Far, far away, beyond the Tau empire and honestly a bit too close to the Ghoul Stars, a planet warmed from a long slumber.

Tsagualsa, formerly called Darchana, was given the new name of Motyl by the humans who terraformed it. That meant butterfly in an ancient, almost forgotten language but it seemed apt to them as they were causing the planet to undergo metamorphosis. The necrons couldn't care less about the name of it, so they just accepted that and added it to the maps.

The Tau who were settled on it, though, elected to give it their own name. They called it Yanta'Kelosh, or Exile's Paradise. They were exiled from the Greater Good but not by their own will, and settled upon a world that was strangely close to paradise. The terraforming of Hope was without peer, better than the very best the Imperium had to offer, and it had done well. The slight change in the orbit of the planet had been perfect, matching the models precisely and warming the planet into a tropical climate. It was not beautiful enough or fruitful enough to be a true Paradise World but if they had simply left it for ten thousand years, as the eldar were wont to do, it would have become one.

Even without that it was beautiful and Ko'Shoka breathed the pure, pure air as he joined in the great hunt. When they had first arrived on this planet Ko'Shoka had feared the Fire Caste would have nothing to do and be relegated to farming and other tasks. Not a fate worse than death, but close.

Instead, they had quickly found plenty to do, for Yanta'Kelosh had a native predator the humans had named the Flesh Ripper. They had assumed that the terraforming of the planet would kill it, as the conditions changed to something it was not adapted to. They could not have been more wrong and the Earth Caste had a theory that the Flesh Rippers were actually adapted to a much warmer world and had been in the throes of a very long, protracted death, clinging to their evolutionary niche with grim determination before the terraforming began.

That terraforming had breathed new life into the species and as the name implied, they were not very nice. Longer than a Necron was tall and just as heavy, they were lizard like creatures with six legs and they could move with deceptive speed. Their bite was venomous and carried filthy infections that could possibly kill even if you were lucky enough to survive an attack. Because of this, the Fire Caste had been given back their armor, although they were only permitted to use spears and knives.

Ko'Shoka loved every moment of these hunts. They brought him back to the old rituals, where a cloned beast would be hunted and killed, but the Flesh Rippers were far more dangerous. Ko'Shoka loved the thrill of danger, the pleasure of the hunt and above all else, the knowledge that he was serving the Greater Good. Oh, not the greater good of the Tau empire, to be sure, but the good of his colony. That was part of the Greater Good, surely?

"Ai, the castle? We have gone that far?" One of the others said and Ko'Shoka glanced to the West. Sure enough, he could see the haunted battlements of that old, old structure in the distance.

The castle was a bit of a mystery to them all. The Water Caste swore it was human workmanship, but the Necrons had taken it and were repurposing it. The Lord that had been assigned to this world seemed to fancy it to be his seat of power and none of the Tau were going to tell him otherwise. He seemed to not care about them at all, anyway, as far as they could see. Ko'Shoka sometimes wondered what he was doing there.

(if he'd known the Lord was busy working at coordinating the efforts to fortify this world and system for Ork incursions, Ko'Shoka would have wished him well)

The Flesh Ripper they had been tracking suddenly burst out of the undergrowth, flying at them with mindless hunger. The Fire Caste warriors split apart in a smooth move, menacing it with spears and poking it whenever they could. Although poke was putting it far too tamely… the necrons had denied them any long-distance weapons, but given them power spears that could slice through flesh with the greatest of ease. They were already starting to bleed the creature out, from the deep lacerations and it panicked and ran right at Ko'Shoka. That just let him neatly spear the thing through its open mouth, deep into its brain. Teeth clashed on his arm, thankfully not penetrating his armor before it went into convulsions and died.

Then there were shouts and Ko'Shoka whirled to see another one charging out of the bushes and it was heading right at him!

He immediately abandoned his spear and dodged to the side. The beast tried to follow him but then his fellow Fire Caste were there, distracting it with rakes of their spears. Ko'Shoka took refuge behind the slain Flesh Ripper, pulling out a power knife as the Flesh Ripper came dangerously close, climbing over the slain one in a shockingly smooth move. Ko'Shoka did not flee but instead jumped close, stabbing it in the eye. The Flesh Ripper shrieked and this time, he felt pain as the monster bit him in the chest, the teeth getting through. Ah, it could not be helped, although he would need a great deal of treatment for that.

(they had medical supplies from Hope and they knew exactly which ones worked well on the Tau)

Then the creature died, as multiple spears went deep into its guts. Ko'Shoka freed himself before glancing down at his chest. The armor had done well… if he'd been without it, that bite would have torn him apart. As it was, though, there was blood flowing freely from what were technically minor injuries.

