Chapter 158: End of the Battle of Baal (Patreon)

As the war advanced, the fighting had effectively slid into garbage time. Up in space, Heydrich had used sheer overwhelming force and an army prepared well in advance to trap the Hive Fleet in a complete encirclement.

This time the Hive Fleet was finished for good. The so-called Battle of Baal had been won without ever reaching Baal.

The remaining Tyranid swarm had lost all connection to the Hive Fleet, so most of them would be wiped out. Whatever was left would probably settle into the planet's ecosystem. They'd still be dangerous, but nowhere near strong enough to destroy Netherworld Star. Mopping up the rest was up to the Blood Angels and the local Planetary Defense Force, at their own pace.

Besides, once cut off from the Hive Fleet's supply, the Tyranid swarm's bodies would break down fast, falling far short of their peak.

The Tyranids had been designed from the start for short, intense wars. The Imperium had collected Tyranid corpses before, too. But the things rotted within a few weeks and ended up as worthless heaps of meat. So forget about using Tyranid bodies as weapons. Not even Heydrich could do anything about that.

The living Tyranid creatures might decay more slowly, but decay they would. The most likely outcome was that Netherworld Star would gain a few strange, dangerous native species, and the landing situation would look roughly like bears mauling villagers in Japan.

It might cause great panic, but it wouldn't shake the foundations of the planet. And the locals could handle it: the younger sons of the local noble houses would organize hunting parties. For second-generation heirs with no claim to the family inheritance, drinking their lives away, it was an excellent way to earn honor.

*

Inside the Sector Governor's residence, Heydrich had shrunk back to his original size and taken his seat.

General Dhrost had gone back to catch up on sleep. He was no longer needed to command the whole front. Besides, the Lion was still on the main battlefield and would organize the encirclement and extermination, though certainly not quickly.

"How were our losses?"

Heydrich turned to a Man of Stone beside him, a direct subordinate of Pearl who handled logistics statistics and the coordination of supplies. Right now, Heydrich cared more about the state of his own forces.

"The Emperor Titans suffered no losses, but five or six Warlord Titans were destroyed by Tyranid Hierophant Bio-Titans. The overall formation is intact, and they've already returned to base for repairs using STC templates. On the Space Marine side, a few dozen dead. The auxiliary forces lost a few thousand."

That was only to be expected. They'd had to face large numbers of Space Marine-class Tyranid Warriors, along with Lictors and Tyranid Carnifexes. Zero losses would have been impossible, and measured against the results, these losses were nothing.

"Not bad. Looked at this way, it's a perfect victory. A good army has to be tempered in the fires of war."

Heydrich nodded. An army that had never seen battle was lacking something, so he could accept these losses.

All that mattered was that no formation got wiped out entirely, and clearly, none of his had been. What's more, he had won a Destruction fleet of his own. Heydrich would have his Necrons refit it, and once that was done, he could use the Blackstone portal to return to his Garden planet in Imperium Nihilus. This war had been pure profit.

"Waging war to feed war really is the perfect way. What about the other fronts?"

"The Blood Angels' Blood Knights Chapter has been annihilated, but they destroyed enemies dozens of times their own number. Several companies of the Angels Vermillion are in much the same situation, and so are the 'vampires.'"

"I see…"

Heydrich nodded. The Angels Vermillion had all but turned their backs on the Imperium, yet a few companies had still broken away from their parent Chapter to reinforce Baal. Like the Blood Knights, they hadn't expected to come back alive.

"The Flesh Tearers Chapter also suffered heavy losses, but their Chapter Commander, Seth, survived. Since the Chapter's backbone is still intact, they can rebuild quickly once they return."

"Then there's no problem. Everything is within acceptable limits. But…"

The Man of Stone fell silent for a moment before continuing.

"Another batch of Space Marine companies of rather mysterious origin has appeared among the Blood Angels. They want to join your order of battle, or rather, they're asking Akurduana to instruct them."

"There are Emperor's Children here too?"

Heydrich couldn't help covering his eyes. Fulgrim had pursued art to an excessive degree. The Blood Angels had their own version of that obsession, though the two had entirely different motives.

Fulgrim was simply obsessed to the point of madness, while the Blood Angels pursued art to fight the Red Thirst.

But clearly, another batch of Emperor's Children had mixed in. After all, the loyalist share among the Emperor's Children was the highest of any of the traitor Legions. Heydrich already had a large group of them, and he had genuinely sent Akurduana charging into battle in Emperor's Children power armor to fight the others.

In fact, he wouldn't stop any of the Space Marine warriors under his command, whatever their strange origins, from wearing Legion-era power armor.

Most of the newly created ones simply didn't do it. This time, though, it had clearly set off a direct gene-seed resonance. After all, Akurduana was the white moonlight of the entire Emperor's Children, their unattainable ideal. Even the Emperor's Children of today would pop a boner on the spot at the sight of him, and that wouldn't be surprising.

Never mind the loyalists. Even the Emperor's Children who had already fallen and been corrupted reacted when they saw him.

Take Chosen Champion of Slaanesh, Lucius, for instance. The moment he saw Akurduana, he broke down on the spot.

"If they're willing, accept them. Reeling in a few more troops is no bad thing. When the ground war ends, prepare to take the forces back in."

Heydrich nodded and said nothing more.

He didn't mind gathering up Chapters built from traitor Legions' gene-seed, either. As long as they hadn't gone over to the enemy, he didn't mind if they came to him.

One example was the Ashen Claws, a Chapter stationed near Heydrich's planet in Imperium Nihilus. They got along with him reasonably well.

Of course, once they pledged themselves to him, he would still purge some of the scum and rot from within their ranks, and then decide what to do with the rest, whether to incorporate them.

After all, he even had Sons of Horus here. Heydrich knew that after the Ultramarines' great rebuilding of their forces, Belisarius Cawl had cooked up all kinds of nominal Chapters, but he had never actually seen a Sons of Horus Chapter.