The night before had been restless and his sleep unpleasant. Max had awoken ahead of his alarm by an uncomfortable margin not by his own alarm, but by the repeated thumps against his door. Rolling himself out of bed and almost on to the floor, he shambled towards his door. His blurry sleep vision hadn't faded by the time he opened it and was very close to stepping on the Land Raider that was bumping its ramp against the very bottom of his bedroom door. Some large congregation had formed outside his door with Max able to make out a few flyers and vehicles. He couldn't tell for sure, half his mind was still asleep and he had an inkling that something happened last night but he could barely remember.
"Sir Maximas there is a-"
"Mon-keigh! We believe you sho-"
"Gue'vesa'o! One of our-"
Slam
Max threw his door shut in a swift push. It was too early for this, too early for him to even try to deal with this level of bullshit. He half hearted blurted about giving himself a second through the wooden door as he lumbered towards the master bath. After trying to drown himself in a handful of tap water to wash up and cracking open the bottle of mouthwash to save time, Max found himself back again behind the door. With a deep breath, he readied himself a little and opened the door to the crowd of tiny soldiers. All of these were somewhere between mildly perplexed and moderately annoyed depending on race and station. "Okay, one at a time please..." Max's eyes saw the steady figure of Aun'Phai hover on top of some sort of drone palanquin, "Aun'Phai, you first."
"Thank you Gue'vesa'o." the Ethereal floated up on his palanquin, ignoring the glares from the other faction leaders, "Last night, scouts of the Am'Yun Expedition were peacefully exploring the interior grounds of your gracious estate. However, their mission went awry. Through a chain of events, they are now being kept in Imperial custody after being rescued by one of their transports."
"It wasn't peaceful exploration, it was armed reconnaissance! Your scouts undertook an act of hostility that breached the armistice agreement we all swore xenos!" General Bragana shouted from the top of the Chimea, waving his sword in the air, "Sir Maximas, at 0314 hours last night, we lost contact with some of our own recon units for a short duration. After reestablishing contact, they claimed to have been shot at by Tau infiltrators and another unidentified force with two guardsmen missing in action and one confirmed as KIA."
"General, the only way your troops could have been fired upon would be if they were on the ground floor. In the same armistice agreement, I thought you and your allies had promised to keep your operations and personnel on the second floor. I was given reports that it was one of your men who shot first."
Bragana's lip pursed, causing him to whistle as he sucked air into his tense lungs. He stared daggers at the floating xenos who had the faintest hint of smugness on his stupid blue face. It was impossible to deny the reports and the mission did break the agreement. At the same time, he didn't want to expose his goals behind the mission. The general also refused to throw his subordinates under the grav-tram on principle. He'd drawn that short straw too many times himself.
"Sir Maximas, according to the after mission reports, the team also encountered something else. Something that rose out of the ground in your own home sir. The extraction Valkyrie was just able to take it down and Sgt. Harrack sacrificed himself to save those xenos and seal the door."
"I must commend both the bravery of your troops and the selflessness of the sergeant's actions."
"Yes, yes, thank you for your praise xenos. We were hoping to recover his body, the regimental chaplain thought it fitting to entomb him for his valor, having faced off against the monstrous xeno and sealing its ilk in with him. His duty has been completed and his debt paid; a fine a death as any guardsman could ask for."
"A man who lived an ordinary life, died a hero under extraordinary circumstances. You guardsmen certainly don't lack in courage." Max saw Bragana's mood improve slightly at the praise. The Asian himself was curious as to what siad shrine or tomb was going to look like exactly and when it would be made, the cathedral wasn't finished and most of the guardsmen were living in tents. "I am curious though, do the Eldar have anything to add? I'm surprised you've reserved your side of this story for so long."
"We were waiting for the primitives to finish their own grandstanding." Autarch Faeris hovered on her jetbike along side Ylandin and his seer council, "We do not need words for what we need to say, we can simply show you. Follow us, mon-keigh."
