Bastards bastards bastards!
Captain Actico of the Night Lords clenched his fists as his small ship hid behind a moon. They had employed incredible levels of stealth to get this far and frankly, had been quite lucky to make it. The small picket around the planet they were observing was fully necron, as well as one ship that appeared to be a hybrid design. Even as they watched, that ship boosted out of the system and Actico let it go. He had eyes only for the planet.
"Is this even…" One of the human crew started, then stopped. He turned a hard glare on her.
"Is this even what?" he asked and she swallowed before continuing her thought.
"Is this even the right system? Are we sure this is the right place? I only ask because this planet is nothing like our records. Even the orbit is wrong." Actico took a deep breath. Her question was somewhat idiotic, they had already checked, but perhaps a triple check was in order.
"I'll recheck," said the cold voice of competence and Actico tried to calm himself. "Yes, this is the correct system. Despite the changes to this particular planet, everything matches. My conclusion is that Tsagualsa has been extensively terraformed, although perhaps our Mechanicus could offer more opinions on that." Terraformed – those bastards! Actico stalked over to the console and the man moved away, but only to give him room. Actico could smell no fear from him, but he was an old hand and while he would never be insubordinate, he also knew his own worth.
Actico looked at the tactical displays, taking in the small necron picket in the system. It was absolutely not what he'd been expecting. When he'd decided to set course for Tsagualsa, to see if the Imperium had gotten the message and left their homeworld alone, he'd expected to find nothing at all. He had not expected to find xenos, let alone the necrons! Orks might have made sense, they infested everything, but what did the necrons want with this world? It was NOT a Tomb World, of that Actico was certain.
"Why did they do this?" said his Battle Brother, Xotark. "They do not even require an atmosphere. Did the Imperium terraform it, then the xenos took it?"
"No. While I am not a Mechanicus, the orbit of Tsagualsa is shifted. That is beyond Imperium technology but well within Necron," the old man said before pointing his chin at the screens. "I have no idea why, but they are responsible for this." Actico clenched his fist before coming to a quick decision.
"On this heading – " he quickly snapped his orders, putting the ship on a course to attack the necron picket. There was a leaden silence from most of the crew but the older man smiled as he entered the course. Xotark was the one to break the silence.
"We are sacrificing the ship to reach the planet?" he asked, in the tone of one just clarifying. Actico nodded. "Then I will handle the bridge, if you desire to go down yourself."
"I was hoping you would offer that," Artico said with a harsh laugh. He wanted to see what had become of Conrad Cruze's castle with his own eyes. Had the necrons occupied it? If so, they would kill the fucking bastards for daring to defile their father's home!
The necron picket responded a bit late, caught by surprise by what was essentially a suicide run. They had seen the ship coming, of course, but hadn't thought it truly meant to just barrel through them to the planet. That was precisely what happened, though, and the Night Lord's ship disgorged the drop ships before it was completely annihilated. Some of the crew also survived, in escape pods, but not many.
The Night Lords did not bother with the Tau settlements on the planet. Because of the Necron picket, they had essentially gone in blind and aimed directly for the castle, the one thing they could be certain of the location. When the drop pods reached the planet, though, and the Night Lords began their assault, they discovered something particularly grim.
The reason the picket in the system was small was due entirely to Imotekh taking everything he could to attack Dhol VI. Yanta'Kelosh had no strategic resources, so it was considered low priority for a Szarekhan attack and just needed enough to deter raiders. The orks were a concern, but the lower level Chronomancers had predicted it would be fine, as long as the larger forces came back immediately after. They had been looking towards the orks, though, so they had not foreseen the Night Lords. They WOULD have seen them, if they had any chance of great success, but without that they missed it. Orikan wouldn't have, but that was the difference between lesser Chronomancers and greater.
Despite that, though, the castle had been turned into a great fortress of stone and steel. The Lord in charge had actually gotten in a proper architect to combine the bones of the castle with necron technology, creating something that was both aesthetically pleasing and quite functional. It was patrolled by thousands of Warriors and they were all on high alert now, making infiltration difficult. Yet the Night Lords were ready for the challenge.
"Pfah, this is shit," Dhucos said over their internal network as Actico grunted, putting his knowledge of the castle to good use and managing to hide them from a necron patrol. "No fun whatsoever."
