Two fleets of 30 Nova Cruisers each had departed first towards Pyremoat and Kastayl, with orders to remain a fleet-in-being and only harass the Tyranids without risking themselves.

While they only had 10 Nova Shells each, a few well-placed shots from the Cruisers could turn the tide of battle or at least produce a catastrophic loss of biomass for the Tyranid fleets.

The main Crusade fleet rushed towards Stanghalde with our Warp-less engines, with the Singularity battleship ahead. The three Blackstone Forts covered the sides and rear, while genetor Anzion was rushing the implantation of another 20000 cloneskein Astartes, modified to withstand terror screams and other Tyranid synaptic powers.

However, Lady Valyene's investigations of Tyranid samples from Formidyre had revealed a new threat. The Spirit-Leech_Cortex was basically a Tyranid adaptation similar to the Pariah powers of the Sisters of Silence, fortunatelly present in less than a percent of Tyranid Tyrants.

I would guess Blank gene samples were quite rare and hard to find, but the simple fact that the Hive Mind was experimenting with them...hmmm. It painted a big target on the Lancefire Domain, with its rather high concentration of such genes.

Even the Harlequinn Solitare was rather disturbed, since it meant his kind would be hunted as well.

"There have been hundreds of incursions into the Webway by Tyranid creatures, and now we know what they were searching for. It seems the Great Devourer is creating bio-weapons to fight psykers and daemons." the Pariar Eldar spoke in a grave voice, while drinking my expensive amasec with one hand, and flicking a finger at Canis, then evading the bite of my wolf without looking.

I took a big gulp of amasec as well, and turned off the holoprojector. "I did arrange a coordinated strike at the blue bird in 9 months though. The Hive Mind was quite amicable and agreed right away."

"You want to attack the 9 Gates of the Labyrinth? Bold of you, human." the Solitare remarked in a bored voice.

"It would have been nice to entice Gork as well, but the poor Orks are rather weak right now. I'll ask the usual suspects anyways, a few Primarchs and Necrons, maybe a Hrud colony." I continued as Canis gave up trying to bite the annoying clown finger-poking his nose, and just rested his head on my leg.

"I can guarantee Lord Cegorach will be very amused, and possibly interested in the Chaos Hidden_Library . The expedition will fail, but it should prove enlightening anyways." Mnemorach said in a serious voice.

"I don't know much about Divine powers and domains, but I do know the Hive Mind is also interested in mutations and change. As for my God-Emperor, I guess the new kid on the block will want to show off his powers. Ynnead should also show up, for the same reason. I kinda stole his prize last time, albeit by accident. I never knew punching a Dark God in the Eye will kill them for good." I added with a careless shrug.

The Solitaire just measured me with a sad face. "You are following in the footsteps of Vaul, Pef Lancefire. Take care you don't achieve the same fate, broken on your anvil."

I raised a finger to object, then realized the Solitaire was correct. I was even travelling with three Talismans of Vaul in my fleet.

"Will you join me, Mnemorach?" I asked instead.

The Solitaire laughed and held a rune looking like an eye in his palm. "Your Crusade is called the Leviathan Crusade, correct?"

"What?" I asked confused.

"We will meet a Leviathan in 42 minutes, just as we enter the Stanghalde system. Or maybe two of them? Damn runes are hard to read today." the Eldar clown spoke in a mystical voice, then fell through the floor and vanished.

"Battlestations. Angelnet all ships. Secure all vox comms and go autistic. Non-Blank personnel will be stored away for the next battle!" I spoke out loud, and the Blade transmitted my order all over the fleet.

People rushed to store their books and drinks and whatever fragile possessions, while Tarantula turrets and steel nets were deployed all over my ships. Any teleporting enemy will find themselves intersected by one or more steel cables, and then blasted apart by turrets and firewalls. Bulkheads door got closed tight, while critical rooms got flooded with argon and similar nobles gases to prevent fires.

Lady Valyene teleported just above my knees and fell in my arms just as I took my place on the Command Throne.

"Husband dear, the Eye of Terror is gone. Why have you deployed the Angel Net?" she asked while eying the multiple steel nets covering the bridge.

"Partially as a precaution and training exercise for the Blank crews. But you, my dear Alpha psyker...you will one day break. I will mourn you, but still blow your head off." I said in a low voice, while my hand patted the inflated belly holding Joan.

"I am not Amber! Still, if I do fall...kill me quickly." Valyene answered in a descending voice, almost a whisper at the end.

"Go have fun with the Norn Queen, dear wife. You have 14 minutes until I have to pick the moment to kill it." I said with a focused voice, as my mind implant cycled higher and higher towards full combat status. Nodding gently, the Inquisitor vanished into the tesseract labyrinth, to interrogate the Norn Queen one last time.