"Ah, damn, it got you! We must head back now," one of the others said and he nodded. The venom and infection would start taking hold in mere hours. "Quick, take that off…" Ko'Shoka did that and they applied a bit of cleaning, then field medication to delay the onset. That would buy him a bit more time, to reach the safety of the settlement. That done, he quickly re-donned his armor.

"That was still very good. Those two were likely mates," his old team member, Ria'fa, said and Ko'Shoka nodded. "It is so hard when we need to avoid even the most minor of injuries." A common complaint and the most annoying thing about the Flesh Rippers.

"Well, I might be down for a few days but I will be back in action soon enough!" Ko'Shoka said, making light of it. The treatment normally took three days and the second was always the worst, as the fever became very unpleasant. But after repeated exposures, some of them actually seemed to be building immunity.

They took nothing from the bodies. Flesh Rippers were inedible, thanks the toxins they carried, and while their hide had some uses it was distinctly inferior to grox hide. Also inferior to cow hide. Ko'Shoka wasn't sure what to make of these new beasts, which were apparently quite rare and delicious. They had yet to slaughter any of them, they were going to build up the herd first, but the humans who had supplied them swore they were lovely.

(Hopian cattle would never come close to rivalling grox for popularity in the galaxy, but they would start to make a comeback as a luxury good)

(that was part of why they had been given to the Tau colonists, to act as a commodity base for trading. Also, the planet was projected to be very good for cattle farming)

When they got back to the settlement, Ko'Shoka took a moment to examine the fields. They were growing quite well. All the technology they needed, the seeds and supplies, had been given to them and thankfully many of the Earth Caste swept up in this had been farmers. Given the supplies, they knew exactly what to do to feed the settlement.

They quickly went to the medical tent, where a member of the Earth Caste was engaging in very ancient medicine, working with some native and introduced plants to make a soothing and slightly medicinal tea. To Ko'Shoka's surprise, beside him was a necron, watching the procedure. For a moment they all tensed, before recognizing the signs that this necron was one of the Crypteks, their version of the Earth Caste. He was likely here for the pursuit of knowledge.

So it proved, as the Earth Caste left aside the tea to begin treating his injuries. The necron just observed, quietly taking notes on a tablet as the Earth Caste man narrated what he was doing.

"This is the Flesh Ripper injuries I told you of. We will need more medication soon, even the most minor wounds require heavy treatment to avoid dangerous infections…" Ah, he could see the Earth Caste male's angle here, he wanted more medication. The necron nodded, making another note.

"We should make some kind of poison bait for those creatures," the necron mused, which was a good idea. Ko'Shoka and the rest of the Fire Caste would be very unhappy if the creatures were entirely eliminated, but it would still be good to thin the numbers a bit further. Despite their best efforts, they were still sometimes losing cattle.

"Forgive me, who are you?" Ko'Shoka asked as he swallowed some pills and the Earth Caste spread a salve on the wounds.

"Ah, my apologies! I am Nuhkes. I am a specialist in xenobiology." Oh. And for a necron, that would mean studying organic races like their own. "I have no knowledge at all of your species. You are Fire Caste?" Ko'Shoka nodded. "I would like to learn more about that but later…" Instead, he continued to observe the treatment and took notes on Tau biology. Ko'Shoka didn't bother to listen, he was starting to feel extremely ill and feverish. He schooled himself to endure it stoically.

He was confident he would be fine again in three days.

Kototep knew that he wasn't the smartest person in the world.

Kototep knew a lot of things that his cousin and her favorite Cryptek did not give him credit for. He knew he wasn't that intelligent, he knew he wasn't the best administrator or the best military commander and most of all, he knew he shouldn't be doing any of these things. He knew he was a poet and an artist. Long ago, so very long ago, Kototep had spent his days sipping wine and composing poetry about the joys and sorrows of the world. It had not just been the work of a dissolute dilettante, either. Kototep vaguely remembered putting aside his wine and going on pilgrimages, lifting heavy weights and tilling the fields, all to find more inspiration. Some of his works had garnered great acclaim in the halls of the mighty.

All gone now. Nothing was left but the single poem that was worked onto his body in precious jewels. That poem had survived because it had been his greatest work, inscribed in permanent metal tablets and hidden in the Phaeron's vault. In honor of his own work and mourning what had been lost, Kototep had engraved it upon himself so he could look upon it and remember.

With poetry and art dead, Kototep had tried to make himself useful. He knew he was a terrible disappointment to his cousin, but he really had no idea what else to do. It seemed like he was nothing without his art, a terrible fate for a soulless necron.

