40 Thousand Reasons

Chapter 66: Faith

After yet another mandatory week of bed rest, I continued with the teleport trick, first on Mandragora, to contain the Tyranid invasion a bit, and produce a wonderful mining world for blackstone.

Wentian got his deployment orders directly from me, and his cruiser and two destroyers will be accompanied by a dozen transport and mining barges filled with Triplex Phall tech-priests and servitors to Mandragora, for a quick scavenging operation.

Two of those transport ships will be my finder's fee, one for Antax and one for Retribution.

Hopefully we get to mine sufficient blackstone to armor up the most critical installations and ship systems. Also armor plates for my heavy tanks and Knights. Because that blackstone is amazingly resistant to both physical damage and Warp corruption, it beats even adamantium in value. Those tech-priests better repay my huge effort handsomely.

Next week I test the Vortex torpedo on the Eldar Craftworld, and even add that tiny atomic warhead to my gift. Sadly a Craftworld is gigantic and will not be destroyed with ease, but now it also lacks engines, lost in the Warp, and the bridge engulfed in sunfire, and a million demonettes and other friendly Immaterium denizens infest the hallways and the biodomes of Alaitoc.

However, the Eldar are very advanced and will likely contain the invaders with great effort. They won't be raiding humanity anytime soon, I hope.

The third week has me incinerating a dozen orbital docks around Tau with atomic warheads, and a Vortex torpedo hits their capital, unleashing a horde of demons and other impossible creatures on the Tau, while at the same time decapitating their leadership and crippling ship production facilities. In time the Tau will recover, and they do have enough ships and battlesuits to contain a minor Chaos invasion. But this should put a monkey wrench in their next Expansion plans.

When I recover, I continue the long range atomic bombardment on the Tau allies, mostly the Nicassar. Those guys are psykers and form the recon force for the Tau Empire. Again, I demolish their shipyards and a few large cities, before lobbing a couple of warheads at a Kroot Warsphere. I think I've made my point, but we'll have to see.

I take it easy for two more weeks, mostly splashing a few Orc Warbosses that are located to the north of my holdings in the Fringe.

And then I grit my teeth and finish off Hell Forge Junkatta with another cyclonic torpedo, and quickly beam back to the Canticle, before whoever keeps scanning Sotha manages to locate me.

With this last deep strike, I'm almost done.

I locate Forge Anvillus which is different from Anvillus Nine, and I'm almost tempted to steal a few Titans they make there. But no, there is no point. I also need a logistic chain to support a Titan squad, plus pilots. Instead, I send another clan rescue fleet to their aid, because Orks.

Those green mushrooms are everywhere, I swear. If the Imperium has about 200 thousand worlds here in the Ultima Segmentum, the Orks have infested at least ten times as many places.

As more and more of my destroyers are hastily converted to the Los Angeles-pattern, each with a volley of torpedoes able to sink a battlecruiser if they all hit...my ships are an amazing force-multiplier when attacking a fleet already occupied, or catching them by surprise. Destroyers were already dangerous even with two torpedo tubes. With 30 tubes, they more than match even a battleship's broadside, for a single shot.

Physical objects can pass through shields, even void shields most of the time. And torpedoes, missiles, bombs and assault boats all qualify, just as Railgun projectiles and Macrocannon shells do. That's why heavy armor is still needed, even with shields.

I need to fix this for my own ships, since the Tau shields can indeed deflect solid rounds, and the same with some personal shields used in the Imperium. They just need to be scaled up, and made more resilient.

Luckily I have Magos Minoris to aid me with this, as the science of these personal shields is really complex and complicated, nothing like magnetic shields or other quick fix.

For this exact reason only valued officers and Administratum officials receive the expensive shields. A large scale Rosarius might work, if all the guys inside the ship were fervent believers, and I will attempt this first.

Nothing else to do, while I wait for the currents around Sotha to calm down. Well, babies too, but that's less of a pain and more relaxation time with long term benefits.

A month later, I have a hundred-meter wide Aquila-pattern Rosarius that could be manufactured for spaceships and one a hundred times smaller for tanks. Not sure how well they might work, but a Rosarius ultimately works the same way as the Ork Waaagh does. It works if you believe it works.

