Loki was in a beautiful, joyful, energized mood.
Loki was a very positive person. He could have intense, painful lows, but by and large he was cheerful and upbeat. That showed in everything he did, from his crazy thoughts to even his attitude in battle. There had never been a soldier more cheerful than Loki.
Feeling the intensity of his wonderful mood, Loki went to his room to safely drop into his dreams. It was the best outlet for this energy… as a child he'd danced a lot but when you did that as an adult, well, people didn't really understand. Also, his room wasn't really big enough for dancing.
His dream world was perfect for dancing and Loki sought out a glorious place. It was a great, darkened forest with deep brambles and thickets, excellent to get lost in. There were three moons in the sky and the distant sound of music, which Loki sought out.
In a vast clearing, a great dance was happening. The music was alien but had a glorious beat and it harmonized with his joy, making Loki move towards the dance. As he got closer Loki could see the dance more clearly… it was tall, graceful humanoids wearing garb that recalled jesters, but infinitely more stylish. Loki absolutely loved the trench coats! And watching them were other beautiful humanoids, so tall and elegant. Loki immediately decided they were elves. Oh sure, elves weren't real but it was all just a dream after all.
The dance wasn't complete though. There was an open spot, a void where someone could be. And this was Loki's dream so he knew what would fill that void. With a wild, joyful laugh he joined the dance and in honor of the occasion he changed his garb to match the other dancers, pulling on a golden mask. He kept his horns though. He wasn't Loki without his horns! The dance smoothly accommodated him, as he slotted in like a long-lost piece. Loki leapt and rolled, feeling no effort at all, just a wild freedom. Oh, it felt so good!
The dance went on for hours but for Loki it felt like minutes and was over all too soon. But they came to a dramatic stop, with Loki as the centre, standing tall and proud as the other dancers settled around him. There was a pause before a male elf stepped out in front of him and bowed.
"Cegorach, Laughing God, thank you for gracing us with your presence," he said and Loki would have corrected him. He would have said I'm Loki, but not the real one but when he opened his mouth all that came out was a wild, mirthful laugh. And then he did a backflip and suddenly, Loki was back in his own body in his room. His energy spent, his mood calmed but still happy, Loki basked in the afterglow of that beautiful dream.
His dreams were all so wonderful, he couldn't imagine a life without them.
Manric was currently enjoying a very different world, one he had never seen before in all of his travels and it had him in a bit of awe.
This was the world of Nereus. Named after the old man of the sea, it was an Ocean world. There was barely any land at all, just a few island chains that were volcanic in nature. One chain in particular was being used as the nucleus of the human settlements… it was active and constantly erupting, but that made it easy to direct the magma in safe ways. It was also in a very nice, habitable zone and had a beautiful climate. The other chains were either in bad locations, or inactive in a very bad way… one chain had been scouted out and deemed extremely dangerous, prone to unpredictable explosions.
The islands were not enough land, though, and while they were the start of the settlement, they were far from the only. A great, floating habitat was being built in an optimal location to harvest the great deposits of liquid energy impregnating the planet. Eons of giant fish living and dying had left great oceans of it, and it could all be repurposed as fuel for so many things. Manric was extremely vague on how it worked, but power for necron tech had to come from something and the necrons had perfected conversions for dozens of materials. This was one of the possibilities.
As for the rest of the planet, the ecosystem was almost entirely aquatic and extremely active. Great sea beasts, similar to monsters from the far past of ancient Terra, glided through the sea and feasted on smaller beasts. The humans had a fascinating way to repel them… before the planet had been settled, the creatures had been carefully studied and the great monsters hated certain sonic vibrations. It interfered with the harmonics they used to communicate so when the humans needed to 'shoo' them away, they used those sounds. They also painted their ships in ways calculated to tell the beasts they were not food. Manric was vague on that but he knew they were using an odd shade of black.
All of that was needed because in addition to harvesting the energy locked in the crust, this was going to be an agri-world of a very particular type. The great oceans could be harvested endlessly, with the assistance of the STC. A Hopian colony, they would replace the harvested fish with new baby fish, hatched and raised in an endless cycle. The STC was confident that they could create a perfect loop, taking only what the planet could give.
Manric had wondered, aloud, why this planet had not been settled by the Imperium of Man and been given a rather unsettling answer: It had been. The small chain of islands had the ruins of their settlement, a few bricks and the remains of a church. No one knew what had happened to them, except that they were gone and this world had not been resettled. The tyranids and the orks could be ruled out, but what had it been? Chaos, or a natural disaster? They might never know.
