Update! Finally! Mwahahahaha!
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Herald of the Void
By Nim Maj
A Necron Familiar Challenge Response Fic
Chapter 20: Of the Void
Halkeginia's High Council was in session. On the agenda: what to do with the force of Orks descending on their homes. The combined armies of Halkeginia: Albion, Gallia, Germania, Tristain, and Romallia could have fielded an army of over 500,000. However, with all the losses lately, the wars in Albion, Gallia, and at the Gallian Gates, that number had plummeted to a little over 350,000, Necrons not included. With an army of almost a million Orkoids, the panic was understandable.
"Maybe we can negotiate?" asked one minister.
"Hah! Negotiate with these savages? Never! They're more likely to kill the messenger for fun!"
"What about a truce? Is surrender an option? These Orks have to be smarter than the others if they use guns and machines! Surely they could be reasoned with."
"Unfortunately my lord, they live to fight. They would not consider any sort of truce unless there is someone more worthy to fight."
"What if we gave them the elves? They started this! A single elf can slay thousands of our men! Surely they would be a more worthy opponent?"
There was a rumble of assent until Henrietta cut in. "I will not hear it. The might of the elves has already been found wanting. The only reason they are coming here is because we are the greatest threat." She glared at her advisers. "They are also under MY protection. Should we reclaim it, a portion of the Holy Land will be transferred to us. Chief Thalassa has agreed to turn over the land overseen by the Neftes to me." She settled back into her throne and glared imperiously at the assembly. "I summoned you here to listen to your ideas for defending our people. I am waiting, my lords."
Louise
After the battle, Louise had lost the ability to cast even the weakest spells. She couldn't even cast a fizzle. This had been attributed to her young age, willpower reserves, and the stress of casting so many desperate explosions, depleting her of her willpower. After a week, her magic seemed to have returned, but at a weaker level than before. As such, she was given leave to study the Void.
What was the Void? That was a problem that Louise had been working on ever since the war in Albion. Herald had supplied her with materials from all over the world just so she could understand her power. If there was one thing she was good at, it was her ability to study and understand the theories behind what she was being taught.
What was the Void? It was essentially emptiness, nothingness, the absence of anything whether it be concrete or abstract. If that was the case, then why does it do what it can do? How did the Void create the current system of magic? From Brimir's Void came the elements of Fire, Water, Earth and Wind, so the legend goes. Yet for some reason, Void had disappeared for all of six thousand years, only to appear now of all times!
What was the Void? How come the spells associated with it include Dispel, Explosion, Sleep, Memory, Illusion, and others? Why isn't it elemental? There seemed to be no function it couldn't do!
What was the Void? What was it really? It was the Fifth Element, representing all the spells that did not fall under the other four common elements. But why was this so?
Having failed to obtain the answer, Louise turned to the Eastern philosophies for ideas.
First, she would study Quintessence.
Herald was busy after the first battle with the Orks. Now called the Battle of the Red Sands, Herald had been given full authority to fortify the mountains bordering Gallia and the Sahara. Herald had responded with gusto, proceeding to build Obelisks to act as waypoints for the Necron Pylons he had begun constructing. This string of fortifications would become known to the Halkeginians as the Maginot Line. The central fortress guarding the main pass to and from the Sahara was called the Hot Gates, due to the battlefield of the Red Sands just outside of it.
Mounting a Necron Power Matrix on a retractable crescent attached to a flat six-legged base, Necron Pylons were essentially mobile defense turrets. The most devastating part was the fact that Necron Pylons would phase in, blast the Orks, and then phase out only to reappear elsewhere, out of range of the Orks' weapons, but not the Pylons' Particle Accelerator, which was a scaled up Monolith Particle Whip.
The mountains had also yielded many ores and minerals that he could use to produce Necrodermis. Many new Manufactorums were created, greatly increasing his production capacity.
Herald had also obtained new souls for his army, roughly ten thousand demi-humans composed of the local orcs, goblins, ogres etc. Unfortunately Ork souls were protected by the Ork "gods" Gork and Mork. The connection between the Orks and their deities was too strong for Gauss energy to intervene, a constant sore point for the Necrons and C'tan. Fortunately Louise didn't need souls.
Still, twenty thousand versus almost a million wasn't nearly a good enough equalizer. That would put it at roughly 50 Orks for every Necron. Fortunately, two of the smaller armies seemed to have broken off and were marching to... Germania...
Warp Damn!
Germania was the home of the Black Forest! A veritable breeding ground for Ork spores if they ever made it!
"Master... orders?" Personally, Herald would have cut losses and just let Germania get invaded by the Orks. They would take a lot of them down leaving the Orks to be more easily dealt with. It's not like the next generation of Orks would be a threat for the next few decades. But Kirche was Germanian, and she was a help to them.
