Author's Note: I already had this written, the idea came to me, which is why I'm putting this out so quickly. I might be a little crazy for this whole setting lol.
In the fluid field of interstellar combat, things could change rapidly and unpredictably.
Orikan was not infallible and simply could not know everything. He had places he was watching, trouble spots, and in those places he was more likely to spot problems. He was paying close attention to the war in Nihilakh, trying to determine when a winner would be decided.
So it was really not surprising that a surge of ork activity, in a completely different area than the place Naszar had pacified, caught them off guard. Three pickets and local PDF's managed to beat the fungi off, although one of the worlds suffered a ground invasion and was marked as infested. A Knight World, the local Knight armors would be able to deal with the problem but would still be reinforced by forces from Hope.
These were the orks that the Farsight Enclaves normally fought, and the reason they had suddenly started tussling with Sautekh was an unpredictable series of events. Even now it was hard to understand how a small chapter of Space Marines had managed to set it in motion, but somehow it had all come together and the orks had achieved a great victory over the Enclaves. To say Farsight was annoyed would be an understatement, but this meant that the orks were flexing their muscles and trying to move into the Sautekh Empire.
Imotekh was also annoyed and since Zahndrekh was already on the move, he directed that wing of his forces to teach the orks a sharp lesson.
Manric felt dead inside as he walked through the manufacturing facility on the captured ork world of Dakka-da.
Manric admired the orks, in many ways. Their cheerful dedication to the art of slaughter, their fierce joy in their way of life, was infectious for him. The power of their WAAAUUUGHH was exhilarating, like a great primal instinct, an energy that called out to him and begged him to answer. Manric knew that if he truly had desired it, he could have immersed himself in that energy and likely caused the orks to see him as one of them. Even taking a place among them as a warboss, leading them to battle and feasting on their energies.
Yet Manric would never do that, and for reasons beyond even duty. He knew the dark side of the orks, too. They had no sense of empathy, no true understanding of how other minds worked, nor any interest in such things. And that showed nowhere more than in their manufacturing worlds, where the endless munitions were churned out to provide their treasured dakka.
Many of the slaves in the manufacturing facility cowered away from him, but many others did not. They were too worn, too hopeless, too beaten down and starved to even care that a necron Overlord was examining them. Many of them were close to death, in Manric's estimation, as he saw the bones that jutted out beneath their skin. Most of the slaves were humans but some of them were Tau, many of them taken in war but many others simply civilians, raped away from their worlds to fuel this endless genocide.
Manric stopped short as he saw, huddled by a female Tau, a much smaller Tau. A child and he could not tell if it was male or female as it looked up at him. To his horror, he saw that one eye was lost, a festering mass and the other was crusted and oozing. Without thinking, he reached out and gently patted the child on the head, projecting reassurance. The mother twitched but did nothing, as her child just huddled more firmly by her side.
"This is why orks must be exterminated," Manric murmured to himself. This had to be every bit as bad as the manufacturing facilities of Commorragh. It was certainly worse than the Imperium, no doubt whatsoever… the Imperium always fed their workers. Starvation did stalk the Imperium, to be sure, but not among those who were still useful. They did not work them to death like this.
(it was actually slightly worse than the conditions in Commorragh)
(while the factories of the dark city ate workers like candy, that was largely factory accidents and cruelties from the overseers. They did not starve them)
Fortunately, the fleet had anticipated this and when they were commanded to move on the orks, Zahndrekh had brought more of the hybrid Hopian ships to take away survivors. This set were crewed by pwi-necrons so the food and water supplies would be untouched. That was important, because Dakka-da was considered so tainted by ork spores that nothing could be taken from it. Ork spores rarely hitched a ride on living flesh but they would still decontaminate the survivors before evacuating them.
Other necron Dynasties might have asked, why bother? But the answer was simple… the Sautekh Empire needed manpower. The Tau survivors would be taken to that small Tau colony, to help them build their population. Manric was sure those Tau would gladly welcome their brothers and sisters, and help them overcome their traumas. The humans would be taken to that world with the transpositanium deposits. The salt mines were being expanded but there was actually no good, mechanized way to pick out the little pellets. Like the humans finding the delicate mineral in the swamp with their feet, it was best done by hand and these people would have a decent life there. Nothing luxurious, Manric was sure, but ample food, little abuse and perhaps even some medical care.
