After three months of in-depth immersion, Valdar and Casimir had a reasonable command of the xenos language.
It was far from perfect, of course. Their grammar and pronunciation were surely atrocious. They were also missing many words… concrete objects were easy, but how did you learn words for things like love and soul? Valdar was sure the green xenos HAD those concepts, but it was sometimes difficult to ferret the words out. Also, he was sure some of the words they had were slightly misidentified… they had to be missing a lot of subtleties. Still, they were able to communicate, after a fashion.
In those three months, Valdar had also observed many things. The green aliens did not appear to have two sexes at all. Valdar had concluded they were much further away from humanity than the tau… they seemed to be related to plants. This was not unknown, that other planets would have completely different things that defied Terra's classifications, but it was still fascinating to see. And like plants, they seemed to have no real gender, or both genders. It was difficult to ask about such things, they might be taboo, but it was helped by their mechanical nature. The xenos assumed they were completely ignorant and meant no harm.
Valdar had gathered from a bit of conversation and observation that they actually had their reproductive organs on their backs. Mostly closed pods, when they bloomed, they were ready to mate and produce young. Those young then grew on their backs… Valdar could see that, one of them was pregnant and looked like a hunchback. Interestingly, the child was fully active despite still being attached to the parent… curious little eyes looked back at him and Valdar could see the child's head, fully formed. The young xenos carrying the child was a bit exhausted from it and eager for the child to come off, which they said would happen soon.
The green xenos also differed from humanity in that they were largely ambush predators. They had retractable claws and their copper daggers, which they preferred to use. They also had spears, but Horosska had indicated those were for war against each other, not hunting. From that, Valdar had learned that Anaut was a tribe of these People and the tribes often fought against each other for hunting grounds and salt flats. Salt was considered the stuff of life to them, used to preserve meat and also eaten in all of their food. Horosska had indicated that without it, they would die… she knew that some tribes on the coast harvested it from the ocean, and then traded it to other tribes. Despite the warfare between them, there was a lively trade network among the tribes.
Yasska was indeed the shaman of the tribe. Valdar had learned that like humanity, they worshipped a single god that had no name. Yasska led their rituals, which Valdar and Casimir were firmly excluded from. Horosska, from what Valdar could tell, had no real belief in their god but participated for the sake of the tribe.
After about three months of observation, Valdar was confident that the aliens had nothing like a sling. So he put his ideas into effect. It took a bit of work, securing the leather and ties and then putting together the sling. Many of the xenos watched him curiously, wondering why he was ruining good leather. As he was doing that, Casimir was putting together a target, some dried grasses lashed together. The plains had very few trees.
When the sling was done, Valdar needed to find some nice, flat rocks and remember how to use it. He'd been very good with it as a child, he'd even killed a rat, but that had been a long time ago. He needed to re-learn the technique.
It took several hours of concentrated effort and the xenos were watching him curiously. Finally though, he managed a perfect throw and hit the target. Valdar was very pleased… of course, that would have done absolutely nothing to a necron or Astartes. But in a bronze age battle, that would have been a killing blow.
(although it was possible for a rock to kill an Astartes, if they were stupid enough to remove their helmet)
(highly unlikely. But possible)
Horosska had been watching and she came up beside him, looking at the target, then the sling. Valdar offered her the sling and she took it, examining it.
"Not good for hunting. Good for killing," she said after a moment and Valdar nodded. Although he actually thought it could be used for hunting, but that was for the kind of game he knew, the rats and birds. For larger animals, the sling might indeed be quite impractical. "I will try." Valdar nodded before moving aside. He knew Horosska was deliberately using short, easy to understand sentences, to make sure they understood. With her own people, her speech was much harder to follow.
Valdar watched her attempting to master the sling. Her arm strength was much less and he soon called to Casimir to move the target a bit closer, to something he thought she could manage. It took a while, but Horosska was dedicated and she also managed to hit the target. There were murmurs of interest from the rest of the tribe, many of whom had come to watch. Yasska was there too and Horosska talked to her quickly, too quick and complicated for the two pwi-necrons to understand.
