(I changed my mind a lot on this chapter, but in the end I believe I took it down the appropriate route. One possibility in particular served as a great temptation for me. Trope of the Day: Gilded Cage, just because you are living in luxury does not mean you are a prisoner.)
Inquisitor Clark's Journal Entry-Old One Studies Part 2
The N'Tac and C'Tan fought their final battle in the Mortis system, a battle of will and energy. During the battle both the planet and the sun of Mortis was affected by the terrible energies unleashed, with the newly sentient life being warped and twisted by the unleashed energy dispersal's Their sun became permanently unstable and radioactive, infused with the energies of the dueling groups. At the end of this epic showdown, the surviving C'Tan were driven to the edges of the galaxy, to lick their wounds and plot their revenge. They had been crippled and weakened by the N'Tac, a situation they couldn't get around until many millenia later when they gained their necrodermis bodies and devoured the souls of the Necrontyr. The N'Tac were too shocked by the devastation they had wreaked upon the inhabitants of Mortis. The second physical sentient life in the galaxy had been twisted and tortured by their careless use of their great power, they would never be able to recover or realize their full potential. The N'Tac had robbed them of long peaceful healthy lives, instead condemning them to short and miserable existences, even if they left their home system the damage was too deep for them to ever be free from their suffering. They had taken great pride in their guidance of the Slann, who in time would be confused with them, but here they had ruined the existence of an innocent and young race. The N'Tac were now faced with a difficult question, do they put this young race out of its misery, or do they leave them alone in order to do them no more harm?
Nathaniel was sitting on a miniature throne next to the Phaeron's throne, and together they were watching the advancing forces of the Horkhesh Dynasty, led by her daughters. A few months had passed since their introduction and the Imperial, Eldar, and Tau forces were not doing well. Quara and Reta were making good progress, but Andra had run into some trouble. She had been aggressively pushing back the Eldar, but now the Eldar had unleashed an Avatar of Khaine upon her forces, which had single handedly blunted her offensive and was smashing his way through her warriors and immortals. The Comm Drone attached to Andra's retinue was having a heck of a time keeping up with the hectic Andra.
"Coward, come and face me in single combat, do not waste your time on my underlings." The Avatar catches sight of her and moves toward her.
"Princess, are you sure this is a good idea, wouldn't it be wiser to move back and destroy it with concentrated fire?" Her Vargard asks.
"Wiser maybe, but it would be a serious breach of my martial honor." She steps forward and prepares to fight the Avatar. "Fiery Eldar giant, I am Princess Andra of the Horkhesh Dynasty, Regent of the planet Pathos, youngest daughter of Phaeron Cleandra, and wielder of the Staff of Perdition. May you die with honor by my hand." The Avatar raises its blade in a salute and charges forward. Andra aims her staff at the arm of the Avatar holding the wailing doom and burns it off with its dark flames. "The flames from my staff are so powerful that no ordinary fire can stand against it. You see Nutera, this beast is no match for my might."
The Avatar picks her up with its remaining bloody hand with the heat emanating from it seeking to ignite her, to no effect. "My armor was designed not only to withstand physical abuse, but to protect me the fiery weapons of my enemies." The Avatar begins crushing Andra's body, which proves to be far more effective. Her Vargard quickly moves in and strikes at the Avatars leg with her war scythe, trying to chop it off to no affect. The Avatar throws Andra into a stone pillar, and Nutera rushes over to her.
"Vargard Nutera, is my daughter alright?" The Phaeron decides to communicate via the Comm Drone.
"She is fine but she is badly injured, she needs to be sent back to Pathos to heal."
"I can still fight, he just sucker-punched me, that's all." She would come off as being braver if she wasn't a mangled wreck. She is teleported back to Pathos to heal. The Avatar is still on its rampage, stomping on and tossing aside the Lychguard even with their dispersion shields like they were rag dolls. Vargard Nutera decides to act.