"What are you going to do with us, foul xenos?" One man rasped and Manric recognized the tattered remains of a Guard uniform. He almost laughed, but the conditions stopped the impulse.
"Let me tell everyone," Manric said after a moment. Then he moved to the front of the room before raising his voice, projecting it with mechanical ease. "We are the necrons of the Sautekh Dynasty, and have taken this planet. You may or may not know, but the Sautekh Dynasty rules many human worlds and a single Tau world. The humans among you will be evacuated and taken to Tisiphone, to find a new life there as workers. The Tau among you will be taken to Motyl, also known as Yanta'Kelosh. You will be part of an agrarian colony." They were probably getting a better deal than the humans, although it would be equally hard work. But Yanta'Kelosh was just a much nicer planet than the icy Tisiphone. "To show you our sincerity, as you await evacuation, you will all be provided with ration bars." Not too much, not enough to let them gorge themselves – many of them were so emaciated, that could be dangerous – but a bit of food, to make them more comfortable and begin their path to recovery.
How long will the evacuation take? Manric wondered as he watched the necron Warriors begin distributing the ration bars. Everyone was allowed only one, but even so, Manric saw a few of the workers begin to cry. There are more people here than I expected. Manric judged that the worker population of the planet was in the millions. Incredibly low for something similar in the Imperium, but the orks did employ their own for manufacturing as well. An incredibly low status occupation for them but the way they burnt through slaves made it necessary. Manric decided to mention his concerns to Zahndrekh.
Yes, it is going to be a bit of a challenge, his nemesor responded and Manric nodded, still watching the workers. This is all a bit new to me, I'm afraid, but I have put together a plan. We'll take the humans away first. Tisiphone is a bit further away but there's an agri-world on the way that they can easily stop at for restocking. Ah, that was an excellent point. Once the human evacuation is done, we can move on to the Tau. From what I see, there's also far fewer Tau here than humans. That was true. They could probably all be sent in a single flotilla, while the humans might require multiple trips.
"This is still going to be an immense number of Tau to simply drop on that community. We should prepare them and set up additional settlements," Manric mused. He tentatively estimated there would be at least a twenty thousand Tau among the survivors here. "If we do that, we should detail a group of Warriors and Immortals to protect them from the Flesh Rippers, until their Fire Caste has their feet back under them." Manric was sure there were Fire Caste mixed in here, but they were in the same horrendous condition as everyone else. They would be in no state to fight Flesh Rippers with spears.
(Manric was following the progress of the Tau colony closely, so he knew all about the Flesh Rippers)
I believe we should put Nuhkes in charge of that. Ah, an excellent idea! He was patiently waiting for his chance to make contact with the Farsight Enclaves before moving onto the Tau empire proper. Nuhkes had already come up with a few theories that might account for the Ethereals and some of them were so dangerous that he wanted to take this slowly and carefully. He will likely know the best places on the planet to start additional settlements. Yes, Manric wouldn't be surprised if Nuhkes could cheerfully provide a map of the planet, with all the prime locations marked. He knew precisely what organic races needed to thrive.
With all that decided, Manric reflected a bit on the future of Dakka-da. It was odd, but they had definite plans for it. When all the survivors were removed, the planet was going to undergo a full, necron style sterilization before being converted to a Necron planet. They were going to be resettling the survivors of the Xahkeph here. The Phaeron had been brought back to sanity and his son recovered, thankfully also sane. Most of their worlds were lost to the same mysterious enemy who had devastated their Crownworld. The Phaeron was intensely angry and was of the opinion that this indicated a traitor from within the Dynasty, who had leaked the locations of their worlds. Fortunately for them, the Coreworld holding the female Phaeron had been situated beneath a Mechanicus Forge World. It had required a great deal of bargaining with the Imperium and some gifts to the Mechanicus, but they had been allowed to come and evacuate that world before sealing the Tomb. Everyone was of the opinion that the powerful human presence was all that had saved that world from extermination at the hands of their enemies. So despite the nuisance of dealing with the Mechanicus, it was good fortune indeed.
That left the Xahkeph decimated and without a home, so Dakka-da would be their new home. Imotekh would provide them support as they rebuilt, in return for some of their remaining treasures and an oath of loyalty. They Xahkeph would form a bulwark in this sector, bolstered by Sautekh forces to fight the orks. When they were done, the fungi would never be taking back this world.