With the Eldar zipping around and ahead of him, Max carefully stepped over the vehicle parade in front of his door. He got a good look at the continuing construction of the Astartes's fortress monastery on his way down. The outer defenses where coming along, a solid wall ran along the edges, bulging out from the cut down metal cans used. Every so often a platform would stick out carrying a stationary weapon with a servitor attached to it. Armed chapter serfs, the Asharn Auxiliary, patrolled the walls and manned what guns couldn't be trusted to a servitor. The central keep was slowly climbing its way into the sky, reminding Max of traditional medieval castles. The theorized that the combination of the limited resources and the more humble nature of the Conservators, their fortress monastery on the Recroom Heights would resemble more the Guard's architecture as opposed to the Sister's gothic marvel.
With some of the more mobile elements of the parade following him down, Max was glad he kept his house so spartan. The floor of the foyer was littered in charred black spots, tiny pot holes and scores of tiny cuts from the Eldar's attempts at shooting down the evac Valkyrie. Had there been carpet or hardwood, it probably would have looked a whole lot worse. Of course, the true surprise was in the laundry room where Max finally got a good look at this monster everyone was talking about.
"A Necron Wraith." Max squatted down and looked at the metallic nightmare serpent, the Eldar Guardians who were guarding it excused themselves but kept their guns trained on it just in case. Even in its deactivated, technically dead state, Max wasn't interested in playing Necron Roulette with it and one of his fingers. He knew well enough of the Resurrection Protocol and combined with its ability to probably just phase through his skin and slash at his internals, the Wraith was easily one of the most dangerous elements of 40k to appear in his home.
"Addendum: Designation is Necron Canoptek Wraith." Mago J-1M had no such reservations and began to poke at it with the hilt of his Omnissian Axe, picking at it with his mechadendrites and studying it intensely with far less care than was probably safe, "Request: Can take for further studies? Necron subjects rare but intriguing."
"We stationed guards to keep watch of it and the door through the night." Faeirs hovered around Max's knees as she stared at General Bragana in his own transport, "It is also the reason why we did not send our own strike craft to harass your transport on its way back. Be thankful mon-keigh."
"Great... An undead legion of Egyptian nightmare murder skeletons in my garage." Max sighed as he surveyed the other signs of battle, the bolter impact hits against the door, the residue left behind, and the tiles that cracked from lasfire. It made him wonder what such weapons could do against his own skin and the conclusions were worrying at the very least. "No one's been in there since last night right? Is there still a chance we can take them out before they fully awaken? Send a raid team, cut off the head, and get out before this becomes a bigger problem?"
"I have been monitoring such a path since the setting of the moon on the horizon." Ylandin's bike appeared behind the Magos who was already performing some rudimentary vivisections on the body of the Wraith using a plasma cutter, "Following this, this path's direction forward is clear: a rapid and swift strike against the Undying. Cut off their vital creations and destroy their slumbering Lord."
"Well, sound solid enough to me. Everyone organize your kill teams and get back here in five minutes. Every second we waste is another the Necrons on the other side of the door could be using to power up."
The crowd dispersed as commanders and leaders went to organize their raid teams. There was a rush of excitement that drew from an eagerness to do battle. Since their arrival and subsequent armistice agreements, few true battles had been taken. Skirmishes and raids sure, but Max was often there to stop it before they could escalate into something bigger. Now, there was a chance to fully commit to a military action with the blessing of the giant human.
Soon, flyers and transports were arriving and off loading their troops. As the three heads of the raid talked tactics. Mangos J-1M advocated for a rapid, but precise strike, hoping to damage as little of the Necron tech as possible for future study. Faeris on the other hand advised a cautious but thorough sweep, destroying anything that could pose a danger or a hindrance. The final leader had come with the kill teams of the Sororitas and the Marines. He wore a brown surcoat with a gleaming, but battered, chest piece and accompanying pauldrons and knee guards. His cloak bellowed majestically in the gust kicked up by the Valkyrie as the ceiling light caught the golden Inquisitorial rosette around his neck.
"Inquisitor Peratix, Ordo Malleus." The Inquisitor bowed before the sitting Max, "I have some experience in dealing with the Necrons during my stint in the Ordos Xenos. I was resupplying with the Sisters of the Argent Chalice when I was dragged into this realm."
"Well met Inquisitor." Max dipped his head in acknowledgement as the man began to converse with the other two leaders. Max himself on the other hand was more curious as to the forces arrayed. Peratix had turned out to be the middle ground between Faeris and J-1M, as was so common in these groups of three. He held little love for the ancient xenos, but knew time was of the essence.