"Monoliths, Doomsday Arks, and all remaining forces, open fire upon that beast, take it down." The four monoliths and three doomsday arks that had moved up to aid the Princess unleash everything they have upon the Avatar. The remaining warriors and immortals also open fire, hitting it on all sides. The Avatar is taking heavy damage but is still managing to stand and move forward. Almost as if on cue, a flight of Doom Scythes come out of the sky and begin strafing the Avatar. Finally after what seemed forever, the Avatar goes down and stays down, completely spent. "The Avatar has been destroyed but we have incurred substantial casualties, it may take awhile for everyone to get back up."
"Hopefully Andra has learned her lesson, and the Eldar have learned a lesson about challenging us on our own turf." Phaeron Cleandra presses a few buttons on her throne to bring up the image of Overlady Goronna. "Goronna, Andra will be out of commission for awhile, I transfer command over to you for the duration of this campaign, reclaim this world of ours by any means necessary."
"Gladly your magnificence, but we may have a small problem." She brings up a beaten and bruised Eldar Autarch. "This fellow is a volunteer from the Biel-Tan Craftworld; he claims that this world belongs to his people."
"This is a maiden world, crafted millenia ago by our greatest scientists to serve as a paradise for our people; we will not tolerate your trespassing." Even in defeat, the Eldar is still defiant.
"I am afraid you are mistaken Eldar," Phaeron Cleandra actually seems upset, "the world you are currently on, belongs to my people. It belonged to us over 60 million years. It was given to my daughter as a part of her birthright. You are the one's trespassing, you who in your arrogance sought to take from us what is ours. You who transgress upon the sovereign territory of my dynasty with irrelevant claims you never had the right to make. We will reclaim "our" worlds from you arrogant little upstarts who seek to seize what you never held any genuine claim to. Goronna, send him to slave processing, let's see if he can come to see reason." Nathaniel is almost actually feeling some sympathy for the Eldar, almost.
"It will be done my Phaeron." With that the screen is turned off and another one is brought up, this one in Tau territory, on the Mal'Tai Sept world, the only genuine Sept world in Tau occupied Horkhesh territory, the other worlds only having minor settlements and observation posts. The Comm Drone is Reta's as her forces are being overwhelmed by a withering barrage of Tau weaponry. Only her and her Lychguard are left, and even they are taken out from behind by a large group of Tau stealth-suits, leaving only Reta.
They are about to finish her off when Reta lifts up her arms and says, "I surrender, I wish to meet with your leader so that we may discuss a cessation of hostilities."
Phaeron Cleandra lets out a soft chuckle. "Reta may not be the greatest of commanders, but she is quite the skilled diplomat."
They place her in their devilfish and take her back to their base, the Comm Drone disguising itself as a body decoration in order to avoid detection. The firewarriors escorting her seem nervous, but professional. The bring her out directly into the center of the Tau camp, where all of their communications and supplies are located, along with their Ethereal. Nathaniel wanted to scream at the Tau for being such trusting, naive, little morons.
"Princess Reta, Regent of the planet Ethos, I am happy to see that you have come to see reason. I am sure that you will find that submitting the Greater Good will bring you true liberation. Perhaps you can even convince your mother of her folly."
"You seem mistaken, I am not here to surrender, I am her to make you see reason and to either leave sovereign Horkhesh territory or submit to our rule."
"I don't understand, you surrendered to my men."
"I surrendered to them for the duration of that battle, I have not surrendered to you for the duration of this campaign."
"You seem mistaken, you are unarmed surrounded by my men, you cannot do anything."
"Is that so?" She reaches into her dress and pulls out her fans. As she opens them she sends out an EMP blast that shuts down all of the Tau technology. "I could not use my fans with my own troops nearby, I had to get behind enemy lines, right to the heart of my enemies command center so I could shut down their communications, and to kill their leader." Reta then begins moving with unnatural speed and agility, only the primitive Kroot weapons are still functioning and they repeatedly miss her. As she waves and twirl her fans she sends out bolts of eldritch lightning and waves of energy that tear the Tau apart and smash their vehicles. The Ethereal tries to run for it but Reta quickly catches him. In the background they hear screams as the now defenseless Tau in the base camp are overwhelmed by the Necron forces. "I believe we were discussing terms of surrender, Ethereal."
