I woke up to the sound of a buzzing intercom in the dim room. "Good morning, Divine Retribution!" Null's distorted voice echoed through the ship. "This is your resident Archmagos, Null. Today we should be expecting pleasant weather as we enjoy a morning walk through a canyon. A cooling front pushed through the desert overnight and..."
I sat up in the bed. Wolfie glitched into existence in a puff of darkness sitting on the floor near my bed. The astral hound stood up and stretched with a yawn, just like a normal dog would. He looked up at me, and wagged his tail, ready for more fun adventures.
...OUTSIDE?... the desire from Wolfie was clearly communicated to me. With a smile, I gave him an affirmative nod which caused the black ghost dog to get even more excited for the day, jumping about in a circle.
"Lights on," I said, and the lights in this room came on as I stepped out of the bed and onto the metal floor.
I stretched, and turned to the mirror, momentarily not recognizing my reflection once again. "Yep, definitely an anime villain now," I remarked, looking at my terrifying eyes and catastrophic bed head.
I discovered that it was actually close to noon when Null read out the weather reports for the local desert. We would be starting a little later than originally planned due to some inclement weather. The morning had been blazingly hot, but a thunderstorm had just passed over us, cooling the area down considerably. I had slept right through it. I needed the sleep anyway, so I was happy about that.
Standing in here, I started to actually study the suite I was in for the first time. These were the captain's quarters, as I had been told earlier. My bed was a longer double bed instead of a single, and my room had an en suite washroom that I hadn't noticed before. The whole suite was an irregular living space about eight meters long by five wide of a few different rooms, each open with the exception of the washroom. The previous pilot enjoyed riding in style, it seemed.
If one were to walk through the front door, the bed I had been laying on was located in a slightly raised area in a room in the upper left corner. The size of the bed allowed for two people to sleep comfortably. Above the bed, I noticed a line of shelves, and the remains of some books decayed to time and unreadable. A small nightstand held my water cup, Evanora's journal, Virgil's chain, and the mystery scissors. My pack sat by the base of the bed, and I reached down to remove the Cadian Cookbook, and the history book, placing them on the nightstand for later reading. My belt with my sheathed diamond dagger had fallen out and lay on the floor nearby.
Directly facing the front door, a large black horizontal screen was built into the wall. Below it, a silvery table with two simple metal chairs offered a good place for a conversation. Touching the chairs, I was able to see that they were somewhat anchored to the floor, and with a little effort, they could be moved. It felt as if the chair legs had been magnetized to "stick" to the ship's floor. That was probably a good idea in a vessel of any kind, as no one wants furniture flying everywhere if rough weather presents itself. On the black screen, there was nothing, but it felt like it was probably some kind of display. Maybe when we got more power it would turn on?
To the right of the entrance was a thin sliding door which led to a very fancy gold bathroom. A deep claw foot tub of solid gold took up a fair amount of space, as did a tall flawless mirror over a basin sink. I tested the sink, and with a groan, water began to flow. Awesome, we have water now! Another door in the bathroom led to another entirely gold feature, the toilet. Seeing all this gold made me wonder what the bathrooms in the interior of the Imperial Palace on Terra looked like. Probably more nonsense like this, I thought. At least there weren't heroic frescoes of buff space marines doing hero things everywhere covering every inch of space.
Stepping back into the main area, I examined the right side of the suite. I spied a small den with two nearly threadbare couches with metal legs facing each other over a coffee table of weak, aged wood. On the wall, high above and near the ceiling, I was surprised to see a framed art piece that appeared completely untouched by time. I recognized it; it was a depiction of Leonardo DaVinci's ornithopter sketches. Even assuming that these were copies, it was incredible that these art pieces did not look all that aged, considering the ship had lain unused for over ten thousand years. Below the sketches lay another black screen, presumably another display port like in the main room. Face down on the floor, I spied a metal picture frame, and I picked it up. It looked like it had been on the coffee table, and had been knocked down. Unfortunately, whatever this was did not withstand time as well as the ornithopter hanging on the wall; the paper crumpled when I moved it to investigate. I could only vaguely make out that it was a picture of two men smiling in a posed, friendly picture before it fell apart.
Turning left from the social area, there was another room that also contained a few shelves with ruined books, and what appeared to be a large rectangular table that hit at about my navel. Two more dark threadbare couches with metal legs sat against the wall. I could see the scattered remains of fabric tapestries that once decorated the walls, their subjects faded and lost to time as the majority of the threads that composed them lay in piles of dust below. As I walked in, my feet hit a nasty surprise as I stepped on something small, metal, and spiky.
I bent down to investigate, and was surprised.
The sharp metal object appeared to be a painted model of some kind of armored knight, or maybe even a space marine. I picked a few of the tiny metal figurines up, and placed them on what I now assumed was a gaming table. Maybe this was a game room, I thought with amusement. The model I held in my hand was a soldier wearing bright gold armor, his arm holding a spear into the sky. Was that a custodes? That halberd hadn't been fun to step on at all.