Now, after so long, he had hope. Perhaps his art could be returned to him and he could be genuinely useful to his beloved cousin again. And with that hope came an idea.

"Simokh, can I borrow your new Cryptek for a time?" Kototep asked. He really did want to surprise Rahkaak with this, he didn't want to share the details, but he had little hope Simokh would go along without question.

"No. She has duties to attend to." Simokh's flat refusal set Kototep back on his heels for a moment and he wished he could just pull rank. But even though he was an Overlord, Simokh was the most favored of Phaeron Rahkaak in so many ways.

"Simokh, this will greatly please the Phaeron and it will require little of her time," Kototep said in a wheedling tone. Simokh tilted his head skeptically. "…Please?" It was hard to force that out, with a commoner born, but Simokh had long transcended his origins. Kototep could humble himself.

"What idea do you have that you think will please Phaeron Rahkaak?" Ah, that question. Kototep hesitated a moment.

"Do you swear not to steal this idea from me?" That would be so tempting, he knew. It was such a good idea, so simple yet powerful! "I want to be the one to surprise Rahkaak with this gift." She would be very appreciative, he was sure of it. Simokh considered it for a moment.

"I promise that I will not take this glory from you. What is it?" Kototep explained and Simokh actually blinked his oculars before making glyphs of appreciation. "That is indeed an excellent idea. Where did you get this idea from?"

"Human fiction. I have been watching police procedurals. It is a common thing to employ a sketch artist to make a drawing of the criminals, solely from memory," Kototep replied and Simokh nodded thoughtfully. "I have already hired an artist. He will be available in a few hours." That would give them time to meet with him and Kototep had hired him for the full day. "I reached out to the King for references." King Reinhart was actually a keen enjoyer of art and had been willing to connect him to several helpful artists, who had in turn steered him to someone noted for such sketches.

"You appear to have planned this well… very well, I will surrender Panaa to your care." Simokh tilted his head to one side and Kototep was sure he was summoning her. These private interstitial networks they'd all started using really were quite nice. He sometimes wondered why they hadn't done it before, but until the advent of an unruly lot of chatty warriors, it just hadn't been necessary.

When she joined them, Cryptek Panaa bowed deeply to him. That was pleasant but really unnecessary, she had yet to adjust to her new standing. Kototep examined her for a moment… her remodel had greatly improved her appearance, changing her from a basic necron warrior, as interchangeable as all the others, to something graceful and feminine. Simokh had gone out of his way to add touches of beauty in the form of violet inlay. Kototep wasn't sure why he'd picked that color, but the Uhnashret had never had a particular color scheme aside from gold for the Phaeron.

(it was actually Panaa's favorite color)

"Panaa, this is Overlord Kototep. He wishes you to work with a human sketch artist, to produce portraits of the ancient necrontyr," Simokh told her and Kototep nodded. "Please assist him, for the glory of the Phaeron." That was just a phrase but she bowed again. Kototep could clearly remember necron commoners and knew this was normal, but it somehow bothered him.

"I would be honored, great one," she murmured in appropriate awe but Kototep found, to his own dismay, that he did not particularly enjoy it. Had he always found this fawning annoying or had things changed? And what was he to say to that? Well…

"Please, call me Kototep. I will take you to the surface." They boarded a barge to take them to the special transit conduit that had been created, directly connecting the Tomb World to the city of Hope's Landing. As they made the relatively short trip, Kototep wondered if Panaa had seen the outside world yet. That research facility was deep underground and part of the complex that led to the Tomb so perhaps not.

Sure enough, she had an interesting reaction to truly seeing the city of Hope's Landing.

"Ah, this is what our world has become," Panaa murmured, gazing around at the great metropolis around them, bustling with life. "This is so strange." Kototep summoned a glider, not paying her too much mind.

"Is it anything like the cities of the necrontyr?" he asked, genuinely curious. They boarded the glider and Panaa looked out the windows as they flew through the city.

"It is so strange. Most of the styling is so different, but I can see flashes of things I recognize." Yes… the humans had adopted some necron architecture and you could see it if you looked. "The great ziggurats are gone, all the shrines to the gods and the materials are all different. We always loved to use brick and stone, we only switched to metal when we must." Interesting. That was quite different from what they did now. "The humans seem to love metal."

"Hmm… not really. But they have no attachment to any particular building material that I've seen and for the heart of the city, metal is simply practical," Kototep said thoughtfully. Then Panaa made a soft exclamation.

"Oh, that is so familiar!" What was? Kototep looked and saw she was pointing to the navigational aide and floating advertisement. "I saw that before, so many times. Even the goods are close to the same." Wait, really?

