40 Thousand Reasons

One by one, the task forces began leaving to fight the Orks, often just as soon as 12 regiments gathered at their muster points. Comprised of ten infantry, one artillery and one armor regiments, these task forces were the incipient formation of a modern mechanized division, with sufficient troops and firepower to counter varied types of enemies and unit compositions.

In total, each of these divisions would be comprised of 120000 Auxilia guardsmen, with 8000 vehicles of different types and specializations, from Armed Sentinels, to anti-air Hydras, Weasel light tanks, self-propelled guns and a formidable core of 20 Baneblade heavy tanks spearheading 300 main battle tanks, mostly Leman Russ patterns but also some new Ragnaroks. In the Astra Militarum, such a large concentration of tanks would need to gather 10 armor regiments, and hope they had full rosters.

My hope was to send them into medium level battles against stupid enemies like Orks, so they gain experience and confidence, before concentrating them into a large army. Their officers had the best training I could afford, from a decent general education to a good military academy, even some time in Astartes-class neural chairs. They would have Drop Cruisers to provide Tarantula turrets in harder battles, as well as a few techmarines with hundreds of their Guardian walkers to intervene in desperate clashes.

A few companies of Adepta Sororitas and a pair of Silent Sisters would also depart with each division to provide special circumstances support, both against psyker Orks and other potential enemies. Just because you went to fight Orks didn't mean you might not encounter other species, or even demons.

The objectives I gave the Aspirants were simple and easy to understand. Protect the population, the industry and the cities and minimize collateral damage where possible. Obviously, they would need to adapt to local conditions, such as weather, terrain, local language or customs, even obstructions from local Nobles or priests. But how they dealt with such problems was actually their test, since I could now afford to be selective in accepting new Lamenters as replacements.

However, as long as the Aspirants completed their mission successfully, I could always transfer them to a different Chapter in need of Blank recruits, and adjust their destination depending on proved traits like aggression or charisma or sheer brutality.

All Astartes were fine warriors anyways, due to extensive training and neural lessons, but personality traits were as varied as all humans had. Better to send them to fight along Brothers of a similar mentality, than be miserable among the Lamenters.

In the past century, Victor had transferred thousands of Blanks to a number of local Chapters that pledged to abide by the Lancefire rule, which was simply to not murder our recruits in stupid training or hazing exercises.

By now, there were thirty Blank Companies among the Blood Angels and their successors, as well as Blood Ravens, Black Dragons, Salamanders and even some Space Wolves.

The number of their techmarines had also increased dramatically, which also provided increased combat effectiveness from repaired vehicles and armor, plus additional firepower in dire need.

As the year passed, the last Auxilia groups embarked for Krongar and Evraad, each of these armies consisting of 100 Auxilia regiments with Knights support and a few Titans. They also had much larger air power forces in support, because Waaghs were always dangerous, even if you thought you had prepared enough. The rules of reality bent to favor the Orks, and their illogical maneuvers often resulted in surprising victories even against formidable defenses.

Even impenetrable Forge Worlds have fallen to Ork Waaghs, when they shouldn't have had even 1 in a trillion chance at victory. To counter stupid tricks I've sent my better Generals with the troops, Regina and Jenit, formerly from the Valhallan all-female regiment. The two women had already carried their pregnancies to term and had to leave their Blank babies in the nursery, but needs must. We had a galaxy to defend, and our children would carry on with the duty when we died.

"Are you certain I need to stay behind and act as spymaster?" my old friend Ludvaius asked with an unhappy voice.

"I should return in a few years, Brother. But, I do worry of some scheme that might befell my capital. Be it Chaos or Genestealers, maybe some revengeful Dark Eldar. Maybe all of them and more. I did make a few enemies." I admitted in a heavy voice.

Ludvaius nodded thoughtfully, then tapped his bionic eye. "I shall install more Bastion fields and extra turrets then. And I do have your xeno pistol in case something big comes through." he replied with a grin, while patting his hip where he holstered a Necron dimensional gun. Sure, I had a Jokaero artisan work it over and convert the gun into a combi-bolter with Imperial design, but the second barrel was able to trap even a Titan into a dimensional pocket.

The Canticle was finishing loading up the last Invasion_Cathedrum of the Sisters of Battle from Sanctuary, because I had a mind to produce more Blank Sisters as fast as possible. An entire priory of 4000 young women should provide me with plenty of entertainment in the completion of this duty, starting with the new Cannoness and going down the ranks as time went by.