"Herald?"
After giving a quick rundown on the situation, Herald waited for orders.
Louise weighed the options silently for a while before giving Herald a command. "Do what you must to protect Germania. They may be barbaric, but they are better than Orks." The desert was one thing, but instituting Scorched Earth on the majority of Germania would not help Henrietta's alliance with Germania. And she couldn't look Kirche in the eye if she could do something to help her. Rivalry was all well and good, but the Orks were a matter of survival.
Acquiescing to his Master, Herald sent messages to all the big hitters. They simply had to intercept the Orks.
Honestly, if the humans were taken out of the equation Herald could simply institute a Scorched Earth policy. Unfortunately, humans couldn't live in a desolate wasteland very well.
Louise
Quintessence: the fifth element. Along with Fire, Earth, Water, and Air, it was considered an element. Of all things, it was associated with life! But associated with it were also lightning, aether, metal and wood! What the heck?
Sucking in her annoyance, she decided to go through each one, one by one, to get to the bottom of this.
Although... she wondered what Quintessence had to do with the expansion of the universe...
Thanks to the Necron's early warning they were able to intercept the Orks. One was being assaulted by Herald's Necrons while the other was being delayed by the Germanian army led by Emperor Albrecht himself. Joseph had been dispatched with a Necron Honor Guard to aid them, but they were taking heavy losses. Fortunately these Orks were equipped for fast attack and had no Gargants or Stompas.
'This was just the beginning.' Herald thought as he plunged his Staff of Light into another Ork and twisted, severing the Ork in two. Both Derflinger and Wales were also in this battle, trying to tie up the Orks, long enough for the Monoliths to do their work. Scarabs were also pouring through, occupying the Orks while Particle Whips were flung from Monoliths, blasting away at Orks. But they kept coming, and the Necron's position was a tentative one, with roughly seven-to-one odds favouring the Orks.
Derflinger simply laughed. If there was one thing Orks were good at, it was dying. And they died in droves. Holding off so he could survey his troops, they reformed their battle lines around him. "Charge!" he shouted. Leading the fray, Derflinger hurled himself against the Orks, breaking their lines as order was lost and both sides dissolved into a vicious whirling melee.
Louise
The Empire of the Rising Sun also had a Void in their elements. Really, she should have explored this earlier.
Anyway, it seemed that for them, the Void represented the "sky" or "heaven." Interestingly enough, it also stood for spirit, thought and creativity.
Void represented the ability to think, invent, and most importantly, to her, create. So maybe this was why Brimir was able to create the other elements.
"Dude... this was AWESOME!" Derflinger commented as the Orks finally withdrew. "Seriously, how many did we kill?"
Herald was silent. He knew that the number of fallen Orks was simply a drop in the ocean, and they were retreating in a somewhat orderly (for them) fashion keeping this retreat from turning into a rout. They would be back, and in greater numbers.
The other army composed of Germanians also managed to force the Orks away, but they had lost over half their army. Things... were still looking bad.
Louise
Alright, according to the Jade Empire, it wasn't the 5 elements, but rather the five states of being or phases in a continuous cycle.
Wood feeds Fire, Fire creates Earth (ash), Earth bears Metal, Metal carried Water (water condenses on metal), Water nourishes Wood.
Another way of looking at it was: Wood absorbs Water, Water rusts Metal, Metal breaks up Earth, Earth smothers Fire, Fire burns wood.
Interesting, but this didn't really help her in magic right now. Maybe after in-depth thinking she could use this to stack elements, but not right now. On to aether or ether...
"Louise..." whispered Tiffania, once again noting her friend throwing herself into her studies.
"Huh?" Louise answered. "Tiffania? What time is it." she asked as she rubbed her weariness from her eyes.
"It's getting late. You missed dinner." she answered.
"Oh..." Louise replied as she noticed a tray next to her filled with bread, cheeses, and fruit. 'Probably courtesy of Herald.' she thought.
"I guess I could call it a night." Louise said as she stretched herself.
"Would you like to join me in the bath?" Tiffania asked hesitantly.
"Hmmm, a bath sounds nice... sure. I'll just eat a little."
They were relaxing in the bath for just a short while when they were joined by others.
"Oh? If it isn't Louise!" Kirche greeted her, closely followed by Tabitha. "And Tiffania! You're here as well! Marvelous! It feels so long since we met like this."
"Kirche, Tabitha." Louise acknowledged. "How are things at the front?"
Kirche laughed, mirth evident in her tone. "We completely stonewalled them. Germania won't fall that easily!" They both settled into the bath.
