With orders received and plans organized, the dice were cast as the gears of war began to turn ever faster as the invasion neared. Production lines whirred to life as men and machines were mustered, another (slightly more restrained) wave of excitement washed over the miniature peoples. Before, such activation of industry could be seen as an escalation of tensions and a direct violation of the Armistice Agreement, now it was mobilized at the direct order of everyone, even Max. Reserves were called up, soldiers were drilled and tanks were readied as their finest hour came ever closer.
In the Hanging Realm, Eldar Bonsingers and artisans preformed their crafts in with the trance-like grace and perfection of the School of Alsethryan. Max had learned from Ylandin that the whimsical, mystical humming that sometimes filled his foyer was from this school of thought that the craftsmen of Belethann followed, listening to psychic songs that put them in a heightened "working trance". Max himself felt his mind relaxing slightly and his senses sharpening a little as he walked under the growing web of ledges and suspended platforms, the sound of a thousand running feet adding its own beat to the hypnotic tone of the Sons of Alsethryan. Aspect Warriors either meditated or preformed group exercises perfect synchronization like warrior monks in a monastery while Warlocks casted War Masks on the Guardians who had mustered.
Where as the Eldar had expanded in a very natural, almost fluid pattern that snaked its way along the ceiling, the Tau's city of New Am'Yun had expanded rapidly day by day beyond just the dining table. Platforms had been build to connect the tabletop to the two nearest walls, pillars and additional layers all the way down. Its growing skyline house much of the civilian life of the settlers with housing, services and administration. The underside of the table boasted some impressive engineering as squared off stalactites hung upside-down, their supporting pillars linking them and the tabletop with the military district on the ground. Everything the Tau built was in neat, orderly blocks and squares, the obviously well prepared civilian planners of the expedition spearheading the unrivalled growth of the Tau. Firing ranges, barracks, battlesuit bays, shuttle pads and other support buildings were kept awash in bright lights from the hanging structures above them. As expected, soldiers were getting lectures in an open amphitheater-like building with drones providing holographic images of everything from Necron Warriors to Tomb Layouts, members of the kill team who made it back providing their own insights at regular intervals on stage.
Walking by them on his way to the kitchen, Max saw how the Tau also commandeered his living room coffee table and turned it into some sort of digital training course. Through an ingenious mix of projectors and drones, the Tau Earth-caste had managed to set up a holographic replica of the garage-tomb. Commanders and what Max identified as the survivors of the failed scouting expedition, returned to the Tau from their Imperial captivity, stood above the entire simulation on a floating platform, watching as squads with dummy rounds navigated and blasted holographic projects of Necrons. Every so often, one of the survivors would make note of an inconsistency and the holograms would shift to match. Max was certain that the team currently in the course didn't appreciate the Wraith that burst through the wall. A sort of rest and waiting area had been set up on a nearby couch, regular round trips of Devilfish transports ferrying Firewarriors to and from the simulator area back to the military district.
With the bag from the kitchen cabinet in his hand, Max poked his head into the laundry room before returning upstairs. No longer just a slapdash collection of communication arrays, the forward operating bases had been completely overhauled. An enclosed command bunker sat in the center of a nexus of dedicated communication rooms, landing pads, medical facilities, storehouses and even a quaint little crew lounge, each connected to each other like magnetized terrain via walkways covered with tarps. Its setup was as much about efficiency and easy of movement as it was about defensibility with Max clearly able to see firing positions and clearly marked fields of fire. Heavy duty radars, once reserved by the factions to spy on each other through walls, were carried in and turned towards the wall connecting the room to the garage, scanning for movement behind it. Clutter had been moved into a corner to provide as much room as possible for landing pads that were little more than a circle of blinking lights or even a ring of blue laundry detergent. A skeleton of an elevator lift had been set up to connect the upper command center with the additional facilities and emplacements on the ground but even then, a pair of Arvus Lighters had to be used for transport. Quartermasters and clerks were running around and shouting for artillery shells to be sorted, spare parts to be delivered, equipment to be checked and a dozen other things that made an invasion of this scale possible.
Pulling out and heading up the stairs, Max was careful not to step on any Imperial vehicles that were making their way down the makeshift upside-down-mirror-and-plastic-bin-lid ramp that was held together by prayer and happy thoughts as it was with tape and cardboard. The steep incline of the ramp was a point of worry for Max and despite assurances from the drivers, he still had a spare blanket fluffed up against the wall just in case someone lost control. A steady line of vehicles made their way up and down, displaying the impressive abilities of both their brakes and engines, along with the occasional flyer that flew above them. As he mounted the steps, Max noticed how many more of the flyers were clearly not Imperial in origin.
