A million Chaos Marines and a few billion Chaos cultists, mutants, heretics, hereteks and all kind of xenos, demons and stranger things attacked the Forge World just as I arrived. Mostly Black Legion forces, probably bored now that Abaddon was gone.
Spartan just grunted something foul, while M sighed at my luck. What? How was I to blame, for the crazies deciding it was time to macro-suicide at my hands?
On the other hand, it was a great opportunity to clean up things here, since this system, Hydraphur was not only a Forge World, but also a major Imperial Navy base and an Adepto Ministorum fortress. To top it all, the Inquisition also had a major presence here, as did numerous Merchant Houses, Chartist Captains and even several Rogue Traders.
It would have been a pyrrhic victory for the Imperium at best, and that only because there were also a host of Adeptus Custodes defending the place, all clad in their pretty Auramite armors.
As I focused on the space battle first, Spartan mind-linked with the Thallax Command cogitator and began his own brand of advanced magic, while Sister Stern teleported onto the surface to punch Daemon Engines in the face.
My Blackstone Fortresses took turns at splashing the four Omen Arks that carried the invasion force, and the Blade AI had a first direct contact with the corrupted AI of the attackers.
Because the Chaos crazies had some, they weren't banned by the Imperium, were they?
I felt the Manifold Circuit slow down as the Blade consumed more and more cogitator contemplation power to battle the noosphere invaders, even as Canis wailed and howled at my side with glowing golden aura.
My tech-marines poured their Techsorcists powers into the circuit, balancing the odds for a while and maintaining data-sphere integrity for a few more minutes. Sister Dessima managed to pierce the nearest Omen Ark's shield for a second, and then things returned to normal. Normal for me, I mean.
A barrage of Nova Mines shattered the Ark's field emitters, then Zash blurred into action and appeared on the doomed Ark to gorge himself on corrupted souls, while still shapeshifted into a Fenrisian wolf pattern.
With one Ark taken care of, I rapidly crossed the remaining three Arks off the target list, breaking their shields and then filling two of them with hungry Tyranid warforms, while the third Ark was reserved for my own Space Marines and our Auxilia forces.
On the ground, I rapidly deployed the newly-acquired Krieg Auxilia, as well as our heavy armor and walkers, including Titans. After a few hours, I drew a deep breath and leaned back. The space battle part was over, with the Arks and their support Chaos fleet destroyed or otherwise incapacitated.
I turned to my side to find Captain Aetus praying to his Aquila necklace, while his Blade hologram watched in silence, and perhaps concern.
"A decent battle, I would say..." I murmured, mostly to myself. Canis sighed audibly and leaned on his forepaws, looking rather tired as well. The etheric battle must have been hard as well, not that I noticed much. Beside some of the bridge's screens being cracked and the last vox caster smoking again, the noosphere battle didn't have too many effects.
"My Lord, four Gellar Ramparts have cracked and one has burned out completely. The remaining five are holding, for now." the Forge Master in charge of fleet integrity spoke with a metallic tone. I turned and noticed he had bitten his tongue, spilling his Blank blood over his face mask.
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"Go and fix them then. Weren't you arguing that 10 Gellar Ramparts are too much?" I asked rhetorically.
"... As you say, Chapter Master." The Forge Master muttered and simply gestured at a nearby tech-marine to take his place at the cogitator station.
Then he powered up his potential coil and ran out at at high speed, while I took out my Necron repair orb and fixed the bridge's instruments back.
Damn Chaos! They always ruined things. I'll have to do a full check-up on the entire fleet once more, just to make sure we didn't have surprise guests lingering in our systems. Well, other guests beside the Blade AI, and whatever Speranza had installed as back-up.
"Does this kind of Chaos incursion happen often?" the Blade AI asked in a mild voice, possibly worried for its own integrity.
"Not very often, but then I do attract more than usual events. Even Chaos cannot waste millions of Chaos Marines every single time. Not that they even have a chance against me, but I suppose they have to try." I quipped in a lighter voice, then began repositioning my Blank sons onto the planet and the shipyard ring around it, while bringing the bridge screens back online to survey the land battle.
My Inquisitor wife smiled angelically towards me, then flickered and vanished to help out her Inquisition, surrounded by her Black Shield regiment and a few Deathwatch Marines.
At least she waited this time, such that I could provide overwatch and safety.
Small steps arrived behind my command throne, so I snapped my fingers and brought little Purity in my lap, before she could try to press red buttons again.
"Yes, little one?" I asked in a fatherly tone.
"Can I eat the little daemons?" she begged with a cute smile.
Little daemons? Did she mean data-daemons?
"Sure, as long as you don't get so full to be sick. Remember the last time..." I allowed the little minx with a gruff voice.
"Hehe. Big sister taught me how to purify them..." Purity giggled and patted the armrest of my command throne, making shrill voices scream in agony as the girl's anathemic powers devoured the small shadow demons.
A dozen specks of black light flew out of the Blade's hologram, making the AI shudder. "They were inside me?" she asked a bit horrified.
"Not a problem in small numbers, but yeah. You would better ask a Techsorcist to install some anti-chaos defenses. I saw what corrupted AI can do, once the data-daemons reach a critical mass." I offered with a nod towards the main screen, where the last Omen Ark was being purged by my Techsorcist sons.
I think the Blade took my warning serious now, as she nodded with tight lips.
The land battle took two more weeks, since I tried not to cheat much, and let my sons get some real experience in fighting Chaos, especially the newest Chapters.
Plenty of injuries and malfunctioning weapons, but I took care of my kids and sent them to their Apothecaries for rest and healing, while the tech-marines had to clean up the Chaos infected weapons and sanctify them again.
However, 20000 more Thallax pilots had died during the orbital docks cleaning, and were mostly replaced by Blank Auxilia troops that got crippled in the ground battle.
A few dozen did die before they could get entombed in the Thallax armor, so they were converted into additional scrying skulls. Sad, but then I couldn't actually expect to save everyone.
My wife's Black Shield regiment lost 50% of their numbers while defending the Inquisitorial Fortress, leaving her with a single battalion of 1000 black-painted and mind-controlled Astral Claws.
Still a potent force, almost equal to an Astartes Chapter in numbers if not actual ability. People lost a good deal of instincts and ability when forcefully mind-controlled, but then such was the way of this galaxy. It could be far worse, thinking of lobotomized servitors and Arco-Flagellant of the Adepto Ministorum.
At least these traitor Astral Claws would still wear the armor of an Astartes, and fight against the enemies of humanity.
Next, it was time to trade favors with the Forge World, clean up the Hive Cities, dispense some fiery Imperial justice on corrupt priests and bishops, vanish several crazy Inquisitors, accident incompetent Navy Admirals and commanders, repair the star system and its space defenses, install a dedicated Astartes Chapter here for some obscure reason...plenty to do.
This next phase took another month, since setting up new shipyards and tank factories wasn't that easy, and by the time I was ready to depart, another Chaos invasion arrived, this time the Death Guard, lead by a Nurgle Shard and several Great Unclean Ones.
I just sighed inward. Was I lucky or what?