Zahndrekh's fleet was stationed here purely for location. They could be dispatched swiftly to reach trouble spots in this sector of space, and the Szarekhan raiders were active here. They were also assisting several Charnovokh worlds… they were tiny fringeworlds, sad little colonies hosting badly damaged or incompetent Lords and Overlords. Unable to defend themselves in any truly credible way, Charnovokh had politely asked that they be brought under Sautekh protection. They were just too far from the heart of Charnovokh's Empire for them to assist. If it weren't for the recall facilities on them, they might be abandoned, but as long as those functioned the necrons desired to keep the worlds.
One of them is being eyed for colonization, as well. Overall they had agreed to leave alone Charnovokh worlds, but a fringeworld that hosted roughly fifty thousand necrons at most… well, perhaps they could purchase it from Charnovokh. It was actually a double planet, the dry, sandy planet that the necrons had settled orbiting in tandem with a volcanic, super fertile Death World. Manric hadn't seen it himself but Itolyx had and he had mentioned it was a rare and beautiful thing to see.
Speaking of Itolyx, he was examining something and Manric jogged over to see.
"What is this?" Manric asked uncertainly. It was a fishing boat on dry dock but the hull was so strange. "I… no, what is this?" He couldn't see it clearly. It seemed completely featureless, like a great, dark void. Itolyx made glyphs of good humor.
"Humans and pwi-necrons all react like that. Depend on your sensor suite, not your eyes." His sensor suite? Manric deliberately shifted his perception and the hull of the ship easily came into focus. As he did, he analyzed the composition.
"Oh, true black!" Manric had never seen it before and marveled at it. True black was the color that absorbed nearly all visible light, registering on the mind as a void, an emptiness. "Incredible. So that's what they're using on the sea monsters?" If they hunted at all by sight, this would surely confuse and frighten them.
"Indeed, it terrifies them." Manric could imagine. "Yet, the lesser fish do not seem to care about it… it is strange." Hm. Manric filed that away in his mind as 'suspicious'. Was there a greater predator, something very rare perhaps, that they had missed?
"We're going on a fishing trip. Did you want to come? We have permission from Zahndrekh." Oh, did they! Manric immediately assented although then he saw Ahmakeph look down from the ship before jumping down onto the dock.
"It should hold all of us, it's quite sturdy." Ahmakeph said before Diarmuid also jumped down. "We were just checking it out." Manric had an immediate objection as he looked suspiciously at Diarmuid.
"Are you done your report yet?" He'd been given a 'slice of life' drama about high school girls. It was named Living with Sofia. If Diarmuid wasn't done, Manric was going to banish him back to his punishment.
"Oh yes sir, let me send that to you – " Manric got a quick communications blip that he archived for later. "Sir, can you please get me the next part of that?" Wait, what? "I don't like it and I don't enjoy it, but it still ended on a cliffhanger and I will be curious forever if I don't find out if Damian gets with Shanna." Dear gods.
"It sounds like you enjoyed this a little too much," Manric said suspiciously and Diarmuid sighed loudly.
"Only by comparison sir. I'm still not done Zahndrekh's assignment and frankly, I want to die." Zahndrekh's assignment? Manric hadn't heard that the nemesor had added something to his punishment, but that perhaps wasn't surprising. Ahmakeph made glyphs of amusement.
"What did he do, give you an act from the War in Heaven to read?" he asked and Diarmuid made glyphs indicating intense frustration and painful boredom. It was nearly a poem.
"Yes! How did you know?! Is it just because I'm human? Is there something subtle going on here I don't understand or is it literally necrons chatting about the weather for days? Are they brain damaged? This was the time you were under command protocols so seriously, is this brain damage? Why does this exist?!" Diarmuid actually tugged on his headdress in frustration. Ahmakeph laughed, a harsh, grating sound.
"You're reading Act 28. I can tell just from that description." It had to be quite notorious then, for Ahmakeph to pinpoint it so easily. "That's a completely historically accurate conversation, taken from logs and maybe it is engrammatic damage, I don't know. Everyone says it needs to be cut out but every time we try some damned idiot insists we keep it for the historical context."
"Well nail that person to a cross sir!" Diarmuid exclaimed and Manric knew that wouldn't make too much sense, so he quickly translated.
"That's a religious expression, it means 'let them die for their beliefs'." Ahmakeph made glyphs of intense agreement while Itolyx was just amused. "Well, I see you are being adequately punished." Manric said, keeping a bit of an eye on the fishing boat as they chatted. The crew was still making it ready.
