Callidus assassin Tel-Yanak, currently infiltrator Tel-Yanak, had spent years working towards her goal.
Part of the reason it had taken so long was the roundabout nature of reaching her destination. The Imperium of Man did not have direct trading with the Sautekh Dynasty. Oh, there were Rogue Traders plying those spaceways, some with under the table permission, some completely without. But taking a rogue trader would have accomplished nothing because they were kept under tight observation. Tel-Yanak wanted to actually reach the planet of Luminous.
The method she found was with the Tau. They were considered a lesser threat to the Sautekh – rightly so, despite their achievements – and were under far less monitoring than Rogue traders. Using Rogue trader contacts among the Tau, Tel-Yanak took a torturously circuitous route through a Tau agri-world, multiple other trade stops, and finally her true destination, Luminous. Why were the Tau helping? Well, they had been provided a nice bribe of some lyraci crystals and generally speaking, when Tau accepted a bribe, they stayed bought.
The downside to this was that just reaching Luminous took almost a year. The Tau ship was thoroughly scanned, but that was only to prevent the spread of Genestealers. Tau ships often had human crew so she went entirely unremarked. At that point, it was easy to abscond to the surface and vanish among the hordes of humanity.
However, a Civilised World was not a Hive World. In a Hive World, undocumented births were quite common among the lower classes, but Civilised Worlds were often more thorough in documenting their citizens. Tel-Yanak could just have killed someone and impersonated them, stealing their documents, but her mission parameters had specifically forbidden killing except when absolutely necessary. It was vexing but Tel-Yanak was obedient, so instead she ingrated herself with the criminal element of Luminous. It took a bit of time and money, but she acquired false documents of very good quality. Apparently they were from a child that had died, and since the death notice had been erased, nearly iron clad.
By that time she had found the location of the Sautekh guard post – it wasn't any kind of secret – and made her way to Yvonne. She had hatched a story that might get her good information and given the nature of Luminous, it was a plausible story. The wretched planet was taking to the xenos entirely too well and Tel-Yanak thought they would need a good purging, when they were retaken by the Imperium. But for now, it made her job easier.
Tel-Yanak got a job as a barmaid in Yvonne, making a bit of money as she pursued her 'true calling', the writing and producing of a documentary on the pwi-Necrons. It was a bit hard to find them, of course – they had no real use for the amenities in Yvonne so they tended to keep to the garrison – but Tel-Yanak had a solution to that. She chatted up the young warriors, making friends and flirting a bit, all with the goal of reaching the pwi-Necrons.
Although she did find out many intriguing things before that.
"Hope is the best place in the universe. It really is. I can't wait to go home," one young man was opining as she brought them drinks. The other disagreed.
"It's too cold and it's on the ass end of the universe. I like it better here, we get all these Rogue traders and Tau and whatnot. When was the last time you saw a trader in Hope? And also, it's getting polluted. I know it has to for our technological advancement, but the air back home is starting to sting."
"Traders aren't allowed to go to Hope! All the shipments get delivered to Coreworld Abydos before being scanned for Genestealers and transferred, you know that." Hm, interesting. Tel-Yanak had noticed that the Sautekh Dynasty was paranoid about Genestealers, scanning all of their shipments multiple times. And for good reason, they sometimes found them and when they did they traced back the infection and began rooting out Genestealer cults. Tel-Yanak had no use for xenos at all, but she grudgingly respected their good sense and dedication. If only the Imperium had a scanning technology that could easily pick up those wretched xenos! "And personally, I like a colder climate. This place can get brutal in the summer."
"Well, you'll be back home in a few years." Tel-Yanak made a mental note of a possible way to infiltrate Hope. A Callidus assassin could kill one of these foolish young men, impersonate him and then make their way to Hope in the troop movements. Although depending on what they did there, getting back out could be extremely challenging. However, it would not be the first time a Callidus was tasked with a mission where returning was simply not possible. It was a shame she had no way to reach her superiors and ask if they wanted to amend her mission, given how long it had taken just to get here.
On the other hand, it wasn't as though they had any idea who should be assassinated in Hope, so Tel-Yanak put the entire idea aside. Her task was to gather information about the pwi-Necrons. After making a suitable number of contacts, she was finally able to get an interview and surprisingly, it was directly from the top.
"Ah, a documentary? That isn't a bad idea. If it's good, we could spread it to other worlds to educate them," Captain Revalt said as he leaned against a wall. They were holding the interview in the tavern, but early in the morning, long before it opened. Tel-Yanak gazed at him attentively, hiding her intense disgust at being this close to a traitor-xenos thing. "Hmm. I assume you already know the basic story of Hope?" Tel-Yanak nodded. She had the story of an incredibly remote human colony, assailed by the drukhari and turning to the Necron xenos for assistance. "Well, let me give you some flavor."
