A Simple Iron Instrument
Author's Note: A little one shot I wanted to dedicate to my second game of Killteam, wherein I won only because I lost more Operatives with my Death Korps killteam in the last turning point than my buddy did. This was a moment that both he and I remember fondly, hence the small dedication.
There are many things that can kill a Necron, the Heirotek Technomancer reflected. In his long service to the dynasty, it had faced down many enemies in the name of his overlord; crude Orks and their ramshackle weaponry, the Aeldari with their Shuriken weapons and mastery of the Warp, the newborn Tau and their formidable weapons, and even other Necron dynasties, all to further his master's gains.
As he looked over the corpse strewn battlefield, the Technomancer couldn't help but marvel at the casualties that had been wrought by these simple humans. In the span of a few minutes, his retinue had been drowned by laser fire, mortar strikes, and grenades, to the point where even his Apprentek had fallen under the withering fire. And, even now, he was both impressed and concerned by a very recent development in the fight.
The Technomancer turned his single-eyed gazed down to his right, towards the falling body of the Deathmark; the loyal marksman had served its purpose, achieving its final directive before falling in combat. It had not been the mortar strikes that had laid it low, nor the chainsword or plasma pistol of the human's leader, and not even their laser rifles had defeated it.
The human, garbed in a heavy, chemically treated trench coat and a gas mask, turned its expressionless face towards the Technomancer, pulling back from the Deathmark. The Necron had been beaten to death, its single ocular smashed, its face beaten in, and its body now enroute to the reanimation forges at the rear. This simple human, one of innumerable trillions, turned to face down the towering Technomancer, undaunted by its size, hefting the crude, unimaginative weapon in its right hand.
It had just charged the Deathmark with naught but a club and beat the elite living metal warrior within an inch of its life. Now, it turned to a being that possessed immeasurable power compared to anything this puny human had seen and prepared to beat the Technomancer to oblivion. All with a simple iron instrument.