After the cruelties Manric had witnessed, despite the sterilization of the planet, he could only be glad.
Ko'Shoka was surprised when Nuhkes called all the Caste leaders to a meeting, not just with himself, but with the Lord in charge of the planet. The meeting was held at the castle and they were brought there by barge, sparing them the need to walk. But what was going on? The Lord in charge had no patience with pleasantries, so they found out immediately.
"An Ork manufacturing world has been claimed by the Sautekh empire. Found there were eighteen thousand, three hundred and twenty-six Tau survivors. Despite our best efforts, two thousand, six hundred and twenty-three succumbed to injuries, infections and starvation." Ko'Shoka felt ill as his imagination painted the scene. The Earth and Water Caste leaders were frozen with shock, while the Air Caste was grim. But Air Caste supplied fighter pilots, they also saw such things. "The survivors will be brought to this world. Nuhkes?" Nuhkes took over then, showing a hologram of the planet.
"We cannot put all of them in your settlement – that would be ridiculous and overwhelming – " Thank goodness. There was no way their small settlement could deal with such an influx. "We are going to be settling them in three different places, each excellent spots for colonization." The hologram was highlighted in three locations, and then it zoomed in to each one in turn. One would be a tropical location, with a great river leading into the sea and a climate that would not be good for cattle farming, but excellent for year-round agriculture. Another would be meant to be a fishing colony, in a location with a beautiful sheltered bay. Long term, it would also provide lumber, but the start of it would be the fish. Last would be another herding and agricultural settlement, similar to the one they currently had. "However, we are going to ask a great favor from you… can we please bring roughly three hundred of these survivors to your colony for medical care?" Nuhkes paused a moment, before changing the hologram again. Ko'Shoka swallowed hard as he saw images of some of the victims of the orks. There were amputations and great, festering wounds. "These are the worst off, the ones who need intervention if they are to live. We would also like to bring five hundred of the others, to give you more genetic diversity and also to even out the Castes a bit. They only need a bit of food and rest, physically speaking. They might require mental support." Yes… Ko'Shoka wished there was an Ethereal present, despite his misgivings. That was exactly the kind of thing the Ethereals were good with.
"We will of course do our best for them. However, our agricultural output did not assume this… will food and medicines be provided?" The Earth Caste leader said after a moment and Nuhkes nodded.
"Yes indeed, medicines from Hope are already being brought in and food will be provided, free of charge. The Stormlord keeps such supplies in stasis for such situations," Nuhkes said and Ko'Shoka found that fascinating. He knew the Stormlord claimed tithes from all worlds, some of it in the form of money but some of it in output. For agri-worlds, that would be food, but the necrons had no real use for that. So this was what they did with it? Kept it in stasis for later?
(this was indeed the case. Although with the trade treaty with the Imperium, much of it would now be sold to them)
(Imotekh would still keep a stockpile for situations such as this)
"When will they arrive?" The Earth Caste asked and they were given a general timetable. The medicines and supplies should arrive well before the survivors, to their relief. They would also have time to set up some temporary shelters, bringing out the tents they had used early on in the colonization. It would be a bit difficult, but their small settlement would absorb the newcomers.
As they went back home, the Earth Caste leader seemed surprisingly happy. Ko'Shoka was not the only one to notice.
"You are pleased with this?" The Water Caste leader asked, and Earth nodded.
"Yes, very. Five hundred is such a low starting population, I have been deeply concerned about genetic drift and possibly mutations." Ko'Shoka really didn't know anything about genetics, but he had heard the Earth Caste mumbling about that. From what little he understood, they were afraid that unfavorable mutations and odd genetic traits could creep in from random chance. A silly example they had used was the possibility of their skin color changing, but it could be far more profound than that. "Doubling that population will help so much, and we can also mingle with the other settlements."
"It will be a great deal of work for us all, but it will be worth it," the Air Caste woman said. She was a very quiet female, but she spoke up when she felt that there was something important to say. Ko'Shoka nodded.
"We will welcome these survivors, for the Greater Good," Ko'Shoka said, feeling a deep determination. Yes, it would be a great deal of work but for the good of all. That was the true definition of the Greater Good.
When the survivors actually arrived, almost a month later, Ko'Shoka was shocked, horrified and disgusted.