"We know," Actico said, concentrating hard. Killing the Warriors would only alert the necrons to their location, they would notice as they started dropping off the network. Being mere machines, they had no morale to break, so fighting would just be insanely stupid. "We need to get to the Throne room." There would have to be something good there, probably the Overlord in charge of this place. They would kill that Necron in particular, permanently if they could. Xheldac had the talent of singing terror into the minds of their foes, from his psyker gifts. Perhaps, just perhaps, he could make the metal bastard rest permanently.
Without Actico's intimate knowledge of the castle, they couldn't have done it. It was still very difficult but they finally broke into the throne room. Unfortunately, there were three Necrons there, protecting their Lord and what looked like one of the Mechanicus necrons, what were they called again? Actico dropped the thought as they became engaged in a vicious battle. Fortunately they had the numbers and the advantage of surprise.
Or so he thought.
"Fools." The Lord projected his mechanical voice with ease, over the battlefield. "So you are the ones they call the Night Lords. I wondered if you would come, when I found some records in this place." Records? They had left things behind, and this xenos had defiled them?! "I am told you employ fear as a weapon. Let me show you the only thing that can still cause my kind fear."
The Mechanicus necron put on a piece of headgear and Actico sensed a deadly threat, but no one could reach him in time. He lifted a hand and held out a tiny pyramid of gold, that seemed to unfurl. What materialized was a flaming, humanoid figure. It gazed at the necron for a moment, before turning its' gaze to them. Actico could see that its' eyes and mouth were dark slashes in its' flaming form.
"Teach them to know fear. Take as long as you like, have fun," the Lord commanded coldly and the creature suddenly grinned, the dark slash of a mouth becoming a sign of absolute malice. Despite the overwhelming aura of sadism radiating from it, Actico wasn't afraid. This was probably some kind of trick and he was confident in his men. He soon realized how wrong he was, but by then it was much too late. Elsewhere, Decimus would not be surprised when Actico and his vessel never appeared again.
He had foreseen it all.
Very, very far away, in the Sabbat Cluster.
A great Warp Rift twisted slightly, before disgorging several ships. Not the usual ships of Chaos, these were sleek lined necron craft and a few hybrid designs, beautifully made with necron technology but showing a bit of their human lineage.
Cryptek – no, Phaeron Penemun placed his hands together in a prayerful gesture. "Thank you, Inanna, for guiding our great journey," he murmured, a great warmth filling his chest, almost love. A beautiful intensity of thought, focused entirely on his worship of the great being that had come into his life. She is the light that shines though the darkness. She is beauty and strength beyond all others. Ishtar. Inanna.
The journey through the Warp had been rather terrifying, despite their faith and protections. Ishtar had commanded them to darken any view to the outside, and her great will had functioned as a Geller Field. Propulsion did work, and Inanna herself had possessed one of their Crypteks, taking personal control of the FTL engines. That poor Cryptek had died in the end, burnt out by her glory, but such was the way of things. Penemun thought it was a great honor.
Now they were back in the real world, and it was time for the next stage of their journey to begin.
"Set course for Umbra," Penemun said, confident his orders would be obeyed. The fleet obediently entered FTL as he settled back to think.
For a moment, he revelled in his success and all the advantages he currently had. Imotekh likely wouldn't sneer at him – he was a commoner born – but other Phaeron's would hold him in disdain and denigrate his efforts. It gave Penemun a nasty pleasure to reflect on how wrong they would be. Ishtar was a goddess and she had a heaven, where she kept the souls of her most loyal followers in a kind of eternal bliss, worshipping her for all eternity. Those souls could be summoned forth and they had, oh they had. One of the most resistant Overlords and an equally resistant Cryptek had been selected and forcefully possessed by the ghosts of the ancient dead.
How was that an advantage? It was simple really. Just like demonic possession, the spirits of the honored dead gained complete control of the mind and could ransack it for information. More importantly, unlike many demons, these ancient ghosts were fully capable of learning. Ishtar had specifically called forth two souls that had possessed great brilliance in life had had not stop learning, until the day they died. Overlord Hazi was already showing the signs of being a nemesor on the level of Zahndrekh and Cryptek Namkuzu was a sorcerer of surpassing power and wisdom. Not the names of their bodies, of course, but their ancient Sumerian names where they had functioned as a great war leader and sage.