At the top of the steps, the first thing Max noticed was the ambiance chanting and the scent of incense. While still incomplete, the Conservator's Fortress Monastery atop the Recroom Heights hosted a large and colorful mass of Marines in its great hall. All where kneeling with heads facing down at the plastic floor as the Chaplain paced back and forth, chanting pre-battle rites and litanies of devotion. With only a few of the rust-colored Conservators in the group, Max deduced that it was likely some sort of exercise done to help the other, disparate battle brothers of other chapters who found their way to Max's house to bond. To make the High Gothic litanies, the chattering of binary hymns rose from the chapter's Techmarines as they worked in their forge. Max had donated a large metal wash bin some time ago and it had since become the home of the Master of the Forge, a constant stream of Techmarines, servitors and acolytes going in an out before venturing to the armory or motor pool. The hammer blows that rang out from the upturned bin, now covered in banners and Mechanicus symbols, formed a steady beat when combined with the rhythm of Marines doing bolter drills at the range or the clanging of blades in from the Marines in the Paper Plates of Dueling.
BWOOM
The sound of a Basilisk letting loose brought Max over to Guard's room as they did their best to practice the fine art of artillery gunnery in their limited space. They fired across a specially designated empty stretch of land at a large wooden board with painted targets and some ratty old shirts just to give extra padding. The growing network of roads and paths had to specifically make their way around the area that stretched almost the entire width of the room; winding paths leading to the Lego brick bunkers or the tent city that was still standing. One on end of the road network was the Bedframe Plateau, its own network of production lines and conveyor belts feeding into a dozen different machines or specialist workshops with Techpriests and menial hunched over at random intervals. Max watched as the last supply crate was loaded into a Sallot-marked Goliath truck before it was lowered to the ground from the bedframe by a lift and rumbled down one of several converging paths, behind the Basilisks, and making a quick stop by one of the command buildings to pick up passengers before it disappeared down the stairs.
The Guardsmen shared some practices with the Tau based on more practical matters of military theory. They were going through their own drills and training lectures, squad-level tactical exercises and even their own much more privative training course which seemed to involve a large empty storage bin, a heavily obscuring blindfold, several shoddy looking cardboard targets, a low-powered lasgun and servoskulls playing an OST's worth of sound effect and background noise. In a similar way, commanders watched from an elevated position, looking through the clear plastic at the troopers going through "obscuring training". It was a Steel Legion commander, Major Lorian Menatat, who was leading the exercises along with survivors of both the scouting mission and the kill team. Every so often, Major Menatat would excuse himself to take a message from Lord Commissar Basklow who was in charge of logistics and numbers. For everything that the Grand General could do, Bragana was infamously terrible with math and numbers, claiming "severe mental imparement" when seeing too many of them. As Max prepared to leave the room, he could hear some troops singing the familiar tune of "Its a Long Way to Tipperary" that he often hummed, although with their own twist on the lyrics:
Its a long way, to Holy Terra,
Its a long way, to go.
Its a long way, to Holy Terra,
To the only God I know!
Goodbye, Armageddon!
Farewell Cadia!
Its a long long way to Holy Terra,
But my soul's right there!
Looking into the Sister's room made Max instantly cough as his nose scrunched up as if he had just been blasted in the face by a Gothic Fabreeze spray bottle. The scent of incense, previously just a faint note on the upper landing with the Space Marines, hung heavy in the Sister's room along with the scent of burning wax candles and actual Fabreeze (Lavender, the only one Max had in his house). Compared to the Fortress Monestary of the Marines, the Cathedral of the Blessed Emperor Ascendant had seen exponential construction. Rays of sunlight from the windows illuminated the beautiful stained plastic "glass" windows, depicting scenes of miracles, the Emperor and the largest of all the pieces that stood as the main focal point in in the cathedral behind the alter: Saint Joyane. Crafted from a hundred different pieces, each carved of a bottle or Tupperware lid, it was a stunning depiction of the Order's patron saint, Saint Joyane, in her most iconic scene when she slew the thrice-damned, warp-tainted, witch-born Arch Heretic Wraelmic the Winged by piercing his blackened heart with a flag pole sharpened into a lance.
