Borin Zaul wasn't exactly enjoying his new life as a laborer on Hope, but he was tolerating it well.

The reason he wasn't enjoying it was because it was hard, hard work in the hot sun. The Hopians did their best to make it tolerable. They had sunscreen, bug spray and plenty of water. They didn't stint on the rations either and the food was pretty good. It was still just a lot of work, tending to the coffee and the cocoa. They had machines to help, but there was a lot of delicate stuff those machines just couldn't do.

Still, despite all the hard physical labor, or maybe because of it, Borin was feeling better than he had in his life. He'd been born in the Underhive and scooped up in a conscription run. The food of his childhood hadn't been what Hope dwellers would call food at all. It was a miracle he'd grown up strong enough to even make the conscription standards, and then food in the Guard was better, but still not great. And he'd been tossed a lasgun and some flimsy armor before being sent to fight Necrons! By all rights, he should have been long dead. Now he had plenty of good food and all he had to do was work hard. After everything he'd been through, it was a good deal.

Then he got an intriguing offer.

Borin was called into a meeting along with a select group of the plantation workers. Borin glanced around the room, a bit puzzled. He didn't know half the people there, but he wouldn't… some of them had come from other battles and some were natives, easily recognizable from their dark skin, hair and eyes. It wasn't just POW's working the plantations, there were serfs from other parts of the planet.

"Hey Borin, do you know what's going on?" That was Zeke, another Underhiver with such pale skin that even with sunscreen, he was constantly burning. Borin shook his head.

"No one knows, not even the natives." The regrettably unattractive Callidia put in, glancing towards the Hopians. They were keeping to themselves. For the farm workers, the two factions didn't tend to mix much. It was the different religions and traditions… the former Imperials had set up a shrine to the Emperor, and were still observing their rituals in exile. Meanwhile, the natives had a church to their god. Borin wasn't sure about what God that was, except that it wasn't the Emperor. They got on just fine, but no one was really interested in mixing.

(Borin didn't think of it, but the fact that both groups were mostly men had a lot to do with it)

Then an officer came into the room. A lot of them paid attention… when the planetary defense force got involved, something serious was going on. Outside of the first orientation, Borin had hardly seen them. He whistled sharply, catching the attention of everyone who had kept on chatting. Silence settled on the room as all the attention went to him.

"You are all probably wondering why you're here today." Yes, obviously. "You are all going to be offered a remarkable opportunity!" That immediately made Borin suspicious. The Guard recruiter had said that too. "Let me show you something. Can you in the front move back a little?" Move back?

They did manage to clear a bit of space and then Borin saw why, as the PDF officer pulled out a pretty advanced holographic display. It showed a planet like nothing Borin had ever seen before, a world without a moon. One side was facing the sun and it never moved at all, no rotation, just frozen as it circled the sun.

"This planet is named Yggdrasil." Ygg-what? "That's a mythological reference to a dead Terran religion. I'll explain it, so you can understand the references… Yggdrasil is the world tree, which carries the three worlds in its branches." This was heresy and also, why did they care? "Niflheim, the land of the dead, a place of eternal cold and twilight." The view of the hologram went to the icy part of the world and they saw a snowy landscape, shaded in eternal twilight. "Muspelheim, where the fire giants lived, a land of fire and destruction." And the view shifted to the fiery side of the planet, which was flowing with lava and looked absolutely awful. Borin was starting to get really worried. Was this 'opportunity' going to involve being voluntold to go to a Death World? "And Asgard, the land of the gods, more fertile and beautiful than any other." And the view shifted again, going to the band between the two sides. At first it just seemed to show them a vicious storm, from the hot and cold air fighting against each other, full of moisture. But then it dipped down further, penetrating the storm and they saw what was beneath.

"Ooooo." Borin joined the murmurs as they saw a great valley, full of verdant life. It was huge, absolutely huge, a natural furrow that had been burrowed by water. A river flowed through it and it was full of bushes and grasses, even some alien things that looked like trees.

(the person who named the planet knew that Norse mythology had more than three worlds, but they weren't going to let that get in the way of a good poetic naming for a new planet)

"Yes, beautiful isn't it? The land had been thoroughly tested and observed, trial farms have been running for two years. We are giving it the seal of approval for full colonization and you are going to have first chance at it." This was actually sounding like a real opportunity! Throne, when did THAT happen? "This is the deal… if you labor loyally for five years, breaking ground and producing food for the settlement at Valhalla, you will be granted twenty hectares of land or an equivalent credit." Twenty hectares… Borin had no idea how big that was. He'd have to ask some of the POW's from agri worlds. "You will also have your serf contract forgiven and become legally commoners." Okay, THAT was pretty big! "Yes?" Callidia had raised her hand.