So now they were heading for Umbra, where the great Imetekh Dynasty still slumbered. Their awakening protocols were faulty and Anrakyr had not found them, giving Penemun the opportunity he needed. He would murder the Phaeron and assume his place, command protocols in hand. Then he would command his new subjects to purge the planet, before terraforming it properly for the new inhabitants. Right now, Umbra was a penal colony of the Imperium of Man. Penemun knew little about it, other than that it was a darkened planet of endless storms and stinging, acidic rain. What would need to be done to make it a paradise? He truly didn't know, but with all the information he'd brought and the brilliance of the Crypteks of Imetekh, they could surely figure it out. In the meantime, it would be livable for his humans, if not pleasant.
I really was something of a failure as a Cryptek, Penemun admitted to himself. Not that he'd been BAD, he'd been fully competent within his limits, but those limits had been harsh indeed. However, I will make a great Phaeron. Penemun knew he had it in him. He'd always been rather good at organizing the Crypteks and smoothing out problems between them, he had what humans would call 'people skills'. Along with his great advisors, he was confident in himself.
Penemun had no intention of being a peaceful Phaeron, though. No, it was his duty and honor to bring the word of Ishtar to the humans of the Sabbat Cluster. Right now the Imperium and Chaos were warring, but soon they would become aware of the terrible force sleeping beneath their feet. He would add the humans to his forces, uniting them in a new religion and start building a great Star Empire. The smaller Necron dynasties around him would swear loyalty or be conquered. This was how the future would be, and all to the glory of Ishtar. All to make her smile.
Ishtar. Inanna.
The primary staging ground for the Imperium of Man was the planet of Balor.
Balor was an extremely valuable planet to the Imperium of Man. Rich with every conceivable metal except for adamantium, it was coveted by Chaos in particular. Other races would like it too… Imotekh had wanted it for those base metals, although he'd settled for a trade arrangement. Orks, drukhari and even the Craftworlders would like it for the same things. As a result, Balor was strongly defended, with an entire Naval base. It made an excellent staging ground for the Imperium of Man.
Things are going well, Jogun Issosius thought to himself as he examined the progress of the operation. He was in charge of creating a vast supply depot on the planet. Such logistics were extremely vital and part of the preparation for any Great Crusade, which this operation resembled. It was highly unusual that they would be moving in coordination with xenos, but at least that would vastly increase their odds of success.
What was also increasing their odds of success were the supplies from the Sautekh Empire. They could have lived without them, of course, but Jogun appreciated how they mostly used necron FTL and that meant their ships arrived precisely on time. No arriving early, thanks to a favorable Warp current, but no arriving late either.
"Archmagos Tidus, please leave that alone," Jogun said with a not-so-hidden sigh as he checked the status of the necron-made ships in their fleet. They were unusual ships, unmanned probes really, commanded by the necron version of Abominable Intelligence. But they had been assured that they were very low functioning, with the mental capacity of one of their scarabs. The tiny blackstone ships would just go where they were commanded, and constantly radiate a positive charge. A very brute force approach to cutting through the miasma of the Pariah Nexus, but it would work. Also with the Sisters of Battle and other faithful supporting, the psykers might be able to use their abilities. Of course, all of that depended on the Tech Priests not taking them apart, and that was a constant struggle.
"But the knowledge…!" Yes, they knew, it was terribly frustrating. Tidus had honestly not been doing too much, just poking a bit. Right now, the little ships were stored aboard the much larger Imperial ships. No point in risking any damage.
"If you want to think about knowledge, consider the best way to deploy them so they won't get caught in combat." That was going to be the worst problem and the Sautekh had done what little they could to address it. The small ships had necron stealth tech, and were in the same size range as shuttles. They should be functionally invisible when the titanic fleets began to clash. Some of their larger ships, the great dreadnoughts, would also be carrying fixed emplacements of positively charged blackstone. So much blackstone, and they wouldn't be getting too much in the way of replacements. The blackstone forges of Mandragora could do no more.
"Our faith in the Emperor will shield us," one of the workers opined, which was true but Jogun did not want to trust that rotten branch. Using just the Emperor's power and faith required intense will and from what they'd seen so far, he estimated the failure rate to be roughly ninety percent, outside of the Sisters of Battle. They had a success rate of more like sixty percent, due to their intense faith. And while that was nice, that small of a force wasn't going to do it. Still, he wasn't going to say all that.
"Our faith in the Emperor should be considered to join with the mechanisms we have been given. Together, they will shield us. Without either, we will fall," Jogun said, which he thought was a good compromise. "So Tidus, stop messing with it. We absolutely cannot afford to lose any of these." They did have self-repair mechanisms but still.
