"My lord," began the Chief Apothecary, "the gene-seed growth across all Chapters is sufficient to meet the needs for new recruits."
"The only times it failed to do so, aside from the massive reconstructive surgeries performed upon your followers from Vostroya, were during the first waves of induction when you assigned each Chapter its most compatible recruiting world."
"Based on those previous four instances, Mordian of the Third Chapter, Catachan of the Seventh, Kasai of the Eighth, and Talassar of the Ninth, I have already prepared accordingly."
Encased head to toe in black armor, Mikael continued his orderly report:
"From the genetic material obtained from your body, an additional 8,150 gene-seeds have been prepared. That is enough to support the discovery of two new recruiting worlds."
"Given the current situation, I believe gene-seed shortages can only arise under two possible circumstances."
"One is purely theoretical: when you rejoined the Legion, the sudden demand for gene-seeds caused by the mass augmentations of the Vostroya and Symphony of the Sea followers."
Nareth nodded slightly. That was indeed the period when most Primarchs were required to provide new genetic samples.
Each Legion typically experienced two major surges in manpower, the first when the Imperium captured Luna and used the Selenar Genecult's laboratories to mass-produce Astartes; the second, when the Primarchs returned to the Imperium and their mortal followers underwent full biological ascension.
Nareth's case, however, was exceptional; every warrior from his forty-four regiments chose to undergo transformation and join his Legion.
Because of this, the Legion's numbers had exploded. Including the original Shadows of Order and constant reinforcements from Terra, the total then had exploded to 85,000 warriors.
"The other possibility," Mikael continued, "I discovered from the Third and Fifteenth Legions, their gene-seed vaults suffered corruption, leaving them unable to replenish and leading to catastrophic losses."
Although Mikael and the others did not know, Nareth did: the Emperor's Children had their gene-seed poisoned by the Selenar Genecult and had a portion stolen by the so-called 'King of Figurines.'
At their lowest point, barely three hundred Emperor's Children remained.
Only after Fulgrim's return did his Apothecaries successfully extract pure genetic samples from his body and begin slow recovery, yet even now, their numbers had not exceeded 30,000.
The Fifteenth Legion, by contrast, had been withdrawn from the Great Crusade for seventeen years, due to rampant flesh mutations.
"I have therefore strengthened the protection and inspection of our Legion's gene-seed vaults to ensure no such incident occurs," said Mikael.
"Beyond each Chapter's own reserves, three additional gene-seed repositories have been established."
"In order of quantity: the Throne of Shadow's Sovereignty, Triken, and Catachan."
Nareth was pleased with his Apothecary's prudence and systematic foresight. He thought silently:
'In other words, barring unforeseen disaster, the Legion can continue to grow without extracting further genetic material from me.'
'Only if an emergency or a new recruitment wave causes a sudden population surge would I, during my mid-Sequence period, need to replenish lost beyonder traits with potions.'
'Once I advance to Sequence 4, even that will no longer be necessary… perhaps not even before then.'
His thoughts shifted toward the Prime Materia, the prototype genome stored upon Luna.
'When the Triumph at Ullanor comes, I will claim the Sangprimus Portum, that stores the Prime Materia.'
He knew the Prime Materia contained the raw genetic material collected by the Emperor when creating all the Primarchs.
That artefact housed purer and more potent material than any seed extracted directly from a Primarch's body, far surpassing those produced via Apothecarion methods or Astartes gland culturing.
The Apothecaries' technology, after all, still fell short of the Emperor's own and his ancient research teams.
'Belisarius Cawl relied on the Prime Materia alone, without Astartes assistance, to conduct research and cultivate stronger, taller Marines.'
Nareth's eyes glinted with resolve.
'Yes. When the time comes, I'll draw Belisarius Cawl into my service, corrode him into a loyal subordinate, and let him oversee the development of the primaris and their armaments.'
He dismissed the thought and gave an order: "Well done. Transfer one-third of the gene-seed stock from the Throne of Shadow's Sovereignty to the underground levels of Shadowhold."
"The Apothecaries shall establish a central vault there, along with surgical chambers, hospitals, research, and biological laboratories."
He then turned to Thomas. "The Librarium will construct archives for Legion records, and a grand library for accumulated knowledge."
"The Techmarines will assume control of the forges and establish armories…"
As he spoke rapidly, Arsena recorded every word.
