons would...this is huge!" Ivixia exclaimed in an ecstatic voice.

"Yes, of course. That it is exactly why the Silent Sisters were banished from Terra, and Blanks all over the galaxy hunted down and murdered for being dangerous mutants. Often by your own order, Lady Inquisitor. How many High Lords on Terra are psykers?

Who pilots the ships, maintains the Astronomican, provides empire-wide communication, or hunts down rogue psykers? Aren't the most powerful Inquisitors psykers too? And other secretive groups like the Grey Knights and the Templars_Psykologis?" I asked rhetorically.

The woman froze for a second, before sighing in defeat. "You never heard this, Fabricator. Sealed by my order." she demanded forcefully and returned the tea cup on the tray.

"Of course, Lady Dannica. It will be so, unless Lord Lancefire countermands that order." Magos Dominus answered with a flat voice, and glanced at me for praise. Well, he was loyal so I praised him on the Manifold.

"Come, Lady Ivixia. Let's take a walk and visit Forge Retribution." I said peacefully and offered the woman my elbow. That always worked. "Canis, wanna come or visit your lady friends?" I asked my other friend.

Canis just snorted and grinned wolfishly. Alright then, go have fun making puppies, horny space wolf! He vanished to reappear in the wolf pen, and proceeded to dominate his new bitches immediately.

"That Fenrisian Wolf...how it that a puppy?" she asked as we walked around the Forge and examined the new fab-lines.

"Obviously Canis has grown up. I got him as a puppy though." I replied with a wide smile, and produced a dataslate with his cute appearance as a wolf puppy.

A couple of hours later, we returned to my rooms to eat, and Felicia arrived in a rush to welcome me with kisses and hugs. "Pef, I passed the entrance rites! Next year I will be a full Magos." she explained proudly while sitting in my lap without a care.

A flash of jealousy passed over Lady Ivixia, making Felicia tilt her head curious. "Don't worry Lady Inquisitor. I can wait, if you want the first rounds." the bubbly enginseer added cheerfully and kissed my angelic cheek, lovingly.

That didn't help as much as she expected. "That's...what is this exactly, Lord Lancefire?" the black-haired Inquisitor demanded in a stern voice, watching my hands fondle the blonde woman in my lap. Couldn't help it really...must be a reflex.

"Blanks cannot be cloned, Lady Ivixia. Only made naturally, with deep sessions of hot sweaty bedtime. Or other locations, like a steamy hot shower..." I replied very seriously, while Felicia was already breathing heavily and pushing herself harder into my hands.

Her eyes glazed over for a few seconds, no doubt envisioning the promised scene.

"Perhaps...I can watch. Yes. And I do need a hot shower." Ivixia murmured to herself.

It didn't take that long until my new lover joined me and Felicia in bed. Didn't plan for a threesome on the first day, but maybe I was that lucky sometimes.