Then, all attention was distracted as a message came in.
"Ah, they are arriving, put it on screen," Jogun said and they were treated with the sight of nearly five hundred ships coming through the Warp. It was absolutely majestic, as the fabric of reality parted in great clouds of colors and lightning, great prows of ships cutting through the razor edge of the real and the unreal. "Beautiful, beautiful," Jogun murmured. From his perspective it was beautiful indeed, although a xenos empire would have a different opinion. For a moment, he reflected on it.
The Imperium of Man was going into the Pariah Nexus with what seemed like absolutely overwhelming numbers, but that was purely necessary. Necron technology was vastly superior and while the defenders of the Nexus could be overwhelmed, it would require five to one numbers to accomplish. At best… the ratio could be as unfavorable as ten to one, depending on what they encountered.
The greatest advantage they had in this operation was the Sautekh Empire. They would enjoy a one to one ratio, and also would follow the strategies of Necron warfare, so they would be attempting to steal equipment and recall facilities to bolster themselves. Jogun wondered what the Silent King had planned for that… he wouldn't simply take it lying down. Also, what did he have planned for THEM? Jogun was sure this was going to be a bitter campaign, as rough as anything they had fought before.
Jogun shook his head, putting all that aside. He only knew a bit about necron warfare from chatting with the necrons who had brought the blackstone, he couldn't begin to guess what Szarekh's strategy would be. Also, his job was handling the logistics and now there were five hundred more ships to feed. They were ready for it, and more besides, but it was time to jump into action and get them sorted out.
That was his job and he would do it well.
In the Imperium of Man, there were two kinds of Agri-Worlds.
The first kind were extremely grim. Specifically picked by the Mechanicus to be agri-worlds, they were terraformed in a particularly brutal fashion. Entire mountains were mowed down, the planet turned into endless plains. The weather was tightly controlled by ancient technology, and endless chemicals were used to promote the growth of modified grains. Endless seas of wheat and corn, stretching from sky to sky. These planets were normally deeply poisoned by the chemicals and working the fields there was not remotely pleasant. They had to bring in workers, usually recruited from Hive Worlds, because the population was not self-sustaining. In the Imperium of Man, that meant the conditions were impressively bad.
The second kind were worlds that specialized in things other than grains. Some of them were organically given the designation of agri-world, after proving to be particularly fruitful. Those planets were often Knight Worlds or Civilized Worlds, in every other aspect, but with a phenomenal agricultural output. Other planets, like Verdana, had been settled with agriculture in mind and had an artificial society kept deliberately focused on nothing but production. But because these worlds produced fruits, vegetables and meat, the deep terraforming of the grain planets was simply not feasible and they were infinitely better places to live. Their populations were normally self-sustaining.
The former Knight World, now Agri World of Godfrey was a perfect example of such a world. A beautifully temperate planet, it was devoted almost entirely now to the production of fruits. Not all of the planet was suitable, of course – it was a natural world – but every part of it that could host orchards was in use. Apples was the primary crop but they also shifted the orchards according to the zones so peaches, plums and cherries were all in production while the tropical zones hosted pineapples and several alien fruits, all suited to the climate. The Mechanicus had helped them achieve optimal harvests while maintaining the soil, and it was projected that the planet would remain agri-world viable for over five thousand years. And unlike a terraformed agri-world, when it became exhausted it could be allowed to revert to an ordinary Knight World.
One part of the planet remained untouched, however. That was a small continent that hosted the only remains of the riotous wildlife that had led the planet to become a Knight World in the first place. The great predators and the large, grazing creatures they preyed upon had been driven to extinction everywhere else, but here they remained. And that was specifically to act as a proving ground for the White Flames astartes chapter. Until recently, they had been listed as Ultramarine descendants but now, with the return of their true Primarch, they were correctly listed as Emperor's Children descendants.
That hadn't come as a shock to the Chapter Master or the Chief Librarian, but everyone else had a lot to swallow. Fulgrim had come here, to the greatest bastion of his children, to get to know them and lead them again. Right now he was watching the young neophytes engaging in a hunt.
"They are extremely promising," Fulgrim complimented them, as he watched their teamwork. He could pick out a few standouts, and also one who was extremely weak. That was puzzling. "However, that child, why is he here?" Fulgrim asked and the Chapter Master had an air of tension as he answered.