"Each Chapter may select suitable sites within Shadowhold and its spires to build their facilities," Nareth concluded.
Thomas and Mikael saluted and left to choose a suitable location in the Shadowhold to start construction.
"Bring in Lewis," Nareth said.
"Yes, my lord."
Moments later, Lewis von Valentius, the Rogue Trader, entered the Primarch's audience chamber, his black silk robes flowing.
His blue eyes swept across the vast, sparsely decorated hall, clearly less adorned than Nareth's palace in Paradigm City.
'Perhaps because His Majesty has only just moved in, everything still feels… bare.'
"Lewis, what brings you here?" Nareth's voice pulled him back to the present.
"My lord, as commanded, I have continued my exploration across the void."
"Beyond the Sidai System, I navigated north along the galactic charts from Vostroya and accidentally entered a newly charted sector."
"That region is now known as the Coronid Deeps."
At that name, Nareth's mind immediately conjured the star maps and data of the Kolonid Sector.
'Though located on the northeastern edge of the Segmentum Obscurus, it holds vast resources and great strategic value.'
'During the triumph, Horus Lupercal himself led six Legions into the three-year-long 'Manachean War ' just to seize its industrial worlds.'
As he pondered, Lewis's eyes burned with righteous anger.
"My lord, the Mitu Conglomerate occupies that region. Though called a 'conglomerate,' it is ruled by xenos, cruel tyrants who dominate countless subservient species."
"The Mitu forbid all warp-capable travel, purge every nascent psyker, and regularly exterminate entire populations, human and alien alike, to control numbers."
"The surviving humans are enslaved, their flesh and blood tithed as fuel for the Mitu's vile organic sorceries."
Nareth knew of them well; the Mitu's weapons were composed of living biomatter, psychically activated through the life-force they harvested.
"My lord, I beg you, cleanse these abominations and free the billions of human souls enslaved there!"
"How powerful are the Mitu?" Nareth asked calmly, fingers drumming on his chair.
Lewis swallowed. "They are a formidable xeno dominion, my lord. They rule dozens of worlds. On their capital world of Manachee alone, billions of humans live in bondage."
"The Knight House Vyronii fight desperately, Damaetus teeters on the brink of being overrun, and even the Forge World Mezoa must endure their cyclical purges in silence."
Nareth nodded thoughtfully. He knew the Mitu Conglomerate had once been one of the most powerful xeno states before the all-out war with the Rangdan.
Its strength surpassed the Advex-Morse outposts, and even the Ork Wheel of Fire, as well as the Forge World of Incaladion.
Mezoa, a major Forge World, ranked just below the eight Grand Forge Worlds of the Imperium.
Four of those eight, Lucius, Stygies VIII, Graia, and Gryphonne IV, had already allied themselves with him, and Mezoa was the closest in scale among the remaining great forges.
He recalled the Imperium's campaign against the Mitu, how massive the deployment had been.
Rogal Dorn himself commanded the campaign, leading the Imperial Fists, the First Legion, and a third unnamed Legion, along with hundreds of Solar Auxiliary regiments.
'That was likely the campaign where Dorn issued more Exterminatus orders than in any other war; his resolve to utterly erase the xenos was unmatched.'
By Nareth's estimation, the Imperium had committed at most 120,000 Astartes to that war.
'My Shadows of Order currently number over 140,000, even after the Incaladion and First Rangdan Wars.'
'We could annihilate the Mitu alone, though at the cost of ten or twenty thousand lives.'
'It would, however, slow our expansion elsewhere.'
He weighed the cost, then the gain.
'The Coronid Deeps is resource-rich, a trade hub of immense value. Securing it would win the House Vyronii's allegiance and likely bring Mezoa under my sphere of influence.'
Finally, Nareth rose.
"I will lead the campaign myself. The Mi'tu shall be purged."
Lewis bowed deeply. "On behalf of the hundreds of billions within the Coronid Deeps, I thank you, my lord."
After Lewis departed, Nareth thought silently:
'Though I've decided to conquer the Kolonid Sector, there's no need to do it alone.'
'Alongside the Dusk Raiders, I could summon the First Legion. Urian Vendraig has long sought a grand war to restore their honor.'
'Yes… let the First and Fourteenth Legions handle the dirty work. They enjoy it, and do it well.'
With that thought, Nareth departed for the Throne of Shadow's Sovereignty, bound for the War Council.
.....
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