A single large Hiveship remains untouched by our ships close to the scarred walls of the Watch Fortress.

There are dozens of Deathwatch Battle-Brothers who managed to teleport inside, and are wrecking stuff by chopping it with their swords and hammers. Stupid, but this is the Imperium of Man.

"Come, Lady Ezu!" I demand as I walk back onto the Bridge.

"We're going to deploy and help the Deathwatch capture that last Hiveship. If anyone dies, I will be very aggravated!" I ordered on the Vox-net, and began moving my Astartes in hunting squads, first squads close enough to support the Deathwatch, and then to more and more distant flesh hallways, with the Grieving deployed last.

Once the perimeters were cleared, the tech-marines with their Guardian walkers and the new grav-floating turrets followed.

The easiest jobs were left to the Auxilia Armed Sentinels. They also needed combat experience, but they weren't really meant to fight in confined spaces like a Hiveship's interior. Maybe the Rambo clones? Sure, them too!

And then, there was me. Oh well. Might as well stretch my muscles a little, and give the wolves some fun.

Click.

Stomp, stomp. At my side, Lady Ezu is crushing some small Tyranid drone. With her foot!

"Woooooo!" Lash howled with a terrifying timbre and ran forward at hyperspeed. Maybe he found a decent prey?

"Woooh?" Canis asked smartly. Oh, right!

I powered up my Phase blade and ran forward as well. A pod of bubbling flesh exploded at my side, revealing a dozen Gaunts. Slow and groggy from their accelerated birth, took me a single pass to slice them into steak-sized bits.

Canis poked one of the steaks and smelled it cautiously. "Grrrohhh!" he decided and walked away. Definitely not edible.

Click. The Inquisitor's combat team was returned to her, as she moved far too slow for me.

And forward! A larger thing? Some spitting model. Canis deflected the spits with his shield and clawed the thing, by extending the Phase claws in mid-swing and then retracting them as the paw landed. Flawless style, my puppy!

Oh right. Brother Joghaten will also want to join. Click.

"Don't board a Tyranid ship without me again!" he growled at me, looking warily around.

"Just testing my skill on some poor Gaunts. Try to keep up!" I shouted a bit emotional. And run!

I could see why the rush of melee combat drew so many species to it. Orks and Eldar, even some Necrons favored slicing things and experience the fountain of blood and organs flying away.

Joghaten Khan leaned away and sliced at a shadow just as the tesseract detected a mass in motion at his side. Phase blade blurred into a hundred green arcs, and a pile of claws fell down, leaving only a de-clawed Tyranid Lictor staring in surprise at his missing limbs.

Dangerous! I realized with a start. Damn invisible monsters. "Damn!" I murmured in real awe. I trained for 2000 years and wasn't even half as fast. Maybe a third. Joghaten wasn't called a Blademaster on a whim.

"As I said, I can only protect you if my sword is close enough." my bodyguard commented lightly, not even breathing heavily.

I glanced at this left hand, where his ether detector lit up with another red light. 'Etheric signal, Type 6, hidden' I heard a moment on my implant later, as Canis sliced at a wall on the other side.

Another blur of claws and Phase claws, and the other Lictor was left just as de-clawed.Canis was showing off.

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"Auuuuhhh!" my wolf howled in victory, as he stepped on his prey's head.

I still had so much to grow. These beasts were much too fast!

"Good boy! Onward! But carefully..." I spoke a bit wary.

Canis flared one claw and decapitated the Lictor as he followed me at a sedate pace.

I focused half of my mind on my Space Marines, and even helped a few Deathwatch guys in trouble. Taking an entire Hiveship won't be so easy. A great prize, but hard work too.

And indeed, it took two entire days to clean up the ship. My mind was a mess from the focus I had to spend to keep everyone alive, if not exactly perfectly intact.

The wolves had their fun though, so maybe it was worth it. And even the Rambo clones did fine, matching my Astartes in kills, even without gene-seed and extra organs. Not yet at the level of their progenitor, but they could only grow.