Then Horosska motioned to another hunter, and a younger xenos took the sling. Valdar gently coached her through how to use and it and soon she was throwing the rocks, although aiming them was harder. Then they ran out of rocks, and the children were set to finding more of them, to Valdar's amusement. Ah, this was all a great deal of fun and might be very valuable to them.
He was pleased to share this knowledge.
Horosska was deeply frustrated with her own people.
It had always been this way, but having the Silver People living with them had made things so much worse. The rest of the tribe regarded Valdar and Casimir as magical beings from the stars. They had many theories… the most popular one was that Valdar and Casimir were the embodiments of their ancestors. That one actually made the most sense, as they thought the stars were the spirits of the ancestors. From there, the theories became even more ridiculous.
Horosska did not believe in any of it. She thought the Silver People were just another People, from a different place. They did not truly know what the stars were… could they perhaps be other places that People could live? Or were the Silver People from across the Great Sea? There had always been rumors of great islands in the Great Sea, places where People could live. Could they be from there?
Part of the reason it was all so frustrating was that she could literally ask them. Horosska had a difficult time making herself understood – the Silver People were still learning their language – but she had done her best and they had denied being the spirits of those who had passed. She had asked if they came from across the Great Sea and they had said they were from the Sea of Stars. So if she was understanding them correctly, and they were understanding her, they were from the stars. Yet despite her work with them, the rest of the tribe believed what they wanted to believe.
This night, though, Yasska's smug face got on Horosska's last nerve. She was so sure she knew everything, so sure of her belief in the Maker of All Things. She thought the Silver People were a special gift of the Maker and should be revered as such. Nothing could convince her otherwise.
"Is magic real?" Horosska asked the Silver People by the fire. Valdar and Casimir looked at each other. Many conversations stopped as the rest of the tribe suddenly became interested in their conversation and Yasska's face tightened.
"What is this word mean?" Valdar asked and Horosska groaned internally. Of course they did not know that word… she did her best to convey that it was the supernatural, the unexplainable, the will of the Maker. The two Silver People looked at each other and Horosska wondered if they were communicating silently. She had noticed they often did that. "Yes, magic is real." Valdar finally said and Horosska felt a deep suspicion. Were they just saying that to not anger Yasska?
"What is magic?" Horosska pressed and they looked at each other again. Then suddenly, Casimir took over, speaking and gesturing.
"Magic is think," he said, tapping his head and Horosska blinked. That… was not something they had ever believed… "Magic is Sea of Think. All think makes great sea. If you have strong think you can make think come out of your head. If you have think of fly, you can make rock fly. If you have think of fire, you can make fire with think. You can kill with think." …Kill?
"But strong think is dangerous. There are…" Valdar paused a moment, searching for a word. "Kill things in sea of think. They look for strong think so they can eat strong think and take your body. Wear your body like clothing." Horosska's mouth dropped open as she felt a great shock. They were describing something she knew, although she had never believed it was real. "Kill others. They are bad and they like strong think." There were murmurs from the rest of the tribe and Yasska was frowning. They all recognized it.
"The legend of the Kavorssha is real?" Horosska said, feeling deeply shocked. Casimir tilted his head.
"What is?" Casimir asked and Horosska did her best to describe the Kavorssha. It was a legend they had of a monstrous creature that could be summoned by excess, by gluttony and sloth. It would take over the one who summoned it and become a plague, haunting the night and slaughtering people and animals for fun and sport. "Yes, this is real. We call this Wendigo." Horosska swallowed heavily. She hadn't expected this. "Only thing wrong is, not bad person. It is strong think. Good person with strong think can become Kavorssha. Good person with strong think can become Wendigo."
"How does a good person with strong thoughts avoid becoming Kavorssha?" Yasska asked. The two Silver People looked at each other again and this time, conversed aloud for a moment, but in their own tongue. Then they looked back at them.
"We no have strong think so only way we know is belief in Maker. Other ways there are but we not know." Belief in the Maker… Horosska was still digesting all of the revelations, but she also sighed to herself. Yasska was winning this round.
"Strong think of Maker can bring out Maker," Casimir said and Valdar gestured sharply to him as there were murmurs around the fire. "No, Valdar, we should speak." Ah, so they had been arguing about how much to tell them. "Maker is real. We know of one of us who speak to our Maker." What?! "We call this ****." He said a strange word. Horosska disregarded that, she was intent on understanding. All her life, she had not believed in such things and she was being told they were true?