As their leaders talked, the raid force bristled with excitement, nervousness and all of their jittery cousins. The Sisters were leading a small prayer group for the Imperials as the Tau curiously watched on. The Eldar, the living ones anyways, were almost meditating as their Warlock casted War Masks upon them. The Skitarii Rangers were in perfect line formation, awaiting commands, as a squad of Pteraxii flew into the room and another tech priest inspected the Sentinel walker that was just dropped in. Max found it strange how there was a lack of servitors, especially from the Mechanicus. He was informed by the tech priest attending to the Sentinel in a hushed chirp that in their younger years as initiates, both Magos J-1M and H4-NH had served aboard an deathtrap of a ship for the Inquisition. For whatever reason, the two of them had developed an intense loathing and distrust of servitors because of it and both refused to elaborate on the matter.
"It's hardly a standard layout for a tomb, considering it's not a tomb at all." Inquisitor Peratix reviewed the after action report from the previous night's mission on a datapad, "But there are still plenty of obstacles in the way that form features: chokepoints hallways and rough chambers."
"Inform: Report suggests ample open space above. Pteraxii deployment has been authorized." Mago J-1M took one last look at the corpse of the Canoptek Wraith before ordering a pair of Rangers to drag it on to his personal Arvus Lighter for transport back to his lab in binary.
"Excellent thinking. I do think that wraps it up here. Should be a simple get-in-get-out mission Emperor willing."
The three leaders returned to their kill teams as Max stood by the door, waiting for their mark to open it. Inquisitor Peratix returned to his detachment of a mixed chapter Tactical Squad, 6 Sisters and 15 of his personal elite Stormtrooper retinue. Mangos J-1M had assumed control of both the Mechanicus elements (a 10-man Ranger squad, the 5 Pteraxii and an Ironstrider) and the Militarum forces (30 guardsmen, the Sentinel and a psyker). Faeris entrusted her command to a Warlock who led a 5-eldar team of Wraithguard accompanied by their own squad of Dire Avengers. The Tau were given the task of rearguard and sweep up with a squad of Breachers, a squad of Pathfinders and a pair of XV-8s with no commander deemed necessary for this operation.
"Attention!" Inquisitor Peratix shouted over the assembled force and the onlookers behind them, "Beyond this gate is the tomb of an ancient menace! One that has scoured worlds and devoured stars! They are relentless and they are deathless. But they are still weak, not yet roused to full action! Our decisive strike here today can ensure they shall never awake and reap their terrible curse upon this world and this house! Forwards! To victory! Open the gate!"
In Max's honest opinion, the entire force was pretty ragtag and jank, but he really loved the look of all the armies side by side. Just something magical about it with all its collaboration. Only the Imperials really seemed to be moved by the speech, the Eldar completely ignoring it unlike the Tau who politely clapped. Cracking the door open a little, what Max knew as his garage was... significantly altered. His attempt to turn on the light failed, someone must have shot out the lights in the windowless garage. The dull concrete floor had been replaced by a smooth black basalt-like material, cut into perfect geometric shapes by glowing green lines. While Max could make out the shape of boxes and equipment he previously left in there, there were many more structures he didn't recall. Hewn from the same black material, they were like perfect shapes that stood vigil over the surface, breaking the layer of mist on the floor and catching the light from the laundry room.
"Good luck in there." Max opened the door more for the expeditionary force, more and more lights piercing the darkness as they marched in. He turned his head to face the makeshift command center that had popped up on the counter where he kept his detergents. Valkyries loaded with vox equipment sat next to another Tau prefab structure, flown in by a gunship. Operators both human and Tau manned their posts while General Bragana and Commander Skyspirit hunched over a table to study something. The Eldar opted to stay reclusive and simply used their hanging city to house their command center for this operation.
"Thank you Sir Maximas," The Inquisitor looked up as the last of the Tau brought up the backline, "You can leave the operation to us now. We'll handle it and be back soon."
Max looked into the garage again and at all of the kill teams that were now splitting up, going on their own search and destroy missions. Something in his stomach sank and he was reminded of that infamous WW1 picture of "be back before Christmas" as he closed the door.
"Honestly, that's what I'm worried about."