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Chapter 16: Tenuous packts
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Part 3
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General Alexander's HQ
Victory Bay
Kronus
"Can someone explain to me what just happened?" General Alexander walked tiredly into the briefing room we used for the negotiations, but only after we were done, the lucky bastard.
Amberley's scholar and Scipio were in their own world, surrounded by all kinds of data storage devices, good old-fashioned scrolls, and at least a metric ton of velium. They were busy scribbling and muttering to themselves.
"We have an agreement in principle," I explained, while Amberley was draining her second glass of amasec as if she just crawled out of a desert.
"What's this then?" The General waved a scarred hand with few obvious bionic fingers at the table we sat at. What wasn't covered by data storage and velium, barely held several Necron devices. Their gifts of good-will and because I helped Herald against Skulltaker, losing an arm in the process. Incidentally, now there were two necrodermis arms on the table, supposedly ready for implantation.
"Gifts." Amberley twitched. "I know many Inquisitors who would kill for this." She waved at the table. "Who h
ave in fact killed for less. I also know a lot of people who would shoot first, ask questions later, if they see someone wearing that."
"I'll appreciate an explanation. How likely are we to be shot by our own people because of your Inquisitorial shenanigans? I believe this isn't something too much to ask?" He joined us at the table and produced a large metal cup from somewhere, then he mugged Amberley's bottle.
"Well, it's like this…" I explained, while my fellow Inquisitor went to pour herself another drink before the Guard could drain her precious amasec.
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We got through the major points of the alliance quickly, and with minimal bargaining. As expected, the real sticking point there was that the Necrons offered more than we could accept. Which was idiotic in itself and made me almost despair for humanity. If the Emperor watched this, he might be weeping or shaking Holy Terra with his rage.
What almost torpedoed the whole initiative were various smaller details the Necrons insisted on. I was sure those things might appear very reasonable from their Xeno viewpoint. From where we stood, on the other hand, their minor requests were anything but minor or trivial.
All those issues centered around one simple fact.
"You want us to do what?!" To give her credit, Amberley didn't quite screech at the suggestion.
It was even enough to get Scipio and Mott to pay attention and look beyond the storage devices that until now took their whole world.
"Is it not normal to send Diplomatic representatives and offer liaisons?" Amarkun asked.
His confusion appeared genuine too. I knew that sending diplomats and representatives was a normal thing when system Governors and even the nominal leaders of whole sectors cut deals with their peers. However, those were humans.
"There are a few rare precedents that Ordo Xenos or Rogue Traders occasionally use. It involves a great deal of paperwork, and it is no protection against more traditional elements in our society." Inquisitor Vail tried to salvage the situation.
"She means fanatics you can't reason with," I explained.
"What he said." Amberley. "The term is Sanctioned Xenos. As long as the paperwork is in order, and the alien remains in the company of an ally who can both vouch for them, it is technically possible for," she grimaced, "friendly aliens to operate in Imperial space. "While it happens, it is not a pleasant experience for anyone involved. I'm afraid it is almost a guarantee that sooner rather than later, someone would offend or attack your representatives if we go that way."
"We can take care of ourselves." Amarkun waved away Amberley's worries. "We'll have our Crypteks talk details and arrange the paperwork later. Now, about liaisons with you two." The Necron Lord kept rolling as if everything was right in the world. "Trazyn already has his eyes on your Pariah child, Inquisitor Veil. Because of that particular problem, we decided that her reward for foiling him would be a permanent security detail."
I was sure that if he could, Amarkun would grin at me, and pat himself on the back for a job well done. The worst thing was I was tempted to accept.
"I must stress that sending Diplomatic representatives with us to local Imperial authorities will be a bad idea at this time." Amberley tried to be the voice of reason. "However, I must admit more security for the child won't go amiss." She added sweetly.
Wait, what?
"Then it is agreed! We'll have the permanent members of the Pariah Selene's guard in place shortly." Herald of the Void clapped once and sounded almost happy. "Next minor point, not of diplomacy, but honor, is your well being Inquisitor Veil!" He pointed a metal finger at me. So there would be no mistake I guessed.
"What about me?" It wasn't like these negotiations were currently the greatest threat to my continued survival or something, right? At least this time I managed to keep my odder thoughts to myself. That was surely progress!
"You, Inquisitor Veil, keep losing body parts during combat. And you keep getting into personal combat. Analysis of your past actions leads us to believe you will continue to do so. Despite recent developments," Herald jabbed that offending fingers at me again, this time at my wings in particular, which ruffled in irritation, "sooner or later you'll get your head cut off, rendering you useless. This simply wouldn't do! With negotiations practically complete, I must insist you take a Necron liaison with you. He'll facilitate communication with any other of our kind you might run into and do his best to keep you in one piece!"
