Warhammer 40K Necron Fan Fiction by Amadeus Hawkes
Chapter 5
"Sir, we could not have known this would happen, sir," said the bowing cryptek before Imotekh. "You didn't even think to examine the new warrior? The machine was heavily damaged while the process was unfinished and you didn't even think to make sure the warrior wasn't malfunctional?"
"I apologize sir, we have been very busy trying to repair the machine. We know many things, but we have never had to fix a machine purely of C'tan design."
"Either way, we need to do something about this warrior. He represents an extremely big weakness in our web of secret technology. Because we have no connection to him, we cannot shut him down. If he is captured, our enemies will surely use him to create our technology out of the very body he resides within. Send a message to Executioner Ezandrakh and convince him to terminate the rogue warrior before our own technology gets used against us."
"Yes, sir," replied the cryptek, and he walked out of the throne room. For a long time, he walked through a series of hallways that almost seemed like a labyrinth of black steel. It almost seems as though the necron is aimlessly wandering the halls, for he has no sign of expression on his metallic face. The only light in the halls is the soft green glow from overhead lights, creating just enough light for only someone with superior sight capabilities to see. Eventually he came upon a small room with many control panels, strewn with many flashing lights and touch screens with grids. He pressed a large, bright green button on one of them and a hologram of a himself appeared before him, allowing him to recognize the hologram Executioner Ezandrakh would be seeing when he received the message.
"Executioner Ezandrakh, Imotekh the Stormlord wishes to give you a message; about a week ago, a rebellious necron warrior malfunctioned and escaped the planet with many doom scythes during a battle with a small Tau battle force. We strongly wish that you would lead your destroyers of the Red Harvest to terminate it as soon as possible. We can provide you with additional weapons and some repair scarabs if you complete this task. Please send a message to confirm whether you accept this offer as soon as you read see this message." The cryptek pressed the same button again, making the hologram vanish. A few buttons and taps later, and the cryptek strides out of the room.
Chapter 6
Fifty-two million miles away, several ships fly through space at an extraordinary speed. The ships appear to be black, metallic crescents, almost invisible against the vast emptiness of space. Unsure where to go, the leader wonders where he can be accepted; for the necrons, one of which he has been made into, are his enemies and his past allies will think him an enemy before he can even show that he is an ally. Again he checks his radar, acknowledging the ships in formation behind him. Knowing that they were his own, he continued to stare forward into nothingness. "It's remarkable not being behind a glass barrier while flying a ship through space. It feels very strange; I don't even feel cold," thought General James Hawkes. "What can I do now? My friends are my enemies because I am my own enemy now. Where can I go?"
The lifeless form continued to stare blankly into space; you would think that the machine had malfunctioned to the point of movement failure, despite the thoughts racing around in its head. From a distance, the fast moving ships could easily pass for comets or satellites. James knew that he had been flying straight forward for three days, four hours, and twenty-six minutes now; something he could not have possibly known in his human form. Adapting to his new machine form was very difficult. James was not used to being able to tell how many stars were in his sight in a mere glance. He suddenly had an archive of ancient battle tactics from over sixty million years ago. It was also very strange to not have the ability to talk, but instead give commands to his men with his very mind. He was really starting to miss their company.
What was flesh and blood and friends just a week ago are now cold, hard mechanized reapers. Nonetheless, James kept them with them because he knew from the rumors that the soft green glow emanating from their eyes was the small shard left of the soul the once possessed, and he felt an undying need to keep that from being absorbed into the rest of the necrons. A beeping noise from the dashboard in front of him interrupted his thoughts. The ship was running low on fuel and James directed it to point him to the nearest energy crystals. The ship was set to autopilot and a portion of his mind was less distracted with piloting. With nothing but blackness and the stars before him, James anticipated the planet the ship was taking him to.
Chapter 7
Back on a distant planet at a destroyer fortress, a large machine hovers in front of a hologram. The machine is so customized for annihilation capability, it barely even resembles the form of a necron anymore.
