Elena immediately understood. She knew Rhodes would never abandon the fleet for a quiet life—he was the new Imperial Warmaster, and he'd never back down from a fight.
Since she'd met him, Rhodes had never retreated, not even against the terrifying Tyranids, when he was still very weak.
This wasn't laziness, but a chance to deal with Chaos: by sending out these doppelgangers, he could draw the enemy's eye.
"You could say that—this method will certainly attract Chaos," Rhodes said with a smile.
Alien Barbarue and Alien Zarab were both super lifeforms—bound to get Chaos's attention. The enemy would never guess they were fake, and Rhodes and Elena could hide safely.
"It's a good idea—let them handle the Crusade's second phase. Most battles don't need us anyway; just send out the gene-sons," Elena said.
She and Rhodes rarely fought personally on the Crusade. Usually, wherever their fleet went, they just showed up, and the Sisters of Battle and Space Marines would be inspired to rush into battle, shouting that the Gene-Father and Gene-Mother were watching, and that only victory could repay them.
"What about the two kids?" Elena asked.
"Stark stays on Holy Terra for the next ten years, training with the new Space Marine recruits and his gene-sons. No need for him to leave. As for Sterne, he'll stay with us—he's too young to join any war," Rhodes said.
It was easy: the older son would stay in the Empire, training troops, and by the time the Plague War ended, it would be safe. The younger son was just a kid and wouldn't take part in any fighting.
Elena nodded; as a mother, she naturally didn't want her son involved in war.
"Should we tell the Emperor and Guilliman? Maybe they should know too," Elena asked.
"No, absolutely not! This is a secret mission. If we can't fool our own people, how can we fool the enemy?" Rhodes replied.
He was determined to go against the grain and give Chaos a harsh lesson.
"Understood. Tomorrow we'll take Sterne to the Phantom Beast Planet. When are your subordinates coming? Can they really impersonate us?" Elena asked.
"Relax! Our gene-sons respect us deeply, and we can command remotely. Don't forget my special power—I can perfectly control all summoned monsters," Rhodes said.
Elena nodded, and that night began making arrangements for their sons.
After settling everything, Rhodes entered his secret lab and summoned a Barbarue and a Zarab, spending tens of thousands of system coins to max out their power.
"Greetings, great master!" the two aliens knelt before Rhodes.
"Rise. I have an important task for you. Barbarue, you will take my form, commanding my army in battle. I'll communicate with you remotely—you must win, and no one can discover your identity. Can you do it?" Rhodes asked.
"At your service, great master! Leave it to me—I'll destroy all your enemies," the Barbarue replied confidently.
After the upgrades, its power was almost on par with the previous Barbarue, maybe even stronger.
"Zarab, your task is simpler—you'll pose as my wife Elena. You don't need to fight, just assist the Barbarue," Rhodes said.
Honestly, having such an ugly creature become his wife was a bit disturbing, but Alien Barbarue were expensive, so he had to settle. Anyway, Elena and he rarely fought in person; even if they did, ordinary foes couldn't see through these disguises, as they were at the Primarch level.
"Understood, master! We're part of the Evil Alliance after all—let us complete your mission," the Zarab pledged.
Rhodes nodded in satisfaction and called Elena to see the Zarab's impersonation.
The Barbarue's Rhodes was flawless, but the Zarab's Elena was less convincing—like a fake Ultraman. On close inspection, she seemed a bit sinister, boots turned pointy, and her markings a bit off.
"Hey, what's with you? We have to complete the master's mission. How can you act like this?" the Barbarue grumbled at the Zarab.
Was this really the so-called shapeshifting Zarab? Compared to Alien Barbarue, their ability was lacking.
"Uh, sorry, master. I can only do this much. We Alien Zarab are called mimics, but our copies are always a little off—I can't do better," the Zarab apologized.
"Let me power you up!" Rhodes opened the system shop and spent more system coins to boost the Zarab's mimicry.
With that, the disguise became almost perfect—only the closest people might notice any difference, which was enough to fool the fleet's Sisters and Space Marines.
Rhodes was very satisfied and handed over the fleet's command to the two, letting them impersonate himself and Elena, flying off to lead the Crusade's second phase.
Meanwhile, Rhodes and Elena had Tartarus teleport them straight to the Phantom Beast Planet.
In this way, Rhodes secretly swapped himself and Elena for their doppelgangers, who went to lead the Indomitus Crusade's second phase.
While Rhodes headed to the Phantom Beast Planet, the forces of Chaos were not idle. The Plague Legion was at full strength: all the Daemon Princes, Greater Daemons, and even Chaos Champions had powered up.
Even ordinary Chaos Space Marines, thanks to the things gained from Macragge, had upgraded too.
A full-scale Plague War against the Imperium was about to begin, led by the great Death Guard Chapter Master—Typhus.
Typhus, chosen by Nurgle, gained the full recognition of the Death Guard over 10,000 years, surpassing even their Primarch in prestige.
As for his attitude toward his Primarch, Typhus held only contempt, believing Mortarion to be a worthless fool who owed everything to his birthright as a Primarch—their Gene-Father—but otherwise was good for nothing.
This time, Nurgle himself chose Typhus to lead, using monster corpses from the Imperium to upgrade his body, making him even more powerful.
So, after 10,000 years as a shut-in, when Mortarion returned to his Legion, the first thing he faced was his gene-sons' disobedience.
"Typhus, it seems you've done a good job building up my Legion over these 10,000 years," Mortarion said to his former Captain—if not for him, he'd never have joined Nurgle.
"Don't flatter yourself, Mortarion. You were a failure then; you're a failure now. I've surpassed you. From now on, I am the true Chapter Master of the Death Guard. As for you, if you want, you can start over as a grunt," Typhus said with a mocking sneer.
Mortarion's face darkened.
"Lord Typhus! You should at least show some respect to our Primarch—"