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Chapter 14: Diplomacy is not a dead art

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Part 7

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Strike Cruiser Armageddon

in orbit above Victory Bay

Kronus

They don't make them like they used to, Trazyn concluded. The humble collector stalked through the large corridors of the human cruiser. He was disguised like one of their Space Marines wearing Terminator Armor. It was almost too easy to deceive the Blood Raven's computers. He convinced the poor dumb machines that he had returned from the surface due to combat damage in need of fixing, now that the prospect of immediate combat was low.

It was really tempting to scour the surface for pieces of art worthy of Solemnace! However, the sudden and unexpected arrival of Amarkun changed things. That particular Nemesor wasn't one of the most stable people Trazyn knew. Why, he still wanted to inflict grievous bodily harm, repeatedly at that, to this patron of the fine arts! All over rescuing a few trinkets here and there from Pharaohs and Nemesors who didn't appreciate them! It wasn't fair, a sad state of affairs Trazyn had to get used to.

He walked calmly through the ship, recording everything, and carefully scanning for hidden gems. Why once he stumbled on an ancient Aeldari crown while hiding in an abandoned storage closet! The things those humans can misplace and forget! Too many of them had no proper appreciation of the arts. They weren't like his old friend Revelation!

Now that was a fellow with the right ideas! Or he was, before getting stuck as a glorified light-bulb. One of these days Trazyn probably would have to go to visit and offer a hand, or at least a place in Solemnace. Sitting on that beacon all day long, for ten thousand years had to be uncomfortable, not to mention boring!

Trazyn could sympathize. He has been awake for a very long time, and boredom was the constant enemy. Others came and went, finding something interesting to do between expeditions was usually a chore.

The Necron Curator waved cheerfully at a squad of passing Space Marines. In a few centuries, if they didn't get themselves killed, a few of them might be worth his attention. Perhaps even sooner. The tricky part about history was that in the heat of a moment it was hard to figure out what might have real significance. All too often, events that appeared momentous, turned out to be mere footnotes no one cared about. Well, Trazyn did have a gallery for such things as well! History should not be forgotten, and you should appreciate even the little things!

Trazyn reached the reliquary in the depths of the ship and nodded at the pair of guards standing at parade rest in front of the adamantium door. A few very useful artifacts he crafted came in useful, spoofing all sensors and direct examination by the enhanced humans. The door soon chugged open, a slow and ponderous affair. It was another sign of the times! Back in the day, such vaults would open much faster once you cracked the protections!

"Brother, what can you tell us about the Xenos? Will this foolish alliance last much longer?" One of the Blood Ravens asked.

"They're dangerous and there are many of them down there." Trazyn began. "We don't have the numbers to prevail conventionally." In his concerned opinion, the mask he wore did a great job of mimicking human outrage and disgust.

"Damn those aliens. Did you at least find the Relics? The Chapter Master will be disappointed if we return empty-handed."

Trazyn perked up at that. While what the Blood Raven considered relics might turn out to be useless baubles fit only to entertain children or dimwits, there might be something of interest buried on Kronus. Beyond the research facility, he wanted to tour that is.

"Sadly no. I'm hoping that we'll get another opportunity to retrieve them."

"So do we."

The door finally opened and Trazyn hurried inside. What do we have here, he wondered? There were bits and pieces from all over the galaxy. The Infinite Collector skipped happily and began to examine everything with his expert's eyes.

As happy as he was, he was thinking ahead as well. It was often a tough choice between retrieving something now, or waiting for the piece of art, or history, to gain more notoriety and thus become more valuable, before making it part of the appropriate collection. In that regard, living things were particular offenders. They tended to get either lost or killed at most inopportune times and places with distressing regularity. As of late, humans tended to be the worst offenders in that regard.

Like that "Saint" holding a bit of Revelation's power. The boy was going through spare parts faster than an unlucky warrior during the height of the War in Heaven, and until recently was mortal too. That wasn't a good combination.

On the other hand, the boy was a key to making a historical alliance between the Necrons and Imperial humans. That alone earned him a place of honor in Solemnace. Trazyn being the benevolent being he was, would naturally pick up a few of the human's playmates for better authenticity and to keep him entertained. Let it never be said that he wasn't a good host!

The only question was if he should pick him now, and make a run for it, or wait for more history to happen? And for Amarkun to be far away. That was important too. It wouldn't do for that bore to figure out Trazyn was out and about.