As I was investigating what I presumed was a game room, I heard a knock at the door. It was 99-Z. Once again, she was holding food packets. "The Master requests your attendance in the galley. He apologizes that the intercom has ceased functioning," she said blankly. I was never going to get used to servitors, was I?
"I'll be right there. Give me a moment," I responded. I took Evanora's comb with me to untangle my bed head before heading down to the galley.
Once again, I saw Alberich seated at a long table. I heard Null fussing over something behind a door in here. Alberich saw me and stood up. He was dressed in his military wear, but without the jacket. His black sleeves were rolled up and he appeared to be barefoot.
Good morning! he said with telepathy and a short bow.
"Good morning," I said to him in return in voice. I didn't want to start the day with a migraine. Gotta save my magic points.
"One would think that a heating coil would be an easy thing to find in here..." Null muttered behind the door in the galley.
"Hi Null," I said loud enough to be heard.
The tech-priest walked out of the kitchen, holding what appeared to be an electric metal toaster. "I wanted to try out some of the basic ancient tech here, but I am afraid that whoever left this ship left it in a disorganized state. Appalling. Would've never happened in my crew." Jiminy buzzed out from behind the doors, and flew to land back on the tech-priest's red-robed shoulders. The metal bug was cleaned of his scorch marks, and had been polished to brilliant metallic reflectivity.
"So we're hiking through a canyon, and raiding a tomb?" Alberich asked as Null walked back into the main galley area.
"Yes," the tech-priest answered simply as he made his way back to the table. 99-Z stood motionless while holding the food packets, apparently waiting for Null's signal to offer them to us, which he did with some sort of hand gesture. Again, I found myself an impossible to open packet with an eye icon on it. Feeling irritated that I had left my scissors in my room, I tried to magic it open, which only caused it to fly straight out of my hands and strike the ceiling before falling back to the table. After watching Alberich have a laugh at this, I asked the beastman to open it again with his claws along with his own packet, and soon, I was eating gross sweet paste again as the tech-priest began to explain his plan.
"Without a functioning battery, most of the Divine Retribution's systems are offline. Lucky for us, I have surveyed that this particular Tomb is close to the surface, and easily accessible by a cave in the canyon. Also fortunate is that the battery itself seems to be relatively small, and can be carried by 77-X back to the Retribution; I am more than capable of installing it as well. Afterward, we're going to need to quickly jettison the old battery somewhere as it is dangerous for fleshlings to be around. Jiminy will remain here along with the other servitors as a watch. If anything happens, I will be informed. We have a five kilometer walk ahead of us, and another five kilometer walk back. If time doesn't permit, we may stay overnight in the cave if our progress is slow. My survey of the canyon and the river suggests we will be walking along a rocky shore most of our way, but it should be noted that there may be areas where we might need to wade through water. The river is mostly shallow, but some areas may hold a rough current that we will unfortunately be walking against. I expect the weather will be pleasant, warm, and sunny. This planet seems as tame as it was when we did the initial survey. You may witness some local alien flora and fauna, but this world wasn't classified as a death world, so simply avoid bothering any indigenous life forms, and all should be well. Still, it would be wise to pack weapons, just in case," Null added, indicating Alberich's daemon glaive which leaned against the wall.
"So, in this world, magic functions?" the Tzaangor asked.
"Yes, of course. This world has a normal relation to the Warp as any other. Despite its slumbering occupants likely being of the same race as those who had built the pylons on Levant, this world has no such suppression devices."
"What do we do when we get to the cave?" I asked, slurping on my rations. This one had a faint aftertaste of salt water taffy, making it extra gross.
"Leave that to me. Tombs are dangerous places for fleshlings. If everything is well, I will survey the Tomb once we are at its threshold. I am no stranger to Necron Tombs and their various layouts, technologies, and possible defenses. I need to find a particular kind of ship in one of their hangars, and from there, I will abscond with a fresh energy cell. Depending on Tomb size, this may take as little as ten minutes."
"When do we go?" Alberich asked.
"My suggestion is to meet outside the ship in ten, but it is the Scion's decision."
"Scion?"
"It is the honorific we should be addressing Traveler Erika by," Null mentioned as if I wasn't sitting right there. "In old texts, Scions are inheritors of God's wrath, fallen down to this universe to mete justice. It is simply a term for addressing a powerful chosen Traveler, which Erika is here."
Wouldn't that make me one too? Alberich snarkily asked me as he sat across from me. I ignored him.
"So, with the Scion's permission, I would like to begin our quest," Null stated, gently bowing his head.
A short time later, I stood outside the ship in the sunny midday weather wearing the last clean shirt I had, and my riding skirt. I had simply pulled my hair back in a ponytail this time. Both my diamond dagger and my silver scissors were placed inside the scabbard on my belt. Alberich appeared on the gangway, still barefoot and carrying his glaive, which flashed in the sun. Wolfie appeared very excited for his walk, as he bounded around us like a happy golden retriever with too much energy. Heavy footsteps caused me to turn, and I saw 77-X stepping down the gangway, his metal arms shining chrome in the sun. On his back, he held a very large pack that seemed mostly empty. Close behind him was Null, humming a tune to himself, and carrying his metal Adeptus Mechanicus staff. Jiminy buzzed outside and settled himself on one of the Divine Retribution's wings above. "Alright, we have rations and water. We are ready to go, my friends!" the tech-priest announced brightly.
