Something they don't talk about a lot when they talk about the great generals of human history is the sheer amount of logistics and planning that goes on in the background. Sure as a soldier myself both in this life and my previous I knew that logistics was very important, especially since I was a military buff and student of history all of my life.
But you learn best through experience as they say and after experiencing it I can say for certain that I hate it. The endless paperwork, the constant need to sign off on some minor piece of policy, thousands of minor orders and memorandums that need to be distributed throughout my army, and the lists, god the lists. Did you know that even when your one and only resource was souls you still somehow ended up with lists that detailed the eight different soul types inherent to humanity, along with each of those eight types thousand subtypes?
Because apparently each and every different soul had some unique aspect to it that made it better or worse as a source to transform into some piece of equipment or soldier in the war effort. For example the eighth type of human soul dubbed "aggression" makes the best soldier or rifle? But only as a soldier for its first hundred subtypes, while the next hundred subtypes make the best rifles, and then the next five hundred make some of the worst anchors to make fey from along with rifles.
Then after that the final hundred are just average soldiers and rifles. Why are they like this? How did my fey somehow determine all of this in just one month in the wake of the conquest? I have no fucking idea, because I sure as hell don't have any memories of it from the grand hunter, and I sure as hell didn't tell them to do it.
One day the lists replaced the previous budget and suddenly I was forced to learn about nearly ten thousand different variations of the human soul that I really didn't care about. All because it made the process of creating new fey and arms far more efficient and effective.
Speaking of the process of creating new Fey and crafting new equipment, I've made a new type of Fey. I've named them the MarchenKuntsler, Fairy Artificers in english. They require three souls to create and highly specialized tools that require even more souls to allow them to work their magic, but with their help I've vastly increased my production of equipment for my forces, giving my lords the ability to use their time to instead focus on the birthing rituals.
With my lords performing twice monthly birthing rituals, and my Artificers hard at work creating the arm's, armor, and supplies that my forces need I've been regulated to an office job when i'm not on the front lines pushing against the cult in the quickly escalating war for Ulanir.
I took a breath, steadying myself as I thought about the warfront and its ongoing events. After the conquest of the spire's underhives I had used the the collected souls of over forty thousand cultists, and the energies of two thousand lesser Daemons to birth the fifth Generation, the largest Generation to date and it was only growing as time passed, apparently the Fey didn't count new births as a new generation unless I was the one performing the ritual.
I believed they would be enough, forty thousand near-astartes level soldiers should have been more than enough to simply overwhelm my enemies and bring the cult to heel within two or three months time at most. I had underestimated both the cult's numbers and its resources.
Not even two weeks into my invasion of the second and fifth spires millions of cultists flooded both spires, and all of them were well armed and equipped, at least by the standards of a cultist. It was enough for me to abandon the second spire and focus on the fifth with the entirety of my forces.
Two months passed with my forces deadlocked against their own as the battle for the spire ground onwards and literal trench warfare began to develop in the depths of the hive and I finally decided to say fuck it. I invaded the spire itself, breaking through into the upper reaches of the hive and dancing around the lines of the cults, openly airing the war that was going on in the depths for all to see.
It wasn't long after that that the Guard began to become active in the war as the entire regiment that had been in garrison activated and attacked both my own forces and the forces of the cult, pushing the both of us back. Say what you will about the guard, but they were good at what they did as they purged the cults with a skill and quickness even I would have had a hard time doing, while also fighting off my assaults at the same time.
The guard combined numbers, effective equipment, and enforced skill and discipline to create a force more than capable of fighting against the legions of chaos and coming out on top. And I got to experience first hand how you should never underestimate the guard as they pushed me back far more than the cults ever had in less than a quarter of the time.
After three months of grinding warfare I was finally able to make my counter attack after waiting for my lords to gather enough troops from their annual birthing's to not only reinforce my flagging forces in the fifth, but also begin a push of our own.
Twenty thousand freshly birthed fey marched into the spire to reinforce the thirty thousand that remained, ten thousand having been lost in the months that had gone by since the beginning of the invasion. The reinforcements acted just as intended, filling all the openings that had been created from the fighting, and then further reinforcing my hunt in the spire.
Within a week of the twenty thousands' arrival the Guards' advance had been stalled, the cult was on the retreat, and my territorial gains were immense. What I actually cared about however was the sheer amount of souls that were once again flowing into my treasury, in the months following the initial invasions soul power had been scarce due to the lack of major victories which my forces could harvest, but with the success of my counter attack my hunt was receiving regular reinforcements and resupply once more.