"How do you know he spoke to the Maker? Did he hear voices in his head?" Horosska asked and realized she had spoken too quickly, when they both just stared at her. She slowed down and simplified her words, helping them to understand.
"Do you have word for when Maker tells you future story? Maker tells you what will happen?" Casimir said and Yasska nodded.
"Prophecy," she supplied and Casimir nodded.
"Maker gave prophecy long ago. Tell us to hide weapon until right words said. Then long after, Maker say to one of us, use…" Casimir paused, sorting out his words. "Tell him words to say. He say the words and take weapon. He spoke to Maker."
(Casimir was omitting the angel, because he thought that was just too complicated)
"He could not know unless Maker tell him. Only shaman know the words," Valdar put in and Horosska bit her lip. So it was possible to speak to the Maker? Yasska was very interested, her eyes bright.
"I wonder if I can speak to the Maker…" she murmured. "I should make the mushroom brew." Yasska was talking more to herself than anything, but fortunately, the Silver People heard and understood.
"No. Danger." Valdar said shortly and Yasska brushed that away.
"I am strong in my faith in the Maker. I am confident in myself," she said and Valdar slapped Casimir on the shoulder. Then he looked at Yasska.
"This is why I think we not speak… you think you are strong? No. You are weak. Talk to Maker when you need Maker. When things are bad. Not for fun," he said forcefully and Yasska was taken aback as Horosska felt a bit of satisfaction. No one had spoken to her that way in a long, long time. The rest of the tribe murmured a bit and Yasska's eyes narrowed. For a moment, Horosska was worried she might take offense, but then Yasska took a deep breath and centred herself.
"Yes, you are right. The Maker should not be troubled with petty nonsense," she said and Horosska sighed internally. Yasska had no humility at all! Well, as long as she did nothing stupid, it was fine. If these things were real and Kavorssha was real, Horosska had no desire to meet one. Particularly not wearing Yasska's body. How utterly nightmarish.
(Horosska could not know, but Valdar and Casimir were watching Yasska and coming to the same conclusion. Valdar was telling Casimir they really shouldn't have mentioned speaking to God and Casimir was apologizing)
(they could only hope it would work out)
After that they went on to other things and Horosska was left chewing over what she had learned. She still didn't entirely believe in such things but… this Sea of Thought… it actually sounded plausible. They had always believed in malicious spirits without a real explanation. If a 'Sea of Thought' was real, what horrors could it contain? The People were not peaceful, they often fought, sometimes viciously. Horosska had seen atrocities. Not often, but several times in her life.
What awful things could live in a sea of all thought?
Manric gazed into the tactical screens, feeling the power and connection of a nemesor at his fingertips.
Space battles were his weak point. It was just a matter of practice… Manric came from the background of being a ground general, he had vastly more experience conducting battles there. Also, Zahndrekh preferred him there. Even before acquiring the gauntlet, Manric's warp powers had meant he was significantly more valuable on the battlefield than up in the skies, fighting with spaceships.
However, weak was a relative term. He was still very good, just not quite up to Zahndrekh's standard. Certainly not Imotekh's but no one could match that level of brilliance. And as he conducted the space battle around a tiny, unnamed world, everything seemed to become a simulation and Manric felt a deep calm as he gave his directions.
"Sarloc, to this heading," Manric transmitted the coordinates. He was putting Itolyx and his ships in grave danger, but that was the was the way of things. They were tied to the Charnovokh recall facilities, as well as their own portable ones, carried on a vast ship dedicated to just that. If worst came to worst, they would probably be back. "Wrath of Khar, to this heading." They would pincher their enemies, if the fools let them. Manric doubted they would be so lucky but they would make the attempt.
Manric realized he'd made a mistake in disregarding the moon when it abruptly disgorged ships. In his defense, from the state of the pirate ships he was facing, they should not have possessed stealth capable of deceiving his sensors. Also, did they have some kind of base within the moon? That was completely incongruent with their observed technological levels. Had they looted some alien spaceport? Manric did not have time to correct his orders to Wrath of Khar, but he also did not need to. Tadutep reacted with consummate skill and completely aborted his maneuver, turning adroitly to focus on the new threat.
