Exterminatus

"Also, follow this route, and tell me immediately when we pass these two nebulae." Cheng Ruiming looked to one side, toward Kuka. "Kuka, help Clever Git contact me, and keep an eye on him. If he doesn't do his job properly, turn him into a Squig."

After giving his orders, Cheng Ruiming looked at the boys saluting with stiff expressions, shook his head, and left the bridge.

"The station has been sealed off. The people aboard the escape pods are being detained in batches for stricter screening. We've stationed a company of soldiers at every checkpoint, and most of the Xenos have been detected and put down."

"Thank you for your advice, Captain Pex. You saved the entire station." Conwater was filled with gratitude. He felt certain he could never have brought the situation under control so quickly himself.

"Don't let your guard down, Governor. Orks and Tyranids are the most intractable scourges in the universe. We cannot allow a single Genestealer or Ork to reach beautiful Euronia III. That would be a disaster for the entire planet."

Rather than growing arrogant over his modest accomplishments, Pex explained the dangers of Orks and Tyranids to Conwater with even greater gravity. "Once they spread like a plague, nothing can stop them except the Inquisition's Exterminatus."

"Exterminatus..." Conwater shuddered involuntarily at the word.

His beautiful homeworld lay beneath the shadow of an Imperial Fleet that blotted out the sky. A merciless Cyclonic Torpedo dropped from a warship's launch tube, plunged from space through the atmosphere, and slammed into the planet's crust, burrowing deep underground.

Enormous mushroom clouds of death rose across the planet's surface. Searing firestorms spread outward like shock waves, devouring mountains, land, and oceans until the entire planet burned.

Everything on the planet would turn to ash. No living thing would survive.

This was the method the Imperium of Man used to keep its wounds from continuing to fester: with overwhelming force, it cut away both the rotten flesh and the healthy tissue around it.

"No... that absolutely cannot happen..." Fear consumed Conwater. He could not accept that his world might face such a horrifying future. The financial losses were secondary; what he found even harder to accept was the prospect of being court-martialed for dereliction of duty.

"Yes, it absolutely cannot happen. That's why we must stop the Xenos from spreading. We can set the station aside for now. As long as we control movement, the danger here is manageable."

"The key is the Glory Knight. If the Xenos aboard her reach Euronia III... this is no time for hesitation. Even though she's my ship, I recommend destroying her completely as soon as possible." Pex seemed the very picture of a calm, loyal Imperial soldier.

The logic was simple, but achieving the goal was not so easy. The Ork-controlled Glory Knight moved in an S-shaped course, not only dodging several lance shots but also bringing the Macro-cannons on both broadsides to bear.

As luck would have it, the shells fired by the Orks were astonishingly accurate. Whether through good fortune or some other cause, these blue-painted shells frequently hit the human cruiser even at such extreme range, hammering its Void Shields like sledgehammers.

The captain aboard the cruiser Guardian was clearly a novice as well. The shuddering of his warship frightened him, and he used engine damage as an excuse not to pursue at full speed.

"The Guardian's engines are damaged. We may not be able to catch the Glory Knight..." Conwater told Pex in anguish, his face bitter.

Pex lowered his head in thought for a moment, then said to Walter, "Governor, would you mind if I commanded your cruiser remotely? Although her specifications differ from those of standardized Imperial Navy vessels, I believe my experience could help."

"One more thing. As a precaution, Governor, you need to return to Euronia III to reassure the populace, muster the troops, and prepare for the worst."

Pex's words made perfect sense, just as one would expect from an experienced naval captain. But Walter lacked the experience to know how to prepare for the worst. Once he returned, he would probably still need to consult relevant records before he could understand the characteristics of Orks and Genestealers.

"Captain Pex-no, General Pex. In my capacity as Governor of Euronia III, I appoint you a general of the planetary defense force, with full command of our troops to counter the Xenos invasion."

"I hope you will return to Euronia III with me so we can draw up a defense plan together." Conwater seized Pex as though clutching a lifeline.

"That... that wouldn't be appropriate. I should remain aboard the station for further screening as well," Pex said hesitantly.

"It was your advice that allowed us to stop the Tyranids trying to infiltrate the station in time. Besides, didn't your screening results just come back clear? Leaving someone with your experience here would be a terrible waste. There are still two billion people on Euronia III waiting for us to protect them."

Conwater was anxious. First, Pex truly was experienced, and such talent was hard to find. Second, if Pex commanded the fight against the Xenos, then even if something went wrong and the Imperium demanded accountability, he would bear the primary responsibility. He had brought the Xenos here, and he had failed to stop them from spreading. However one looked at it, his responsibility would be greater than Conwater's as governor.

When the time came, Conwater, as a governor and nobleman, could still evacuate with his money, leaving Pex behind to defend the planet. No matter how things played out, Walter would have a way out.

"What about the Guardian, then?"

"I will give the Guardian's captain strict orders to destroy the Glory Knight at all costs."

"Then one last question, Governor. How well trained are your troops? How much equipment do they have, and how many officers? In particular, how large is your Commissar corps?"

"Rest assured, General Pex. The defense forces in the Euronia system are large, well equipped, and highly trained. Their only weakness is an underdeveloped officer corps. As you know, the Imperium has faced a great deal of turmoil lately. Soldiers are easy to recruit, but training officers is much harder, so the Departmento Munitorum reassigned all the Commissars allocated to us to other sectors."

"Ah." Conwater looked melancholy too. Who wouldn't want capable subordinates and officers? If he had reliable subordinates of his own, he would not have needed to win Pex over. "The Euronia system hadn't seen any war before, so our officer allocations kept getting delayed. I'll personally petition the Departmento Munitorum for emergency reinforcements to our officer corps."

"Oh, of course... I understand. That's no great problem. The Departmento Munitorum is very busy, and personnel are in extremely short supply. I have experience training officers, so you can leave that work to me." Pex carefully concealed the delight in his eyes.

"Excellent, General Pex. Let's depart at once. There's still a great deal of work waiting for us on the planet." Conwater was pleased as well. He had found someone to take the blame.

As for the lives of the two billion people on Euronia III, neither man cared very much deep down. In the universe of 40k, how many people cared about the fate of ordinary mortals?