"The same goes for you, Inquisitor Vail. By all accounts, you two are among the more reasonable among your kind. It would be in our best interest to keep you intact to facilitate future negotiations." Amarkun added.
"The security implications alone…" Amberley spluttered.
There was that angle too.
"Consider our offer an incentive to upgrade your data security. It is practically non-existent."
Both Scipio and Mott spluttered at that.
"Well, the Adeptus Mechanicus might like the challenge. And give them something else to focus on. Perhaps this idea had some merit after all…
"Then we have an understanding! We'll have your liaisons in place by this time tomorrow at the latest!" Amarkun declared.
Something in the way he said it, made me think there would be no more discussions on this particular topic.
I looked at Amberley, who looked like she just swallowed a whole lemon.
"We will do our best to make this arrangement work. However, I must stress this point! We can't make any guarantee on how other human authorities or individuals would act towards your representatives. For ten thousand years, every human had been taught to loath, mistrust, and hate the alien. Such things can't be ignored or overcome easily, neither easy nor fast."
"We understand and won't hold you accountable for the actions of others." Amarkun hurried to reassure us.
Was it just me or did he kind of radiate smugness and condescension? Bloody Xeno!
At that point, I had a thought. "Perhaps your liaisons might use a disguise? If successful, such a gambit can spare us all some trouble."
Amberley perked up at that. "It might work. The same goes for your Diplomatic representatives. A disguise might reduce the odds of random attacks."
"This is acceptable." The Necrons immediately agreed. "We will instruct our agents to prepare appropriate disguise before reporting for duty." Amarkun declared grandly.
"Now that the principal negotiations are over, we can proceed with offering gifts!" There was no mistaking it. Herald sounded positively gleeful now. "Inquisitor Veil, honor requires you to receive an appropriate reward for risking life and limb to aid me during the battle against trans-dimensional entities, from now on, designated Warp Abominations."
Herald waved a hand and his guards surged forth. They locked their weapons on their backs and items materialized in their hands.
"First, I'm honored to present you with the hyperphase sword you used to vanquish the entity known as Skulltaker."
A huge leering Necron walked gracefully in front of me and offered me the hilt of a familiar sword. The only difference was the cross-guard – it was now in the form of the Imperial Double-headed eagle.
"I'm honored to accept."
"As a matching gift from the Nepheru Dynasty, a shield." Amarkun apparently didn't want to be outdone. "So the next time you might not lose another appendage!" He declared happily.
Sure enough, now there was another Necron in my face offering me a large slab of dark green metal covered with symbols almost identical to those on Amarkun's regalia.
"Those are magnificent and humble gifts." I nodded happily. First, the gifts were great. Second, even if they were
n't, I wasn't about to tell them that and fuck up a barely acceptable deal.
Scratch that. My smile froze when they offered me a pair of metal arms each. As spare parts.
"If necessary, we can offer you new legs." Herald kept talking, while I stared at the necrodermis limbs.
"My colleague is simply speechless from the consideration you offer him," Amberley spoke in a honeyed voice. "I feel compelled to thank you on his behalf, Lord Amarkun, Lord Herald of Victory."
"I can see why. He expects to lose his legs too soon, doesn't he?" Herald of Victory nodded in understanding. "Worry not! We've taken his odd tendency to misplace bits and pieces during combat! Behold, our Crypteks crafted armor to help keep him in one piece!"
The Necrons in front of me put the spare arms on the table, then more items materialized in their hands. Those were pieces of dark meal armor. Most of it looked utterly normal, bless the Emperor.
"A breastplate to keep vital parts functional" Amarkun ignored my stunned disbelief."It is inscribed with heraldry proclaiming your deeds so far and your status as a friend of the Nepheru Dynasty and the Kronus Research Center!"
Anyone of ours who could read this would be doing their best to shoot me and ask questions never.
Then there was the helmet. The first thing I noticed was the stylized symbol of the Inquisition etched on the forehead flanked by two small ornate skulls. The eyes glowed green. And the whole thing was shaped like a Necron head because of course, it was.
"I am left speechless…" I managed to croak.
"The back of the chest armor can retract and fold to account for the wings too!" One of the Crypteks pipped up, however, I was in no state to respond.
If anyone saw me in this away from Kronus, they would declare me an abominable Xeno or a traitor with predictable results.