"So what have you been doing?" Kirche asked.
Louise sighed. "Oh, same old same old: just continuing our research on the Void. There's just simply so much information that it's taking time." Louise cast her sight down. "With Joseph with the army and His Holiness preparing a defensive line, this is all I can do."
Herald had already made it clear that Louise was to focus on maturing into a true C'tan and focus on unlocking the secrets of the Void. He would not risk his Master in any more battles. The one exception, the Red Sands had let the Orks get really close to his Master. Too close for comfort.
"I see. Have you made any progress?"
Louise shook her head slightly. "There's just so much to cover. On top of the Void studies, Herald's making me learn a bit of Necron history." Louise groaned. "I'm filling up with so much information that I don't know where to start." She perked up as she thought of something. "Oh! I just remembered..."
Aether or ether, according to the Hellenes was the stuff "above" the earth, meaning it was associated with heaven. Also associated with it were the ideas of "space" and consciousness. Spirit was also included.
But there was an odd word here... just what was the Empyrean? And where had she heard of it before?
"Heaven." Tabitha interjected.
"Huh? Tabitha?" Kirche asked.
"Empyrean is another name for the Highest Heaven, the dwelling place of God." She clarified quietly.
"Huh, No wonder Void is considered so holy."
Louise just sighed. "Unfortunately, most of my research points to Void being vaguely defined. It's hard to pinpoint what it is exactly about. No one can seem to agree as to just what the Void is. Even Herald had an explanation!"
"Oh, what is it?"
"Emptiness. The state of being nothing. It's quite confusing. How can Void magic be about nothing?" Louise said exasperatedly.
Kirche sighed. "You know, all this talk about philosophy is boring me. I certainly don't envy your job."
"I just wish I could do more. Unfortunately that one battle took a lot out of me." Louise admitted quietly. "Now Herald's acting like a mother hen. But I can't blame him." After all that had happened, Louise respected Herald's opinion. She may have been willing to fight and die for Henrietta, but if she was useless then she would simply be a liability on the battlefield. Also, Herald had made the point of arguing for her to better prepare for the upcoming final battle as their trump card. Skirmishes the Necrons could handle. If a battle to decide the fate of Halkeginia were to arise, she needed to be ready to tip the scales in their favour. Of the Void users, her Explosion was recorded as the strongest and largest.
They lapsed into a quiet melancholy as they considered the threat to Halkeginia. They were disturbed from their thoughts however when a newcomer arrived.
A petite build, around Louise's height and with a long mop of blonde hair, blue eyes, and a smallish bust wrapped in a towel, they immediately recognized her as an elf given her long and pointed ears. Accompanying her was a slightly taller elf with a lithe form and bearing the same general features: long blonde hair, blue eyes, and small chest.
The shorter one sighed as she let her building frustration escape. Then she realized there were already people in the baths. "Oh? I hope you don't mind our presence?" she asked.
"Ah! Chief Thalassa!" Tiffania identified her.
"Oh? And who is the other one?"
The other elf gave a short bow. "Maya, Bidashal is my older brother."
"Welcome! The more the merrier, right girls?" Kirche asked cheerfully.
"Sure."
"I don't mind."
"Please join us." requested Tiffania.
After settling in, Thalassa couldn't help but notice just who her fellow bathers were. "Hmmm..." she hmmmed to herself as she stared at Louise. Noticing this, Louise addressed her.
"Yes?"
"You know, this is the first time we've met under such relaxed circumstances."
"I guess so..." Louise said, uncomfortable under the scrutiny.
"I know you are the Void mage, I witnessed your casting, so I have to ask: Who is your familiar?"
"That would be Herald of the Storm, the Grandmaster of the Deathknights."
That surprised Thalassa. "So... does that mean your familiar is higher ranked than you? You humans have such confusing titles."
Louise grew a little red. "It's... complicated, but my familiar's accomplishments are mine as well. We are viewed as one." Louise answered with a bit of a huff. "Why do you ask?"
"The Deathknights are a mystery to me. They appear to be metal men, similar to the enemies of Brimir and the Elves in the past."
"Huh?"
"You... don't know?" Thalassa asked, flabbergasted. "But I thought you knew about it? Isn't Brimir's life preached by your church?"
"Uhm... just the general parts of his life. You have to be part of the clergy to learn more. And..." she hesitated a bit, "Some of his life has passed into legend."
"I see. What about the so-called Deathknights? Their presence here is a mystery to me. Their technology far surpasses anything that exists today. Maybe even... more than the accomplishments of the elves." She admitted with a grimace. Hopefully Louise would be easier to pry the information from. Even if they were currently allies against the Orks, Thalassa had to know as much as she could about her possible enemies. And getting information out of the Empress, or worse yet the Pope, was an exercise in futility.