Ten initiative points to Tadutep, Manric thought to himself as he completely adjusted all of his plans. Orders flew off with blinding speed as he completely dropped his voice, communicating entirely via interstitial messaging. Manric vaguely felt his ship shudder as they took a hit, but paid no attention, trusting to his second and his crew. Just as Zahndrekh placed his faith in Obyron, he would place it in his ship and crew as he managed the greater battlefield.
The pirates were not actually very good. Their commander was used to robbing backwater planets, far from the Imperium of Man, and raping developing young races. Until the entry of the Sautekh, the necrons had not cared about such things but as Manric had discovered a few ancient, forgotten human colonies, he'd heard about these pirates. And Imotekh preferred to scourge such filth from his domain, even if they were not a direct threat to his interests.
All of that meant they were grossly outgunned by the necron forces and did not really know it. Their maneuvers, while decent, were also not up to snuff. Itolyx's forces managed an excellent boarding operation, getting Immortals aboard to cause utter chaos. Several ships were crippled and one was removed from the battle entirely, taken almost intact. Not that necrons had any use for human ships, but they contained civilians. Living in the bowels of the ships and providing the manual labor non-automated ships needed, they could be taken as slaves and repurposed. Tisiphone was too far away but Hope had a brand-new colony slated for a world within the Charnovokh sphere. Slave labor would be helpful there.
(it was actually a forgotten Maiden World. The old star charts had been corrupted and it had been lost and presumed destroyed by the Tyranids, but it still existed)
(Charnovokh had little use for it, so they had been pleased to give it to Imotekh as part of their tribute)
The battle was still fierce, as the pirates had guts if not skill, and Manric vaguely registered the losses as his ship shuddered again. The Sarloc, Itolyx's flagship, was not destroyed but was crippled and removed from the battle. Manric spared the briefest of moments to hope Itolyx was well before setting the matter aside, Sarloc dropping off the tactical array. The pirates were retreating into the moon, now. They would have to winkle them out.
Fortunately, while the lunar base had fixed emplacements they had been put in much later and were inferior to the alien ships and the overall lunar technology. They were forced to simply take the damage before the emplacements could be destroyed but that was entirely feasible, with the strongest capital ships. That led to the final massacre and a few more ships were seized intact before the necrons took possession of the moon. Manric remained in ready mode, in case he had missed something, but he was fairly sure the battle was over so he reached out to Itolyx.
"Sarloc? Everyone alive over there?" he asked and to his relief, Itolyx responded.
There were some casualties but overall, we are intact. Ah, excellent. Manric reached out to the recall ships to see if everything was still good there and received a quick, positive blip. The ship will repair itself, after a bit of time. That was the most wonderful thing about necron ships. They were made of the same living metal as the necrons and would literally repair themselves over time. Although sometimes the damage was extensive enough to require Cryptek assistance, and all necron fleets were well supplied with precious Crypteks.
"We will all have plenty of time. I want to fully explore and claim this moon base," Manric said absently as he began checking all the other casualties. Two ships had been entirely lost, and many more badly damaged, but overall the losses were light. They would easily be able to continue their mission, after pausing here a bit to explore the system while the ships repaired. Then Manric reached out to Wrath of Khar. "Tadutep, you were wonderful there. I will personally commend you to Zahndrekh," he said. Tadutep was an interesting Overlord… the exact opposite of Manric, his skill lay entirely with space battles. And unlike Manric, who was trying to fully master both, Tadutep had no interest in improving his ground battle skills. Instead, he was laser focused on being a master of naval combat and Manric admired his incredible skill.
Thank you nemesor, I appreciate it, Tadutep said and Manric smiled internally. He really was a wonderful subordinate for any commander. Manric could see he'd already dispatched Warriors and Immortals to begin the final takeover of the lunar base… there would be no true resistance now, these were pirates, not Guard or Astartes. If they were intelligent any remainder would surrender. Manric was looking forward to exploring the lunar base, and also the planet, while the ships were undergoing repairs. Would they leave a garrison here? Manric wasn't sure, it would depend on many things, but it was possible.
Charnovokh did not have the strength to hold all of the worlds in the territory it claimed, so Sautekh would help them.