"He is actually a Librarian candidate," he said and Fulgrim raised an eyebrow. They normally didn't relax the standards just because a candidate had psyker abilities. "He suffered an illness that damaged his nervous system. Before that, he was excellent and the apothecaries assure us that the gene-seed will fix this issue. If you observe his movements, he has the skill, he is just unable to properly act on it." Hm, interesting. Fulgrim could see the Chapter Master truly believed in this neophyte.
"Well, it's not unprecedented. The Blood Angels do that kind of recruitment," Fulgrim said vaguely, reflecting on it. To become a Blood Angel, the neophyte just had to traverse the desert and reach the shrine. That was a gruelling trial, to be sure, but many badly damaged and sickly children still managed it and then the geneseed did the rest. "I will trust your judgement."
After the hunt of the neophytes, it was time for the great hunt of their elders. The beast they would be hunting had actually been prepared for it, raised in quasi-captivity and fed to an immense size while being taught to be vicious. All of that was needed, as this species rarely achieved a sufficient size without help. Fulgrim knew that hadn't been true in the past, before this planet had been tamed, but things were different now.
For Fulgrim, it was a wonderful hunt. The beast itself was decently challenging, a vicious felinoid creature with poisonous stingers. What was even better, though, was leading his sons. Fulgrim fell into it easily, directing them with consummate ease and feeling the deep connection to them. They were already coming to trust him and it showed in their teamwork.
The hunt came to a dramatic and triumphant conclusion, as they brough the beast down. By ancient tradition, the heart of the beast was cut out and eaten, shared between them. Fulgrim found the taste of it intensely gamey, but still pleasant enough. Then they lashed the beast to a frame before bringing it back to the citadel. It would be skinned and the pelt turned into clothing, probably a great cloak if it was fine enough, trim for clothing if not.
After that was followed by the great victory feast and Fulgrim deeply enjoying it, learning about his sons. The grim and harsh Chief Librarian Bellpharim reminded him a bit of Imotekh, personality wise. Amusingly enough, one of the battle brothers, Zuriel, reminded him intensely of Ahmakeph. It was amusing, honestly, and Fulgrim wondered how the two of them would get alone. They would probably hate each other, was his guess. Remembrancer Illiana reminded Fulgrim a little of Manric, with her serenity and ability to mediate conflicts. That made him a touch melancholy, however, as he remembered the Remembrancer his old self had murdered. Yet again, Fulgrim privately vowed to never be that person.
The one person whose personality Fulgrim did not really have a fix on, oddly enough, was Chapter Master Utiel. He thought it was just because Utiel was a very private person, and also very old for a space marine. Perhaps there was also some resentment in play… Fulgrim had appeared out of nowhere and essentially, pushed him into a more supporting role. Yet Fulgrim wasn't sure of that and thought it was best not to press. He sensed no true animus and thought that Utiel would open up in time.
During the feast, though, Utiel said something very interesting.
"We have never fought against Necrons. Honored Primarch, I overheard you mentioning you had sparred against them. Can you perhaps enlighten us as to how they make war?" Utiel asked and Fulgrim thought that was an excellent idea. Why had he not thought of that?
"Most certainly! The scarabs they use are dangerous but essentially a terror tactic, used to determine what units they are facing have weak morale. The Warriors are far more serious…" Fulgrim quickly ran through the basic structures the necrons used. Manric had taught him all this and at the time, he'd wondered why but after learning about the Pariah Nexus, he'd understood. Although Guilliman could have taught him all this and would have, if Manric hadn't done it first.
The most interesting part of the discussion, though, was the conversation about the Necron Overlords. Fulgrim deeply enjoyed detailing all the different combat styles he'd experienced and the questions his men had about them. The information he could give them about the phase shifters, and the other tricks they used, was quite valuable. Discussing Manric's fighting style, though, was purely for fun. They would never encounter anything like it, Manric was truly unique at this point.
After that, there was a quiet discussion about their preparations for the Pariah Nexus. They were getting everyone ready they could, even the youngest Astartes, still probationers, would be coming. The planet would be held entirely by the local PDF until they got back. Fortunately they were well trained and had their Knight Armor, so Fulgrim was fairly sure that would be fine. And ultimately, there was no choice.
They needed to give everything they could to taking the Pariah Nexus.
Author's Note: Szarekh does have a plan and I will go over that right before the assault on the Nexus begins.