"Valhalla sir?" she asked and the PDF officer laughed.

"Ah, you're a bit ahead of me! Let's go on to that." The display changed again and this time it showed a very rocky scene. A great ramp that looked like it had been cut in the stone, it wasn't natural, leading down into a more natural valley. A great block of rock, probably part of the natural stone, had been left in place in front of the ramp and was being sculpted? Borin wasn't sure what they were doing with that. The ramps cut around that block of rock and Borin could see the start of a settlement, on the ground but also worked into the walls of the canyon. And… was that a mining pit? "Valhalla is the start of our mining operations on Yggdrasil." Ahhh. "It's in the Northern hemisphere so it's a bit cold, but it's very rich in minerals, primarily adamantium. This whole planet is rich in minerals, a wonderful find for the Halo stars." Huh. "If you choose to take a credit instead of the twenty hectares, you can opt to go to Valhalla and join the mining or start a business. They'll need restaurants and bars, I'm sure. There will be many opportunities here in many different ways."

"What would you recommend, sir?" One of the Hopian serfs dared to ask. The PDF officer laughed.

"Well that's a funny question! I would recommend you go, since I'm going myself." Oh really? "Of course, I'm going with rather a different contract, but ultimately I plan to open a tavern when I get my mustering out." Borin wished him well on that.

"I'll start a brewery for you, sir." One of the Hopians volunteered and there was suddenly a buzz as people started talking about what they might do. Borin just wanted to figure out if this was a real opportunity, or an opportunity to get screwed. They were hard to tell apart sometimes.

Long after the meeting, when their work was done, Borin tried to figure that out with a few of the others who had been in the meeting. In particular, one man from an Agri-world and another from a Knight world were really helpful at explaining it to the rest of them.

"This is a huge opportunity," the guy from the Knight world said, actually leaning forward in his intensity. "New colonization and land grants lead to good farmers buying more land, and becoming bigger farmers, owning their own serfs and finally, being accounted as Nobility. It takes many generations, but this is how Noble houses are made." Borin was willing to bet the chance of climbing that ladder was slim. On the other hand, it was a REAL ladder that existed in a brand-new world.

"It's also how trading empires are made. One person makes a thriving business and it just keeps expanding, turning into a trade dynasty." The Agri-worlder put in and they all exchanged glances. "It's not farfetched at all. These times of expansion, they are so good if you can get a foot in the door. And those land grants, that's the ticket." Well, unless they tried to fob some bad land off on you, but Borin wasn't sure why they would. It looked like there was plenty of beautiful virgin land there.

"So you're both going?" Borin asked and the Knight worlder hesitated a moment.

"Well… only if they approve letting me take my lady with me." Oh, that was right. Borin didn't know this man too well but knew he was one of the few of them who had a woman. More men than women had been collected in the battles and the Hopian serfs working the fields were all men. "But if they do, we will go."

"I am definitely going," the Agri-worlder for put in and for Borin, that settled matters. If these two thought it was a good idea, he was in.

He would take the opportunity to go to Yggdrasil.

For Manric, going back to the Fleet turned out to be highly eventful.

It shouldn't have been. It was virtually impossible to deliberately intercept a ship in FTL, just as it was nearly impossible to catch one in the Warp. Oh, you could catch them when they went into realspace, but unless you could see the future that was nearly impossible too. Getting hit that way was normally anti-luck, like getting hit by lightning. What had happened to Ahmakeph and his fleet with the drukhari had been the perfect example of that anti-luck.

Of course, certain people COULD see the future, and Orikan was far from the only one.

The trip back to the fleet was long, and required at least one drop out of FTL to refuel the Necron ships engines. Manric did not understand them, nor did he care, as long as they worked exactly as they were supposed to in combat. When it came to knowing what the ship could do, and what kind of damage it could take, Manric understood it perfectly well.

So Manric knew when the warp surged and disgorged one, two, three and then even more sleek eldar ships, that he was completely screwed. They had stopped in an extremely random location, a dying nebula, and no one should have been able to predict they were there. Yet somehow they had and Manric counted eight ships on the monitors as his crew quietly and professionally panicked.

This must be how that Ultramarine picket felt, when we dropped into the system. It really wasn't funny when the boot was on the other foot.

"Sir, what should we do?" One of his pwi-Necrons asked and Manric turned his attention to the crew. They were a mix of pwi-Necrons with a knack for spaceship duties and older Necrons, nearly mindless in many ways but incredibly competent at their duties.

"Well, if they want us dead, we are dead." And they were too far away for recall. They all knew that. The recall systems of the Necrons, while incredibly potent, were not simply magic. "Wait to see if they want to talk, I suppose."