Once he had acclimated to the smell, Max wasn't suprirsed to find most of the sisters in prayer; their melodic hymns and holy verses floating out of the top of the unroofed cathedral. Without the need to follow traditional building requirements, the Sisters had taken the perfectionist approach to constructing their cathedral. Every wall had plastic stained glass or a tapestry and every alcove had some relic or art. They had even decided to use a whitewash paint that reminded Max of what old castles apparently looked like. Those who weren't in divine contemplation had decided to put their faith in their own combat preparations of bolter drills and armor upkeep. He hadn't noticed it at first, given the sheer number of other extraordinary things going on, but Max had finally started realizing how different the Sisters of the Order of the Argent Chalice looked from the traditional image of a Sororitas. While a good deal still boasted similar armor, others looked much more like knights with artistically embroidered capes, ornate headdresses, the bio-engineered horses they rode to battle, the flaming Hunting Lances they carried and even their very emblem. It honestly reminded Max of an order of female Bretonnian Grail Knights, a realization that made a lot more sense with the castle-like cathedral they were building and the concept of a grail/chalice-like object being at the core of the Order's identity.
Excusing himself and leaving the minis behind, Max found himself alone in his room with only the faintest sounds of preparations from outside breaching the walls. With everyone else gearing up for the invasion, Max thought that he should do the same. Over the course of the next few hours, the man "armored up" in what ways he could. With the help of a reference image, he cut out a piece of cardboard and painted it to look like the face plate of an Imperator-class Titan, attaching it to a hockey mask from an old Halloween costume. He double upped on his pants, padding them and attaching an additional layer of cardboard around, feeling confident in only his legs being vulnerable. Its actual effectiveness as armor was highly debatable, being painted cardboard and all, but it certainly made Max feel more protected and stronger. After some time, he was finally all geared up: mask on, armor equipped and the fire extinguisher at his side. Carrying the bag from the kitchen in his free hand, he made his way down to the laundry room and smiled under his mask at the sight of the massive force arrayed on the floor. The hundreds of soldiers, each with their own colors and heraldry and their vehicles marked with battle scares and paintjobs acquired over years of service made Max's inner fanboy squee just a little.
"Armies on Parade eat your hearts out." Max chuckled as he made his way over to the counter.
Each unit of each army was organized based on masking tape squares in the ground that marked out where they were to stand before the invasion commenced, a practice Bragana often used for parade march practices. The Guard and the Tau made up the bulk of the spearhead and the frontline, the transports open for them to embark at a moment's notice. The Sisters and the Eldar were kept as flanking and holding units to quickly fill any gaps while the Space Marines were kept in strategic reserve in their Rhinos on the ground and Drop Pods on the counter. Before they set off to battle however, Max opened up the half full bag of chocolate chips from the kitchen and a new wave of commotion washed over the crowd. He thought it would be a nice treat, Max read somewhere that soldiers were given nice meals before battles and thought that sweets would be an acceptable substitute. With squad sharing chocolate chips the size of their heads, Bragana appeared on top of a Chimera with his general staff behind him and some of the Xenos leaders behind him as well.
"Attention! Beyond this door is an evil which has slumbered for untold eons! Beyond this gate is an ancient horror of antiquity, born a million years before even our ancestors. Beyond this barrier is a foe who can shatter stars and harvest worlds! But today, beyond this gateway to the dark void of hell is, is our victory day! We know their tricks, we know their abilities and more importantly: We. Know. They. Can. Be. Killed! Their numbers may be legion, but our armies are greater! We carry the light of the Emp- erm... We carry the light into that darkest of realms and its souless abhorrents which dares to taint this holy ground! Burn away this shadow of ages past with fire and with sword! The Necrons claim to know no fear. But today we shall make them know it well! Sir Maximas! Open the gate! Guardsmen! Ready on my mark!"
Cheering broke out once again, arms and guns thrown into the air, mostly from the Guard and the Tau. The Eldar and the Marines made minimal signs of intensity with the Sisters being somewhere in-between. Any spare Mechanicus forces in the crowd just looked incredibly stiff. Max felt his heart swelled with pride and a little excitement, Bragana knew how to sell a speech, even if he did just trip over his words. Reaching over, he pulled down on the door handle and counted down:
3...
2...
1...
Mark! Operation begin!
An explosive choir blasted into the room, lighting it up in a symphony of ordinance and fire. The garage looked even more like a Necron tomb now; the smooth black surface now began to climb the walls in block-like patterns an abundance of green light ran up and down new and taller structures, forming ever more elaborate designs and symbols. There were now even multiple levels of structures and platforms, connected by catwalks illuminated by more jade lines. The mist and fog that once covered the ground was thinner now, but rose higher like faint clouds at the top of skyscrapers. Along the walls, power banks and row upon row of sarcophagi broke the monotony of the seamless black wall as blocks of Necron constructs turned their heads and bodies in unison to face the invading forces before being met by a rain of explosions all across their complex.