"I surrender, I surrender."
"I will make sure to relay that message to your troops." With that she she grabs him by the neck and snap in in half, the remaining Tau give up in despair while the Kroot stubbornly fight on.
"A Necron should not be able to move like that." Nathaniel was still in shock over what he had seen.
"Don't tell your sister that, she is quite proud of her body. Now let's see how Quara is doing." She shuts off Reta's screen and brings up one showing Quara and Miragera standing together.
"Mother, I am happy to see you."
"My Phaeron" Miragera replies.
"What news on your end, Andra and Reta has effectively won their campaigns, I hope, how do you fare."
"Sadly not as well, these humans are quite stubborn with a wide variety of troops and equipment at their disposal. Applying what I learned from their Codex Astartes, I had pushed back their Space Marines, only to have a horde of howling hairy men and giant wolves, apparently they don't follow the Codex, appear out of nowhere and ruin my plans. I killed the Ultramarines captain only to have a Space Wolf Captain punch me in the face and send me flying. If it wasn't for Miragera using her powers of illusion to save me, I would have been destroyed."
"Thank you for saving my daughter Miragera."
"It is my duty and my honor to serve our dynasty"
"Do not worry mother, I will quickly defeat these Space Wolves and secure our dominance over our realm." With that she moves to lead her troops directly.
"Miragera, she is lying to me, isn't she?"
"She is, she is too proud to admit when she is outmatched. Things were going well until these Space Wolf marines show up, now I am not so sure. They have caught us off guard and have completely revitalized the Imperial defenders. Whats the point of studying the enemies own rule book when the enemy refuses to read it?"
"It must be frustrating, though we knew from the start that the Imperium would be the toughest foe. They have the most to lose from our resurgence, the Eldar and Tau barely had any presence on our worlds, but the Imperials had really built up on our worlds. Do you have any more problems?"
"Yes my Phaeron, we have a more serious problem at hand."
"What problem are you speaking of?"
"These Imperials have completely destroyed one of our fringeworlds, Annax, unleashing an "exterminatus" upon it. On the bright side we have managed to hold our lines and have blunted their offensive, for now."
"Wait, they wiped out a fringeworld, completely?"
"Yes Phaeron, apparently there was little Imperial presence upon that world and it was their way of showing just how far they will go to win this conflict."
"Who commanded this on their side?"
"You know that Inquisitor whose ship was captured a few weeks ago, apparently the losses she has suffered has made her very desperate and vengeful."
"Do you know her locations?"
"Yes, she has taken up residence on the Imperial Capital Ship, the Spirit of Man, currently in orbit around our world of Portex."
"Good, I will have the crypteks connect me to them. Good luck with our campaign and may victory be ours. Thank goodness their ship is in the range of Portex's communication signal, otherwise I wouldn't be able to pull this off." She presses a few buttons on their throne, and in a couple of minutes another screen opens, revealing itself to be on the bridge of the Capital Ship, with Inquisitor Wei, Farseer Marltona, and an Imperial Admiral busy talking with each other. The crewmen manning the monitor freaks out when he sees Cleandra appear. "Would you be so kind as to inform your commanders that I would like to speak with them?" The crewman faints, forcing Cleandra to let out a sigh. "I am Phaeron Cleandra, supreme ruler of the Horkhesh Dynasty and Regent of Nefertitia, the gem of the Horkhesh Dynasty. I demand that you parlay with me at this moment."
Inquisitor Wei, Farseer Marltona, and the admiral all look on in shock as they see the Phaeron. "How did you hack my ship?" The admiral appears to be quite annoyed by this.
"Hacking may not be the right term, I merely used the communications station on Portex to connect with your communications system." The three make their way over to the communications station, with Inquisitor Wei looking on in shock and then relief and finally confusion when she see's Nathaniel alive and well.
"Nathaniel, your alive, why are you dressed like that and in the throne room of the Phaeron?"
"I do not know this Nathaniel you are speaking of, but you will see my long lost son Mortek next to me, his attendant Trianna should be by shortly to serve him lunch."
