Chapter 4

The Dragon Uncoils, the Emperor Protects

Die!!

That one word struck the Emperor like a hurricane wind. The monster spoke it with such conviction, such passion, and such hate that it made him feel a chill. Then he was gone, vanishing from his throne in a blur, reappearing in front of him and delivering a punch to his sternum which would have turned a normal man to mush. The Emperor was thrown back from the impact, hitting against the double doors. There was a shriek of tearing metal as the doors gave way and the demigod skidded off the floor several meters into the chamber beyond.

None of the Necron within the chamber moved from their places on the walls, they just watched as their lord and master stalked with a purpose into the hall. He held out his hand and a shape began to take form, obscured by a black mist which wasn't of the warp, wasn't of the force, wasn't of anything. It took the form of a war scythe, a massive rod of liquid black spanning three meters tall with a long curved blade at its end. The dragon grabbed hold of the recently forged weapon and swung it with enough force to send a Baneblade flying.

The Emperor moved quickly, drawing his power-sword from its sheath and deflecting the scythe as it came down, but the force behind the swing sent him skidding sideways several feet. The Void-Dragon didn't hesitate. Lifting the long weapon over his head and bringing it down to earth with a mechanical roar, culminating in a blast of green energy which erupted from the blade and drove through the ground, leaving a crevice in its wake. Unable to summon the warp to deflect it the Emperor jumped out of the way and watched as it stormed across the earth and impacted against the far wall, this simply gave way, leaving a massive hole in the metal.

The Emperor no longer had the warp to call upon, but he still had his strength, speed and mind. He vanished in a blur, reappearing behind the machine deity and swinging his sword with all his might. The dragon turned and grabbed the swords blade with his free hand. He leisurely leaned his scythe against his right shoulder and watched as the Emperor pulled the blade from the dragon's grasp, culminating with a shriek as the blade rubbed against the liquid metal skin.

This wasn't the same Void-Dragon that the Master fought against, he was much stronger now. In fact he considered that the Master wouldn't last five minutes against the Dragon at full power, which he obviously was now. With a swift motion the C'tan delivered an uppercut, sending the Emperor flying high and smashing through the concrete roof into the cavern beyond. He entered an ancient store, where dozens of Lemon Russ and Demolisher battletanks lay in lines, each one so heavily modified with new weapons and defences that they were unrecognisable.

The star-god followed at a leisurely pace, jumping onto the floor and walking towards the Emperor, his scythe still leaning against his shoulder. The C'tan looked at a Lemon Russ whose turret had been replaced by a double barrelled main gun and sent it flying towards the leader of the Imperium. The tank hit off the turret of a Demolisher and started spinning, smacking off the ground, bits and pieces of its form breaking off and flying in different directions. The Emperor didn't move, he spread his legs and waited. As the tank was about to crush him he grabbed it with his hands, stopping its descent. He took a deep breath, lifted it up and threw it back at the C'tan, who simply backhanded it and sent it flying on top of another Lemon Russ with an explosion of metal and fire as their munitions stores sparked and exploded.

The Dragon flew at the Emperor, who grabbed his sword and blocked the scythe as it came down. The power behind the strike was so great that the Emperor was driven back, skidding with incredible speed as the dragon pushed him several hundred meters in a few seconds. The back wall was getting closer now and the Emperor saw no way to stop it, he braced himself and went straight through the partition with a crack which would have turned a normal man, even a Primarch to a bloody pancake.

When he looked up the Dragon was gone, and he skidded to a halt ten meters into the new chamber. An old room which was lined with hybrid weapons from lasguns, to plasma rifles to bolters. Before he knew it a fist of living metal struck his cheek, he heard a crack of bone before the force of the impact threw him through the air, smashing through two walls and a ceiling before landing in a bed of rock and debris. The Dragon followed, floating through the hole and hovering towards the Emperor a few inches of the floor.

One strike will finish it!