"Phaeron Rahkaak let the navigational aides be used as advertisements in the Time of Flesh as well?" he asked and Panaa nodded. "Ah, how incredible." He absolutely would not have expected that. Although given his cousins' focus on commerce, perhaps he should have.

"Other Dynasties would not do that, they would insist on the stones displaying the glory of the Dynasty, but our Phaeron would lease them out to lesser Lords." Panaa changed her focus to other advertisements, as that display left them behind. Some of the skyscrapers also had such billboards, meant to be viewed by the gliders. "Oh, that is pretty." Kototep glanced at the billboard and saw a human was modeling a flowing gown of bright yellow. "I had a dress like that, although not as fine."

"A dress would look quite silly on you now, but you could wear a shawl or a scarf." That was a daring fashion statement for a necron, because some of their kind found even the sight of fabric repulsive, in their revulsion to all things organic. But anyone who felt that way wouldn't be on Hope, they would have remained on Abydos. While that planet was technically habitable by humanity and could certainly have been terraformed into something beautiful, they had decided to leave it as a refuge for the necron race. The surface of it was already being modified to suit them, turning it into something that resembled Mandragora.

"I might… I have already seen some of the Crypteks wearing adornments." Indeed, the Crypteks were among the most likely caste to wear such things.

Then they were arriving, and exited the glider. From there it was a short walk to the studio and Kototep led Panaa through a pretty, very artistic neighborhood. The buildings here were quite odd, a defiant mix of old and new, necron and human. The flowerboxes with necron runes for loyalty and hope were particularly pretty.

"This is so alien, but I like this," Panaa murmured as they entered the studio. They had to be a bit careful, the door had not been built with necron frames in mind, although fortunately the interior of the building was spacious. The sketch artist, a blocky older man, greeted them with a formal bow.

"Please, lord and lady, over here…" He escorted them to a small stool where he would sit, and a drawing board. That was so he could work while they could see what he was doing and correct the details.

Kototep did not pay too much attention to this part, as Panaa and the sketch artist conferred. They were going to do black and white sketches and also ones in color. The artist had color swatches, shades of purple ranging from nearly black to violet. Panaa picked the one that closely resembled necrontyr skin, which was a rather clever idea.

It took hours of work but after a great deal of refining, the sketch artist produced a beautifully detailed portrait of a male necrontyr. Kototep regarded it in fascination… they really did look surprisingly similar to humans, although their noses were flatter and more spread. This male had heavy features and looked weathered by both age and hard work. His hair was cropped short and looked very rough, heavy and coarse. Panaa made a strange noise and Kototep looked at her.

"Oh Ramotekh… it looks just like him. Oh, how I miss him." Oh… that sound had been grief. Panaa had yet to learn the glyphs that necrons used for emotions, they were something created long after the Time of Flesh. Kototep looked at the picture again. So this was her lost husband, almost certainly dead in the ruins of their Crownworld. Something tightened in his chest at the thought. "Can we do the color…?"

"Yes, of course." This time the sketch artist made the same portrait, but with beautiful color. Kototep watched in fascination as another portrait of the necrontyr emerged… the skin was a vibrant shade of dark purple, and his hair was black. The eyes were a startling golden shade, threaded with vivid green, very distinct and unusual. That moved him to ask.

"That eye color, was that normal for the necrontyr?" He'd never seen an organic with eyes like that. Even the eldar's eyes were not that beautiful.

"Yes, that was the usual shade." Really. Fascinating. "Some would have just plain golden eyes, and sometimes there were other shades… I have seen violet eyes with green, and golden eyes touched with violet. But mostly, it was gold and green." It pleased and saddened Kototep, that the ancient necrontyr had possessed something so unusual and distinct. Gone now, all gone, burnt away with their flesh.

Next, they worked at creating a portrait of Phaeron Rahkaak. This went faster, as the sketch artist now knew what necrontyr looked like. The image they created was of Phaeron Rahkaak looking slightly to the side and down, in a pensive way. Kototep thought the necrontyr image of her was very beautiful, with delicate features and very full lips. Her hair had been worked into dozens of braids, each one strung with golden beads and capped with more gold. On her head she wore a slim diadem, set with the symbol of the Uhnashret dynasty.

When the colored one was done, Kototep took it, handling it like a precious thing as he gazed at the image of his cousin in life. Panaa continued with the sketch artist, making a few sketches of the world and life of the necrontyr, but to him this was all that mattered.

It was beautiful, to finally see what they had once been, and Phaeron Rahkaak would be wistful and melancholy but also pleased.