"Stupid! How can you be so stupid?! You are a smart man, but how can you be so stupid?!"
I chuckle a little and let Ana vent. When she is done, I pull her into a hug. I watch her melt in my embrace, and I can feel her shaking slightly. She might not be able to cry, but she can feel fear, and her shudder is her sign of crying.
After a few minutes, she pushes me back and says,
"Sorry about that."
"Don't mention it, Ana. I am sorry for worrying you. However, I cannot hesitate or let that creature spend any more seconds in real space."
"I know, and that is the only reason why I don't do unspeakable things to you."
"What? What will you do to me, Ana?"
I give her a teasing smile, and she returns it with a playful glare.
"Nope! It is an unspeakable thing! It will supposedly never be spoken!"
"Fine, fine. Let's not talk about that. How is the planet cleansing going?"
Ana puts on a serious expression and waves her hand. A hologram appears in front of us, showing the planet recovering. The fog and smog are already gone. However, it remains a barren, desolate world, void of life other than the creations of Nurgle's worshippers that we killed.
It turns out that even the humans we rescued never eat anything good; instead, they eat something that grows using the power of Nurgle. He is God of Life and Decay, after all. The Overlords grow food for the humans and fatten them with Warp energy so they can harvest them for consumption and their experiments.
It is a miracle that those humans do not summon demons on the planet because each one of them is a potential psyker. If they awaken their psychic power when they are still on the planet… They will die because of my Blank power on full force.
I need to connect them to myself so their power does not become a double-edged sword.
"It is going smoothly. As you can see, the fog and smog are already gone. The same goes for the seven mountain peaks they used in their ritual. We made sure those mountains no longer exist, through orbital bombardment and the use of multiple mechs, we ensured there are no more mountains on the planet."
"All mountains?"
"We don't want to take any chances of something hiding there."
"Fair enough. Have you sent a scanner down there? One capable of a deep scan. We don't want anything hidden underground."
"I have. We found twenty-seven hidden facilities, but the Void Stalkers already eliminated all the abominations, burned the area to the ground, and had it cleansed by the Librarius units."
She shows me the report. I snarl at the sight of men, women, and even children being used to create the abominations. Watching the video feed from one of the librarians' body cams, I let out a sigh and pull back my power, which has started to leak.
"Speaking of librarians, why are they called that?"
"Because they are the keepers of knowledge, Ana. Beyond acting as Psyker units, they are the ones who handle the books and records of the Void Stalkers legion."
"Ah, is that why they are building a massive library in Star Explorer? I don't mind, but that thing is enormous."
"Yes. They want to record everything I've done and will do in the future. Hell, they've already recorded all the technology we use because they want to one-up the Mechanicus. It turns out they carry a grudge against them, as the Mechanicus immediately called my sons heretics for using the technology I gave them. They also want to prove that the technologies I make are better than the so-called sacred technologies they have."
"Really? Well, I guess even among superhumans, pettiness always exists."
"What are you talking about? Humanity and pettiness will always coexist. As long as there are humans in the galaxy, some will carry our pettiness. Pettiness brings not only destruction, but also innovation. How many inventions in human history were born out of pettiness, allowing humanity to leap forward, Ana?"
Ana looks at me for a few seconds before releasing a sigh.
"I hate that you are right. There are far too many. Some of them even make a massive leap in certain fields."
Ana shakes her head and continues.
"Anyway, with the cleansing going smoothly, what will we do now?"
"We terraform this place, of course. Given its location, it's a perfect stronghold for the Void Stalkers. It is far enough from Terra for it to be called a frontier outpost, but not too far away for it to be hard to reinforce in case something happens."
"This far from our home, Theo? It is very far from Eternitus."
"Yes. This planet will serve as an outpost, and the system as a shipyard. We can also build another megastructure here."
"What kind? We have a dozen in the ongoing project folder."
"A gateway is a must to connect Eternitus proper and this place. Alongside that, I am thinking of building a Communication Array."
The Communication Array is a megastructure combining a blueprint from the Stellaris tech tree with extensive learning and experiments from the jump drive in Star Explorer. It is essentially a signal tower that uses the Subspace to relay all manner of communication across half the galaxy.
At least that is the optimal range. I will still build four or five more across the galaxy to ensure the communication network cannot be easily jammed or sabotaged. If one is taken down, at least the other will still work and allow us to communicate. Each one will be protected by a Space Marine Legion or, at least, the Imperial Navy in the system.
"Oh? Is it time? Should we tell the people back home to start the Communication Project?"
"Yes. Also, tell the others to build the Strategic Coordination Center megastructure in this system to act as a home base for the Void Stalkers stationed here."
"That is a good idea. However, rather than an SCC, why don't we build another Deep Space Citadel? With that, we can construct another Mega Shipyard and use a local star as its energy source. The SCC has better synergy with the Communication Array, but the Deep Space Citadel offers superior defensive capabilities, and with the Mega Shipyard, it can become a forge world for the Void Stalkers stationed in this system."
I stay silent and let my mind draft hundreds of plans. After a few seconds, I nod and say,
"Let's do that. Make sure it's a complete package. I want this place to be a hub for all kinds of traffic. That means we need all kinds of defensive structures and structures for all kinds of resources the people need."
"Of course, Theo."
She waves her hand, discarding the hologram before pulling up another. This time, the report makes me frown and sigh in sadness.
"And now, the casualties."
"How bad is it?"
I can feel many souls entering my [Artificial Heaven] not too long ago. I sense my sons' souls, as well as those of many regular humans. However, I need the exact numbers to ensure they are all accounted for. I refuse to let their souls rest in the Warp.
"There are 122,782 Imperial Army soldiers dead in battle, with more than half of the survivors still being treated. We will need to produce extensive cybernetics and bio-implants for them, having had to discard many limbs and organs to save their lives."
The count matches the souls inside my [Artificial Heaven]. That is good.
"What about my sons?"
"There are 37,125 Space Marines dead in battle. Another 12,457 Space Marines require intensive care and are currently being tended to by the Apothecarion Unit. Just as with the Imperial Army, we need a massive supply of cybernetics and bio-implants to replace lost limbs and organs."
I release a sigh of relief at the news. Everything matches, and my sons are safe there. I can even resurrect them if I can construct new bodies for them. While I could create new bodies using my own energy, there are thousands of them, and even with all my power, I cannot resurrect them all at once. I can resurrect fifty or maybe seventy at most because of their physiology.
There is also the matter of explaining such miracles when others see their fallen battle brothers returned to life. I would then need to resurrect the regular soldiers as well, as word would spread, people would ask me to resurrect their friends, and there are hundreds of thousands of them. Eventually, civilians would learn of it, and it would snowball into something uncontrollable.
It is better not to resurrect them, reserving such measures strictly for emergencies.
Alternatively, I can summon them as spirits to fight alongside their battle brothers, much like how the Eldar summon ghosts of their kin to battle. However, that is a matter for the future. For now, I must ensure my legion fulfills the quota set by my father before returning to Eternitus.
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