Null turned to me once he was downstairs. "The ship will only respond to you, so you must be the one to tell it to close."
I looked up at the big golden ship. It really was something to behold, especially in the daylight. Its hull of solid gold made the vessel almost blinding to look at directly in the bright desert sun. I observed its wings, one of which had maimed a Keeper of Secrets. Incredibly, both wings remained completely spotless. "Divine Retribution, lock up and wait for us to get back."
The ship did just that, and the entryway sealed itself seamlessly after retracting the gangway. The eagle pulled itself up, and slightly folded its wings into the same position I first had seen it underground.
"Off we go! What an adventure! Oh, how I've missed field expeditions!" Null said cheerfully, tapping his staff with one hand, and holding a device ahead of him that displayed a rough map on a dark screen in another hand.
The first hour of our hike was uneventful, and much like any desert hike back on Earth. Wolfie really enjoyed himself, bounding around like an excited puppy on his first hike, but staying close to me for the most part. I was getting used to having a Warp beast as a pet. The astral hound was a smoky shape of swirling blacks and greys, with eyes of pinpoints of white starlight. His good nature belied his scary appearance, and I really liked having him around.
We walked along the winding pebbled shore that followed the river as the canyon rose dramatically above us, giving us shade. The river was shallow, and only reached up to about the knee, but it was fast enough to cause Alberich to nearly lose his balance when he went wading. Null stayed close to the canyon wall, holding his device ahead of him as he walked with 77-X in tow, not talking much. I assumed that was an auspex.
There were succulent cacti of various unrecognizable forms growing here, and some spiky plants that gave the air that distinctive sage-y smell. I was intrigued by some of the small six-legged alien lizards we saw skittering away when they saw us, and a low undulating howl of wind traveled through the land as the canyon rose up. We were mostly in perpetual shade along the river, so there were no concerns about sunburn or overheating. Jagged bands of reddish ochre rock and wind-carved depressions gave this place an exotic, beautiful feel. I could now see why Null had us land so far away, as getting to the bottom of the canyon in the gusty wind would've been extremely dangerous. We continued walking along the shoreline that consisted of weather polished gravel of many colors. Wolfie stayed close to me, and I took drinks from my flask from time to time.
After finding a good place to stop after the second hour, we took a rest break. Null needed to adjust a mechanical component on 77-X, and Alberich stood over a part of the river that flowed into a small pool, holding his spear blade down over the water.
"Fishing," he told me as he noticed me approaching. A few moments later, and he had moved Valkyrie impossibly quickly into the water, cutting an aquatic animal the size of a small dog clean in half. I decided to be helpful and test my abilities again by telekinetically reaching for the tail half, and pulling it out of the water. Focusing, I placed it on a nearby boulder where it twitched and bled blue blood.
Alberich and I examined the decapitated creature. He had speared something with red, yellow, and black stripes in the shape of a mutant mudskipper. "We probably can't eat that," I said. "Those colorings back home usually mean that an animal is poisonous. 'Red touch yellow, kills a fellow', the saying goes."
"Back in Germany, I was used to trout and perch, not whatever this is," the Tzaangor said, poking the fishy corpse. I noticed that Wolfie was now standing ahead of us on the river's shore, his back and tail straight.
Null was still occupied with tinkering with something on 77-X's body when I heard another moan echo from the direction we were headed. Wolfie shifted from paw to paw, and wagged his tail briefly again before freezing.
"Hey, look," I pointed out the astral hound's behavior to Alberich. "Did you hear that? Look at Wolfie."
"It is the wind echoing through the canyon," the Tzaangor said. "I used to hike, and mountain trails often hold howling wind. I wouldn't be too worried."
Just as Alberich said that, another howl echoed through the canyon. It made the hair on the back my neck stand on end. It was pretty spooky. Did Necrons make that sort of noise?
"Blast it!" I heard Null cursing as he dropped a metal tool into the rushing water while adjusting something on 77-X's back. The irritated tech-priest turned back to us. "There seems to be some minor electromagnetic interference in this area. Not enough to cause me much in the way of difficulty, but enough for irritation." He had dropped the tool into a deeper part of the river, where the bottom could not easily be seen.
Alberich surprised me by walking forward to where Null had dropped the item. Holding his arm out, he closed his eyes, and I saw the metal tool rise from the water and back in the tech-priest's hand. "You're welcome," Alberich said as Null went right back to tinkering.
Wolfie remained standing ahead of us, his ears pricked and listening. The eerie moan of the canyon winds kicked up again, and I saw the astral hound's form flicker momentarily before he trotted back to us. We were on our way again.