127 – They Grow Up so Fast

127 – They Grow Up so Fast

After finishing up with some stuff — cleaning out the rest of the Orks, healing up a half-corpsified Throgg, and letting loose a harvesting swarm — I teleported up a few floors and appeared right next to Val.

The Eldar gave a single glance at me, then raised an eyebrow at Throgg behind me.

“Picked him up on the way,” I said, my gaze locking onto Selene in the distance. That’s one big Ork. The one I killed would barely reach up to his chin. “How’s it going here?”

“Well,” his lips twitched into a vicious smile, my pet Ork already out of his mind. “Very well. Your choice of a partner was a most astute one. She is a quick learner and with her shackles now removed she will soar higher than any of her kind.”

Well, it wasn’t much of an informed choice. I felt myself grow slightly embarrassed. She was cute, and I was lonely; she talked to me when I needed it the most. Oh, well. Love isn’t supposed to be a transaction ... but that could have ended catastrophically.

“So how far along is she?” I asked, squinting as she wove around the titanic Ork’s swings and stops. “I know she got better while I was in ... seclusion.”

“That she had,” he nodded. “Alas, it is one thing to be capable of wielding power and another entirely to make the most out of that power in active combat.”

I ignored the meaningful stare that tried to burn a hole into the side of my face. I was on it, okay? It wasn’t easy to get a handle on your powers when you didn’t even understand the extent of them.

I’m getting better though. Stop looking at me like that! I glared back, then let out a huff. Compared to the me that awoke butt naked on Follax 4 and could barely take down a Lictor, I was a fucking goddess. This sort of stuff took time.

I turned my attention back to Selene, who continued to flutter about around the Warboss like a butterfly, snapping out with extending bio-swords and letting another few float around her. Her Telekinesis is coming along quite nicely ... and she really made my gifted armour her own. Damn, it was only supposed to protect her and heal her up, not act as a pocket-me for her.

Was that a problem? Eh, maybe. That thing couldn’t reverse engineer templates and only had the bio-sword and the armour template in it by default. That much should be fine. I’d have to step in when she starts changing her body with it though, I spent the equivalent of ten thousand work years of relative time spread between my mind cores on making sure her new body worked perfectly. A single amateurishly changed cell could be catastrophic.

“She learned to fly,” I noted with a smile, remembering how jealous she looked when she looked at me flying around.

“Yes,” Val said. “Among other things. On another note, might I ask what your plans going forward are, Mistress?”

I don’t know whether I hate or love being called Mistress ... My Lady would probably be better though.

“You already know the basics?” I shrugged. “There isn’t much beyond that. We’ll have to improvise based on the situation. I am not privy to the internal politics and situation of the Tau Empire.”

“With your power, hiding from their detection should be easy,” he countered. “Going to wherever you wish within their Empire would be easily possible.”

“Well,” I shrugged. “If nothing better pops up, I was thinking of the Jericho Reach.”

“The Jericho Reach,” he hummed thoughtfully, gaze still locked on to Selene’s moving form just like mine. “I see. Indeed, that span of space could work perfectly as a springboard for your burgeoning empire.”

“Yep,” I said. “And they have a Warp Gate there. One which leads directly to the Koronus Expanse.”

“A most dangerous place, that one.”

“True,” I said. “But that doesn’t make the gate any less useful. A quick way to get to the other side of the galaxy and cross the Great Rift would be nice to have.”

“If my memory isn’t playing tricks on me,” he said in a way that made it clear he didn’t think it was. Hell, he probably never forgot a single thing in his millennia of life. “Both sides of the Gate are in the hands of the Imperium. Furthermore, the Koronus Expanse is a treacherous stretch of space, only made worse by the Eye so near it.”

“I know,” I shrugged. “I’m not planning to launch an invasion through the Gate. I just want to have it for transport. Also, it’s hardly the most important thing in the Jericho Reach.”

“Truly?” He raised an eyebrow. “What would be more substantial than that?”

“Chaos and war,” I said. “And not the capital C Chaos, just the regular one. Tau, Tyranids, Chaos worlds, an Imperial Crusade, and who knows what else fights for control in the Reach.”

“Many who try to make use of chaos find themselves devoured by it.”

“I believe the positives outweigh the negatives?” Val said. “Achieving something no Water Caste diplomat has managed since the founding of their Empire will bring attention to you, but it will be mostly positive. Also, the alternative would be using your drones as fighters, which would be ... challenging.”