Louise proceeded to give the 'public' information concerning the Deathknights."Well, the Knights of Death are Brimir's eternal soldiers. They are those who gave of their souls to forever fight for humanity in the name of the Founder and of God. They are lead by three 'Lord' class Deathknights: the current Grandmaster of the Order, Herald of the Storm, the Lord of Albion, and Derflinger."
"Wait, How come Derflinger is the only one with a name?" Thalassa asked.
"Uhm... that's what Herald told me his name was... why?" answered Louise, confused at the sudden change in conversation.
"Well, he's the only one that stands out. You have Herald of the storm, and then Lord of Albion, but of them all he's the only one that has a name and not a title.
"Huh... that's weird. To be honest, I don't know. Hold on, let's ask him." Turning to nowhere in particular Louise called out, "Derflinger! Get over here!"
Moments later Derflinger phased into existence. "What is thy bidding my master?" he asked in a deep voice.
"Don't... do that. It's weird." Shaking her head to get back on track, Louise addressed Derflinger again. "Say Derf, how come you have a proper name and the other Lords only use titles?"
Derflinger was silent for a while before replying. "It's probably because I still remember my name. The name Sasha gave me."
"Huh? Who's Sasha?"
"The first Gandalfr." He answered matter-of-factly.
...
"What!" Louise screeched, eerily mirrored by the others in the bath, with Tabitha being the only exception. However even she looked up. Derflinger was the center of attention.
"You were used by the first Gandalfr? How?"
"Huh? You don't know?" asked Derflinger. "I guess you wouldn't know. But you really should have made the attempt to find out Master." Holding out the Warscythe, he asked one of them to hold on to it. After Kirche got up and took a solid grip on the Warscythe, the Necron Lord body let go of the scythe and proceeded to phase out of existence. "I'm Derflinger, the Spirit Sword that was forged by Sasha, an elf, and Brimir's familiar, the first Gandalfr. I was forged to aid her in protecting Brimir so that he could cast spells to defeat an enemy that took the combined might of the elves and humans to defeat." Derflinger followed up his introduction with a brief rundown of what he remembered. Thankfully, having a body allowed him to experience things and jog his memory some.
"But... how did you move the Lord body?" Tiffania asked when the exposition ended.
"Master?" asked Derflinger, for permission to continue.
"Uh, yeah, I've been wondering myself." Still reeling, she didn't really pay attention.
"Well I simply 'possess' the body by making contact with it. By drinking enough magic, I can use the magic to possess someone and control their body, even allowing for movement that would normally be beyond its limits." he explained. Derflinger elaborated by explaining that Necron bodies were made to be able to house souls for power generation. Necron Lords however had the added bonus of being tougher and with better power generation capabilities. Then on top of that was that Derflinger was a one-of-a kind Warscythe that had similar power gathering abilities as a Staff of Light, except that instead of releasing it in bursts of lightning, he could send it to the Necron Lord body, supplemented with his magic. The Staff of Light power collector also could be used to send extra energy into the Necron Lord's wargear. This same system simplified and facilitated Derflinger's 'possession' ability.
"Sooo... you were around when Brimir was alive?" Louise asked hopefully. "So maybe you can help me rediscover his spells?"
"Nope. You're already well on your way to making your own spells. Also, as long as you keep the Founder's Prayerbook at hand it will provide you with the necessary spell. The spells are sealed to show themselves only when you need them or if you meet certain requirements. Besides, neither you nor the other Void mages are anywhere near Brimir's level. He divided his power unequally between the four of you."
"What? So then it's pointless?"
"Nope. You just have to use what you've got. Both power and ability is divided unevenly between you. You excel in explosions, while Tiffania has access to memory spells. Vittorio can do World Door but it is tiring. Joseph has a far weaker explosion than yours, but is more accurate." Derflinger further explained. "Each familiar complements their respective Void mage. Also, when all four familiars are summoned, and brought together with the four treasures and the four rings, Brimir's true power will be available to you."
"We know about the later part, but what about the last familiar, Tiffania's?" Louise queried. "We know the other familiars have titles like 'Gandalfr', the Left Hand of God, 'Windalfr', the Right Hand of God, and 'Myoznitnirn', the Mind of God... so what's the name of the last one and how come Tiffania hasn't been able to summon one yet?"
Tiffania cast down her head in shame. Despite being able to cast spells, the Familiar summoning ceremony continuously failed for her. The Pope had long known that gathering the four familiars, users, treasures, and rings would unleash the true power of the Void. However, to this day, no familiar had been summoned by Tiffania, the Void mage of Albion. This confirmed the Pope's conclusion that certain conditions had not yet been met concerning the last and arguably the most powerful of Brimir's familiars.