"Indeed sir. I would watch that little girl drama a thousand times over before enduring this tripe another time. How does an act from a play about the greatest conflict to ever tear apart the galaxy make a drama about teenagers seem like an absolute thrill?" They might never know. "And I'm told people watch this for ten years… I'd go stark raving insane. If I were still human, I'd tear off my clothes and run away screaming."
"Why tear off your clothes? Is that necessary?" Itolyx asked and Diarmuid shrugged.
"Oh, it's just what crazy humans do. I wonder if crazy necrontyr did that?" he asked and Manric knew the answer.
"Oh, they definitely did." Everyone looked at him and Manric explained. "You know how I went to Djenakht's wing with Kakkophet. For some reason, he started gossiping about sixty-million-year-old politics with the Immortals… apparently a triarch once had to be removed from his position for insanity. Kakkophet heard he'd started eating people but the Immortals said he'd just been taking off his clothes in public."
"HAH! Hilarious," Ahmakeph said with more glyphs of humor. "I wonder if tau and aeldari do that as well? I'll have to ask Nuhkes if I see him." Yes, Manric was honestly a bit curious as well. Did every species with nudity taboos have that behavior?
"The ship is ready," Itolyx said, to Manric's pleasure. They all boarded it with the human crew, who were more than willing to teach them the joys of fishing on the great, wide ocean of Nereus. It was mostly mechanical but they were still able to contribute, helping to haul in the nets. And the best part for Manric was when they found the school of 'flying fish'. Similar to the ancient, Terran fish, they came out of the water and 'flew' on their fins to avoid predators. Several of them dropped down onto the ship and flopped about, before the crew neatly dispatched them and added them to the catch. Manric just marveled at the glory of it all.
When the trip was done they had all enjoyed themselves, although Itolyx was in a contemplative mood, staring after the ship as they left.
"I wish… we do not retire, it is all different now, but I wish I could live in a place like this," he said, to Manric's surprise. He'd had no idea Itolyx had a passion for fishing. "I remember, all through my life, when my brother and I had leave we would get a pail of bait and go fishing."
"Maybe someday." Maybe someday, in the far-off future, Itolyx could ask to be stationed on a world like this. "Someday…" There was always someday, but would someday ever come? Manric felt a bit melancholy at the thought.
"Well my someday is just killing people sir," Diarmuid said bracingly and Ahmakeph laughed, breaking that momentary mood. "I better get back to that damned Act. If I don't get it done before our next deployment, Zahndrekh said he'll keep me back and let Arman take over!" OOF! Manric made glyphs of high amusement, he understood the dynamics at play and that was quite a burn. "If that happens he'll be the most insufferable twat for ages!"
"Well, hop too then. I'll go over your report and get back to you," Manric said easily. He was confident the report would be good enough but he would check it over to be sure. As he did, he made a mental note to get the next part of the drama for Diarmuid.
If he really wanted to find out if Damian got together with Sanna, Manric would assist.
Srrenkestra of the Anaut People snuck through the high grasses of the plains, stalking her prey. Her skin was a soft green shade and her hair fronds were green, blue and purple, mimicking the flowing fronds of the grasses.
The prey she was stalking paused, lifting its' head. Bright green, saucer like appendages tilted and then pointed directly forward before the prey abruptly bolted, running with fantastic speed. Srrenkestra hissed in disappointment… she had been so close! She flexed her taloned hands, annoyed. The People were wonderful ambush predators, although that did no good if the prey was spooked and took flight.
What had spooked it though? Srrenkestra stood and looked the way the beast had been running away from before her eyes went wide and she ducked back into the grasses. What was THAT?! Huddled down in the grasses, she peered out in fear and fascination.
Srrenkestra had never seen anything like it. It gleamed like silver and glowed with green, moving with silence and holding a great thing in its' arms. It had a head, two arms and legs, just like one of the People but the similarities ended there. The body was so strange, she could see things inside it, like the innards of her people and they glowed green. Eyes of green fire blazed as it looked around… and to her horror, stopped dead on her.
Srrenkestra immediately sprinted away. It sees me! She was well concealed, but she knew it had seen her. To her further horror she could hear it behind her, moving with a heavier gait and from the sound, rapidly gaining ground. Nonono! Her chest burned, her throat felt raw as she panted, drawing in breath desperately to run just a bit faster.