Minoris shot me with everything we could find portable, even heavy bolters and melta guns, and my Rosarius held just fine. I'm not going to test Rapier type weapons, because I'm not that stupid. But as it happens, there are plenty suicidal people on board more than willing to have their faith tested, and so we do.

Helena and Catherine don't even flinch when the void marines unleash their Rapiers and Sentinel weapons at them in the firing range, and for good reason. Lascannons and Volcano Lances have little effect, although Gatling cannons and heavy flamers do pose some problems, pushing them back and making them sweat.

Pretty sure they can indeed tank a Titan if they also sing and shout: Emperor protects!

The Astartes continue my testing with more mixed results, and one of them, called Vosok Dall was even smeared onto the backplate wall of the firing range by a krak missile. 

Not sure if I should be sorry or happy that we proved his lack of faith this way. Probably for the best though.

Lord Hornidal is certainly not happy.

"I find your lack of trust disturbing, Chaplain." I quipped as he arrived to scoop and scrape the remains of his Battle-Brother.

"Please, Lord Lancefire, stop this madness. Brother Dall was next in line to become a Captain! This Rosarius is not the Emperor's Will!" the black armor guy complained, while holding out the guilty item in his hand.

So I shot him with my bolter pistol, straight in the face. Of course, the faith shield bounced the bolt round away harmlessly. "I say it is. Your faith is commendable, Chaplain. But, do you know how I know?" I asked more gently while holstering my weapons and picking up my Rosarius.

"... You shot me! Didn't even blink, or give off an assault trigger." the psyker Astartes muttered in dismay.

"I got this relic from a traitor Inquisitor, Astartes Hornidal. His faith did nothing to power the Rosarius, and thus he died like a dog. We will continue testing all the Astartes, with your blessing." I demanded forcefully and passed the relic to the next space marine.

"My faith in the Emperor is flawless, Lord Lancefire! Please shoot me all you can." the Scythe proclaimed proudly.

Indeed, my new plasma pistol failed to make him blink and the Astartes just grinned at me with confidence. "You'd need something bigger to test my faith, Captain!"

The Catachans and void marines standing at the firing line cheered and hooted. "Step inside, Space Marine! We have a hundred faith testers right here."

This Scythe's name was Cassios, and he stood in the hail of fire while laughing wildly. "Haha. Is this all you got? The Emperor protects!" he shouted as lasguns and missiles hit the shield and failed to move him a centimeter.

"Brother's Cassios faith is indeed strong." The Chaplain admitted in a sliver of awe.

I smiled and patted his shoulder. "Now, all we need is 300 hundred such artifacts, for all my Astartes. Do you happen to know any decent artificer?" I asked without any ulterior motive.

The Chaplain nodded hesitantly. "I think we can manage the Aquila shape even on the barge. Not sure what mechanisms are hidden inside though."

I sighed inward and walked away. It was only a weak Power Shield, barely enough for stubber bullets, and some organic remains, probably some saint's hair or other religious conduit for the Emperor.

In the worst case, I would shave my hair and the two saintly sisters and use that. Surely being blessed by an Angel counted as a minor saint.

I did ask the Juggler, and he agreed, with some reserve."I admit having witnessed the miracle of your transformation, Lord Pef. If that's your Emperor or the Omnissiah lending a hand, I cannot know. The tiny power shield of that device cannot possibly block heavy bolters and yet it does. But about using your own genetic material for the organic parts, I advise caution. You are still a Blank, and that device is the opposite."

The Magos Biologis was correct, of course. It would be risky to try a Blank Rosarius on people depending on the Warp Emperor for protection.

"How about...a cog shaped Rosarius for the Ordo_Reductor tech-priests?" I wondered to myself.

A few mechadendrites instantly reacted and sliced away some of my hair. "We will begin testing immediately, Lord Pef. We have personal shields, of course. But such a new paradigm needs to be explored anyway." he announced and departed briskly.

Okay then. I should check on my family one more time from the Pharos, and then return to my rooms, to work on making it larger.

I still had years of waiting in this place, might as well use them productively.

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