"Ah... I forget the name but the title of the last familiar is 'the Heart of God.'" Derflinger answered. "The Heart of God is quite possibly the most powerful of Brimir's familiars for two reasons: tehe first is that the Heart of God can use some Void magic, and second is because the Heart of God is a vessel for willpower, to be used for the strongest and most devastating spells. I think Brimir used the Heart of God to destroy an entire civilization overnight."
"W-w-what? How is that possible?" Everyone leaned in to hear Derflinger.
"The Heart of God could use Void magic because she was a vessel for the willpower needed to cast the strongest Void spells. Brimir simply filled the Heart of God with willpower..." Derflinger paused at this to add suspense, "and caused her to explode, wiping out the enemy of elves and humans alike."
A horrified silence descended on them.
"H-h-how can this be? That's... too cruel." choked a tearing up Kirche.
"I-if... this foe was truely... implacable... I can see why they certainly thought to... resort to such... measures." said a shaken Thalassa.
"Yup. But Tiffania, the biggest problem is that the Heart of God is prone to abuse. The master of the Heart of God could simply summon just anyone to be used as a living bomb. Brimir didn't want the Heart of God to be sacrificed so vainly. So Brimir made it so that there would be a condition to summoning the Heart of God."
"Y-yes?" Asked Tiffania timidly.
"The Heart of God has to be someone you are in love with."
Tiffania fainted. "WHAT?" the girls shrieked in outrage.
"Yup. To prevent the Heart of God from being abused, if you wish to use the most powerful Void magics, you must sacrifice the one you love. That is the condition Brimir imposed." Derflinger began to explain. "Brimir's safeguard was this: one who cannot love cannot obtain ultimate power. To ensure that the ultimate power could not be misused, your loved one is to be sacrificed. If you cannot make that sacrifice, then the power is denied to you. Onlhy a willing sacrifice by the Heart of God will allow the Void mage to cast the strongest spells and defeat their enemy. And to do so, the Void mage must be ready and willing to sacrifice the one they love. This is to ensure that the power of the Heart of God would only be used for selfless purposes." Derflinger intoned respectfully.
Everyone was reeling with the knowledge they had learned in this bath.
Kirche could respect the sacrifice of the Heart of God, but resolved to never let it get that far. She would do all in her power to protect those precious to her so that a sacrifice would never be necessary.
Tabitha was quiet, but felt pity for the well-meaning half-elf, Tiffania. She was a nice girl who was very accommodating of others and had a big heart. Who couldn't feel at ease around her?
Thalassa couldn't help but feel shock and disgust at the lengths that Brimir went to win. And she questioned just how far Sasha, a fellow elf went to help him. Had the sacrifice of the Heart of God been the only way? Were the metal men really that strong? She couldn't help but feel sorrow for the unknown sacrifice.
Maya was feeling uncomfortable with the recent revelations. She was just supposed to protect Thalassa not get involved in politics and digging up the dirty secrets of that Devil Brimir. She pitied the half-elf who had fainted as she tried to rouse her. An immense burden weighed on her shoulders.
Louise... didn't know what to think. Brimir did some horrible things but he seemed to realize how evil they were and safeguarded against them. On the other hand, she couldn't help but feel angry at the safeguards that he installed. And in the end, they had some strong circumstantial evidence that Brimir was a C'tan, the Deceiver no less! Which meant that everything he did was circumspect. Everything was finally piling up.
"I can't believe it." Louise muttered. "One of my knights is a six thousand year old sword wielded in the defense of the Founder, whom he revealed to be some kind of twisted... hero!" She said while ending in hysteria. She began ranting on the unfairness of the world. Derflinger just seemed to find them amusing.
"Really Master, it's not as if I'm the oldest being around. Heck even Herald is older than me."
"Uhm... yeah, that's... right." Louise said, not comfortable with the direction the conversation was going, but not liking where it was either. Detecting weakness, Derflinger pressed on.
"Master... how old do you think Herald is?" he asked innocently.
"Uhm... really old?" Louise hesitantly answered.
"According to my research... he's over 60 million years old." Derflinger corrected in an emotionless tone.
Louise's eye began twitching. "Eh...?"
Derflinger sighed. "Master... you haven't realized... have you. You know... but you don't quite understand."
"N-n-no way. I knew he was old but... 60 MILLION?" she screeched. "No way in hell!"
"Master..." began Derflinger, trying to be reasonable. "The War in Heaven was around 60 million years ago. I did the number crunch." That and he checked the staus reports Herald had based on sensor readings of Medusa's sun. "In the intervening time, the Eldar Empire rose and fell before we began waking up. You remember the Eldar don't you? The short-eared elves?"