The images from Nuhkes holograms had not depicted the true horror of it. The clinical numbers of the Lord had also not truly brought it home. When they actually arrived, the first thing that hit Ko'Shoka was the smell. A combination of unwashed bodies, the fetid stink of illness and the even worse, sickly sweet smell of rot. The Earth Caste immediately went into action, gently cleaning, applying medicines and spooning the survivors sweet gruels made from honeyed barley. Provided from human agri-worlds, courtesy of the Sautekh, it was easy to digest and nourishing. For Ko'Shoka, the absolute worst of it was the children. There were not too many of them but they had suffered as cruelly as any of the adults.
"Please tell me if this hurts, child," one of the Earth Caste said as she bent over a small, sex indeterminate child. The little one was missing an eye, sporting a terrible infection and the other was crusty and looked almost blind to Ko'Shoka. The mother spoke, her voice halting.
"He cannot speak. He was crying too much so they cut out his tongue," she said and Ko'Shoka closed his eyes, feeling an unfathomable hatred flow through him. It was wrong, that the Sautekh necrons had stolen them away from the Tau Empire and the Greater Good to settle them here, but the universe was forcefully reminding him that on the scale of bad things that could happen, that barely deserved a mention. For a moment, Ko'Shoka wanted to join Farsight's crusade against the orks, wanted to drive the horrible xenos to extermination.
"Oh… but no, that's not right, that would be fatal without care… please child, can I see your tongue?" Ko'Shoka was a bit stunned that the Earth Caste healer was taking it so calmly. But then, they also had their duties and sometimes, they were no less grim than the Fire Caste. The child obediently opened his mouth for the female to examine him. "Ah, I see… they actually cut the tip off. Much of the structure is still here… it's probably the pain that is stopping him from speaking. If the necrons and humans will help, this can be rebuilt." They probably would too, the humans especially. "And even if it cannot, we can complete the amputation in a more controlled manner. That will alleviate most of the pain. He is not eating well?"
"No…" Soon the Earth Caste was gently feeding the child some gruel, deliberately bringing the spoon past his poor, mangled tongue to help him manage the pain. Soon the child understood how to do it himself and managed the spoon with shaking hands. His mother was weeping silently, just tears flowing down her stoic face. Ko'Shoka decided to help and brought her a bowl of gruel. She took it with murmured thanks and he noticed her hair was horribly matted and spotted with dead insects. They would need to shave that.
It took days to get all the survivors cleaned, shaved, bandaged and treated. Many of them had injuries so severe, they would need bionics or other reconstruction to be fully functional. They had only survived on Dakka-da because they were still able to work, if just barely.
"Hmm, that is going to be troublesome," Nuhkes said with Ko'Shoka and the Earth Caste leader both brought it up. "We would need a true expert in human bionics to make their technology interface safely with tau biology and I'm afraid Boris is busy." Boris? "I'll reach out to Hope and see if they have another luminary of his caliber."
"Who is Boris?" Ko'Shoka asked, knowing it was useless information but still curious.
"Oh, he is a pwi-necron Cryptek who specializes in human bionics. A true genius, I'm told he managed to master the secrets of recall technology in a terrifyingly short amount of time… he's currently on that planet, what did we name it… oh yes, it was renamed Phoenix, because it's rising from the ashes." That sounded like an interesting story. Ko'Shoka made a mental note to ask Nuhkes about it later, when he had more time. Nuhkes just liked to chat, so he would probably be willing to tell the story. "The lunar colony has been named Egg. A bit silly perhaps, but we're hoping it will be the Phoenix' egg, keeping the human population safe until the planet is ready." This sounded like a grim, but still very interesting story.
"Oh, what happened?" The Earth Caste leader asked, letting them get distracted. Nuhkes cheerfully obliged and soon they knew all about that distant human world that had been utterly scourged, first by the genestealers and then by the necrons efforts to cleanse the tyranid bioforms. Yet again, Ko'Shoka was reminded that the galaxy was full of horrors. It almost made him want to despair, but he clung to the thought of the Greater Good.
Ko'Shoka could not join the necrons or his own people in righting the wrongs of the galaxy, but he could make a difference here. They would help these survivors, bring them back to health and integrate them into their settlement, for the Greater Good.
That would have to be enough.