Already their gene pool had been dominated with the Catachans, since the Sisters of Battle were quick to recognize the formidable abilities of the Catachan women. From increased reflexes, resilience and mental fortitude, to unwavering loyalty and courage, the new breed of Sisters were ideal for the role of relentless heroines.

Sister Stern, along with a company of Silent Sisters and a dozen Knights, plus a dozen Auxilia regiments had departed for San_Leor to rescue their besieged Sisters, while Albesalom piloted my Destroyer Psi-Titan, until the Speranza figured out how to reconstruct his trashed Titan.

Sending the regular soldiers was slightly overkill, since a single Psi-Titan would be sufficient, even without Ephrael Stern boosting its powers twenty times. But anyways, better safe than sorry, and with Chaos you were always better off with more guns on your side.

"Docking complete, Lord Pef. We are ready to depart." Larissa announced from her Captain chair.

I nodded and patted Ludvaius on his shoulder, then displaced him back in the Null Hive, where he had a gigantic spying network to oversee.

"I'll be in my bed til Prefectia." I advised the ship's Captain then simply walked out from the bridge on my own two feet, like an ordinary person.

Knowing smiles and grins flashed behind me, as the bridge crew snickered at my incoming duty.

Soon enough, the Overlord-class battlecruiser sped away towards the T'au frontier, escorted by several carriers and Lamenter Strike Cruisers.

Canis lifted a lazy ear to acknowledge me as I entered my rooms, then yawned politely.

A minute later, a polite knock on the door signaled the leader of the Sisters and her Seraphim squad had arrived to have a long and fruitful meeting for the betterment of mankind.

"Lady Bella, you're even prettier than I've been told." I remarked in surprise, taking sight of the Cannoness in her full battle regalia.

The woman had the classic silver hair of every Sister, but her body and face were completely angelic.

She smiled a bit sadly. "I was not elected for my beauty, my lord. In fact, it has been a hindrance to my service for the Emperor." Lady Bella murmured demurely.

I nodded and offered her my plasteel chair, that was certified to withstand the weight of power armor. "I do understand, Lady Bella. I got this face from being implanted with Primarch Sanguinius gene-seed. Sometimes, I feel like punching a mirror."

The woman chuckled a bit amused and seemed to relax a little. "Going by your fame and exploits, I'd have thought you'd take pride in your looks. You do look nice." the Battle Sister mused while her companions nodded in agreement.

"Hmmm. I'm not a great warrior, my lady. Better than a neophyte recruit, but that's about it. I've been beaten and crushed by traitor marines, or even by loyal Astartes that didn't like my words or genes. All my battles were won with my mind, and the Null genes." I confessed with a shrug, then produced an expensive bottle of sweet liquor and crystal glasses.

There would be time enough for love, first we had to establish some trust and common ground, by sharing stories both good and bad. People always saw the Sisters of Battle as unflinching witch hunters with burning faith and heavy flamers. And while this was true, they were also women with their own feelings. They were a bulwark against the terror despite their fragile bodies, and I could respect that.

It was easy to battle xenos or traitors when you had 8 feet of bulky muscle and durasteel sinew to push you forward, as well as brains neurally cleaned of fear or doubt. However, I knew how frail a normal human was against a Chaos marine, because I have been that human once.

"And now, you want those Blank genes spread among everyone in this Lancefire Sector, just as you recruit the Lamenters and even the new Governors." the Cannoness said after sipping a bit of liquor.

"Humanity is slowly dying, my lady. We fall behind in technology and the Imperium is torn apart by heretics and traitors, turned by Chaos or genestealers. We have not invented new weapons or technologies, because Chaos infects our machines or engineers when we stray from the STCs." I explained with a sigh, and gulped a glass of liquor to make a point.

The Sisters followed suit, downing their glasses and getting a bit red in the face. "And you say we should all become hereteks, once we are Blanks and safe of these perils?" Lady Bella wondered with a warning tone.

"I'm saying we can be better. Right now, I have to gather a Crusade to stop the T'au from slicing off an entire galactic Sector, although they were crafting bone spears 6000 years ago. But they can advance so fast because they are all Blanks. There are no ghosts and demons inside their new machines or cogitators, because the Warp can't even see them. In a few centuries, they will rival our ancestors from the Age of Technology, and will battle the Necrons on equal terms." I answered in a sad voice, while pouring more liquor to my guests.

A couple of glasses later, we all agreed we had to make humanity even better. Beginning from my bed.