Louise nodded, speechless.
"Each Eldar can live for thousands of years before succumbing to old age, a part of the design they inherited from the Old Ones, their creators. But, the strongest Eldar can reach tens of thousands of years by the time they reach their prime. How long do you think it would take for an empire populated by such beings to both rise and fall?"
"But... but..." she sputtered.
"And then take the C'tan. Do you know how old they are?" Derflinger pressed.
"Older than... the Old Ones?" she weakly answered.
Derflinger was quiet for a bit. "Huh... allow me to explain in terms you can understand." Derflinger began. "In the beginning, God created the Heavens and the Earth right?"
"Yes... according to the Church."
"Well, the C'tan were there."
"Huh? They were where?"
"Master, if God created the Heavens and the Earth, the C'tan were there... watching it happen. They have existed since the beginning of the universe." 'and you are their heir." he added mentally.
"Wait! What's this about a War in Heaven, Old Ones, and C'tan?" asked a confused Thalassa.
'Oh crap!' everyone in on the secret of the Necrons thought.
Later
Herald studied a certain marker on the holofield display. It represented a large unknown force of Orks. Somehow, they had discovered all of his Scarabs and destroyed them before they could transmit any intelligence reports. From what could be observed from afar, the vanguard seemed to have plenty of anti-air capabilities, so sending TombRaiders was out. Herald was also hesitant in dispatching his only two Dirge-class Raiders. Long-range reconnaissance revealed little about the composition of the force. But two things were clear... Immaterium activity was high, and it was heading for the Maginot Line.
"Redy?"
Gorgutz smiled predatorily and nodded. Madork closed his eyes and sent a message.
'WAAAGH...'
Jerking at the telepathic signal, warpheads at the vanguard of the army raised their staffs as one and roared. "WAAAGH!"
The cry was picked up by their neighboring Orks. "WAAAGH!" they echoed. As one, they charged the Hot Gates.
Pylons phased into existence, beginning to charge up in order to break the Orks' advance. Before the Orks, a pure black gate made of Necrodermis barred their path.
There was a flash of light as Hell's fury was unleashed...
"What the frakking hell?" shouted a stunned Derflinger in Sheol's command room, drawing the attention of everyone there to the screen they had been observing the battle with. After a while a connection was made...
The Hot Gates were simply gone. A trench had been dug from one end of the mountain pass straight through a mountain and stopped somewhere in Gallia. It didn't matter. Now only a chokepoint existed between the Orks and The Holy Halkeginian Empire.
Henrietta arrived just as Derflinger was asking Herald a question. "Boss... just what was that?"
Before Herald answered, the Immaterial field blocking the Ork army from detection disappeared. Sensors were directed at the heart of the Ork Waaagh. Everyone was stunned by what they saw.
True, the Ork Gargants were large and powerful, but Gargants were built to be relatively short and squat when compared to other Titans, focusing on being stable and hard to knock down. But the largest Gargant only came up to the waist of the Titan at the center of the Orks' formation.
They were all still holding their breath.
Derflinger correlated the data at hand with past records.
It only vaguely resembled its once noble form. With all the Orkish modifications, only its size gave a clue to what it once was.
"Oh... well shit."
"Is that... a castle on its back?" Henrietta asked faintly.
An Imperator Titan.
Orkified.
"Mordakka." The Ork Kaptin said.
It was such a simple yet elegant name. Mordakka: More Dakka.
"Mordakka." The Kaptin repeated before roaring. "MORDAKKA!"
His crew shouted their approval. "Mordakka!"
"Mordakka!"
"Mordakka!"
"Mor Dakka!"
And the building chant was carried throughout the Titan.
"Mordakka! Mordakka"
It spread, infecting the Orks milling around near the feet when they heard the chanting.
"Mordaka! Mordakka! Mordakka!"
The Orks of the vanguard took up the call, even stopping their charge as they demanded for more dakka.
"Mordakka! Mordakka! Mordakka!" the chant grew, all Orks joining as one as they shouted.
"Mordakka! Mordakka! Mordakka!"
The Kaptin's hand slammed on a red, glass-covered button... and Mordakka responded. On the back, hatches opened up, exposing row after row of missiles. Cannons, bolters, and anything that could fire, all of many shapes and sizes that had been haphazardly attached to the towering monstrosity in order to give it the firepower to back up its namesake began to point at the phased in Pylons that were suddenly in range. As escort, fifty Gargants opened fire. Just because they wanted to.
A mountain ceased to exist, and the remains of the Hot Gates of the Maginot Line were engulfed in flames.