Besides himself the Emperor began to chuckle, a throaty whimper that slowly turned into a bellowing laugh as he used his sword to support him to his feet. He turned and studied the Void-Dragon who was just starring at him, its head tilted and its long poled war scythe leaning against its shoulders.

Why do you laugh?

"Is that all" the Emperor asked "I heard so much about you, most powerful of the C'tan Star-Gods, a being that the Dark Gods of Chaos fear, possibly even more than me. Is this all!!"

The Dragon howled with rage and in a blur vanished from sight, reappearing behind the Emperor and swinging his scythe in a decapitating blow. The Emperor spun to face him, a move so fast that he was a blur, one millisecond his back was turned, the next he was facing the Star-God, his hand flying up with unmatched speed and grabbing the bladed end of the scythe. The power behind the blow was enough to send a hurricane gale across the chamber and yet the Emperor didn't move an inch. Once the gale subsided the Emperor grinned and tightened his grip around the blade, a crack appeared on the flawless, considered indestructible liquid metal before shattering altogether.

As the shards of the Void-Dragons liquid metal scythe flew the Emperor stabbed out with his sword, slashing into one of the Star-gods blade like wings and severing it from the main body. The Dragon flew backwards, releasing a deafening mechanical screech of pain and anger as he looked down at his fidgeting metallic wing. The Emperor took that moment to charge the star-god, pulling back his gauntleted fist and letting it fly forward, striking the void dragon square in the nose. There was a crack as its superior liquid armour fractured under the force of the blow before it was thrown back, impacting and breaking through the wall behind him, then the next, and the next before settling against the fourth, leaving a great crater behind him.

There was a blur and the Emperor appeared before him, stabbing out with his sword. Desperately the star-god grabbed the blade with his free hand and watched as the metal screeched and tore across the armoured palm. He hissed and kicked out with his left foot, impacting against the Emperors left side, and then he repeated the move with his right foot. Stunned the immortal staggered back before being struck by a blast of pure gauss lightning which threw him through the holes the void-dragon left.

Given his chance the dragon levitated to the ground, looked at the stomp where his wing once was and waited, there was an explosion of gore as a new wing swept out, slowly being covered by scales of liquid silver. It stretched out before folding across his body. His regeneration complete he whispered an ancient incantation, a single psychic word.

Muerte!

A black mist appeared around his hand, slowly taking on the shape of a sword. Black wrappings covered the hilt with a silver guard, the blade shimmered from the liquid silver it was made from and ancient black hieroglyphs were lined down the flat sides. The Emperor couldn't tell what they meant but they reeked of the same power that the star-god exerted.

Muerte, an ancient sword made from the core of the Necrontyr sun. Rejoice god-emperor for you are the third to ever see it.

"What an honour" the emperor replied, his voice laced with sarcasm before he rose to his feet, grabbed his sword and flew forward. The two blades met, flashing gold and green as they struck. The emperor disengaged and spun, swinging his power sword with enough force to crack open the shell of a battle tank. The C'tan intercepted and lashed out with his right leg, striking the Emperor in the midsection and sending him flying twenty meters into the air. As he flew the dragon reappeared below him and changed his trajectory with a stiff strike with the hilt of his sword.

The Emperor flew upwards, blasting through every ceiling before striking the bedrock between the ancient catacombs and the surface of the red planet. As he was about to fall the dragon came up to meet him and struck him in the chest with the tip of his sword, the blade pierced through his golden armour, then through his shoulder. The two hit the rock and broke through it too the surface.

--

Lathorise fired off his last few rounds from his guardian spear, putting several shots into the nearest three Necron warriors before it clicked empty. He allowed the empty ammo clip to fall before reaching into his satchel for another, only to find it empty, he was out. Instinct took over as the first wave came ever closer. His men were standing beside him, some still firing their last remaining clips into the Necron horde, others were fighting with the blades of their spears, or with power-swords.