"What does Trianna giving me lunch have to do with anything." He uses this conversation to cover up his hand gesture message for the Inquisitor. "I am fine, the Phaeron is crazy, I am currently looking into escape strategies, though there are no good ones at this point."
"Be patient, I will do everything in my power to get you out." She replies back with her own hand gestures.
"You mentioned my protégé Trianna, what have you done with her?"Farseer Marltona is quite interested now.
"She is finding new purpose in life as a slave of the Horkhesh Dynasty; she is quite the skilled dancer and singer." Marltona's face turns a lovely shade of scarlet at hearing this.
"What do you want with us Phaeron?" Inquisitor Wei decided to keep things to the point.
"I have been informed that you have destroyed a world of mine, this is unacceptable behavior in civilized warfare. To help press home the point, I will destroy ten Imperial worlds to demonstrate that if you insist on barbarity, I will be forced to lower myself to your level." Phaeron Cleandra presses a few more buttons and sends the list of worlds over for them to read. A look of horror appears upon Inquisitor Wei's face.
"Why is New Tian on this list?"
"It is easily accessible through our Dolmen gates, and its sparse population due to recent settlement should make its loss minimal, reinforcing our desire to engage with commerce with your Imperium once this tragic state of affairs is over with."
"The inhabitants of that world are refugees; their original home was devoured by Tyranids, you can't just wipe them out."
"Why should their loss affect you more than the loss of a more heavily industrialized and settled world?"
"The inhabitants of that world are my people."
"So you would willingly sacrifice another more vital Imperial world due to sentimental connections with your people, by the ancient Gods you disgust me. Why are your people more valuable than the people of other worlds, worlds with established industries, agricultures, and larger populations?"
"That isn't what I meant?"
"But it is what you implied with your words and reaction."
"Please, I beg you; don't destroy any of these worlds."
"Too late, you have already made it clear that you only care about New Tian, the rest of humanity be damned." The Phaeron pauses for a moment to contemplate. "You know what, it seems to me that I have made my point, but that still leaves the loss of my world unavenged. I know, I will only destroy New Tian, that way the Imperium doesn't lose too much, your lesson is reinforced, and my people receive their vengeance. I will make sure the viewing screens are turned unto the spectacle, please enjoy the show."
Nathaniel acts almost without thinking. "Wait mother, I implore you to spare the world of this pitiful woman, it is quite clear she has learned her lesson, there is no need for any further bloodshed." Nathaniel quickly moves in order to save the Tianese people. "We seek to show these primitive being that we are the superior species, how would sinking to their level prove that. I beg you to show mercy to the innocent inhabitants of New Tian, who had no part in this Inquisitors dishonorable behavior."
"Why Mortek, this is quite the change of pace for you, I can see that you definitely have mellowed out over the years, there was once a time when you would have demanded that I destroy 100 worlds in retaliation." She stared intently back up at Inquisitor Wei. "Consider yourself lucky, due to my love for my son I will honor his request and I will spare New Tian, on one condition."
"Name that condition." Inquisitor Wei is no longer on the verge of tears but is still apprehensive.
"You surrender yourself over to me so that you may face the consequences of your actions."
"I accept your condition, on the further condition that my young student Nathaniel Clark, who is in the custody of your Dynasty, be allowed to go free."
"If your student is in the custody of my Dynasty, I see no reason why I shouldn't let him go, though I have not heard anything about this yet. Perhaps Quara knows who you are talking about; we will talk it over when she gets back. I request that you have a shuttle transport you to Logos, from there you will be brought here to face the consequences of your actions."
"My retinue is dead and my reputation destroyed, if by sacrificing myself I can guarantee the safety of my people and the release of my student I will gladly do so." Nathaniel is shocked by the news that the entire retinue is dead, his family almost completely wiped out by the Horkhesh Dynasty.
"Perhaps you are more noble than I gave you credit for?"
Nathaniel is left wondering what punishment the Phaeron has in store for the Inquisitor, and whether or not he will be able to go free?
Footnotes
I know of only one Phaeron so far that has successfully achieved apotheosis into a new body, unfortunately it's the one I know personally.