Derflinger tilted his head in Herald's direction. "You must construct additional Pylons."
"Is there no other way?" Henrietta asked quietly.
"None your Highness." replied a grim-faced Vittorio.
With the Orks poised to enter Gallia unimpeded, Henrietta called for options. Fighting them head on would result in a loss. Abandoning Halkeginia for the New World Herald had discovered would only buy them time. True there was an ocean between the continents, but there was a reason why the Orks had gills, not to mention they could simply build transports. Not enough time would be bought. Also, the evacuation would be slow and likely to be overrun. Herald could evacuate his Master, but she would probably overrule him.
Louise was quickly ushered in to the throne room. Kneeling before her Queen, she asked, "What do you ask of me your Highness?"
Henrietta choked on what she was about to ask. "Louise Francois Le Blanc de La Valliere, it is the request of the crown that you ascend to the heights of your predecessor, the Founder Brimir."
Louise looked up at her best friend in shock. "Princess?" she asked faintly.
Henrietta stood up from her throne and knelt down on both knees in front of Louise. Pulling her into a tight hug, she simply held her before elaborating. "We have no recourse. None have the power to face the Machine God that is poised to enter Gallia."
Mordakka had not moved from its position. It was the opinion of the War Council that the Orks would rest a day before moving in to loot and kill. It was also quite possibly a taunt to the Halkeginians. The message it sent was: "We could walk over you right now and there's nothing you can do about it."
"I'm so sorry Louise." Henrietta's voice sounded leaden. "If only we had the technology to fight them. If only we had more time to prepare. If only... we were stronger." She pulled back to look straight into Louise's eyes. Henrietta's eyes watered with restrained tears. "As it stands, we can't beat them in time. By the time the last Ork is slain, Halkeginia will be reduced to ashes and ruins. Every last person will be dead. The only survivors would probably be the Knights of Death." Henrietta hugged Louise again as she continued the bleak report."There is only one way to defeat them. Their Machine God, Mordakka, has to be destroyed." She pulled away again to look into Louise's eyes. "There is only one way. Only a god can defeat a god."
Henrietta was saying goodbye to her friend. After this, who knows what would happen? Would things remain the same? How could they relate, if she was an Empress, but her best friend was something more? Henrietta couldn't help but blame herself for forcing her best friend to this. The entire population of Halkeginia, a few million people, would survive with the sacrifice of a single person. If they were to survive, Louise would have to lose her humanity.
Louise would have to become divine.
She would have to become a C'tan.
Henrietta hugged her friend tightly. "I'm so sorry." She finally wept.
After farewells were said, Louise turned to address Herald. "So Herald, how are we going to do this?"
Leading the way out of Sheol, Herald stopped at the a safe distance from the mountain that housed the Tomb City. Turning them around he gestured at the mountain."Behold... Master... the key... to your... Apotheosis."
The earth trembled. Pebbles on the ground jumped as something immense moved. Before them, they could see the mountain breaking up as cracks appeared on the surface. Parts appeared to flake of from the distance they viewed the spectacle. From beneath the stone, the black color of Necrodermis began poking out. As more and more stone was replaced with the living metal now taking its place, they noticed it rise.
Sheol was revealing itself.
By the time the transformation was done, a pyramid stood before them, flat-topped, crowned by what seemed to be an altar, and made of pure Necrodermis.
"So that's where you were putting it all..." commented Derflinger.
All those who saw the history of the Necron recognized what they were looking at. They had seen it once before, in action, giving rise to Gods.
A Starlight Bridge.
Before the Ork Army, a Necron Lord phased into existence. It was decked out in full wargear: Gaze of Flame, Chronometron, Advanced Phase Shifter, Veil of Darkness, Nightmare Shroud, and other items from the Necron Forbidden Archive. In its right hand was a Warscythe. Its left hand glowed with mysterious runes.
"Tremble,... Orks... and despair. I... am Herald... Herald... of..."
"...the Void." finished a different voice coming from the Warscythe.
"It... has come..." the Lord continued.
"The True Beginning."
"The... Ultimate... End."
Above and behind the figure the sky darkened and was split in two. The sky turned into a broiling mixture of red and black colors, vying for supremacy. But dividing the sky in two horizontally was a band of purest blackness, one that seemed to devour the light, except for a single glittering light in the midst of the blackness. It appeared to be a single star, gleaming in the Void, before even the stars and planets were formed... like a Star of Creation, glowing with the first light, bearing witness to the birth of the universe...
...
...
...
It was also Pink.
Within the Empyrean, the more... theological... term for the Immaterium, the being whose plans had just come to fruition let loose a fanged grin.
OMAKE – Vacation (Thank Lord Sia for this!)
