The Space Marines senior officers have had some additions.

Chaplain Riordan guards the spiritual and mental wellbeing of the strike force. Librarian Aengus remains with Chapter Master Lir. Instead, Lir has assigned, not one, but two Psy-Adepts. They are less skilled Librarians than Aengus, though they were more than good enough to impress me.

Four Apothecaries have also joined Odhran’s force along with a Magos Biologis and his assistants. This medical team isn’t just there to maintain the number of marines. They’ve joined to search for populations that are more compatible with the Barghest Chapter’s geneseed and trade for geneseed stocks with other chapters to offset the constant degradation suffered by the chapter from the Horn of Ghosts.

At least, that’s what they told me.

By trade, I expect that the Barghest Chapter means that they intend to use the SRC they are earning from me to pay for geneseed, or give up some of the Great Crusade era equipment I already sold them. Either way, I know that I will end up footing the bill one way or another.

Cheeky bastards.

So far, I am uncertain if the Space Marines are worth the trouble as, like the Inquisition, they seem endlessly capable of causing as many problems as they solve

Verlin Tigernach, who is adapting well to being the company champion with his reconstructed body, is a fine example of my troublesome relationship with the Barghest Chapter. The body that I built him myself consumed a considerable length of my time and resources.

The only benefit was that my efforts overlapped with the Dreadnaught recovery. Creating bio-pods that were compatible with Space Marine physiology and arcanotech bionics was as complex as one might expect.

One cannot stick a Space Marine’s brain inside a jar, or cyberbrain as we’ve taken to calling them, then hook them up to artificial organs. We can do that with a standard Human brain, like the cloned brains we use for the servitors, but Space Marines have different hormonal and energy needs.

Fortunately, I was able to adapt much of the work I did for myself as a navigator, such as the hardening of my systems against channeling Warp energy, and the sorcerous requirements Abhuman physiology, to meeting the needs of a viable Space Marine cyber brain and supporting bio-pod.

Once that was complete, hooking a Marine into a Servitor frame then adapting the Dreadnaughts to the Servitors, let the Marines get in and out of the Dreadnaughts. The control systems of the Vanguard Armour ended up being the cornerstone technology that gave us the capability. The Dreadnaughts even had the hookups for manual controls already installed as it was part of the original design, so it wasn’t too challenging to install a proper cockpit.

Praise the Machine-God for the standardization of components across the whole galaxy!

Stellar Fleet Sol has picked up some auxiliary vessels too.

The Black Ship, an Orion Class Star Clipper called Whisper of the Void, has been granted leave, at their request, to join the fleet for as long as its route permits. The calming presence of Alpia and myself upon the broken and tortured psykers imprisoned within its cold, warded chambers.

For all that the Silent Sisters see the suffering of the psykers as a necessary winnowing to prevent greater tragedies, or a method to select the weakest and maddest for the golden throne, few of them take pleasure in their cruelty. It pleases them to make the psykers’ journey a little easier, and in turn far easier on the crew and Silent Sisters too.

The Silent Sisters are also susceptible to pride and ambition. The more surviving psykers they can bring back to Terra, the better they will be perceived and the more resources they will be granted in reward. We expect the Whisper of the Void to follow us to Port Wander and perhaps further.

Trader Caligos and his fleet of eight vessels are joining us until Footfall, or so the Rogue Trader has declared. I am uncertain of his intentions after his declaration of a religious epiphany to Lyre, Abbisine, and Thalk.

If he does something dumb like propose to Alpia I am going to help him explore the wonders of a Harlequin’s Kiss.

Calligos has a grand cruiser, Emperor’s Vow, a Lunar Class cruiser, a Mass conveyor, and five escorts.

Inquisitor Lyre Hamiz has stated that he will be joining the Fleet with his three vessels. As I would love to steal his vessels from him once his timer expires, I only verbally objected to his presence for multiple hours, rather than aim every gun in the system at his voidships. Then I only capitulated once he agreed to coordinate properly with Stellar Fleet Command.

It was a convincing performance, with machine controlled expressions and tonal modulation!

Logis Abbisine has joined Lyre on Petitor Veritas. I’d rather she stayed with Calligos as I do not want her to keep sharing her insights with Inquisitor Lyre. All is not lost though as Tallilel-Iota-5, Petitor Veritas’ Enginseer Prime is an Iron Foundation convert.

I think that a lot of Imperial Tech-Priests see the Iron Foundation as an alternative, or continuation to the Disciples of Thule, a sub-faction of the Mechanicus dedicated to the exploration of the Koronus Expanse.