Growling the Captain dropped his spear, drawing a pair of bolt-pistols from his waist and fired several rounds, one hit a warrior in the face, another went spinning in midair as a round smacked and destroyed its leg. Still they came, gauss cannons firing, his men dying. He kept firing until his guns clicked empty, slamming fresh clips into them and started firing again. Green blades of gauss fire streaked all around him, he smelt the burning ozone, the rancid stench of the beams, the sickening smell of melting power armour and burning flesh. He heard the screams of his men as they lay there dying, flailed alive.

It wasn't just normal warriors they were facing. Squads of Immortals were forcing their way through the ranks of weaker machines, armed with heavy gauss cannons and easily the same size as a Space Marine. Arkon roared at the monsters, and dropping his empty pistols drew his last weapon, his power-sword. He thumbed the activation switch and listened as the blade hummed to life before charging towards the Immortal, ignoring the gauss fire that spilt forth from all around him.

A little further down the last operational dreadnought was firing from its heavy stormbolter, its other arm which held duel plasma cannons had been seared off by a heavy gauss blast. Several moments later another blast erupted off its chest, tearing through to the crippled Custodian underneath. The dreadnought flailed before going limp on its feet, its stormbolter continued to click for several moments before finally going silent. It was a terrible omen.

They were surrounded, the last survivors were surrounded. Necron in front of them, Necron behind them, Necron coming from the walls, the ceiling and the ground. It was any mans nightmare. To be surrounded by enemies, with nowhere to retreat too.

"For the Imperium, for the Custodes, for the Emperor!!" he screamed as he charged, his blade held out, ready to stab into the first body of metal it touched. The last few dozen Custodes heard their leaders cry and drew their own power swords, this unit of Custodes may die this day, but by the Emperor they'd take as many of the undead machines with them as they could.

The Captain's blade pierced the protective shell of one of the Immortals and with a mighty roar of exertion he pushed it upward, cutting up the abdomen and through its head. He then turned and cut off the head of a warrior, slashed an arm of another, took the legs from another, punching through another's metallic mask with his power fist.

He continued to fight until he could fight no more, and by the time he fell the massacred, twisted corpses of dozens of warriors and immortals were all around him. His own body had taken several gauss hits and he could smell the stench as his flesh burned, but he didn't care. The dead were all around him, his friends, his brothers, his family, all two hundred Custodians who followed the Emperor into this hell were dead. And not a single one of them regretted it.

Arkon Lathorise, Custodian, Captain, soldier, died on the field of battle, on his feet with his head held high, a smile on his face.

--

The Necron were spread out before him, a sea of silver on the otherwise crimson surface. Magi Durin aimed and pulled the trigger for the Vulcan mega-bolter, spraying vast streaks of bolter fire upon the Necron, blowing dozens apart. His contingent of Warhound Scout Titans opened up with their own Vulcan mega-bolters and plasma blastguns. But the barrage did little to slow the advance. Unlike living, breathing individuals who would dive for cover the Necron didn't flinch, they continued their advance, seemingly uncaring for the deadly las and heavy weapons fire arrayed against them by over a hundred thousand warriors of the Imperium.

The situation in space was slowly getting worse, at the beginning any Necron vessel who appeared in the defence grid were quickly destroyed by the formidable orbital defences of the Sol systems many habitable planets. But no matter how many Necron ships they destroyed more took their place. Now reports said that there were over three hundred Necron capital-ships in the system with hundreds of escorts, and they were slowly picking the defences apart. A quarter of the outer planetary defences had been destroyed by an outer attack force of five hundred heavy capital-ships and over two thousand escorts, with millions of fighters and gunships creating havoc in the Imperial defensive lines. It was like the entire Necron fleet had converged on the Sol system, and what was worse, they were still coming.

The two sides clashed. A sea of silver smashing against an opposite ocean of green, the two sides stayed that way for several minutes before the Necrons advanced again, over the columns of Imperial Guard who suddenly began a tactical withdrawal to the recently finished trench and gun positions who were just opening fire.

