The planet's mortal garrison was saved. Overjoyed, they embraced one another, cheering for this hard-won victory and their unlikely survival.
The Imperium's ordinary mortal regiments are the most tragic lot—fighting on the front lines, ready at any moment to die for the Imperium. But at the moment of death, do they truly return to the Golden Throne? Who remembers them?
Rhodes's appearance saved them, sparing these mortal soldiers from dying miserably on this world and being devoured by those loathsome beetle-men.
After successfully taking the planet, Rhodes, as per his usual practice, first purged the world of evil elements. Once he ensured the planet's safety, he led the grand fleet away.
This time he did not take the mortal troops who had fought here with him. Instead, he gave them a very special order: from this day forward, they would formally leave Imperial service, take wives and raise children on this world, and become its guardians.
Upon receiving this news, countless mortal soldiers cheered, for it was unimaginable—something they could never have dreamed of when they enlisted.
Rhodes did not fold them into his grand crusade because he did not currently lack mortal auxiliaries. More importantly, this world had been ravaged by war and needed people, and he had no way to transfer a new wave of settlers from elsewhere for the time being, so he simply had these troops remain.
Besides serving as residents, they had combat experience and could function as a planetary defense force—a win-win.
…
A few days later Rhodes received two messages. The first confirmed the beetle-men's homeworld. Reports described it as a revolting world—everywhere foul, filthy, and wicked xeno constructs.
The second was that the scouting team had found a Tyranid hive fleet which, in a few days, would almost certainly arrive at the same time as Rhodes's fleet.
This was not good news for Rhodes. He wanted to eliminate the beetle-men quickly to prevent their genes from falling into Tyranid hands.
The Tyranids' basic strains were currently being crushed by the Imperium's basic infantry because of the super-soldier serum Rhodes had introduced. Mortal soldiers had reached the level of the original Space Marines. Ordinary Termagants—and even Tyranid Warriors—could be killed by mortal auxiliaries.
Only Lictors and Hive Tyrants and the like required the Astartes to handle—or, with scores of times more mortal troops, they could be buried by sheer weight of lives.
Thus, any Tyranid enhancement, no matter how small, was bad news for the Imperium and for Rhodes personally.
These bugs are simply too good at exploiting genes. Rhodes had only dispatched biobeasts to fight them a few times, and the Red King's gene had already been taken.
So he was extremely wary. He absolutely could not allow them to obtain useful resources. By absorbing biomass, the Tyranids could spawn evolutions that favored their conquests.
The Tyranids—the first opponent Rhodes faced after he crossed into this universe—were about to clash with him again.
But a problem lay before him. If they proceeded by ordinary Warp transit, they would arrive almost simultaneously with the Tyranid fleet. Battle would be inevitable, but the beetle-men on that world would also inevitably fall to the Tyranids, for as long as even one sample of their genes leaked, the Tyranids would obtain that special genome.
Rhodes had to alter the plan. He must enact Exterminatus on the beetle-men before the Tyranids could reach them.
"Transmit my order: all fleets are to proceed along the planned route. My flagship will engage its superluminal drive and jump to the target system," Rhodes said.
To prevent the Tyranids from acquiring the beetle-men's genome, his force had to get there first and eliminate them.
The only option before him was to act alone. Fortunately, his flagship was large enough to carry hundreds of thousands of troops. It wasn't a problem to destroy the beetle-men.
Rhodes considered going even more aggressive—dispatching the Angel Zog or Tartarus and having them level the planet with their ultimate abilities.
"Warmaster, I cannot agree to this plan. It's too dangerous. How can you risk yourself alone?" a mortal Navy commander protested.
If Exterminatus had to be carried out with a vanguard, then they, the Imperial Navy, should be the ones leading the charge. How could the Primarch be at the tip of the spear?
"If I don't stand at the front, who will? I'm a Primarch. I'm responsible for you. I must lead you.
"And only my ship has a superluminal drive; yours do not," Rhodes replied.
"Lord Rhodes, please put your safety first. You are the Imperium's Warmaster, the commander of this crusade. It's only a Tyranid swarm—we'll hurry over at best speed, annihilate those hateful xenos, and then fight the Tyranids," several Imperial admirals said.
"Warmaster, let us charge in your stead!" the admirals said almost in unison.
"Rhodes—we could have Tartarus open a giant portal and move part of the fleet through," Elena said at his side.
She spoke using an encrypted method—ordinary mortals could not hear it. It was a special means of communication among bearers of cosmic beast.
Tartarus's abilities were no secret in the Imperium. His teleportation was too useful—the fastest way to travel in the universe, faster than any other method.
Rhodes fell silent, pondering. Tartarus's power was indeed convenient, but it had only been revealed to the Emperor and the Primarchs; ordinary people did not know about it. Still, this expedition would be with him for decades—perhaps a century or more. He felt he should place some trust in them. In emergencies to come, he might need to employ Tartarus's abilities more than once.
"I understand. Your loyalty is exemplary. At this critical moment, you dare to stand and fight for the Imperium.
"So be it—I'll grant your request. I will use a special means to take you directly to the target system, but it can only bring ten ships at a time," Rhodes said.
The fleet was vast; transporting all of it was impossible. Rhodes would bring only ten ships; the rest would follow at flank speed.
Ten Imperial battle barges were more than enough to carry out Exterminatus and scour a planet's surface flat.
"By your command, great Primarch," the admirals said, palms to their chests.
Rhodes nodded, summoned Tartarus at once, and selected ten massive battle barges equipped with the Imperium's most advanced weapons.
A golden portal opened. Rhodes's flagship, together with the ten Imperial battle barges, entered a strange star system—the home of the beetle-men.
There was a planet twice the size of Holy Terra, with gravity more than five times that of Terra.
No wonder it birthed such monstrosities; the gravity here was enormous. On other worlds they would be superhuman by default.
Rhodes intended to covertly collect some of their special genetic material and give it to his chief scientists—Yapool and Balt—to see if they could create new ultra-beasts.
In the earlier raid, ground forces had already collected samples of the beetle-men, and even captured some live specimens. They were currently under guard by several of Rhodes's gene-sons.
"Lord Rhodes, we've jumped to an unfamiliar system. This should be the target xenos' homeworld," an Imperial Navy officer reported.
"This is indeed their homeworld. Notify everyone: prepare to enact Exterminatus. In the Emperor's exalted name, I invest you with the authority to carry out Exterminatus—for the Imperium," Rhodes said solemnly, issuing the order as Warmaster.
Upon receiving Rhodes's command, the machine-spirits of every Imperial battle barge read the sacred directive.
All Tech-Priests and technical adepts began their preparations, tuning macro-cannons, lance batteries, and Pedanium beam projectors.
In the Emperor's name, in the Imperium's name—ten battle barges lined up above the planet, covering all landmasses. Rhodes's flagship held station above the central continent.
Golden beams rained from the heavens. The fleet went to near full power, and their ferocious fire illumined the entire world.
Countless lances of light speared the land, unleashing cataclysmic bombardments. Innumerable beetle-men were torn to shreds in an instant.
This time, Rhodes showed no mercy. He annihilated these alien lifeforms completely—exterminated them to the last.
…
Three days later, the Exterminatus was complete. The planet was reduced to a wasteland.
"Warmaster Rhodes, Exterminatus is complete."
"I know. Instruct all Navy and Army personnel—Space Marine units—prepare for battle. We meet the Tyranids."