Then a hard arm caught her around the waist and Srrenkestra screamed as she was lifted into the air. She fought wildly, but she might as well have been fighting a boulder… her fingers slid on hard metal and her nails seemed to dig into something, but she could not even tear it. Sreenkestra started to cry in sheer terror as the strange thing handled her like an object, turning her around and examining her. The green glow of those eyes made her certain that death was near.
Then something was dropped around her neck, and Srrenkestra was released. She bolted away again and this time the thing did not follow her… had it lost interest? She still ran with all her strength and when she finally felt safe she stopped, panting. As she glanced back she felt the thing on her neck clink and glanced down at it.
"…?!" Srrenkestra gaped at the string of beads. She knew beads of course… her people made them from seashells, from bones, from seed pods and even from polished stones. This though was nothing like any of them… Srrenkestra lifted the beads and looked at them. They were of a strange material, something she had not seen before in her life and they glowed with beautiful colors. The string had two distinct types of beads… one type was flat, white and iridescent, swirled into a spiral pattern. The other type were shades of blue and turquoise, marbled together in little spheres.
"Why…" she whispered to herself, staring at the beads. Why had the thing given her these? As… as an apology for what it had done? A peace offering? Srrenkestra was utterly baffled by the action but this meant she had proof of what had happened. Wiping off her face, she immediately set off to go home.
They had plenty of food, this was far more important than the hunt.
Valdar felt genuinely badly about terrorizing the little xenos, but it couldn't be helped.
He and Casimir were back to their surveying with a new third, a pwi-necron named Ostos. Valdar didn't like him one bit… he was affable and smooth, but in a way that made Valdar innately distrust him. As Casimir pointed out, though, he'd been selected for the mission so he'd surely passed all of the background checks and psychological tests. Which was true enough, so Valdar tried to put aside his reactions. Still, he kept a close watch on Ostos.
As part of their surveying, though, they were required to record any sign of intelligent life. There had been nothing visible from orbit so this race had to be very primitive. Valdar had chased the little xenos so he could record her… mentally replaying it, Valdar examined her with fascination. Such a pretty little thing, slender and graceful, with a face that was decently human… she had a reasonable nose, although her mouth was far too wide and filled with teeth that looked carnivorous to Valdar. Her eyes were strange, very large and a flat, reflective black like spilled oil. She had no ears that he could see, likely using some of the fronds on her head for that function. Her 'hair' actually looked like ferny growths, of green, blue and purple. A quick glance at the grasses around him told Valdar they were meant for camouflage. The little xenos would blend in perfectly with the grasses.
Her clothing and equipment told Valdar the expected story of her technological level. She was wearing darker green leathers, taken from the beasts her kind surely preyed on. A leather belt with a copper belt buckle and a copper knife, still in the sheath. Shoes of the same material as her clothing, and those had been given more attention, put together quite well with some kind of twine. She wore no adornments and Valdar guessed she was likely a young adult of her species, not yet settled in life. Valdar was just guessing about the sex, and basing it entirely on the delicacy of the features, but he wasn't going to disrobe the young xenos to see what else might be there.
Instead of getting FAR too inquisitive, Valdar dropped some trade beads around her neck before letting the poor thing bolt. That trade string was not really a necklace… it was just two types of beads that harmonized with each other, so they could be removed and then reworked into clothing and actual jewelry, all sorts of adornments. The one he'd given her was specifically meant to evoke the sea, a theme many cultures found quite moving.
It was just as well to make some contact with them because Valdar was sure this world was going to be exploited. Not colonized, with a native species present, but this planet had some surprisingly heavy deposits of adamantium. That was too precious to go to waste… the only real question was what they would do with the xenos. Just leave them alone as they mined the adamantium, or learn their language and artificially advance their culture? Valdar really had no idea.
It's probably for the best that we are here, Valdar rationalized to himself. If this planet was worth exploiting it was also worth defending, and there were so many threats in the universe. This little xenos species might be quite lucky to come under the umbrella of the Sautekh Empire. Yet, the thought still made him a bit sad… it was a shame they couldn't just leave them undisturbed. Well, that was the way of things sometimes. At least they hadn't been found by the orks! Or the tyranids, or the humans, or a destroyer cult…
Reflecting ruefully on all the ways the universe had to kill a young species before they had any kind of chance, Valdar continued on his surveying mission. They'd already found some gold, there might be other resources here. A shame it was inhabited, until he'd found that xenos Valdar had thought it was a good candidate for a colony. But one rule the Hopians had set for themselves was to not place new populations on already inhabited worlds.
These younger races deserved that much.