A short cleaning session later, and I arrived at the Inquisitorial Enclave on the Fortress, without the wolves or Astartes retinue. This was not a show of strength but of diplomacy. The big stick could wait outside.

Ordo Xenos Inquisitor Carmillus met me with a stern face, not exactly pleased, but also rescued by my timely arrival. She won't be an obstacle.

"Lord Lancefire!" she said in a polite voice.

I nodded. "Lady Carmillus. It was time to pay back a visit. Just in time as well."

"You've grown a bit. People were starting to wonder if you were a real Astartes." she observed with a smart voice.

I just smiled and glanced at her side. "Watch Commander!"

"Brother Lancefire. What business do you have with the Deathwatch?" Captain Mordigael asked in a steely voice.

"Two things, maybe three if your Forge Master is not busy. I expect you received some reports about my Blank Marines conduct inside that Hiveship?" I said with a thumb pointing outside the walls.

"Phase blades, in enormous numbers. We only have a few in the entire Deathwatch!" he admitted with slight envy.

"Yes. I was thinking to send a few Blank Lamenters to join your august organization. I can't be everywhere, but the Deathwatch is already protecting the border of humanity." I proposed with a wide smile.

The Blood Angel Captain grinned widely. "That would be wonderful. How many?" he asked with glee. The Deathwatch was always in need of more Brothers.

"Let's say, 511 Blank Lamenters and 489 Blank Tech-marines, maybe a couple Blank Apothecaries too. We are very short on Librarians for now." I explained with a what-can-I-do shrug.

"That!...Are they defective?" the Inquisitor asked cautiously.

"The Lamenters, of course not! Mutations cannot affect Blanks. But, they are not Primaris either." I explained in a more reasonable voice.

"I see. You're shifting to full Primaris line-up. What of the others? There is no Grieving Chapter." Captain Mordigael asked with a frown.

I took out my credentials and placed them on the marble table. Instantly, the Inquisitor transformed into an illuminated statue, as the Warrant of Trade glowed visibly from the Emperor's own writing. The lion-head Rosette burst outward with Clavis engrams and Inquisitional override codes, allowing me access to any Imperial installation.

"The Emperor was kind enough to allow me unrestricted rights over the Eastern Fringe, and anywhere else I may need. Of course, I can wait for confirmation if you need to ask him on Terra." I spoke with a soft voice.

"Put it away please." the Inquisitor begged in a low tone.

I stored the Warrant back in its Null Box, leaving only the Rosette on the table. "So I decided to create more Lamenters successors, as to better cover the immense Fringe. Since they are both Blank and Primaris, I believe they will do just fine."

The Blood Angel wiped a blood tear from his eye, and just nodded at me. "And the last Fortress is Truth!" he uttered in devotion.

Lady Ezu stepped next to me and placed her own Rosette next to mine. "I demand that Lord Lancefire be allowed to approach the Omega Vault. If it opens or not, that will be the Emperor's will!"

The Watch Commander and Master of the Vigil rose his eyes at the frail Inquisitor. "You will be banned from my Fortress evermore, Inquisitor. That kind of Favor can only be spent once."

"I am not sorry. You saw the Tyranids for yourself, Lord Inquisitor Carmillus. We need a weapon to destroy them." Lady Ezu muttered in a defiant voice.

"You will burn, Ezu. If the Last Vault stays shut, I will burn you myself." the old woman declared with utter conviction.

Lady Ezu was willing to risk everything, just to force the Vault to open (sometimes it did, if a crisis or new enemy appeared) , so she released the Tyranid prisoners kept by the Deathwatch, causing some damage.

Instead, their psychic screams attracted a nearby Hive Fleet, so Ezu ran away to bring help. It could be viewed as sabotage and calling for enemy support so she could escape.

If the Vault doesn't open, then she's a traitor to humanity.

"Calm down, ladies! Everything will be alright, for I am here." I quipped in pure Lancefire manner.

If looks could kill.