Chapter 391: Cream Cookies
A few weeks later, Trasolh's fleet dropped out of the Warp and returned to realspace.
You could pick your entry point into the Warp, but exiting it worked more like a long jump: you flung yourself desperately toward your destination in one huge leap, with no fine control over exactly how far or how short you'd land. You could never guarantee landing precisely on target.
This time, luck was on the fleet's side. They emerged just three days' travel from Forge World Primo-496a.
Better news still: Trasolh's fleet had run into friendly forces already en route, another Inquisitor's fleet also heading to reinforce the Forge World.
This one belonged to an Ordo Malleus Inquisitor, Inquisitor Bruno, a "young" Inquisitor in his nineties.
Bruno's fleet consisted of a single warship and one support vessel, practically nothing compared to Trasolh's sprawling armada. But the two Inquisitors held the same rank. The difference in fleet size just came down to what kind of work they did.
Trasolh, an Inquisitor of the Ordo Hereticus, dealt with internal matters, and sometimes that meant putting down a rebellion across an entire planet, which required the firepower to crush a world's worth of resistance.
Bruno, of the Ordo Malleus, dealt with daemons. And when it came to daemons, either you could beat them or you couldn't. A hundred warships wouldn't change that math. So Bruno's fleet ran lean: two ships, and just enough crew to man them.
On Trasolh's bridge, the two Inquisitors linked up over comms and agreed to combine forces.
"Lord Trasolh, my fleet specializes in daemon-hunting. The Ork and xenos crisis at Primo-496a isn't something I'm equipped to handle. Shall I hand command over to you?"
Trasolh nodded.
"Lord Bruno, I appreciate your trust. In the Emperor's name, I won't let you down."
Kian stood off to the side, watching the two Inquisitors confer, and found himself thinking it over. There had to be rivalry between Inquisitors, especially between two from different Ordos entirely. An Ordo Malleus Inquisitor probably looked down on an Ordo Hereticus one. We throw ourselves at real enemies and die doing it, that's the job. You lot just police your own side, losers.
And yet here they were, perfectly cordial, folding their commands together without hesitation to save Primo-496a. Just how important was this Forge World?
"There's something going on here. There has to be something going on here."
Kian muttered to himself in the corner, and right at that moment, the two Inquisitors turned the conversation his way.
On the comm screen, Bruno's gaze landed on Kian in the corner.
"Ah, is this the Count, then? The legendary Immortal, favored of the Emperor Himself."
Every eye in the room swung toward Kian. He flashed a wicked, arrogant grin.
"That's right. In the flesh."
Bruno chuckled.
"Count, would you care to come aboard my ship and talk a while? I've got a Living Saint here, a Daemon Hunter. The two of you should have plenty to discuss."
Trasolh's brow furrowed. He could feel the ground shifting under his feet.
Kian's eyes lit up.
"Oh? A living saint? A daemon hunter? Sounds like he really knows his business."
Bruno nodded.
"Absolutely, he does. So, Count, care to come sit a while? I've got cream cookies waiting."
"Cream cookies?! How do I get over there?"
Kian was practically vibrating with excitement.
Bruno said, "A beacon-guided teleport, Count. You'd arrive on my ship in an instant."
Kian turned to Trasolh.
"Quick! Send me over!"
Feeling his position slipping, Trasolh opened his mouth, deeply reluctant to let Kian go wandering onto someone else's ship. But Bruno had voluntarily handed over command for the sake of the mission. Refusing to let the man meet his own retainer would look petty.
Trasolh swallowed his irritation. "Follow me. I'll take you to the teleportarium."
The two of them made their way there. Imperial teleportation technology was reliable, though hardly cutting-edge. There were two kinds: blind teleportation and beacon-guided teleportation. Blind teleport was exactly what it sounded like, a straight jump with poor precision, with some risk of materializing inside a wall. Beacon-guided teleport was far more accurate, letting someone jump from one warship to another up to a hundred kilometers away with essentially perfect precision.
Inside the teleportarium, a tech-priest worked the controls, then reported:
"Coordinate lock established with the allied vessel. Projected success rate, ninety-nine point nine-nine-nine-nine-nine percent. Count, please step onto the platform."
Kian stepped up. Energy began to build around him. Trasolh said, almost wistfully:
"Count..."
Kian glanced at him. "What?"
Trasolh said, oddly, "Actually... I've got cream cookies in my office too..."
Whoosh! Kian vanished from the platform.
He caught a flash of light, felt his hair crackle with static, and when his vision cleared, he found himself standing in the teleportarium of an unfamiliar warship. The jump had gone perfectly.
Two men stood waiting to greet him. One wore golden power armour: Inquisitor Bruno. The other carried a greatsword, a torch burning perpetually mounted on the back of his power armour.
This second man looked to be in his forties, wore a proud, defiant expression, and his armour was covered edge to edge in runes, Purity Seals layered on top of Purity Seals. This had to be the Living Saint.
Kian hopped off the platform and asked eagerly, "Where are the cream cookies? Where are my cream cookies?"
Bruno laughed and made the introduction.
"Count, this is Thane, our Living Saint. I imagine the two of you will have plenty to talk about."
The armoured giant called Thane announced proudly, "I am Thane, Holy Warrior of the Ecclesiarchy! Fifteen daemons have fallen beneath my blade!"
Kian said, sounding thoroughly impressed, "Truly worthy of the name, Lord Thane. Fifteen daemons slain today alone. And what about yesterday?"
Thane froze. "What do you mean, fifteen daemons today? What do you mean, yesterday?"
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