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'Extrapolation complete, Lord Captain. If the Solitaire is correct, we will encounter at least one Leviathan daemon, larger than a moon and stronger than a Segmentum Fleet. Physical weapons can be considered irrelevant. Energy weapons will produce minimal damage. Psi-tech weapons and Sister Stern should be our main striking power. Potential allies: Tyranid Fleets, Primarch Sanguinius and Primarch Corax.' the Blade listed on my retina in bullet points.

'Don't forget about my ace. Killing a Norn Queen always produces a Gamma-12 class psychic event, that can blur out the Astronomican. It should stun the big daemon too.' I added to the list.

'You mean only one, or both of them at once?' the Blade asked in a wary tone.

Right, I also had the other Queen from Regium. A bit chewed up and gored by my Ork Auxilia, but I wasn't done with it. Know your enemy and all that.

'I think one of them will suffice. Only the Queen from Formidyre was promissed a painful death, after all.' I explained with a grin, just as my dimensional senses began to pick up the clusterfuck happening at Stanghalde.

One side had the Raven Guard and a great deal of Deathwatch marines, then the Blood Angels with the Blood Salvation Blackstone Fortress and even the Phalanx of the Imperial Fists, with a Custodes Company on board, including the one and only the Adeptus Custodes Captain-General Trajann Valoris .

"My father has arrived, Lord Sanguinius." Patrocles warned the Primarch as his own tesseract detected me.

"We may yet live then. Damn this crazy Ahriman!" the angelic Primarch spoke in a stern voice, just as his Fortress fired on the gigantic daemon with a purple Immaterium beam. Swarms of Screamers and other space-faring daemons burst into mist and dust, while thousands of Blue-and-gold Chaos Marines fought unending torrents of Tyranids.

Luckily for the Imperium, the huge Leviathan was busy fighting another moon-sized monstruosity, of the Tyranid-kind.

Both monsters were covered in different kinds of psychic shields, strong enough to withstand my Tesseract.

"The Tyranids ate a Craftworld?" I heard my augury sensor officer ask as the first imagines reached the main screen.

'Focus fire on the daemon!' I ordered my Librarians on the three forts. Always strike Chaos first, the rule never changed.

Our three beams converged on the big daemon, and aided the lone fortress of the Blood Angels, creating a special torsion effect.

Down on the planet, blue Warpfire pyres grew stronger, as more people were being sacrificed by Chaos Sorcerers and cultists. No shields though, so the rituals failed as soon as the crazy Chaos worshippers met the sun face first. Sadly, about half of the Thousand Sons were recalled by the Warp Leviathan before they burned completely inside the sun.

Damn bullshit magic!

"We'll meet again, Pef." Sister Stern spoke in a saintly voice, then lit up her Demonifuge wings and plunged into the Immaterium blender tearing the Leviathan into scraps of warpflesh.

"She never learns! Sacrifice your enemies not yourself, stupid girl!" Mnemorach yelled and streaked like a black-and-white comet into the Tyranid megaship, and punched through the psychic barrier like a missile.

Oh well. At least one of us will be judged kindly by the Starchild.

I clenched my hand and the tortured Norn Queen died, releasing her death knell scream as I flicked it into the Immaterium blender of four Blackstone Forts.

My ears felt a deep tone as every other sound vanished and all lights flickered on the ship.

It was far worse for the Tyranids, and not too nice on the Imperial vessels, as only my Blank sons and daughters remained on their feet.

Several astropaths had brain seizures and actually died, while the mortal crew and Space Marines fell on their knees or face.

'Do you hear this annoying noise?' I asked the Blade while charging the Void Claw to fire at the gigantic Tyranid thing next.

'I will need you to rebuild the cogitator network and bionic parts, Lord Captain. I believe I am also in pain. Temporal-psychic events are frying my mind...' the Blade said in pain, while her hologram depicted a blue woman holding hands over her eyes.

Noted. Norn Queens make a nasty show when they die.

The giant daemon blew up just as I fired my gravity beam at the Tyranid Craftworld...and it also contracted into half the previous volume.

Mnemorach flew out with a bag filled with soul stones, and also bleeding from his eyes and ears. "You fired too soon, damn Mon Kheigh!" he yelled in anger, then turned into a shadow and vanished.

'Focus the Tyranid Whale next. Long range auguries are now allowed' I sent via the Sounding Board, and every ship in my fleet opened up with lance batteries and Nova Cannons.

I just waited for the shield to break, and then flicked a dozen Nova Mines directly inside the moon-sized ship-thing, cracking its shell open from the inside out.

"Still glad my father arrived in time, Sire?" Patrocles asked with a cheeky voice.

Sanguinius patted his head and instead turned to glare directly at me. I think I was in trouble.