"Herald, you've been working hard. Why don't you take a vacation?" his master had asked.
"My place... is at... your... side." He replied.
"Oh come on, this is a direct order. Go take a vacation!"
So he had.
Earth 20XX A.D., Honolulu, Hawaii
"Uhm... can I help you sir?" the receptionist asked the black robot in front of her. It had a straw hat and wore khakis and a red and yellow Hawaiian print shirt.
"Vacation... one... room... please."
"Errr... right away sir."
OMAKE – Copyright (Me and Lord Sia)
"Hey your highness," Derflinger taunted. "I thought you said 'Resistance is futile'?"
Derflinger looked down at the Borg Queen. She could only glare at her tormentor. Without actually doing it, Derflinger seemed to smirk. He lowered himself to point at his prone target and let loose a blast of Gauss energy vaporizing the Queen. "Hmmm."
"Note to Herald: File for Copyright, from now on, 'Resistance is futile' is our catchphrase. Send message." Derflinger seemed to get more jovial.
Deciding to test it out on the remaining Borg, he spoke, "We are the Necrons. Lower your shields and surrender your ships. Your souls will serve our Dark Goddess. Your Empire will fuel our warmachine. Resistance. Is. Futile."
OMAKE – Sixes
"Mortal, do you have any idea how old I am?" Derflinger asked, moving closely to project an intimidating aura.
"Uh... no?"
"I am over six thousand years old. Do you know how old my Boss is?"
The man shook his head.
"He's over sixty million. And our Master?"
"Six... trillion?" he answered hesitantly.
"No. Sixteen."
The man paled. "Sixteen trillion?" he gasped.
"No, just sixteen." Derflinger replied nonchalantly as he stepped back, done messing with his victim.
OMAKE
"Boss! Boss! Quick!"
"Whaaat...?" Herald asked, dragging out the word.
"We have to buy Yamaha!"
"Whyyy...?"
"They own Vocaloid! I'm in Love!" Derflinger answered.
One of Herald's eyes flickered on and off vaguely reminiscent of the effects of a facial tick.
OMAKE
Derflinger sighed. "So Boss, what are we collecting now?"
"Rings..."
That got Derflinger's attention. "Huh? Rings? Whatever for?"
"Rings... of Power." Herald proceeded to break down the plan. "Three... Rings... for the Elven-kings... under... the sky, Seven... for the Dwarf-lords... in their halls... of stone, Nine... for Mortal Men... doomed to die, One... for the Dark Lord... on his dark throne. We... are getting... all... of them."
"Hmmm... sounds interesting. Where to first?"
"First... the Grey Havens... then northwest... to the Blue Mountains... followed by... southwest... to Rivendell..."
"Oh... don't kill... hobbits. Master... thinks... they're cute."
A.N.
Update! Finally! Mwahahahaha!
I am so sorry that this is over a month late. I had trouble getting around to writing ever since I discovered a somewhat older game Sins of a Solar Empire. I also got involved in my older brother's insistence on playing Diablo II again, probably since he's eagerly waiting Diablo III. Aside from that, I finished summer school, got pretty good grades, was given a furlough, and enrolled in college again to obtain the units necessary for a teacher's license which I might be able to take in October.
Ah well, expect the next chapter to come within the week, including the 1st chapter of Void Tyrant.
I hope the Omakes can tide you over!
Finally, the Omake Contest!
I am holding an Omake contest. The scenario: scenes from Herald of the Void or future crossovers for the Herald of the Void cast, before they meet the Imperium. As some of you have surmised by now, World Door allows passage to Earth... among other things. So what other universes (read: Anime, Manga, Games, etc.) do you think they would visit and affect? Also a favorite theme of mine: Cultural Contamination:
Derflinger: "Alright chums, let's do this! LEEEROOOOOOOY JEEEENNNKKKKIIIIIINNNNSSSS!"
Write it. Winners get an honorable mention in the Omake chapter at the end of this story (meaning I will publish it and credit you, along with my other Omakes).
Assume that there is a city-sized Tomb-ship, the Dark Eternal and at least 20,000 Necrons aside from whatever stuff they've picked up on their journey. And there is a reason, coming soon, for their journey.
Don't forget that I want funny omakes, and not serious ones. Please make it funny but believable, ie. it stands a chance of happening.
Please take note that I will be judging and editing. It would be best if you include the universe you crossover just in case I don't get the joke. I don't have the time to know everything about everything.
ENTERING THIS CONTEST MEANS THAT YOU GIVE ME PERMISSION TO REPRINT YOUR OMAKE IN THE EVENT OF MY APPROVAL.
There may be several winners but I will save the best for last!
The End is in sight! For this Arc at least!