Dozens of Chimeras roared to life as the artillery shifted to a blocking barrage, their spotlights casting white cones that cut through the mist and shadows. Devilfish screamed after them, their hulls absorbing bolt after bolt of gauss weapons. Explosions rung out, not from artillery, but as transports were blown apart, their crews scrambling out of every hatch and door before being burned alive. The ground shook so much that even Max could feel the vibrations as more transports flooded in and soldiers dismounted. A chaotic, cacophonous scene played out as troopers were cut down the second they leapt out of their transports while others hugged their vehicles for cover. Pulse rounds and lasfire answered the guass blasts as Chimera and Devilfish slowly moved up, firing their guns to push the frontline forward.
A trio of flyers zoomed past Max's face as he carefully stepped around the second wave getting ready to enter. Two Valkyries followed a nimble Eldar Nightshade Interceptor that spun and dove into combat, strafing a Necron walker before it was taken down by a pair of missiles from one of the Valkyries. Inside the Imperial flyers, door gunners sent a hail of heavy bolter fire down from the sky as Stormtroopers checked their packs and prepared to jump. The Stormtroopers were preparing to make their drop when one of the Valkyries suddenly burst into flame. A pair of Necron flyers had risen from the ground and blasted its engines with their eldritch weapons, the door gunners clinging to dear life before being flung into the side of an obelisk as Stormtroopers were bailing out and falling out of the sky, fire burned away their carapace armor.
The next wave of transports rumbled forward into the breach, this time gaining more ground from a renewed assault. Max could see the frenzy inside the CentComm base as requests for reinforcements and fire support flooded the operators. Artillery crews were changing targets, Sallot Assault Engineers piled whatever they could on to their Goliath trucks and the first of the rapid response forces of the Eldar and Sisters mounted up. With a glorious hurrah, Lord Commissiar Basklow led the next wave in, pushing deeper into the tomb complex. As more Necron flyers rose from the ground, the Eldar deployed more of their own air superiority fighters from the Hanging Realm, bright lights flashing in the sky above the battlefield as xenos fighters dove and spun in a dogfight that resembled more of a dance.
"Gloriana Maxima!" one of the vox operators on the command counter waved down the giant human, "The General is saying to deploy the Marines now! Requesting launches!"
"Request received. Marines, get strapped in!" the Drop Pods closed up as Max grabbed one of them in his hand. It felt like holding a metal brick, requiring him to use a very awkward grip with both of his hands just to hold on to it. He looked into the one in his hand and looked at the battle egg he was going to chuck into battle, "Everyone ready?"
"This is Sergeant Boav. We are prepared to deploy. Are you prepared?" one of the voices in the pod replied.
"Well, I used to be a terror in middle school dodgeball. Let's see how well I've kept my throwing arm." Minis ran out of the way as Max widened his stance and prepared to throw, "Alright gentlemen, please fasten your seatbelts and have your seats in the upright position for take off. On behalf of me, myself and I, we'd like to thank you for flying with Max Air. On behalf of the crew, we hope your LZ isn't too hot. The Emperor Protects."
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Assault Engineer Kilrick Roan of the 19th Sallot Fire Corp hung on to dear life as the Goliath bounced through the breach, the gunner already blasting away at something in the distance with her lascannon. Over head, he saw the Astartes Drop Pods soar through the air one at a time, crashing through cat walks and carving huge chunks out of the black structures as they landed. He couldn't see where the Marines were as the truck rounded a turn, but the new increase of bolter chatter gave him hope that the Emperor's Angels had landed safely to bring death to the enemy. The vehicle skidded across the perfectly flat ground as it dodged an incoming death ray, smashing through some rubble as it joined another convoy headed to reinforce the northern front. Roan watched as multilasers sent bright red streaks down the corridor and the Tau battlesuits they passed by hunkering down for some sort of firing mode, holding on to his helmet as a new wing of Valkyries flew by.
"Incoming!" Someone shouted and everyone looked up as something in the sky exploded. A Valkyrie had just been cut in half, spinning out of control and sending guardsmen and metal flying everywhere as it slammed into one of the structures in the path of the convoy. With a heart stopping crunch, the flaming flyer sent debris into the air as the black stone structure collapsed in slow motion. Huge chunks fell from the sky, crushing the front end of the leading Hellhound and sending its rear into the air. The convoy slammed their breaks, but the Chimera following the lead vehicle didn't have enough space and slammed into the Hellhound's Promethium tanks. The ensuing cinematic explosion sent Roan and some of his squad flying, landing in heaps on the floor or on other vehicles.