Behind the line of Titans were the landing fields where dozens of troop transports were landing, releasing more regiments of Imperial Guard, more companies of Space Marines along with contingents of loyal Mechanicus troops, battlesisters, Inquisition storm troopers, tanks, walkers, bikes and armoured transports. At the feet of the war titans were units of Imperial Fists, dressed in their yellow power armour, Ultramarines in their blue and Custodian Guard in shimmering gold, all rushing to the front line.

"Warhound one to Warhound group" the Magi spoke into the squadron vox "Prep strategic weapons on my mark!"

The shoulders of the Warhounds popped open, revealing small missile launchers capable of holding two high yield frag, plasma and mini-nuclear missiles in each. On the orders of the Magi they fired, the missiles leaving trails of jet smoke as they launched. They soared above the mass of Necron warriors and destroyers before streaking down, a firestorm of deadly projectiles, and the resulting explosions creating mushroom shaped clouds.

The Titans held firm as the shockwaves from the strikes hit them. As the blasts began to subside Magi Durin placed a shaking hand on his face. How many forgotten relics had he destroyed? How many pieces of lost technology which would have been used for the betterment and survival of humanity had he destroyed with that strike?

A beam of plasma struck one of the Titans, resulting in its cockpit exploding and its broken form falling too the ground. The full squadron swung around to see the new threat. A unit of five Reaver battle Titians approached, humanoid forms with massive missile launchers on their backs, armed with heavy plasma blastguns, Vulcan mega-bolters and rail-guns. At their feet were columns of silver cloaked Mechanicus troops.

"Reavers" Durin whispered in despair "All Titan squadrons report to the ridge immediately, heavy Titan force inbound. First squadron, all weapons open fire, fire at will, fire at will!!"

As the Titans fired the Magi noticed the stream of Space Marines and Custodes had rushed in and set up defensive positions at his unit's feet, setting up heavy bolter positions and deploying in squads. The deep crackle of bolters could already be heard among the heavy weapons fire and miniature earthquakes that the Titans were making with their feet. Space Marines from two founding chapters and a detachment of the Emperors own guard against Mechanicus troops, the enemy stood no chance.

--

The heavy concrete ground gave way with a crack and a heave, before an explosion of shrapnel christened the arrival of the Emperor and his opponent. The immortal flew into the air, heaving up blood as he hit the ground. They had exited the subterranean underground right in the middle of the main battle. All around them were battalions of Imperial Guards exchanging fire with hordes of Necron warriors, the ground was littered with dead guardsmen or the sparking remains of Necron, weapons from lasguns to gauss rifles were strewn everywhere alongside the odd corpse of a battle tank or a destroyer.

Quickly the star-god jumped high into the air, his sword pointed down to the surface. He flew down, the blade puncturing the soil, releasing a deadly shockwave of power. A hurricane wind of energy threw all beings be they Necron, human or vehicle away, it was like a nuclear bomb had gone off and by the time the dust cleared only the dragon and the emperor were left standing.

The star-god floated back to the ground, expertly slicing the air with his sword, as if practising how to end his rival once and for all. Grabbing his own weapon for support the Emperor dragged himself to his feet, trying to ignore the blood streaming across his armour from stab wound. As the dragon came within range the emperor swung his sword, the dragon ducked and cut upwards, which the emperor quickly sidestepped. He cut down with his last good arm, slicing into the concrete where the dragon once stood.

The star-god jumped high, performed a backward summersault before landing in a crouch. Launching himself from his position the dragon surged forward, blade poised and ready to taste its preys flesh once again. The Emperor brought up his sword and the two blades meet, the dragons Muerte scrapped against the Emperor's sacred blade as he deflected it, bringing him face to face with the god-emperor. With a roar the Emperor brought his free power fist back and punched the dragon full power in the chest, sending the monster flying back and straight through the thick walls of a forge spire.

