The war in Octarius would have to wait. Back in Holy Terra, Rhodes spent his time with elena and Isha-Lelith.
He didn't need to manage Imperial affairs—he was less qualified than a Space Marine for that!
Do what you're good at, don't make a mess of what you're not. elena was due any day now.
He was busy, but still kept up with reports of daemon-purging in his territory and the war in Octarius.
One day, Isha found Rhodes alone; her child was still dormant, ceaselessly absorbing warp energy in the womb.
"Rhodes, this child's been gestating nearly a year now. My burden is much lighter. We can begin the experiment we discussed." Isha said.
The main work of nurturing the child fell to Isha—she provided the warp god-power, transforming it with the powers of the Life Giant and cosmic phantasm into perfect order energy to nourish the child.
All Isha had to do was regularly provide life energy to help the child grow.
Rhodes had discussed with her before about using his life energy and that Yapool's help to convert extradimensional energy—that's the key material for making super-beasts.
If Yapool did it alone, it'd barely cost any life energy, but the amount extracted daily was tiny.
When they'd first returned to Terra, Isha was still pregnant and couldn't help. Now the child was stable, she could use some life energy.
"No rush. You're still carrying this little one—don't waste your life force." Rhodes patted her head.
They had enough extradimensional energy, and Rhodes planned to further enhance Yapool's power before opening a small extradimensional space to produce more energy.
"Don't worry. All the genetic material and warp energy are covered, and your cosmic beasts are powerful. Two cosmic beasts generate massive life force; healing your subordinate doesn't cost much.
Don't underestimate me—I survived ten thousand years in Nurgle's Garden. If I lacked life energy, I'd have died long ago." Isha smiled.
If not for the Dark King and the Dark Emperor persona causing trouble, she could even have healed the Emperor while pregnant.
Yapool was just a super life-form—so long as the energy consumed wasn't huge, she'd be fine.
"If you say so, let's do it! Once every few months is enough; the energy per session lasts a long time." Rhodes said.
To face the Tyranids and the coming crusade and plague war, Rhodes planned to mass-produce super-beasts—pain-free, perfectly obedient weapons.
He planned to make all his super-beast dreadnoughts from Primaris Marines. Belisarius Cawl had built new five-meter-tall dreads for Primaris.
In the coming crusade and ork battles, zero casualties was impossible, but he'd ensure enough dreadnoughts.
Wounded Marines would be interred in dreads, then undergo super-beast fusion, becoming super-beast dreads—high intelligence, utterly loyal to Rhodes and the Imperium.
His own gene-sons deserved that trust. As for other legions, he'd grant a few slots per year; after fusion, they'd return to their teams.
After super-beastification, these Marines could freely switch between human and giant forms—a perfect solution.
Blood Angels, Space Wolves, Ultramarines, White Scars, Imperial Fists, Iron Hands, Raven Guard, even Elena's Frost Sisters all had quotas. The Dark Angels were still missing!
The Emperor had even suggested using his avatar's flesh to make Custodes into super-beasts.
That needed to get started too—Emperor was eager to see his Custodes upgraded.
Soon, Rhodes and Isha went to the secret lab, called in Yapool, explained, and began.
Yapool grew giant, compressed his life force, and converted it into continuous extradimensional energy crystals.
Red extradimensional crystals poured out, while Yapool's life force faded, his body shriveling.
Isha waved her hand, sending a green beam of life energy into Yapool.
As the Aeldari goddess of life, she was also curious about this extradimensional energy—how was it different from warp energy?
Extradimensional energy could become extradimensional metal; each Ace Killer could generate 100,000 tons of it through this process, so Rhodes never lacked for it.
The main use now was powering the super-beast machines and making more super-beasts.
With Isha's life energy, Yapool instantly revived!
"Such powerful life energy! My lady, and great master—with your help, I can provide massive extradimensional energy!" Yapool said.
"Excellent!" Rhodes was pleased.
His theory had worked—Isha really was a treasure: she could bear his children and provide life energy!
Stealing her from Nurgle had been a huge win!
…
An hour later, Yapool had refined tens of thousands of tons of extradimensional crystals.
Isha, sweating at the brow, had provided life energy for an hour.
"That's enough for today! I'll rest a month before providing more." Isha said.
Providing constant life energy to a super-being was draining; if not for fusing with the Dark Giant, even strengthened by the cosmic beast, she couldn't have handled it.
"Rest well, Isha! There's enough energy here to make dozens of super-beasts. Rest a few months before the next session." Rhodes patted her shoulder.
Next time, he'd upgrade Yapool's extradimensional energy again. Octarius and his territory's Dark Portal hunters could keep farming coins.
"Agreed, my lady. This much energy is enough for now." Yapool said.
"Fine, I'll rest. If you need me, bring me over, Rhodes.
Oh! Could you spare some of that extradimensional energy for me to study? I'm really curious about it." Isha asked.
Isha had been specifically instructed by Aisha to study this rare energy from another universe.
"No problem. How much do you need?" Rhodes asked.
"Not much—a few pounds is enough." Isha replied.
"A few pounds? That'd make me look stingy! Yapool, prepare two tons of extradimensional crystals and deliver them to Isha's quarters." Rhodes said grandly.
"Dear, you really are generous! In that case, I won't be polite." Isha grinned.
Rhodes was truly reliable—she and Aisha would get a good look at these crystals.
"As you command, great master." Yapool replied.
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