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"To summarize. We agreed not to shoot at each other, so we can shoot at other people." General Alexander began. "They'll help us remove the Tau from Kronus, offer technical expertise on developing our own version of their anti-Warp technology as well." He took a long pull of his cup as if the amasec was regular ale. "So far so good. You are going to have Necron infiltrators as part of your retinues trying to keep you alive. I don't know what to say about that. Better you than me, I guess. Good luck not getting us all shot by Sector Command. The Emperor knows that would take a miracle."
"My thoughts exactly. It might be worth it if the Pylon technology spreads." I shrugged.
"Why aren't you drinking?" Alexander glanced at me with suspicion.
"Thanks to these," my wings waved at him, "and the rest of the Emperor's blessing, I can't get even a buzz from any normal amount of alcohol," I admitted. And wasn't that a kick in the nuts? I needed a drink damn it!
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Part 4
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Eres Badlands
Kronus
As far as the Aeldari could see, there were dark dunes. Only an odd piece of weathered rock jutted out of the desert, not yet ground down to fine dust. This was a dead and desolate place. It had been this way for a long time. The Ranger could feel it in his bones.
It was a bad place, and he wondered if it was just because the demon buried below the dunes. Only hard trained patience, worthy of his rank, kept Rohan from demanding a status update. That in itself told him much. This forsaken place was playing with his nerves. Besides, it wasn't like he would be the first to know if the Warlock finally found the prison.
There were only a handful of Aeldari in this part of the continent. Rohan, the Warlock doing his thing, and the Grav tank crew. The last group were the best off, enjoying the relative comfort of the sealing machine.
The small band of Aeldari was alone, surrounded by silent Yungir, no Necron, Drones, and the odd human patrol. Rohan had to remind himself how he thought about either group. Even hinting that the latter were mere beasts, and the former still slaves of the C'tan, could lead to otherwise avoidable issues. Achieving more than he already had was a very long and tricky shot, one Rohan felt compelled to make. He still got his fellow Aeldari out of the potential blast radius, leaving him with barely any support.
At any rate, it was going to be worth it. No matter what happened from now on, his troops were where they could do the most – back home. Or on the way there anyway.
The question plaguing Rohan was simple – how did he derail the alliance between humans and Necrons? He knew how not to. Providing them with a target to unite again was what got them into this disaster. He wasn't going to make them target him.
Rohan thought about spreading strife. Attempting to play upon the humans' hatred about everything different might have worked. If Taldeer didn't ensure they would trust one of their kind even less than usual. Staging a false attack to get the allies to fight each other might have worked, in another time and place. Here, the human leaders had the disturbing ability to be reasonable and see beyond the dogma they were raised on.
The Necrons were as bad if not worse. They also had the whole contingent covered with surveillance devices. Rohan didn't trust what little warp sorcery he had in his possession against the scrutiny arrayed against them. Perhaps someone like Eldrad might have had the skills and cunning to pull off something sneaky and underhanded enough to work.
Rohan wasn't the ancient Farseer.
The Ranger kept looking over the desolate desert. His eyes automatically scanned for the tiniest sign of trouble and found nothing.
Perhaps that was the answer? Do nothing? The humans were self-destructive at the best of times. How would the rest of their kind react to the news of an alliance with the Necrons of all beings in the galaxy? There might be something to this idea. Not only because following through with it didn't require a pointless suicide, but because the humans were self-destructive crude creatures.
The more Rohan thought about it, the more he found the prospect enticing. At worst, he might have to stay around and bind his time to drive a blade through the alliance's heart. Meanwhile, the humans and Necrons alike would be useful for at least one more thing – seeing the destruction of another daemon.
And that was a topic Rohan was doing his best not to dwell upon. The destruction of warp beasts was nothing new. Many powerful Aeldari Warlocks and Farseers could smite down the less powerful monsters for good under the right circumstances. Some weapons could bring the end to almost any neverborn, though those were exceedingly rare these days.
What Rohan found disturbing was the possibility to see the process industrialized by the alliance. That should have been a good thing if the tools necessary couldn't as easily cripple his people.
Those Necron Pylons were an extreme threat and not only because how they made it almost impossible to draw power from the Sea of Souls. It was the moments of peace Rohan felt under their influence that made him shy from thinking about them. Because, if he let himself dwell upon it, it could easily grow into an obsession.
And so, Rohan the Ranger sat on top of a tank, gloomy pondering dark thoughts until his Warlock acquaintance finally succeeded.