With a wordless war cry the emperor charged through the hole, and was immediately assaulted by the dragon's fist to his face, sending him spinning through the air but not hitting the ground. As the emperor was hanging in midair the dragon grabbed his legs and began to spin around. Faster and faster until he was a blur, and with a metallic screech threw him back out the hole up into the air. He flew up nearly three hundred meters into the sky before the dragon reappeared beside him and swung his blade. The emperor quickly shifted his position, missing the blades first swing and bringing his sword down to protect himself from the second. The force behind the blast sent him flying away again. He smacked off the ground like a stone dancing across the still water of a lake, bouncing five times before landing on the ground in a heap. Slowly he rose to his feet only to be met by the void-dragons blade, which pierced his abdomen, exiting from his back in an explosion of living metal and blood. The immortal emperor gasped, spitting up blood as he did so.

You are the first

He forced his head to rise to meet the bladed helmet of the dragon, if he didn't know better he'd say that the there was mirth in the monsters psychic voice.

I will destroy you, then your empire, then the galaxy. I will take my revenge on the Deceiver and the Nightbringer for turning against me, on the Eldar war god Kharne for imprisoning me! I will return this galaxy to an era of death and extinction!

The emperors powers waned, his physical body weakened to the point that he could barely carry the weight of his sword. He still felt the pain as the dragon withdrew the blade from his abdomen, causing another explosion of gore and blood. The emperor fell to a knee, all his physical strength leaving him. In one last desperate strike the emperor swung out with his power sword, only for it to be caught by the void-dragons free claw, he squeezed his hand and the blade shattered with a metallic crack. The emperor could only look down at the broken blade. Then everything started to go dark.

Now die!

Just as he lost consciousness he felt a spark, then a fire burn within him, he welcomed it as it filled his body, giving strength to his exhausted and beaten muscles, it brought him back once more from death. The warp flared greater than ever before and with this sudden increase came words. Not the taunting, rasping voices of daemons and demi-gods but a silky, warm, loving voice, the voice of a mother cooing a child, a voice that the emperor heard only once before.

Don't give in!

At that moment in his subconscious a being of blinding golden light appeared before him, its hand outstretched, beckoning him to take it. He felt no trick, no Chaos god trying to ensnare him, just a warmth and power which was so pure that he doubted that it could ever be the warp, yet it was. Cautiously he stretched out and took the slender hand in his own.

A gauntleted arm reached out with blurring speed and grabbed the black blade before it pierced his chest, the star-god looked on, surprised and startled at the sudden strength from a dying man. Then he felt it, the warp returned, as if bypassing his own immunity to it, it soared to heights of power greater than he ever felt before.

"I wont let you win" the emperor stated as his head rose to match the dragons stare, his eyes glowing sapphire blue as he spoke "There are many beings of great power in this galaxy, but also those of unspeakable evil. It will be me who defeats them!"

Suddenly the emperor lashed out with his left power-fist, catching the dragon in the jaw and sent him staggering back, dropping his sword. The emperor followed up with a right hook which sent the dragon staggering to the left, each punch so unnaturally strong that it sent shockwaves flying in all directions.

"I will beat Khorne" the emperor roared as he followed up with a right fist to his opponents face.

"Nurgle!"

A straight punch to his nose

"Slaanesh!"

A thundering left hook

"Tzeentch!"

A lethal uppercut

"Shingai!"

Right hook

"Deceiver!"

Left hook

"Nightbringer!"

The next punch smacked the dragon in the nose, the impact blossomed by a powerful beam of pure warp energy that shinned gold, the power behind the blast threw the dragon back, this time he was bouncing like a stone. Looking down at the black bladed weapon the emperor picked it up and charged after the star-god at such a speed that it left a trail of crimson dust in his wake.

"And I will start with you, void-dragon!!"

In the space of a heartbeat the blade pierced through the dragon's chest, and a great mechanical cry could be heard echoing through the very core of the red planet.