Just as my people returned to the fleet, relaxed and feeling brave after easily butchering nearly sapient cucumbers, a strange wolf poked his head in my room, where I was still working on more STC to trade with my Mechanicus buddies.

'I have some bad news, Pef Lancefire. The Pharos has detected a new enemy, aimed right at you and your House.' Lash said in a grave voice, as he came close and traced a dotted line on the galactic map, going from the Maelstrom to the Eastern Fringe.

'This is from Zarhulash?' I asked to make sure, while scratching his wolfish head by muscle memory.

'Who else can maintain overwatch over a quarter of the galaxy? Also, a large fleet has just departed from your home, heading outwards towards the edge of the galaxy. I assume you sent your people to recover the third Black Fortress?'

the C'tan asked while his eyes stared at my hand with a weird look.

Right, this was not Canis. I sheepishly drew my hand away from the ancient Star God.

Computing a course for my fleet, and subtracting the delay caused by towing some 88 Demiurg ships hulls behind...with a sigh, I stored the captured fleet in the tesseract. No more pretending, if they wanted to play dirty.

"Best course for Illevar, Teresa. We have guests coming." I ordered in a harsh voice, soon followed by the blaring sirens warning the crew.

Before the fleet left the system, I pushed my mind and filled the second tesseract with the remaining Orks and some of their bigger contraptions. We will need all the troops we can get.

'They have some giant ships as well. Brother counted 9 of them, all filled with troops and daemons, plus tens of thousands of escort vessels.' Lash added in a careless tone.

'Lash, can you activate the Pylon at the right time?' I asked in a softer voice.

The C'tan blinked at me, then glanced at the cogitator screen which now had a countdown for our ETA. Six days, six hours....no way!

'We will be too late, Pef Lancefire. At least 24 hours.' the C'tan predicted with a calm voice. Such a giant Chaos fleet would not need a whole day to lay waste to my homeworld.

I grit my teeth and the wolf mirrored me. 'You may be a broken god now, but you still have the knowledge. More speed?'

'I will need a delicious meal for this, Rogue Trader.' the C'tan demanded in a shameless tone.

I just rose and ran towards the Black Lament's engine deck, itself larger than our largest battleship. I'm sure we could find something to feed the internal furnace of the Star God.

Finding an enemy to exterminate wasn't hard at all in this hateful universe.

Once inside the engine, the wolf shapeshifted back into a giant humanoid creature, with tentacle hair that exploded out and impaled the blackstone walls on all sides.

"Keep the salad coming, Rogue Trader. This will take a lot of energy." the C'tan demanded in a hungry voice, as red energy began to flow along his tentacles.

So I kept shoveling Orks into the C'tan furnace for a whole day, while the Black Lament dragged our fleet at hyperspeed towards the Fringes of the galaxy.

"I think it is enough. We better arrive behind them and obtain surprise." I said in a tired voice, as the C'tan reverted to his wolf form.

Then I just moved myself into bed, and fell asleep.

The narrative has been illicitly obtained; should you discover it on Amazon, report the violation.

As I woke up the next day, I checked the inventory. We barely had a few million Orks left in the tesseract, beside a million Tyranids I kept as shock troops, armored in adamantium plates painted with the Lamenters yellow sigils.

"Lord Lancefire, I would guess you were the one who sped up the entire fleet? This is why you slept like a log, for 12 hours..." the Inquisitor inquired with an inquisitive voice.

I just waved a hand, then brought out my black tea thermos. "Brother Joghaten, go prepare the Lamenters for a Crusade-level Chaos assault. Then report on the Biologis Deck to be installed with a Null Wand. Magos Juggler will handle the insertion."

My bodyguard froze for a second, then ran out, possibly sensing this was quite serious.

"You could tell me more details..." Amberly said with a frown on her pretty face.

"We will arrive on time, and most likely just behind them. I don't know much about their composition, beside the nine large ships that could likely counter the new Imperial Glory-class. Thousands of ships at the minimum." I mumbled in between sips of hot tea.

"You already have enough ships and forts at Illevar to counter this. I think only Holy Terra can match your defenses." she mused with a thoughtful look at my thermos.

"And yet, they think they can win. It might be close." I said with a more level voice.

"...You're not worried at all. Dear Emperor, this will be like Cadia all over again!" she exclaimed as she drew back, hands white on her Bone Staff.

I just smiled. By tomorrow, the fleet will pass close enough to Solemnace, and I could invite a friend to this party. An undead robot friend, but a friend in need is a friend indeed.

Lash was gonna love him!

"I will ask a few Necron friends to visit me at home. But the Eldar will probably not come. They still hate me, even after I saved their precious Isha." I added with a sad voice.

"You have killed more Eldar than all the galaxy combined, since the Eye of Terror appeared." she explained in a patient voice.

"Huh? That might explain the hate. I always suspected it was my Blank genes." I said in a surprised tone.

"And how can you have Necron friends? You just exterminated an entire Necron Dynasty at Moebius." she wondered curious.

"Exactly as you said. Different dynasty. They are not united, or not yet. They used to have a Necron King." I said in a kind voice, as my hand snaked towards her leg.

The Inquisitor drew back, thinking about something. "I will need more troops. My Deathwatch guys are also depleted." In truth, she consumed over 300 former Astral Claws at Stygius alone. Damn Chaos.

I nodded slowly. "You can have 20 Blank Astartes from my spare. A few Blank tech-marines as well." I offered after some deliberation. Better use my sons now, and lose less, than replace more later.

"Your Blank Marines do work quite well with my powers. And they don't risk getting fried by accident." Amberly said in a grateful voice.

"Bed?" I offered while drawing the sheet away. She blushed for some reason and walked away in a hurry. "I need to prepare."

Before she arrived in her rooms, I filled it with spare Lamenters then instructed them of the new mission. I even provided a few buckets of black paint. Only this time, they could keep the red bleeding heart sigil of our Chapter.

It wasn't long until I could reach Trazyn with my Sounding Board.

"My old bony friend! I have a new puppy!" I explained in short words.

"Pef Lancefire. You would be the one I have to thank for exterminating those pests at Moebius?" the Necron Lord asked in a grateful voice.

"You could. I am heading towards Illevar in 3 days. You could bring my next STC slates, and even your Fortress. It will be a fun reunion." I proposed in a grand voice.

"...really? I hope this will not be an ambush, my almost clever friend." he answered in a suspicious voice.

"Have I ever given you a reason to doubt me, Lord Trazyn? Did I ever attack you? Or even planted an innocent bomb somewhere in your home?" I continued in a joking voice.

"..." the Necron remained silent for a long minute. "I can't find any bomb."

Good? It might have been worse if he found something.

"See? I do need you, my old friend. I would never hurt myself by hurting you. As long as I get my templates, you are perfectly safe." I explained in a capitalistic tone. Or at least it sounded capitalistic in my head.

"Fine, but I might bring some firepower with me. You know, for insurance. This is a dangerous galaxy." Trazyn commented in a lighter tone.

I mean, what could I say? Don't bring a doom fleet with you? He would be useless, and I don't have useless friends.

"Whatever makes you feel safe, Lord Trazyn. I did hear about a Phaeron getting killed in his bed last month. Some Rogue Trader with a big wolf..." I added as a parting gift.

"We don't even have beds. See you in 3 days!" Trazyn spoke with grit teeth.

I think he is afraid of an ambush now.

I mean, he was even right. It was just not for him.