"Firing solutions," one of the true Necrons said, following the ancient patterns of his mind. Manric sighed internally.

"No firing solutions. Hold your fire." It saddened him sometimes, to see how deeply damaged these ancient, lowborn Necrons were. They were much like defective AI's but Manric tried to be kind, in case something of the true person within still existed. Not even empathic telepathy could find it, if so, but that did not mean it wasn't there. If any of them were at all aware, could they feel fear, he wondered? Or would they welcome a chance to exist this bleak existence?

That was a morbid thought, but Manric was in a fatalistic mood as he watched the drukhair or aeldari ships – he couldn't really tell the difference, they were of the same lineage – encircle them. Manric cocked his head to one side. If they were going to be killed, the eldar were taking their sweet time about it. Of course, that could just mean they were drukhari.

"Firing solutions," that Necron said again and Manric looked at him, surprised as he felt just the tiniest flicker of anxiety? Moving without thought, Manric stepped up to him and gently laid a hand on his shoulder.

"No firing solutions. It will be fine," Manric gently reassured the warrior. He turned to look up at Manric and their eyes met for a long moment.

"No firing solutions. It will be fine." He repeated before looking back at his console. Manric hoped he wasn't lying, as he let go of the warriors' shoulder.

"Are they just going to scratch their asses at us or what?" One of the pwi-Necrons muttered resentfully as the aeldari ships performed a graceful dance, circling them like sharks. "I would like to get my death over with."

"Mmm." Manric did wonder what the holdup was. Were they having difficulty figuring out how to hail them?

(it was exactly that. To their chagrin, the eldar were realizing they'd never actually talked to a Necron vessel before and their normal transmissions were not working)

(it took them a bit to switch to human methods)

"Incoming transmission." One of the Necrons announced and Manric nodded.

"Display it." The scene of the eldar ships' interior filled his monitor. The captain in charge seemed to be a beautiful and slender woman who Manric tentatively identified as not drukhari. Most likely a Craftworlder, although what they wanted with him was anyone's guess.

"Manric Duleth." Manric was not expecting to be hailed by name and if he could have, he would have raised his eyebrows. Instead he had to settle for tilting his head a bit. "You will come with us." …Could she expand on that?

"Not unless you give me more information than that. While death is unwelcome, there are much worse fates." Manric said easily, leaning against his spear. He could tell she was absolutely disgusted to even be talking with him. Honestly, the Ultramarines had taken him better!

"No. You will come with us." Really.

"Death it is then." Manric glanced down at that one particular Necron. "Firing solutions."

"Firing solutions." He repeated, hands moving in ancient and expert motions as he targeted the aeldari vessels.

"Stop it, the both of you." Suddenly they had a split monitor, to Manric's surprise. He hadn't seen anyone do that in inter-ship communications before. Then again, it was possible the Necrons and Imperium just didn't believe in that kind of conferencing. This was a male eldar and Manric could tell he was appreciably older than the woman. How much older? He wasn't sure, just that she felt youthful and he did not. He was wearing armor of fine blue and silky brown hair was caught in a top-knot above his head. "You will come with us to Maiden World Iathglas. There is someone there who wishes to speak to you." …Hm.

"How will I come with you? Necron FTL technology would make it possible for me to do anything I wish." They couldn't stop him, when they jumped into the Warp.

"We will tow you into the Warp with us." That… sounded interesting… "Do not fear. We will shield your vessel in a manner similar to the Geller fields humanity employs."

"I see… very well." Manric glanced at the female aeldari, who was quietly fuming. She really was quite lovely, wearing red and gold armor. Her hair was also in a top-knot, which Manric was starting to think was their customary hairstyle for battle. Drukhari often wore it as well, although they were more variable. "That wasn't so hard, was it?" He couldn't resist needling her a bit. She might have retorted but the male eldar cut her off.

"I said stop it. You are both children." Manric wouldn't be surprised if the female was actually close to his age. For an aeldari, that would make her an adult, but very young indeed. Equivalent to twenty for a human. Although.

"My apologies, that was rather immature of me. What do you wish us to do? Cut our engines?" Should they be dead weight or?

"No, this is what you should do – " The eldar gave crisp instructions that his crew were able to easily follow. Manric was fascinated, this towing operation was quite unusual and required their cooperation to work. If they had wanted to be foolish, suicidal and utterly spiteful, he thought his ship could break free of this "towing" in the middle of the Warp and probably damage the Eldar vessels severely. Of course, then they would be trapped in the Warp so that would also be rank insanity. There were far more pleasant ways to commit suicide than that!

"Firing solutions?" Manric almost laughed.

"No firing solutions. Everything is fine." And this time, he actually thought it might be.