40 Thousand Reasons

Chapter 68: Dark Eldar

Although the last Vortex torpedo on the Battle Barge is precious, I decide to steal it and punish the duplicitous Eldar from Craftworld Telennar.

The Hearth of Sotha also has a Melta_torpedo that will come in handy, because it spreads burning plasma like wildfire.

While the Astartes begin initial boardings via the teleporters, both from the Battle Barge and the Canticle, I get some sleep to recover my tired neurons.

It's not like I can do a better job than Veteran Astartes. The Space Marine moniker means exactly this, they were meant to board other ships, and they're bloody good at it.

Catherine and the Juggler keep watch over me, while Canis just snores without a care. That's a wise dog alright.

The next wave of shuttles filled with combat servitors follow the Astartes, to consolidate every deck captured and more warlike tech-priests teleport inside the engine rooms, to prevent the sneaky Eldars from sabotaging our prizes.

The third wave is made up of my void marines and Catachans in carapace armor, though there are few of them, and mostly women. Armed Sentinel walkers and tracked Rapiers with heavy guns form their stronger offensive tools anyway.

And then, we keep supplying more servitors to soak up the incredible accurate and lethal fire from the Eldar, although it's not as bad without thousands of demons infesting the ships, like it happened at Forge Tigrus.

They just have numbers on their side, plus knowledge of the terrain. The Blood Angel's grav-guns level the field a little, as those walls can be made to crush an enemy as well as protect him.

The Scythes don't even have combi-weapons, with underslung melta or a Grav-Gun, so they are at a slight disadvantage. The Rosarius shields help as well, saving lives and allowing for rapid advance under fire.

They aren't perfect of course, and the Eldar do have weapons that bypass shields, but overall it's a good result, with only a few dead and a dozen heavy wounded.

We capture about 3000 Eldar in various degrees of integrity, and a wealth of xeno weapons, armor and artifacts, that would sell for immense sums on the Cold Market or to collectors.

I will gift them to various Forges, of course. The Mechanicus can do the dubious and difficult job of reverse-engineering advanced weaponry that we don't even know how they function at all.

Hell, the Mechanicus itself has plenty of machines they construct by rote, without knowing what each part is for. I am trying to change that, but it's a slow process.

So, the next day I descend on Sotha, and use those two torpedoes on the guilty Eldar craftworld, again slicing off the engines with the Vortex warhead and then demolishing the bridge and the central spires with the melta torpedo.

Hordes of demons and demonettes flood the Eldar craft from the Warp portal at their rear, while the locals gather whatever they can to repel the attack.

I doubt they will recover from this, since their craftworld is 10 times smaller than Atlaitoc, so barely the size of a Glorianna-class battleship.

The Scythes Strike Cruiser Atreides and my Requiem Sword-class frigate depart towards the distant Webway portal, to lay mines and deploy plasma torpedo on improvised launcher tubes.

If more invaders come that way, they'll have a pleasant surprise and give us warning.

Luckily, the year ends without more invasions, possibly because of the strange Warp currents engulfing Sotha and preventing accurate Warp travel.

So, I have this great idea, and start looking for the vicious Dark Eldar that also raid and torture people just for fun.

However, although I know what to look for, the Pharos cannot find any trace of planets or large bases in the galaxy, although minor ports and slave camps do exist. Then it hits me, of course I can't find them like this.

They are in a different dimension after all. The Webway is immense, and contains entire worlds and hidden realms.

With my savants implant at full power, I struggle to figure out a way.

A minute later, I begin creating a solution.

Follow a known object, or person into the Webway. And the only one I can trust with this is my buddy Minoris, who would gladly chop off his tentacles for me.

With a simple twist, I bend space and bring the tech-priest beside me, inside the Pharos. "Lord Pef! By the Omnissiah...you really have ascended into the realm of Saints, like Holly Curia!"

"Minoris, my friend. You see that Cyclonic Torpedo resting here? I need you to locate a worthy target for it. The Drukhari hidden city of Commorragh, inside the Webway. The place where their Kabal torture people and enjoy in dark rituals." I demand while petting his shoulder, or maybe a hip. I never asked what's underneath those red robes, and I never intend to find out for sure.

He is not stupid, my dear tech-priest. "It will be very dangerous, Captain. Is there a small chance to survive?"

I smile kindly and teleport another barrel-sized plasma warhead beside me, then sit on it. Don't worry it's not activated, yet.