“How so?” I asked, mostly just to pick his brain for ideas. Getting my own Ork warband to fight for me sounded kinda fun, plus Throgg proved to be a balm to the soul with his enjoyment of life’s simplest pleasures.

Like murder and cracking skulls open.

“Well, using Tyranid-looking drones would be a bad idea,” he said, not even elaborating. Fair enough. “And humanoid drones that act like a hive mind could be even worse. All other forms would also likely out you as someone capable of creating and controlling hordes of mindless creatures of various forms.”

“And if we just went with the six of us, they’d probably look down on us,” I hummed. “Especially if we want to hide our capabilities with psychic stuff.”

“Exactly my thoughts, Mistress.”

“What do you think, Throgg?” I asked. “Could you build up a warband for me and work for me?”

Throgg scratched his head, his one good eye narrowing as he considered the proposition. "Hmmm... Work fer a humie? Ain't wot we usually do, but..." His gaze sharpened, and a wicked grin spread across his face. "If ya'z strong enuff to lead, I reckon I could whip up a warband fer ya. But ya gotta keep showin' yer worth. Orks follow da strongest, so if ya can krump anyone who challenges ya, den ya got yerself a deal."

He extended a massive, calloused hand, ready to seal the pact with a firm shake. "Deal, humie?"

“Sure,” I said with a snort, shaking his large hand with a firm grip. “If an Ork can beat me up, I might as well retire and start anew as a farmer on an agri-world.”

Throgg shrugged, unconcerned about anything beyond the deal.

Hmmm. We should find a hidden away place to settle down for a bit once we arrive in Tau space. I scratched my cheeks thoughtfully as I watched Selene play with her prey like a cat. Really, that girl was having just as much fun beating the ever-living shit out of that Ork as the Orks did. I need to build a voidship, an actual one that wouldn’t look too fucked up under Tau inspection and with enough space in it to host an Orkish warband. I might as well get started on building up a base of operations somewhere hidden away once we get there. Find an out-of-the-way planet, moon, or even just a big enough asteroid ... no, a planet with an atmosphere would be a must if I want to build a bio-energy farm.

So many choices. So much stuff to do.

I felt myself smile at the thought. I did enjoy strategy games and RTS stuff in my previous life, this all felt similar but with much more realism. It was also considerably more rewarding.

Spaceships. Spaceports. Dyson swarms. Arcologies. I was drooling just thinking about it, even my heart sped up a bit at the thought of making my dreams of living in a science-fiction world come true.

But it would be hard. I knew nothing about, well, anything beyond biology and genetics and even that came as a package deal with my eldritch body. I’d need experts to help me, or to steal their knowledge from ... as a last resort.

Isn’t there a significant predominantly Earth-Cast sept-world in the Jericho Reach? I dug through my knowledge, searching for the bit of lore knowledge that contained the information.

It wasn’t in that part of my mind, oh no, it was in the packet of information I got from Guilliman’s gene library. To be specific, in the ‘flavour text’ of a rather boring sample’s origins.

[Vallia. A Death World in the Jericho Sector under Tau control at the moment and studied by the Earth-Caste scientists of the Sept-World of Tsua'Malor.]

[Additional Information: Vallia’s entire ecosystem, including every bit of flora and fauna, is suspected to be part of a single malevolent being. Any who set foot on the planet can expect every cell of organic matter on the planet to work as one to bring about a violent and agonising death.]

I held down the giggle that threatened to burst out as the information came back to me. What a fun place.

Setting up a base of operations somewhere close to that planet would be perfect. I thought. I could expand, see what I can get from that Death World, whether I can maybe subdue it in its entirety, and then carefully work my way up to taking over that Sept-world and get myself an R&D division.

“She seems to be finishing up,” Val said evenly, his gaze holding just the slightest tinges of displeasure as he watched Selene take apart the tiring Warboss’ failing defences. “Efficiency and the mindset could use some work still.”

“Eh,” I shrugged. “There is no danger in enjoying herself now, and I’m sure she’d go for the kill if the situation called for it.”

“Indeed,” Val acknowledged. “Still, good habits need to be ingrained into every fighter.”

"Da little humie witch can scrap, boss didn't stand a chance." Throgg noted sagely.

“Well said, Throgg,” I chuckled. “Well said.”