"…offer as soon as you see this message," said the hologram, then disappeared. The machine stayed in silence for a long time, considering what the projection had said. Finally, it turned to another machine next to it and said, "Prepare the destroyers for a search and destroy mission and send message to Imotekh that we are going to accept his offer." The necron that it spoke to silently turned and flew away. "Tell them that Executioner Ezandrakh will meet with him as soon as we destroy the rebel," called the executioner after him in a toneless voice. Ezandrakh drifted up to the top of the fortress walls and proceeded to look at the vast, lifeless desert before him.
Then came the sound of something Ezandrakh analyzed as the exact pitch of several doom scythes' engines, and his sensors indicated that they were approaching from the Northeast at a speed of precisely one hundred fifty miles per hour. "Has Imotekh decided to come see me himself? That's quite unlike him," said the destroyer to himself. To his surprise, the doom scythes did not slow to land and flew right past the fortress. Slightly stirred by this odd appearance of doom scythes, he commanded, "Send some destroyers to identify the purpose of that ship's business here!" Several destroyers from below flew after the ships and Ezandrakh waited for the report back from his men. A few minutes later, his signal interceptors picked up the report he was expecting. "The thirteen doom scythes have landed precisely five miles Southwest of the Red Harvest fortress near an exposed energy crystal cluster. The pilots are all warriors, but one of them is rather peculiar. It seems to glow brighter than the others and is apparently heavily damaged in several areas."
Ezandrakh was quite surprised. He wondered what could be wrong with the necron, but then he remembered that the escaped rebel was said to have stolen "many doom scythes". Executioner Ezandrakh thought about it for a moment, then decided to go see for himself who exactly these necrons were. He glided down back to the ground level and addressed a tools rack. He grabbed his identity processor and commanded a few of his finest heavy destroyers, carrying much more powerful gauss cannons, to follow him as he began to exit the fortress through the main door. As the door slowly hissed open, Ezandrakh received another message from one of the destroyers he had sent to investigate the ships. "Orders, sir?" Said the voice. "Wait there and don't let them leave this area until I get there," commanded Executioner Ezandrakh.
Chapter 8
The destroyers that interrogated James when he landed were completely emotionless and exposed no sort of human method of interrogation. They merely stated the question in the most monotone voice he could imagine and waited for a reply. These destroyers weren't letting James go about his business either. They wouldn't even let him charge his ship with the nearby energy crystals; all he had to do was press a couple of buttons. "An order has been sent out to not let you or the rest of your unit leave the area until Executioner Ezandrakh arrives at this location," said the destroyer addressing him. "Something's not right," thought James to himself, "Why can't I leave?" Then James realized that the necrons must still be looking for him; these machines must have been alerted to watch for a warrior that is unlike the rest.
His mind raced to find a file stored in his archives that would explain what to do in a situation where you must escape in a doom scythe from an unwary foe. James found a file and automatically issued the command to his soldiers silently. The silent machines slowly formed a circle around the five destroyers holding them. If they did not escape soon, this "executioner" would arrive and never let him go. He knew the odds of beating five destroyers with thirteen warriors was not good, but he had no choice; it was either do or die. His thoughts were interrupted by the sound of gauss fire from the warriors. They had already proceeded with their command and were blasting the destroyers they had surrounded. The destroyers were taken completely off guard, and they took a second to understand that they were suddenly being attacked and that with every shot a weak point in their armor was formed. The destroyers reacted with return gauss cannon fire that was almost twice as fast as the warriors' assault. Two destroyers fell and began to spark furiously. Six warriors were shot clean through the chest, leaving exposed wiring and circuitry, sparking when electricity failed to meet its destination.
The short firing period continued, and the last three destroyers fell. Nine warriors were destroyed beyond repair, and they sparked and twitched in an attempt to repair themselves. James picked up his comrades, tossed them in their separate scythes, set the ships to follow his, and started them. The destroyers were already starting to repair themselves, with gaping holes beginning to reseal and detached limbs jerking back to life. He commanded his men to get in their doomsday scythed and stay in formation as he took off in his own ship. Behind him, a more royally adorned destroyer was just arriving on the scene. As James flew off into space, he searched his archives for a place he could be safe and hide from all of his enemies.