Roan gasped for air but panicked as he could only manage shallow air, the landing knocking all the air out of his chest. Eyes wide and chest heaving, he could barely hear the battlefield as the ringing in his hears was nothing short of deafening. When air finally filled his lungs again, he never felt so lucky to be able to breath. His body cried out in pain with every nerve in his body sending painful reminders to his brain as he staggered to his feet and he was one of the lucky ones. All around him, people were howling and crying. One man got his leg tangled in the driver's view port of a Chimera and Roan was certain that legs weren't supposed to bend that way. Others had been slammed into the walls or floors, leaving bloody brushstrokes where they landed. The guardsmen in the Chimera that slammed into the Hellhoud desperately clawed their way out of the rear hatch, wreathed in promethium fire that consumed all of them before they hit the ground or even made it out. In the confusion, Roan defaulted on his training and looked for his sergeant who thankfully wasn't far.
"Whose still alive eh?" the sergeant roared, covering one bloody eye with his hand while waving his chainsword around with the other, "Jeres, Roan, Zalin, Marase! I want you four to blast a hole through that rubble! The rest of you set up a ramp or something so the convoy can get through!"
Stumbling to his feet, Zalin tossed Roan a stimshot from a medical bag that dulled the pain for now. The four engineers began to dig through their equipment on the back of the Goalith until a green bolt slammed into Zalin's back, causing him to scream in pain as his back was flayed, molecule by molecule, before he fell over the side dead. Immediately, troopers disembarked from their transports to face the new threat that had just awoke from a bank of sarcophagi previously thought of as a solid wall. Roan ducked and covered his head as another volley of gauss flew over his head, slamming into the rubble behind him, and watched as the Guardsmen and Fire Warriors formed ranked to fire back while under cover of their transports.
"I got the charges!" Jeres shouted, waving a melta bomb from behind a crate, shoving it back down as a stray beam nearly set it off in his hand.
"I'll get the drill! Lida! Try and blast a starter hole into the rubble!" Roan shouted at the Goliath gunner who swung the lascannon around and began to bore a hole into a large chunk of smoother wall. Roan jumped over the side of the truck and released the power drill from its cage on the side of the truck, ignoring the four guardsman that were sent flying back and landed near his feet. With a shaky grasp, he pressed the adamantium drill bit into the starter hole. Within seconds of turning it on, Roan dropped it and howled in pain while clutching his wrist; he hadn't even noticed the fracture and the pain until he put pressure on it. Without saying a word, Marase jumped over and took up drilling duty, telling Roan to go grab the melta bombs as a passing Drop Pod skid across the top of the walls, sending another rain of black stone on the engineers.
Heart pumping, Roan hobbled over to the Goalith, clutching his broken wrist as Jeres dropped a pair of melta bombs by tires before picking up a lasgun and firing at the Necrons. With one in his hand and another clutched tightly against his chest, Roan carried the charges towards Marase who was urgently waving him over. As the two began to arm the bombs, a bright light followed by a hellish screech appeared above them, heralding the arrival of a Canoptek Reanimator who immediately took a shot at the second team busy with their own clearing operation. The other engineers scattered as the walker's Reanimation Beam disintegrated one of them and stabbed one of its spindly legs into the remains of the burnt out wreck of the Hellhound. Both Roan and Marase cursed loudly as they scrambled to arm the bombs and throw them in the hole with about half of the convoy's firepower now directed towards the new threat in front of them. Marase didn't even wait to be the recommended safe distance away before she set off the charges, blowing even more rubble into the air and clearing a snug but workable hole.
"Get everyone back in their transports and move!" Roan shouted at his sergeant who was tending to a now armless Jeres. Within seconds, the remaining troopers piled back into their transports and the convoy rushed ahead, drivers desperately throwing their controls left and right to avoid being hit by the Canoptek Reanimator's beam. With the rest of the Engineers back in the Goliath, the truck took off after the convoy just as the Reanimator turned its gaze back towards them. A shot from its beam blew a hole right through the back lip of the truck as Marase peppered the walker with the mounted heavy stubber to little effect. Roan however, with his one good hand, fiddled with the detonator on another melta bomb. Right as the truck passed under the Reanimator's legs, he tossed the bomb straight up into its metalic underbelly. With a triumphant boom, the entire top half of the Reanimator exploded, sending chunks of it flying as the Engineering squad cheered.
