I had chosen Dan for multiple reasons, not only his exemplary service record.

There were other Blank Astartes with longer service times, but that placed them too close to me in the gene-tree. Instead, Dan was 6 generations removed, which made the testing of my secret weapon project more scientific. The Enuncia one.

But now, I found out about another old weapon from the War in Heaven, perhaps similar to my Breath of the Gods, but made by the Old Ones instead.

Decisions, decisions....again. Do I follow the bread crumbs? The prospect of becoming a God was quite tempting, even for me. And I wasn't a powerless human anymore, especially not while the alliance with Zarhulash held. Here in the Eastern Fringe, I held the power over the death and life for everyone in the range of the Pharos.

"My lord, you're going to allow Perturabo to pursue this Weapon? It seems a dangerous path." Dan asked with a worried tone.

My grandson had seen already a great deal of my powers, but didn't yet understand. Was the Emperor the same, when he showed me a tiny bit of his immense power?

Did we follow a parallel path, myself and the Emperor of Mankind?

"Danger has different meanings for different people, Dan. You almost died earlier today, to a single Tyranid creature that surprised you. But now, after your blood is full of healing nanites...is it the same danger?" I asked instead, making the Blazing Spartan Sergeant frown in deep thought.

What an amazing name, Blazing Spartans, chosen by my Spartan General. The lambda sigil covered in flames was also great, and showed I lacked proper inspiration in choosing names and symbols for my Astartes Chapters. Void Pirates seemed quite childish in comparison.

I should use the Primachs I did have and get them to name my future Chapters. Just like those White Lancers picked by Roboute. Such an elegant solution to merge the White Consuls ancestry with my Lancefire House.

And they way they fought on the wall, shoulder to shoulder and blazing away with melta weapons at innumerable enemies...did their name influence their fate? It was possible, and perhaps worrisome. It hinted at hidden Enuncia phonemes, hidden in plain sight and perhaps embedded in the structure of reality itself.

It came down to the meaning of the word enunciate, to express a principle clearly. Conversely and linguistically, an enouncement was devoid of grammar rules, in opposition to a sentence. Terms like here or now, formed self-contained enouncements, much harder to avoid like I did with Erebus's mistakenly formulated Enuncia.

Enunciate to someone they must die here and now, and there would be little they could do to avoid it. Especially if they were mortal. An immortal being would just laugh it off. Possibly the exact reason why Zarhulash was only bound to Sotha, and not killed out right. That, and the utility of having a device like Pharos as a long range weapon.

"I would regain vision instantly, and not even get hurt if I had these healing nanites before. But I am worried about the adjective of healing. Does that mean there are other types of nanites, perhaps less benign?" Dan Lancefire asked in a cogent voice.

I just shrugged. Humanity had always weaponized everything it could. "Nanites are tiny robots with tiny hands. They can be made to heal or dissolve people without much problem."

I even had Omega-class nanites in my blood, made exactly to dissolve enemy xenos.

"Not safe at all, Blade! Take them out!" Dan demanded from the AI's hologram, looking a bit panicked.

I sighed and poked the young Astartes. "It's fine, Dan. Your nanites are the medical kind, designed during the Dark Age of Technology by the Men of Gold, and printed from STC templates. The bionic implants in your body a million times less safe, since they are not STC based."

Dan drew a deep breath, and calmed down. "I don't feel any better at the news, my lord. Beats dying and getting eaten by Tyranids, I suppose. In that order, at least."

"That's the right spirit, Sergeant! Go back to your chapter for a few days, and let them know you'll be detached to my service for a century or so." I announced with a smile and waved a hand to expedite his dimensional shift to his barracks.

"You are going after the Weapon, I expect?" Lash asked rhetorically.

I held my palm in balance for a second. "I certainly need to grab it before someone else does. Not sure about using it, though."

Lash glanced at the Blade, then sniffed in contempt. "You have someone else in mind for this Weapon?" the Blade asked rather smartly.

"Maybe, Sister Stern. Maybe Ordella. Maybe our new friend Dan." I threw out a few random names. One of them was a lie too.

"No. Sister Ordella perhaps, her mind is quite strong. Dessima is stronger still, and would likely survive the Ascension, as she did before. I would have guessed Purity, but you are too protective of your kin." Lash answered instead, showing his keen intellect despite the wolf clothes he wore.

Yes, Sister Dessima had been crucial in defeating Vashtorr, and even grew a lot from it. The strong, silent type, that one. And yet, a silent goddess? The Emperor might break a rib laughing at that news. The Silent King might approve, too. Lash was fiendishly smart, not that I wanted to underestimate him.

Sister Stern would certainly die if she tried, but she wasn't mortal anymore, so it would also work. And lastly, Canis.

It was probably what the Emperor had planned, long ago. Maybe even during Federation days, when the Canis Helix gene was developed. The Emperor trusted his Space Wolves the most, exactly because of the Helix genes. Feral and brutal, but obeyed their orders to the death, just like a loyal dog.

I, for one, wouldn't mind my future canine overlord. Canis would keep the family safe, like he always did.

Tremble before the might of the Fenris wolf, for his jaws can crush stars and kill Gods!

It took a few days to digest the data sent by Zarhulash, basically the entire history of the Domain and the larger Pharos range, since I've been gone.

Far more accurate and detailed than the fragments I could pick up from intercepted comms or Imperial records.

The Speranza seemed to have taken charge of the grand strategy of the Lancefire Domain, while the Ironhead Votann and Primarch Vulkan contributed their expertise and manpower when problems arose. Genestealer infestations, Chaos cults, Necrons waking up, plus the regular xenos and pirates that plagued the Fringe.