"I've got it!" The older man exclaimed and jumped on his feet, from where he sat cross-legged on the hot sand. "It was protected by some impressively powerful and vile sorcery, but I got it now!" The Warlock crooned. He even shook his fist in the air, in a great show of emotion.
On a closer look, Rohan could perceive all the energy thumping through the Warlock. More than it was safe for anyone of their ability and experience to channel.
The Warlock let the power go with visible strain and regret, and looked at Rohan.
"The walls separating the Sea of Souls from this rock are becoming stronger with each passing moment. And the light of the Human Emperor keeps the Neverborn at bay." The Warlock explained."I didn't risk our souls in order to get it done faster." He sniffed in disdain.
"That's a relief. Lead the way."
The Warlock pointed north and jumped on the tank. A moment later, they raced low above the dunes, and a swarm of Necron drones formed above them.
The Warlock led them to a nondescript part of the desert. The only difference was that there were a few more ground down rocks sticking out of the sand than average.
"It's right there." The Warlock pointed forward.
"Are you sure, Aeldari?" A deep mechanical voice came from all around them and the face of a Necron materialized from thin air beside them.
"I know what I'm talking about. I can clearly see the site." The Warlock focused on the empty patch of desert, and his hand fell upon the hilt of his blade. "The prison's entrance has been breached and not too long ago."
"If you want to commit a glorified suicide, be my guests. Otherwise, stand by. Deployment of containment forces is underway."
Rohan didn't feel like dying today but kept that thought to himself.
"We'll wait." That was all he said.
Soon, many Necron forces teleported in, including a number of their large hover transports carrying Pylons.
"Inquisitor Veil and his Pariah child will be en route soon. Do not make any threatening gestures their way, or you will be annihilated." The Necron announced.
Rohan didn't need more than a glance to conclude that the forces surrounding his position were more interested in containing the Aeldari than fighting anything that might come out of the prison.
The distressing factor was the Necrons didn't lack forces to throw at the neverborn either because more and more kept coming. He was sure that by the time the humans arrived, ancient death machines would cover the desert.
In this case, Rohan would have very much preferred to be wrong.
As if that wasn't bad enough, soon the humans arrived on board a large, noisy, and undoubtedly smelly, red transport that roared through the air before landing nearby. Ten of their Space Marines walked out, backed by a pair of small Necrons. Only then the Inquisitor made his way out, and Rohan stared. The insane human wore armor craft in the visage of the Necrons themselves, wielded one of their swords, and to make things worse, the Inquisitor had a shield proclaiming their friendship!
The Yungir and their Necron slaves didn't have friends! Even free from their Star Gods, the Necrons were little better than the neverborn! Did they subvert the local humans? Was this the grave threat Eldrad foresee?!
The Inquisitor turned his head towards the Aeldari. Then Rohan saw that even the human wore a helmet-shaped in the form of a Necron head. That human was lost, that much Rohan was certain of now.
The Ranger used all his training to calm himself down in the face of the enemy. This wasn't the time for foolish actions. He couldn't follow in Taldeer's footsteps. Doom awaited at the end of that path.
The world froze. Walls slammed down, reinforcing reality itself and pushing back the Sea of Souls. The constant connection with She-Who-Thirsts nearly withered, and her ravenous presence felt so far away as if it was only a half-forgotten nightmare.
Rohan was vaguely aware that the Necron Pylons pulsed with power and glowed green from the strain. He saw the Warlock stumble and fall to his knees, likely in relief.
The humans and Necrons alike ignored them and marched through. Rohan focused on the mission at hand. He could now see where the entrance hid. He could see a few larger boulders that weren't there a moment ago, and between them was a crudely dug out tunnel.
Necron Warriors, Human Astartes, and the Inquisitor marched inside heedless of what they could find. Rohan gathered everything he was and pushed through the peace attempting to overwhelm him with its alluring promise.
The ancient enemy let him pass by, though a group of them fell in formation around him. They could cut him down at a moment's notice.
Rohan kept walking and gripped his rifle so hard his fingers ached. He followed the impossible allies inside, through darkness, blood, and fallen corpses, until they reached a ritual chamber full of bloodless corpses.
"That's the place all right." The Inquisitor's voice sounded distorted and machine-like. Almost like a Necron's. "Where is the bloody Daemon?!"
Rohan wasn't sure if he should be happy, cry in relief or curse his luck.
He was even less sure why he agreed to accompany the Humans to their city. For that manner, it was a mystery why he later ended attending a crude and particularly boring ceremony carried out by the red-robed technology worshipers.
Oh, right. At that point, Rohan would have done almost anything to keep the peace and quiet surrounding his soul.
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