The Disciples of Thule are secretive and difficult to join, so having an alternative option for participating in the Quest for Knowledge, an option that actually shares their technology, is incredibly appealing. That these Imperial Tech-Priests have to respect the philosophies and priorities of the Magos ‘in charge’ is no different to the usual fight for survival among the Mechanicus. It does not deter them in the slightest.

Thalk and his five vessels will not be joining us though he will still accompany us to the Mandeville point. I suspect that he wants more scans of our ships in motion to see what else he can glean. Unfortunately, I have no legitimate means to refuse him.

Our last addition are two Vagabond Class Merchant Traders and a Jericho Class Pilgrim vessel. Aside from the stupid name of ‘Merchant Trader’, the Vagabonds are solid vessels. They’re a cut price Carrack Class, being one hundred metres shorter, slightly slower, and less armoured.

The Vagabond’s one saving grace is that they have a prow mounted weapon and one spinal turret; they can put out more penetrative firepower with a good lance than the Carrack can with its two spinal turrets, so long as they Vagabonds are properly outfitted. Alas, these two only have las-burners for their prow weapons and should not be anywhere near combat.

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The Jericho-Class is a slow junk ship, a refinery ship conversion that slunk into SR-651 months ago needing repairs. They’ve completed their repairs and decided that the best way to continue their pilgrimage is not to chase after shrine worlds and other holy sites, but rather to follow Alpia about. This was no doubt encouraged by the huge number of penitents who survived the Zombie Plague and offered up their savings and labour for passage on the vessel.

The Penitents have almost no money though, so most of the cash for these three vessels came from nobles who were passengers on other vessels, those who want a chance at glory, and wealthy overseers from the previous gangs and syndicates who don’t like the order I’ve been establishing.

These dubious individuals have elected themselves as officers for the penitents. They’ve adopted the Herald organisational systems and acknowledged my command authority. In exchange, they received Herald liaisons, basic supplies, and a few vehicles. They Penitents are not getting paid, nor will they receive my basic stipend. If they prove useful, I may change my policy.

There are ten regiments of these light melee infantry equipped with the second hand undersuits, flak armour, cheap laspistols, and plasteel sabres that I handed out during the purge, as well as whatever else they could get their hands on. Mostly a few flamers, stubbers, and other low grade weaponry.

I frown as I look at the Penitent regiments’ list of vehicles.

The Penitents have no dedicated shuttles like my own regiments. Instead, they are dependent on the shuttles within the Vagabonds and Jericho. There is a selection of Arvus Lighters, Gun Cutters, and Heraldus Shuttles.

The Heraldus, a civilian Imperial shuttle, is not related to my fleet or troops in any way. It looks like a moderately sized airliner crossed with a 1960’s American space shuttle with a hundred passenger seats and is more suited for suborbital flights than open space.

I absolutely loathe the Heraldus for no other reason than it is both unremarkable and inadequate yet its name is similar to my elite infantry. The unintended comparison is insulting. I dismiss the bland name of the Delta Pattern Orbital Transport from such calculations. A name that also does not relate to the Heralds in any way, despite being their primary transport.

I really should have named the D-POTs something cool, rather than use the functional name from the STC. So what if the name means everyone can deduce what they look like and what they do. Clarity? Bah! I should have gone with Griffin, Rok, or Pelican.

The Vagabonds and Jericho do have a few larger, more robust transports though.

There are a pair of Slovo VI suborbital conveyors, chunky shuttles with sloping sides as tall as a twelve-storey hab-block.

Last, they have one Vulcan Mass Conveyor, the favoured shuttle of the Departmento Munitorum, a huge, ugly shuttle that bears a mild resemblance to a Space Marine Caestus Assault Ram, a near brick with stubby wings at the rear of the vehicle. The Vulcan has three additional sets of wings to help it ‘fly’ spread evenly across its fuselage. It mostly relies on gravity arrays and oversized thrusters to get anywhere.

The Penitents have no Devourer Dropships or Tetrarch Heavy Landers to bring them into battle. They won’t be landing in anything other than a spaceport or a decent hangar, nor deploying into combat unless I lend them my D-POTs.

It would take some awful circumstances before I let them onto my expensive shuttles again, and I’m not going to give them any, so the Penitents will no doubt all have taken a one way trip on a D-POT within the decade.

The Devourer is the Imperial equivalent of my Class Three D-POTs and can deploy up to ten thousand troops and their vehicles, though half that is more typical for non-penal regiments. It’s a fat tube with stubby wings and two engines the size of an ocean liner welded to the side of the hull.