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General Alexander's HQ
Victory Bay
Kronus

This was the moment of truth. It took a lot of effort, a few more speeches, and a veiled threat towards Scipio to at least keep a veneer of respectability before we could leave. What should have been a short trip turned to the next best thing to a triumph. I had to climb on the roof of a Chimera, wave my hands at the citizenry, keep my Number 1 smile painfully fixed on my face and display my wings for all to see. Everyone's faith swelled up, and that, unfortunately, meant even more Emperor Botheres to deal with. And the Ecclesiarchy hasn't arrived yet!

None of that bode well, and I was ready for the other shoe to drop when I found myself alone with Inquisitor Vail, her scholar Mott and a pair of her regular minions.

"Can we talk freely now?" Vail demanded.

"As long as you're aware that the Necrons are probably listening in real-time despite the best effort of the Cogboys." I pointed out the obvious.

Vail didn't look happy at that. She didn't feel happy either. I scarcely need to try, and I could almost without issue get an impression of the emotions of everyone affected by my golden radiance. It was a nice perk that.

Inquisitor Vail was conflicted. That was understandable, so was I. I lived through this insanity, and when seeing recordings of what I did on occasions, I had no idea what I had been thinking.

I focus on the clean power flowing through me. While it was little more than a trickle, it might be just enough for this.

"Inquisitor, if you want a private conversation, this is the way. Thanks to the Emperor's blessing I can keep the denizens of the Warp away from us. If not, say so and I'll pull back." I carefully projected. I wasn't sure it would work properly, especially considering how lightly I was treading.

Vail recoiled at the touch of my mind and reflexively grabbed a weapon. Her minions followed suit and aimed Lasguns at my face.

The Inquisitor rubbed her face and glowered at me something fierce.

"Are you insane, incompetent, or just stupid?!" Vail hissed. Any semblance of control she had shattering.

I knew the feeling. Accepting that I was a dead man walking helped me to get to grips with it. Fatalism for the win!

"Elaborate. On certain occasions, I can attest to the former. It might be the height of arrogance, but I do consider myself at least somewhat competent. And the latter was just mean."

I was honestly expecting that Vail would shoot me then and there. Alas, it was not to be.

"You know what? I don't care!" She raised her hands in frustration. "I'll be selfish and leave the poor bastards of the Malleus and Hereticus deal with you. The Necrons. Tell me about them. The local ones, general history can wait. What are we dealing with, why did they consider allying with us? Can this insane alliance last, or are we about to be murdered by your metal friends? Then tell me what in the Emperor's name happened with Skulltaker, how are you still alive, and does their anti-Warp tech really work as advertised?!"

"Where do I start?"

I got a new appreciation of how proper Inquisitors must work. To leave the target to do the heaviest lifting, then claim credit and shuffle the problem on another branch if you decide that shooting it might be too much trouble. That was a devious plot.


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Part 8

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General Alexander's HQ
Victory Bay
Kronus

"You know," Amberley said while nursing a cup of amasec, courtesy of General Alexander, "now I can almost understand what you were up to. Almost."

I looked at the table between us, more specifically, the half-empty bottle laying innocently there. My new state of being might have come with a few unexpected trade-offs. Besides a pair of damned wings with a mind of their own. I couldn't get even a buzz from any normal quantity of alcohol. Draining the rest of the bottle in one go wasn't the best of ideas, no matter how tempting it was.

There was a reason for my odd mood. Contrary to popular belief, I wasn't going to get shot for the foreseeable future. The only question was if this stay of execution was going to be a temporary affair, or of a more permanent sort.

I was still trying to get to grips with that little fact. Everything was so much simpler when you knew your survival didn't matter because of a death sentence hanging over your head. That led to clarity and options that otherwise would be insane, suddenly becoming palpable. And to everyone's great surprise, those options worked much better than expected.

Now it was time to pay the piper, just in no way I anticipated.

"It was stupid, suicidal, borderline heretical, and treasonous at best." The bloody woman smirked at me. Then she jabbed a finger at my wings, which twitched in irritation at the continued disrespect. "Obviously, it only worked because, for some unfathomable reason, you had the Emperor's blessing. Now, I have to make a presentable imitation of a competent Inquisitor out of you. We can't have people figuring out you've been improvising and winging it this whole time. It wouldn't be proper. It might give the citizenry the wrong ideas, especially when a potential Saint is concerned."

Yep. On second thought, I might have preferred to get a shot.

"More importantly, we have to figure out how not to get purged by our fellow Inquisitors when they arrive. Or how to avoid stirring up the Ecclesiarchy in declaring a Crusade or two when there is no need to. Those can get messy."

"So you've told me." I pointed out, winning myself a wintry glare.