"Long ago, in the days of yore, we had a King named Lloyd. He had the misfortune to be our King when the drukhari first came upon us, and a great misfortune it was. They tore apart his small armies, put fields to the torch, and stole away our women and children," Revalt said and Tel-Yanak let herself fall under the spell of an expert storyteller, even as she recorded and took notes. "Three times, they tore apart his armies and the fourth time, they gave him a bitter offer. If he would tithe to them his people, they would go away in peace."
"King Lloyd rejected their offer, for not even the meanest of slaves deserved such a fate, and they would not sacrifice their own. The next time the drukhari came, they targeted the King himself, and stole him away. They cursed him, warped him, changed him into a monster that screamed endlessly. We know, because then they brought him back and his own son slew him on the battlefield."
(that was actually completely incorrect, he'd died to cannon fire from nameless conscripts, but Revalt wasn't going to let the truth get in the way of a good story)
"The drukhari knew it not, nor did they care, but every outrage against us only solidified our rage. Time after time, they kicked us in the face and time after time, we rose bleeding but still ready to fight. And so, when the Uhnashret Dynasty awoke and bade us to swear our allegiance, all for the chance to finally bloody our torturers, we gladly gave our oaths." Tel-Yanak sighed internally. She could understand WHY they had done it. It was still utter, rank heresy and they would have to be exterminated. "And we did, oh we did."
"It was the finest battle you ever saw, when the Knight armors of Hope, with their precious adamantium, strode into battle. The honored Deathmarks, the greatest of snipers, mangled the drukhari leadership even as our troops crushed them. Ah, a beautiful day, when we finally tasted victory! And then we seized the drukhari vessels and took the battle to the stars." Actually crewing drukhari vessels? That must have been… interesting. The Imperium never bothered with actually claiming alien fleets, figuring out how they worked and then re-tooling them for humans was considered too much trouble. As far as Tel-Yanak knew, no other race took captured ships between species either. "We crushed their base that they were used for raiding, smashing it and rescuing a Necron from the Sautekh, which led us to further alliance." Oh, really?
"Forgive me, but why would the drukhari take a Necron prisoner?" That didn't seem to make a lot of sense. Necrons didn't feel pain like organics, from what she understood. Revalt paused for a moment, tilting his head to one side.
"Ah, well, I'm told it was boredom and cruelty, to see if they could make metal sing with pain." How strangely poetic. "And they could. Thankfully, we saved him before they could drive him insane." That was lucky. Even when the Imperium managed to recover prisoners of the dark eldar, they often were insane from the cruelties they had suffered. If the drukhari could inflict pain on a Necron, Tel-Yanak had no doubt they could bring one to insanity. They weren't entirely stable anyway, from what she understood.
(not that the Imperium had ever really talked to Necrons, but sometimes the engrammatic degradation was extremely obvious)
"Now, we come to the story of the pwi-Necrons." Revalt shifted slightly, changing his position against the wall, for all the world like he was a human making himself more comfortable. "The Necron we saved enlightened us on how cold and hard the universe is, and that our small forces could not hope to survive the coming storms. But what could we offer Sautekh? We had barely any Necron forces and the great Stormlord would not look favorably upon humans."
"So we looked to the dead, and the living. It rent the heart of Phaeron Rahkaak, but she gave the bodies of the dead to the living, and the living accepted death to take them. The great forges were reborn and we surrendered our souls, to take up the immortality of cold steel." Revalt held out a hand, examining the metal of his body for a moment before dropping it and looking at her. Tel-Yanak was spellbound. "Why did we choose this? Ah, you have only to look to our history to know. Sacrifice and service has always been the way of Hope. When we were asked to make this new sacrifice, how could we say no?"
"Doesn't it… bother you? Being a xenos?" Tel-Yanak had to ask. The very thought repulsed her, yet hearing him speak was bizarrely fascinating. Revalt tilted his head to one side.
"Being a xenos? No, that doesn't bother me at all. I am still who I am, after all." She actually believed that. It did not appear these humans had been coerced or brainwashed in any way. "It does bother me that I am dead. We can tell, you know." They could? "There is no creativity anymore, no true spark. I still tell a good story, when I'm in the mood for it, but if I try to come up with a new one, made entirely from whole cloth, it just doesn't come. Our poetry and music is gone. They say that in time, even our emotions will fade as we forget who we are… I am sure it is true, but as long as I remember my duty, that is enough." Revalt paused for a moment before making a buzzing sound. After a confused moment, Tel-Yanak realized it was laughter. "And I think it will not be as bad as that. The Necrons are over sixty million years old and sometimes, they can be emotional in the extreme! Although, it is rarely anything but rage… well, it is what it is. We shall endure."