"I am almost certain this device can teleport a person half-way around the galaxy, in a second. This gave me the inspiration for the Warp-less drive I keep working on. And those Hell Forges I destroyed, like Sarum and Junkatta could obviously be reached with an Exterminatus-grade torpedo. But the Dark Eldar city is hidden deep inside the Webway, and to pinpoint a target I need someone I know very well, to be near." I explain in a command voice.

He pats his cog-shape Logic shield and tilts his head. "And then, you pull me back, right? Like you did just now."

"I will definitely try, Minoris. But I cannot be certain, you saw how tired and drained I was after each Exterminatus. Let's say: 80 percent chance for a successful deep strike, and 20 percent for intact recovery. Perhaps better odds, but you might get splashed by the explosion a little. We can demand the higher ranks a few more shields, but the Exterminatus...it is very strong." I added on a somber tone.

The Tech-priest came closer and embraced me with a dozen tentacles. "Even if I die or get damaged, it would be worth it, Revelator. But please try to bring me back. I want see that Warp-less ship!"

I hugged him back, and sighed. Small chance at that.

"My beloved flower, what do you say about Commorragh?" I wondered in my mind.

"Ah! Let me....there. Almost got splashed with blood. The Dark Eldar you say, brave Trader? Sure...it would be amazing if it works. Will it work?" she asked me in warning.

I didn't want to know who was leaking blood in her presence, or why, or in what manner. So I didn't ask. I'm so clever, right?

"Well...Magos Minoris is departing right now towards that place, and I'll monitor his progress. Sadly, that city is not in the outer universe, so I need a locator beacon for the torpedo." I explain seriously.

A minute later, the brutal Inquisitor was back. "You plan to bring him back, correct?"

"If possible, yes. He has a brilliant mind and a loyal soul." I decided, vowing to try.

"You are exposing the Pharos secret, my love. Those Scythes of the Emperor...how do you think they will react? They don't even allow tech-priest on their ships, not to mention a sacred place like the Pharos." she advised me in a cold voice.

Even without spoken words, I could hear the chopping axe coming near.

"As you say, my Rose. Minoris will not return to the Canticle." I answered after a few seconds.

"That's not..." she started to say as the connection failed by some transmission error.

Then I sat down on my knees to pray, while beginning the ignition protocols for the Exterminatus torpedo. I stopped at the last step, and waved Minoris closer.

"Magos Minoris cannot survive this mission, my friend. He will die heroically for the Imperium, and be covered in eternal glory. A different tech-priest, with a different body chassis will keep the secret, else his Forge World gets erased into oblivion." I announced with my cog Rosette held in front of him.

Lines of code and cognitive cants flashed into his bionic eyes, and he nodded hesitantly. "I understand, Lord Pef. This section of my memory will be purged with anathema-class overrides, the second this torpedo detonates. New designation, FaithfulSigma991."

"Good enough, Faithful. You will step from here into the Requiem's hangar, and climb into the waiting Fury Interceptor. Then enter the webway in vox silence and enable passive sensor only. I will be beside you." I ordered him and gently pushed him a step away, and at the edge of the solar system.

"Daughter, don't shoot my scout." I asked of the frigate's Captain, just in case.

"Sure thing daddy..oh. Unauthorized fighter launch...and now it's all clear. Inside the Webway, huh?" she asked rhetorically.

In a minute, my long time friend sped away into the Eldar Webway.

"Have the ships retreat a thousand kilometers from the expected flare." I commanded her, and returned to follow the scout as his starfighter maneuvered at speed among debris and various lurkers in the crystal like tunnels.

The next part was boring and long, as these Webways went forever, then crisscrossed into fractal patterns. Searching blindly wouldn't work, so I told Minoris to hide and wait for a passing Dark Eldar ship.

That took more hours, but we got lucky. A spiked vessel crossed in front of the starfighter and Minoris began shadowing it from afar.

And then the route became easy and fast, and in an hour the ship in front emerged into a gigantic cave, thousands of kilometers wide, filled with spires and arenas and of course, Dark Eldar vessels, thousands upon thousands.

My Rosette decanted the last awakening rite, and the torpedo vanished from my own cave into theirs, straight above the largest spire I could see with my mind.

And then a screech sound emerged, while the Exterminatus started its detonation sequence, in slow motion.

Time itself twisted and bent, just as the secondary explosion began.

It was fascinating to watch, but I remembered to grab Minoris and yank him beside me.

I'm not certain what happened after, because the Pharos shook strongly and I lost consciouness.