"Don't celebrate yet, there's still a battle going on." the sergeant brought the team back into reality.
"Always the cheerful type." Marase quipped from the behind the stubber.
"I know, I'm just a ray of sunshine. But if you'd all like to look behind you, I think you'll see something really worth cheering about."
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With the last of the Drop Pods thrown into combat, Max took a deep breath and surveyed the battlefield. Even in the darkness, he could see hundreds of light flashing and bursting at once. The frontline was moving and the Sisters pushed out the flank to the point they could threaten an encirclement of a pocket of Necrons with the help of the Tau but Max wondered if that would even matter with the robotic Necron warriors. However, with the arrival of heavier Necron war machines, the coalition forces had lost the initiative as Sallot Engineers placed fortifications. Even the tanks that arrived were only helping so much due to hostile air power. Even worse, Max was fairly certain he saw at least one Monolith activate and knew full well that the ground forces had limited options to take it out with what they had. Lowering his mask and his voice, he gave one last remark to the Central Command bunker before moving in.
"Gloriana Maxima activating combat protocols. Engaging hostile presence."
Following the next wave of tanks and infantry, Max took long, careful strides into his garage, more Eldar interceptors flying past his shoulders. With his huge size, Max ignored the hallways and roads that the coalition forces had to use and instead crushed many structures that stood in his way with a satisfying crunch that threw alien green sparks into the air. Some Necrons turned to face him, splitting their fire and blasting the giant titan who just joined the battle, allowing for the ground troops they were fighting to take initiative again. With every swing of his fire extinguisher, he bent down and sent Warriors and metal flying, crushing unit after unit into pieces. Whenever it seemed like they were about to get back up again, Max stomped on them twice as hard. He marched across the battlefield feeling as invincible as the titans he was trying to emulate and he smiled. This was a... surprising amount of fun.
Down below, soldiers cheered whenever they saw Max drop his foot or the giant red tube on their enemies, pulling away the mist in the room with every step. Max laid down smoke screens wherever he could with a blast of white fire foam. Dropping his fire extinguisher in an open courtyard, Max swoop down and picked up a Canoptek Doomstalker, grabbing it in both hands, the construct crying out in mechanical agony as Max broke it like a very hostile crab leg. Throwing the broken bits into the distance, Max set his sights on to the Monolith he spotted. It was terrorizing part of the right flank and single handily pushing a hole into the line as soldiers were forced back. Clutching his fire extinguisher, Max marched over to the flank, wincing at the shots that were hitting his upper body and unprotected parts. Picking up speed as he went, he raised the heavy metal cylinder over his head and slammed it into the top of the Monolith as it forced another retreat. With a single strike, he had already dented both the extinguisher and the top of the floating evil pyramid.
BANG. BANG. BANG.
Max brought the extinguisher down again and an again, forcing the levitating pyramid to slam into the ground as he smashed away more and more of it until the fire extinguisher gave out and exploded its pressurized contents all around. The minis braced themselves as a wave of white foam washed over their lines, completely obscuring them, but Max was undeterred even as more and more shots singed his skin and burned through his shirt. He picked up the Monolith with both hand, raising it high above his head and roared as he slammed it upside-down, crystal first, into the ground with a mighty explosion. The force of which actually caused him to stumble and step on a Leman Russ, crushing it and its crew under his heel. Feeling an anger within, Max looked for the next Monolith to smash or maybe even something smaller. However, what he wasn't expecting was for a bright light to burst out and nearly blind him. Out of the light, a formation of Lychguard swarmed out, cutting a bloody path of privative corpses for their lieges to walk over. First came Tazmun, the Royal Warden, with his glaive and now sporting a richly decorated shield. And behind him was another Necron of even greater beauty and magnificence, with inlaid gold and jewels, even boasting a marble exterior and a flawless death mask: Izfret, the Daughter of the Stars, the Phaerakh of the Apahkt.
A/N: Thanks to everyone whose read! And yes, if you see two names that are familiar with the names of two people who left reviews, it is done on purpose as a sort of thank you/shoutout. I selected the names based on how well I could make actual names out of them. I'm still not too confident on how to write combat so if you have any tips, please let me know! If you have any other world building ideas or general comments/reviews, also leave a review! I cherish all of them! If you think my writing is cringe, then also leave me a review so I can improve! Again thanks for reading and doing the fav/follows/reviews. See you in the next chapter!