The Tetrarch is even more outrageous and can drop ten times as many people into battle along with hundreds of tanks. It takes its design cues from the Sisyphos Class Tug, a ridiculous aircraft that’s all gravity array and no tact that can pull a light cruiser from ground to orbit.

I grimace as I recall my tour of the auxiliary vessels.

Ten penitent light infantry regiments, that’s three hundred and thirty six thousand men and women, have been crammed into three vessels each marginally larger than a Turbulent Class heavy frigate.

The vessels’ conditions are barely habitable and even with the basic supplies I am providing to minimise theft, violence, and disease, I expect to lose thousands of Penitents before they ever see combat. Knowing how bored they will get, they might be replaced just as quickly as they seek comfort and entertainment with each other.

I can only hope that their devotion to Alpia and her presence will prevent the looming humanitarian crisis from turning the Penitents to Chaos for there is nought but a thin red line between faith and betrayal.

Ephrine Stern and the Order of the Valorous Heart have taken to patrolling the Vagabonds and Jericho, much to my annoyance, as it means we can’t ‘accidentally’ leave the Penitents behind, slowing my fleet to the Jericho’s measly one point six gravities of acceleration.

On the other hand, the Adeptus Sororitas are maintaining some discipline on the vessels and selecting the best female pilgrims to join the Valorous Heart. This has taken pressure off me to form proper regiments to accompany Alpia, which we don’t have room for. Instead, people see Alpia’s new bodyguard company and the Valorous Heart as not only a route to directly serving the Saint, but also suitably prestigious protection.

Having a Saint protected by a bunch violent virgins is just part of the course in this blighted galaxy

The Sisters’ recruitment might seem like a small thing, yet I absolutely love having fewer people attempting to bother me with their inane demands, or consume the valuable time of my officers refusing petty requests.

I’m just praying that I won’t lose Ephrine to Gellar Field flicker or some Warp phenomenon from the sub-par construction of these Penitent vessels.

Tapping my finger against the datapad, I bring up the details on my regiments and smile.

My reorganised Heralds for Stellar Fleet Sol number twelve regiments and twelve companies. There is one Void Assault regiment, my most elite soldiers. They are more than capable of fighting a Space Marine chapter and winning, and not just because they would outnumber them thirty to one.

Twenty percent of the Void Assault regiment, or six thousand, seven hundred and twenty Heralds are now in Rogue Pattern power armour, many of whom are Warforged. Officers often build their own power armour too rather than accept the issued MOA Void Carapace used by the majority of Heralds. The longest serving Acolytes do so as well. The actual number of Power Armour in use is a bit over seven thousand right now for the regiment.

The Void Assault regiment is led by Major-General Domhnall Noake, or rather Herald Primarus Noake, as Domhnall is replacing Maeve Muire in Fleet Command. Command of his regiment has been passed to another officer.

Maeve is still a Herald Primarus, however, she has become Eire’s right hand for Stellar Fleet MANI, who are remaining and SR-651 to protect my investments in the Cinerus Maleficum sub sector. Maeve will not only be in control of all infantry, armour, and aeronautica for Stellar Fleet MANI, but also the regiments stationed at SR-651 and Cobalt.

In true military fashion, she has a promotion that is the same position as before, with the same pay, yet somehow far more work. For all that Maeve is annoyed by the extra work, she’s just as delighted by the trust being placed in her. The added responsibilities are a far greater sign of my belief in her skill and loyalty than any amount of Bytes and fancy titles could grant.

There are also two Mechanised Infantry regiments and one Automata regiment. The Mechanised Infantry are much the same as they were on Marwolv, but better equipped and trained.

The Automata regiment is organised in a similar fashion to the Mechanised Infantry; only most of the Line Infantry companies have been replaced with Automata based on the Janus Servitor, Vanguard Armour, and Praetorian Servitors.

House Ortelius’s one hundred thousand soldiers have been supplemented with twenty thousand Heralds and turned into four companies of Light Infantry. The primary difference is that they wear flak armour over their undersuits, rather than carapace, and have MOA bucklers with in-built Luminen Barriers, rather than riot shields, like my standard Line Infantry.

They’re faster, cheaper to field, and a far better entry point for assimilating Imperial citizens into the Stellar Fleet. Their similar appearance to an Imperial Guard regiment provides an anchor and familiar goal that is far more achievable and relatable than my educated crews, elite Heralds, and beautifully sculpted cyborgs.