I could go on and on forever about the various logistical issues facing the war effort, and I would have were it not the for the fact that Dyrrath, Celras, and Anluan walked into my office unannounced three minutes ago and I could tell they were starting to worry about why I had been ignoring them. "What do you need my children? You came unannounced so it's obviously something urgent, but not so urgent that you would speak to me first or without leave." My words carried, strong and confident. A side effect of the grand hunters' influence on my mind, I now spoke more formally and powerfully than I ever had before.
It was Dyrrath that spoke first, not really a surprise considering he was my very first Fey, the honor of my first creation of course went to my precious Anluan, who I noticed did not look very happy. "My Lord, Lady Anluan has approached me on the subject of the Direhounds and when you plan to finally expand their population beyond herself. She believes that her and her kind would be a great help to the war effort, but it feels like you have forgotten about her and what she can do." To emphasize his point Anluan herself got up on my desk and barred her fangs my way.
"I…I Honestly did not realize she felt this way, I will be honest I did forget about creating more of her kind, I've had far too much on my plate to deal with and I believed it was a matter best left for another time." I looked at Anluan as I spoke. "It seems I said another time once too many times to you my friend, Give me a week and I will ensure that the next birthing includes enough of your kind to truly make you a queen, of that you have my solemn oath."
At my words the great hound barked with joy and with its tail wagging began to jump around my office in excitement. I wasn't happy to ruin how joy, especially when Celras and Dyrrath looked so happy for her. "On that note, since you've made it clear that you believe they will be of use in the war effort I shall leave it to you to lead them, you will be given the Slaaneshi front to unleash yourself upon, I expect results within a week of the birthing. Prove to me that my hounds can be as effective as you say and I shall ensure they continue to become an ever greater part of the hunt. Of that you can be certain."
My words had a great impact on the hound as she looked at me seriously before letting out a long, slow howl. Signaling her acceptance of my command. I smiled at her response, "Good girl, do not disappoint me." She didn't respond to my final words, but her lick to my face told me all I needed to know, I had nothing to worry about from her front.
Now I just had to deal with Dyrrath and Celras who had not left after the great hound. "What do you need? You obviously didn't come here purely on behalf of my first born. If that was the case the two of you would have already left and yet you still stand before me." I said calmly, to which Celras replied "My lord we believe you are overworking yourself."
I processed her words for a second before I responded. "And who else believes this?" I said, as calm and composed as I could manage. It was Dyrrath who spoke next, "All of the Marchenfurst support us in this line of thought my Lord, at least all of those in the first through third generations do. You've been constantly at work for the last year my lord, jumping from one problem to another in an attempt to keep yourself busy. We believe it is time for you to take a short rest so that you can come back fresh and ready to lead us to victory." He finished, his words firm and his tone final.
Honestly I should have been insulted that they thought I couldn't take care of myself, and outraged that they thought they could order me to do anything.
But Celras had slipped into my lap and began rubbing her ass into my crotch, helping me think about the issue completely rationally. Maybe I did need a break after so long, no one expected me to be some pillar of perfection after all and everyone needed a break eventually, perhaps it was time for me to take one for myself?
The fact that it would give me ample time to continue my exploration of my lover's body was just an upside of it all.
It took a final look at Celras's beautiful face before I finally had my answer. "Alright alright, I'll take a small break." I said with a sigh in my voice. "But" I made sure to undercut whatever they were about to say before they could even say it. "It will only happen after the end of this month, and I am free to return at any time to deal with any crises or issues that I think are in need of my urgent attention. You will not fight me on this point, am I understood?" I said, my voice full of authority, I would not have my creations fight me on this.
Based on the way they smiled they knew they would be getting nothing more out of me and this had been their plan the entire time, the sneaky bastards. "Thank you for your time My Lord, I will inform the rest of the hunt of your decision." Dyrrath spoke with amusement clear in his voice, and before he left he left one final note of his own. "And Celras please go easy on him, we do need him cognizant for the next conclave of lords tomorrow." I scowled at his words as much as I wanted to laugh.
Just because I had been out of it one time because of our nightly activities gave him no right to judge me. "Don't worry brother, I will be sure to be gentle with our lord." She spoke and I couldn't help the betrayed look I Gave her, causing her to giggle to herself. "Thats all I ask, have fun." Before I could say anything else he had left the room, leaving me with a desk full of paperwork and a very horny Fey in my lap.
I knew what I would be doing for the next few hours, and unfortunately it did not have a beautiful face. At least I gained a very eager/willing secretary and assistant. Paperwork waited for no man, not even me.