My next war council was a little strange, as fax copies joined the round table and even wore name tags on their collars to prevent miscommunication issues.
Athena stood with Minerva, her twin, and seemed to work fine together, while Laur and Elar stood at my sides, as the Chapter Masters of the Lamenters and the Weepers.
Peffy was bored and lounging in his seat, sipping Amasec like he wasn't interested at all.
"Lord Lancefire, take your feet off the table!" I ordered as my twin received weird looks from our children.
"Lord this and lord that. What am I a lord of?" Peffy asked with surprising intellect, but dropped his feet down.
"You are right Peffy, but things are what they are. You have the Duality, and more firepower than any Rogue Trader dreams of. As for a private Domain, there are billions of stars free for the taking. Anyway, you are a Lancefire and thus a noble of Terra and part of the Imperial elite. And no complaining! What did I start with?" I grumbled and took out my own Amasec bottle to drink a little.
"You are a cheater who cheats at cheating. Who builds orbital rings with their mind? The Star Gods? Our Golden Age ancestors?" Peffy asked a bit rhetorical.
His powers were far worse than mine, without the Breath and the opened hermetic cores. But I've killed a pair of Dark Gods at Cadia, with the same powers. He wasn't exactly harmless.
"Is there anything you children need?" I asked the others at the table.
Athena hugged Minerva with one hand, and smiled. "I never knew I wanted a twin sister, until I had her. Somebody who understands me perfectly. Can we keep her?" my daughter pleaded like asking for a puppy.
My two Blank sons fist bumped each other at my back, likely laughing inside. Great minds thought alike, no doubt.
"Yes, yes. Twin jokes. I imagine it was the same for Alpharius and Omegon when they met the first time. But this universe is not fun and games. Many of you will die, eaten by Tyranids or disintegrated by Necrons or whatever. Cherish this moment when we can be together as a family, because things will get worse." I advised my kids with a sad voice.
"For we are what they fear!" Peffy yelled and smacked the table, only for the kids to chant the same thing in a chorus.
Morale restored. Peffy was quite useful, when he wanted to be.
"The Forge and the Emperor, my lord. I suggest we continue helping the Imperial Forge Worlds as much as possible, now that we have such a wealth of Blackstone from the Monolith. And perhaps send some of our Blanks to Mars and Terra. Blank Inquisitors would make a major difference." Elar spoke in a wise voice, so he came out right from the mirror.
"Yes. That and more. I worked hard to produce 4 million sons in the past year, thus we can spare 1 million of them as recruits for all the Space Marine Chapters. In 30 years, I hope to replace most non-Blanks Marines with Primaris Lancefire Astartes." I revealed with a level voice.
"Bah, you worked hard? Lie in bed as women jump on your lance?" Peffy muttered with fake anger.
"And as Peffy realized, the job was a bit easy, so he took the task of producing 40 billion Blanks for our Domain, to become the All Father of our Dynasty. Everyone, thank Lord Lancefire for his sacrifice!" I demanded and raised my bottle.
"Hip, Hip, Hurrah! Don't break a hip, All Father!" my girls cheered with a happy grin.
"You should help too, Pef! I'll get bed sores if I stay in bed that long." Peffy complained in his glass, but his eyes twinkled with mirth.
"I heard about baby oil. Works miracles with bed sores too. You'll be fine." I dismissed his complaint with a wide grin.
"So we split up and do a grand tour of the Forge Worlds?" Elar asked to make sure.
That was the idea, yes. Hopefully place some Blanks with technical inclinations into the Forge higher ranks as well. They didn't fall often, but when a Forge World fell, it fell hard. Many Forges also had cataclysmic weapons hidden away, and those made a mess when used by the Dark Mechanicum.
"Perhaps another million Blanks will be sent as new tech-priests, to make sure the Forges don't fall. You remember Idumea, and that mess." I added with a frown.
"Bloody abattoirs! Now my wine tastes like blood." Peffy grumbled and stored his drink away.
Enjoying this book? Seek out the original to ensure the author gets credit.
"The Sisters of Battle could use reinforcements too. Sister Janice always wants more Blanks." Seraphine, my Blank daughter noted in a soft voice. Her mother, Sister Helena, had been my medic and confidant in my early Rogue Trader days, but now Seraphine had risen through the ranks to become a Canoness Commander of the Domain's Sisters of Battle, partly separated from the Imperial hierarchy.
"And she will, but volunteers only. Serving on the Mobilitas Sanctus Fortress would be fine, but in general, those Sisters march into battle with prayer and hymns instead of tactics and strategy. All humans die, but I would prefer my daughters don't die in the first 10 minutes of their first deployment." I mused in a sad voice.
Seraphine wanted to argue, then sighed and rested her case. She did obtain more Blank recruits for the Sisters, and preaching about the Emperor to me was kinda useless.
Dan Lancefire stood perfectly still in his seat, not daring to speak or look around, and likely wondering why a mere Sergeant was invited to a war council.
"We could give the new Sisters better Paragon suits, or maybe some Centurions?" Athena proposed with a thoughtful voice.
Yes, we could do that. And should do. A statement of power, in fact. "We will not send fresh girls anyway. They won't make a difference, among billions of Sisters of Battle. Only Veterans and the best power armor and weapons we can give them. When they'll fight, I want them to win by a great margin, and make our Lancefire name frighten any enemy."
Valerian coughed, to signal I was getting close to a limit.
"Custode Valerian, do you believe we should send teenage girls with no training or armor to battle hordes of heretics and daemons?" I asked out loud.
"What I believe is not relevant, Lord Lancefire. The Adepta Tertia was given command over the Sisters, and your family name bears no relevance. There is only duty." the Cusode spoke in a polite voice. He was obviously right, but Blanks were too precious to waste.
"Be that as it may, Blanks are rare. Janice can recruit trillions of Sisters from the Hive Worlds, and spend their lives like a heavy bolter in a rice field. And while the Blank aura protects us from the Warp, it doesn't protect from bullets and bolters or Tyranid spines. My daughters will go armored, or not at all." I decided with a stern voice.
"You heard him, Custode. Blanks are precious, get it? Plus, I notice you aren't wearing novice robes, but a rather good power armor." Peffy commented with a wry voice.
A long minute of silence followed, while Peffy and the Custodes glared at each other over my head.
Minerva rose and walked next to me, then touched my face with her fingers, like a blind man touching a statue. "I will go first, father. My life, my armor and the skills I have, they are the Emperor's gift to humanity. I'll go ask my sisters for volunteers, and select those with better shooting skills. We will make you proud."
She walked out of the room, leaving everyone stunned. I wanted to be upset, but I couldn't. I did say volunteers.
"I have to stay, so my twin can go. I am fortunate with this miracle, fulfilling both my duties at once." Athena said in a low voice, as tears run down her angelic face.
Peffy groaned and teleported away, likely to smash something for me as well. My heart bled inside, but I stood firm.
"Dan Lancefire, any thoughts?" I asked my distant grandson.
"... I'm rather stunned, my lord. Should have expected it, in hindsight. My twin wants to join the Deathwatch." Dan answered with a grave voice.
They both had 500 years of service though, more than enough to qualify for the Deathwatch. The Blank aura would be a bonus.
"Agreed. In fact, spread the word. Any Veteran Astartes from the duplication can volunteer for the Deathwatch. If they have enough numbers, we can even give them warships and other duplicated equipment. Let's make the xenos tremble at our name. For we are Lancefires!"
"And we are what they fear!" my children chanted in a loud chorus that would soon fill the galaxy.
The Custode was right, we could make our own myths and legends. And legends never die.