I wasn't about to ruin a good thing, even though I didn't like many of the decisions taken in my absence. I had hoped for a higher focus on technological advancement, instead of territory expansion, but then again...I carried mountains of metal in my pocket, while the Domain had to expand and mine metal from new systems.

The story has been taken without consent; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident.

On the other hand, the massive increase in transport capacity, both in space via huge cargo conveyors and on the ground via numerous trains or trucks, was good in itself.

It had been something lacking while I was here last time, with most construction capacity dedicated to warships and war vehicles.

Cloneskeins had become a regular thing, as were the Catachans and some Ogryns and Blanks. Not enough Blanks, to be fair, but then they couldn't be cloned or otherwise increase their numbers rapidly via reproduction. It was a luck factor that created more Blanks, for anyone beside me, after my Isha upgrade.

I will have to work hard to produce more Blanks, and all that inside temporal speed-areas. Luckily, my last rebirth had gifted me a young and horny body again. It would be fine.

'Captain Lancefire, it's good to have you back. Imperial Inquisitors and other organizations have been encroaching into the Lancefire Domain, seeking to obtain more STCs or rare resources.' The Speranza said as we connected on the FTL network.

'You know me, Speranza. Just point the problems out and I'll fix them. But I notice you have replaced most of the House Lancefire's officials with your own servers, basically taking over the Domain. More efficient administration, or what?' I asked with a mild voice.

'That is obvious. I am a far better administrator than any human could be, even a Primarch. But the danger lies in giving human bureaucracy too power, as they will naturally incline to abuse that power to promote their relatives or slow down their adversaries. It's a choice between nepotism and meritocracy.' the Speranza revealed with a casual tone.

Ah, yes. Nepotism sounded great, having your own clan with fingers in all the pies. Until they became lazy, incompetent or just corrupt, and the whole system began to stink. Much worse with bureaucracy, as that might become a dystopian nightmare, even worse than the Imperial Administratum.

'Next on the agenda, the merchant class. While in general, merchants failures are self-correcting via market forces, your Warrant of Trade makes things more complicated. We need it to remain independent, thus your Dynasty must prosper. I've been working to keep your Rogue Trader ships trading profitable routes, or sent them to besieged Forge Worlds where their help would be rewarded with more Mechanicus Favors.' The old AI said with a warning tone.

'More problems?' I asked with a raised eyebrow.

'Just the usual human failures. Abuse, indulgence and excess. The worst of that I corrected myself, via accidents.' the Speranza disclosed without care.

Hmmm. Saved me the trouble, if things have gotten so bad in my absence. I had punished plenty of Governors, Inquisitors or Rogue Traders for that same thing, after all.

'Good. I don't want fat criminals ruining my reputation. In fact, make a list, and I'll have the Obsidian Augury verify and remove the pigs that remain.' I demanded with a bleeding heart. Then again, the Speranza wouldn't have acted against my bloodline unless things had gotten to a breaking point.

'Lastly, we have the priest class, which have been kept under control via your Sisters of Battle system, which kinda works even now. Few of the Sisters ever descend into rape and excess like the regular Imperial priests. Faith and fervor are fine, and quite needed in times of war. Productivity and growth is also supported, and police actions are mostly helped by a pious population.' the Speranza concluded with a handful of cases where failed Sisters had to be removed via elevator accidents and such.

I mean, the Emperor himself supported the Sisters, often by divine miracle. I just kept the good parts.

Of course, there was the military to address as well, but that would take years to do over the long distance call. I would have to travel in person and see how things fared now.

'Lady Chi Lancefire has taken over the Obsidian Auguries after Lady Elixa passed away. Victor's wife...' the Speranza told me as I was ready to finish the call.

Ah, even assassins with numerous bionic upgrades had a limited lifespan. Chi was a Pariah Culexus though, so she would have received the chronoblade treatment. I expected that most mortals I ever knew were long dead by now.

'And Lady Serena?' I asked about my Noble wife on Illevar.

'Still alive but in stasis now. She wanted to see you, one last time.' Speranza said with a sad voice.

It would be about 1000 years since we met. Even the best rejuvenat treatments had a limit.

'Thank you Speranza, you've done well, considering my unexpected absence. The Warp sucks.' I remembered to say, since Speranza was a person too, if quite strange and alien.

'Very eloquent, Rogue Trader Lancefire. I can see why women love you so.' the AI answered with faint sarcasm, then shut down the tachyon link.

"Could have been much worse, Captain." the Blade noted as she reviewed the files sent by Speranza in detail.

"Your tiny Domain is barely holding on, Pef Lancefire. They almost lost a Forge World to a bunch of crispy spiders." Lash spoke as he appeared in my room, licking his lips.

"You finished eating all the corpses?" I asked to make sure. The C'tan was always hungry, he wouldn't leave meat and souls to rot, not even Tyranids.

"And began preparing organic blades and carapace armor for your troops. Humans seem to prefer wearing leathers and furs as a status symbol, or proof of their bravery, right?" the C'tan wolf noted while shaking his own glorious fur.

"More than that, Lash. If Hive Fleet Arachnae was also fighting the Novokh_Dynasty , then their own carapace would be adapted to withstand Gauss weapons and similar Necron weaponry. And guess who we're going to murder next?" I asked a bit rhetorical.

The C'tan grinned wide at me, eager for more vengeance. "I'll tell the Potentate to send out a signal for my other free brothers. We should find more Shards to rescue as we stop the mad Dynasty from butchering everything alive. But, we get to eat the Orks we save from the Necrons."

It was a hard bargain, but I was willing to sacrifice the poor Orks attacking Draven anyway. I did need more Blackstone for my warships and vehicles, and the Orks wouldn't mind another enemy. They loved war.