"Why did you do it? You in particular? Was there a reason?" Tel-Yanak persisted. "How old were you?" She had a feeling. Revalt laughed again, such an odd sound.
"Ah, you've guessed? Yes, I was an old man when I took the offer. A combat veteran, decorated in medals, my children were grown and my wife was dead. Most of the God's Hands are like that, we're the old veterans pressed back into service." Revalt paused a moment, thinking. "Would you like a few interviews with others from my unit? We do have a few younger men, who can give you an idea of their perspective."
"I would appreciate that," Tel-Yanak replied. Captain Revalt was being very helpful, for an abhorrent xenos lover. Tel-Yanak couldn't know that Revalt was actually monitoring the flow of information closely. In addition to being an excellent story teller, he was also accomplished at lies and misdirecton. The one thing that had to be protected at all costs was the STC. All the men knew the critical importance of that, and Revalt had hand picked several of his men who could be trusted to engage in long conversations without dropping a hint.
Nothing about the pwi-Necrons was considered a secret, except that the plans for human biotransference had come from the STC.
When Iplanen decided to go visit the garrison again with the servo skull, he got an unfortunate surprise.
One of the Necrons was leaning against the wall as usual. After long experience with them, he thought it was the talkative, silly one but his posture seemed dejected and he was saying nothing. Iplanen floated the skull a bit closer, curious about what might be wrong. The pwi-Necron felt the movement and lifted his head, regarded the skull for a moment.
"Oh, it's you. Can you come here for a moment?" Well, he could. Iplanen brought the skull closer and to his surprise, the Necron plucked it from the sky before tucking it under his arm. "My friend isn't here now. He's gone." Gone? Gone where? "It's called a recall failure… you never expect it to happen. We get so, so used to coming back that we forget that sometimes you… don't." His voice wobbled and Iplanen felt frozen. His friend was dead? "Orks use warp weapons sometimes. Now he's… not here." The Necron dropped his head, holding the skull like a talisman. "I wish I could cry." That was a whisper and Iplanen's heart went out to him. He had seen those two pwi-Necrons so many times, he felt like he had also lost a friend. After a moment of silence, the skull was released and Iplanen floated it out to regard the pwi-Necron again. "Thanks for listening."
Someone needs to help him. But what could they do? Still, it couldn't be good, letting him stay this way. Looking around, Iplanen saw he wasn't the only one with that thought. Another pwi-Necron was standing not too far away, shifting from foot to foot in a way Iplanen interpreted as uncertain as he gazed at his stricken comrade. He glanced up at the skull, and Iplanen silently urged him on. Please do something. After another moment of hesitation, the Necron approached.
"Hey. Want to play cards?" There was no response, as the first pwi-Necron was sunk in his misery. "Hey…" he gently rested a hand on his comrade's shoulder. "Please? We need a fourth to play bridge." There was a moment before he stirred, lifting his head.
"Bridge? I like cards," he said, although he still sounded dead inside, even with the mechanical voice. "Yeah… I'll come play." Iplanen felt a great relief as the two pwi-Necrons departed. It was going to be very hard for him, but he would survive this loss. There was a great deal of support here.
Feeling deeply saddened, Iplanen went to deliver his own news of parting. Jan was examining a half-destroyed Knight armor and Iplanen wondered if the pilot had survived. Jan was taking notes and muttering to himself about what parts would be needed to fix it, and if it was even worth trying. Iplanen floated into his field of view and Jan stopped his writing.
"Oh, Iplanen! What is happening?" Jan said with a bright smile and Iplanen was glad to see someone was cheerful. Floating closer, the skull offered a note. "Ah, you know, we should have a better way to communicate than this." It was rather charming though and he enjoyed it. Also, it wouldn't matter soon. Jan perused the short note with a small frown. "Going to Hope in three months… would you be willing to consider moving it out to six?" He could, but why? "They've cracked the problem with improved biotransference. I'm just waiting for my replacement to come in… not just anyone can run this madhouse." No indeed. Iplanen was sure that whoever they got would be inferior to Jan. "But it's going to be one of my younger brothers. He can take care of it." Ah. Well, he stood corrected, although Jan's little brother would have less experience. Still, from what had been said of Jan's family, they were all quite gifted with machines. "If you're willing to wait, I can be your escort." That was a wonderful idea! Iplanen bobbed the skull and Jan smiled again. "Wonderful! It will be the next major troops transport." And Iplanen could easily get the schedule for that, Emerard would have it. As he left the barracks, Iplanen felt more cheerful.
It would be very good to have someone familiar with Hope who could show him around.