Vail drained her cup, looked longingly at the bottle, and shook her head.

"I'll keep it for later. With you around, I'll need it." She decided. "First things first. Tomorrow morning, we'll be negotiating with the Necrons. They requested your presence. How do you suggest we play it?"

"You're the experienced Inquisitor. What can we get away with the offering? You saw the Pylon. Your Psyker is currently taking a nap below it."

"That way she isn't raving about your Pariah. How you managed to stumble upon her…" Vail shook her head in disgust. "Anyway, the Necrons."

"Play it straight. Do not try any usual political games you might be accustomed to. I don't believe they would take kindly to such shenanigans. While they're advanced, frighteningly so, I'm unsure if they could replenish their numbers at all. From what I saw, and we have a lot of records, they can repair and rebuild many casualties that would be permanent losses for practically anyone else. Despite that, numbers are going to be their greatest issue."

For the time being anyway. We didn't know how many Tomb Worlds they had. For all we knew, we hadn't seen even the tip of the iceberg. On the other end of the scale, there might not be many of them left. Unfortunately, that wasn't something we could afford to plan around.

Amberley gloomy pointed that out.

"As far as offers go, we're Inquisitors. Technically we can offer what we have to."

I heard a 'however' in there.

"In practice, usually, our Ordos' dealings with aliens are viewed with universal suspicion. If we offer too much without compelling proof for the people in charge on the Segmentum level, they might write us off as compromised and subverted with all that entails."

"Said proof being?" So much for the theory that Inquisitors could do whatever they wanted. While technically true, in practice there were obvious limits and obstacles to overcome.

"Limited to moderate scale field testing of the Pylon technology away from a Necron stronghold for one. Test carried out by representatives from multiple Forge Words at the very least. We're talking about a potential game-changer, with who knows what hidden nasty surprises."

"Kaurava. It would be a good starting place for a limited test." I suggested.

"You said so before. At this time, I can't authorize you to go rogue again. We're both going through Malleus and Hereticus investigation when the relevant parties arrive. Being cleared by them," or not remained unsaid, at which point we would be as good as dead, "will strengthen our case. I'll send Astropathic messages and requests for information on the system the moment it becomes feasible."

That was less than ideal. I hadn't noticed it until very recently, however, there was a slowly increasing need within me to get to Kaurava. It was like an ever-present itch or a thought that wouldn't leave the back of your mind no matter what you were doing. Needless to say, that didn't fill me up with confidence about the future.

"Now, we're going to get through the plan for tomorrow one last time and then a bit of rest wouldn't go amiss…" Amberley trailed off.

A keening wail grew more and more, even though we were in a secure room. As secure as the Cogboys could make it.

It didn't say good things about me that when a painfully familiar lighting discharge lit up the room I didn't react, just blinked the emerald glow away from my eyes.

"THIEEEEF!" Screeched the Necron who just teleported inside. It was one of Selene's bodyguard. It missed its right arm too. "THE THIEF IS HERE!" It screeched again. "Raise the alarm! Find it! Shoot it! Stab it! Blow it up!" It added aloud, almost roaring. This wasn't the voice of the bodyguard, but that of our local Necron Lord.

"Can you elaborate?" I asked while Amberley's retinue pilled in, aimed all kinds of weapons at the Necron. "But first tell me, where is Selene and if she's all right?" I demanded.

"It's Trazyn! The THIEF!" The Necron screamed at me and I nodded.

The name jogged something in my mind. However, whatever it was, I couldn't put my finger on it.

"Elaborate, please," I asked through gritted teeth. My temper spiked, and the power of the Warp filled me.

"I'm blaming you for this, just so you know." Amberley deadpanned. "You're just as bad as Caiphas if not worse!"

"Your little Pariah is all right. Lur got her away." The Necron finally gave me some good news using its usual voice. "Because of this incursion, Lord Herald of Victory and Amarkun the Gatherer request that you conduct the negotiations now before the Thief has the opportunity to steal one of you for his collection or otherwise disrupt the alliance. Necron forces are on high alert and hunting for him."

I looked at Amberley.

"I'm unfamiliar with that entity. That said, we're ready to negotiate, however, we'll require a proper explanation."

"Granted." A new voice added just as darkness engulfed the room. A moment later it was gone, revealing several heavy-armed Necrons with very impressive chassis. "We shall negotiate now." The same unfamiliar voice proclaimed. "Our guard is here and hunting. Let me tell you about the greatest and most cursed thief in the history of the galaxy, human. The one who just tried to steal your Pariah…"


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