"So no Empyrean, no interstellar travel, and you only exist on one planet? How did you tolerate it? While I enjoy the idea of no Empyrean, the lack of everything else sounds awful. Such an existence would be so terribly bland. And this light is irritating. I will fix this," Trazyn said as he held an intricate tapestry gently between his fingers. The blinking red light stopped again, and a warm light rose in the bolt-hole.
Help me. I can't move. I am being controlled, I heard Alberich plea in telepathic distress as I watched famous Necron personality Trazyn the Infinite disparage me as he examined the bolt-hole. The Tzaangor had been positioned facing a corner like a bad kid on a time out, and Null had simply walked to his quarters and sat down, either broken or mindshackled.
I can't, I responded back to the beastman, my head hurting. He might steal us and put us in a museum if we upset him.
What!? Alberich said back, the volume in his psychic words causing me to cringe.
Keep quiet and let me try to fix this, I replied.
Trazyn cleared his throat as he continued exploring, reminding me that he probably expected a response. "Yeah, well, my reality is this reality but tens of thousands of years in the past. Things changed over time." I said as I stood near the metal alien as he casually toured around the bunker as if he was in an antique shop. Trazyn set his attention on a large bleached skull of something that looked like a cross between a tiger and a dolphin hanging on a wall. The Necron lord had been asking me a few superficial questions about my reality, and when I had answered, he had not been impressed. Of course, he had a few words of judgement to say about that.
"I knew that you apes were primitive back then, but I didn't think it was as dreary as you described. Maybe that's why you came to our reality? The last pilot of your vessel also came from a similarly wretched time and place, from what I can recall. I suppose I can understand the motivation for coming here, but if I possessed an ability to planewalk, I would have chosen a less hellish universe," Trazyn sassed back to me, his heavy voice echoing off the metal walls of the bunker. I nervously trailed the evil metal skeleton as he made his way to the social room, audibly noting each area of interest. His green eyes settled on the mounted sword which hung proudly over a plaque, possibly detailing its history. The Necron made an interested "Mmm," and tapped the plaque a few times with an interested skeletal metal finger. "Not too much history in this hideout, I see. Only fifty or so of your years has this location been in use. Seems the Nome King did not wake from his little nap even when astartes built a hunting nest atop the very Tomb he rested in. Why, I wonder who else could manage to walk right in and visit?" When he said that, Trazyn turned to me, looked down, and smiled mischievously. How a Necron could manage an expression like that surprised me.
I felt Alberich's distress again as he mentally pleaded, Please find a way for the metal demon to release us! Null isn't doing anything!
I'm trying, I responded, not really knowing how we would extricate ourselves from this. I was at least glad that it felt as if I was not being mind-controlled. I know about this alien from the games in my world. He likes collecting things more than killing them, but he's really, really powerful and we don't want to provoke him.
An unwelcome second individual barged into on my telepathic conversation with Alberich, his familiar voice keening and polyphonic. It had an edge of malicious amusement. Prudent, smart! You sure don't want to provoke Trazyn into anger. I would get him talking about the history of your ship, Erika. He knows a lot of interesting things. Anyway, keep up the fun adventure. I'm having a great time, and I've been sprinkling gold eagle dreams through the Materium's mortals to spice up future events. Always remember, Big Chaos is watching you! I heard the sounds of someone munching on popcorn before the second voice went away. Fucking Tzeentch...
Who was that? Alberich said to me in mind as I felt fear race renewed through him. The Tzaangor had heard him?
I'll explain later but please both of you need to be quiet and just let me see if I can find a way out of this! I said as I watched Trazyn. Because I don't learn from my own discomfort when I overuse my psyker abilities, I heard a high pitched ringing in both ears as the corners of my vision began to grey out. Okay, okay, sorry brain. No more psychic shit and talking to giant evil gods for awhile. I took a few deep breaths as I leaned against a wall, trying to disguise the amount of pain I was in. This really hurt.
The Necron lord began to investigate a small bookshelf in a corner. "It is entertaining that the Nome King has actually been awake from his long sleep for quite some time. I paid him a visit when he first woke, which was very long ago. From what old rumors I heard, maybe the Divine Intervention's captain visited this very planet while the mad King had been active, perhaps also when taking another inconvenient nap. Interesting how time works in cycles, no?"
I nodded, as I continued to breathe deeply in an exercise to relax myself. What Trazyn (and Tzeentch) hinted at suggested that he was familiar with the Divine Retribution's past, but from what I knew about him, he also had a habit of subterfuge and manipulation. He could just be lying to me to trust him, or just for his own amusement, but I was so curious that I had to ask him, "You knew about the ship from before, and the other pilot?"
"I believe I did, yes. Or, maybe I didn't. Memories are such fickle things, and it was ever so long ago, even before the Aeldari made their terrible new god."
The Necron was clearly enjoying my discomfort, watching as I cringed away from him when he looked at me. "Can you tell me anything?" I dared as I watched him prod around the food storage area, even examining the box of grox steaks Alberich and I had eaten from sitting in the freezer.
He turned around, and looked down at me again. Trazyn was very tall, heavily built, and always wore a mad little smile. There was a scent of electricity and old books around him, but that could just be the bunker. He tittered demurely, "Can I? Well, maybe," he responded, cocking his head in a playful expression. "Will I? Maybe if you offer a little more knowledge of yourself, your dimension, and your purpose, my memory could be jogged."
Trazyn turned around again and continued exploring, appraising each tapestry and piece of furniture. He did not move to collect anything, but he audibly described many items of value as he made his way around. He had been particularly interested in some of the tapestries, as well as some of the polished skulls leering over some of the entryways. "What do you want to know?" I asked.
"Well, first, I would like something physical from you as a gesture of goodwill. A little memento of this meeting, for now."
I apparently looked greatly upset at that request, because the terrifying metal skeleton alien offered a gentle laugh, and said, "Oh no, not a limb or a head, dear lady Plane Walker. A simple lock of your hair so that I may put it in a stasis field to admire for eternity, that is all this humble archaeovist desires at this time."
Alright, that was pretty creepy, but if he was telling the truth, getting a piece of my hair clipped for any sort of insight into the Retribution's history under any name would be a good trade. How did such an incredible vessel end up sitting at the base of a blackstone pylon, buried and forgotten at the edge of the galaxy? Had the Emperor known about the ship, and stifled any knowledge of it? Why was it called the Divine Intervention before, and who had been all those people I had seen inside of it when I went into the past with Virgil? I had a lot of questions. "That's all? Will you release my friends?" I asked, suspicious.
Trazyn remained smiling, and took his attention away from another mounted skull to look down at me. He slowly reached out, right into my personal space, and extended one of his willowy metal hands toward my head. I reflexively stepped back, but I found that I was against a wall. The Necron lord did not harm me, but grasped a loose section of my dark hair, gently observing it in long metal fingers as if it were a valuable item. His head was close to mine, and I could now see that his "skin" really was of a living metal which moved with him as he spoke. This was absolutely terrifying. "You question my goodwill, I see. I could have utilized my scarabs on you, and if you have noticed, I have not. Despite Plane Walkers being exceptionally rare creatures, I could have also simply taken you, but I have not. I believe my actions speak for themselves here, dear lady. I will undo my compulsion on your companions when you take me to see your grand vessel. You have my word."
"A-alright," I said with a tense nod. I didn't feel like I had much of a choice. Trazyn was a special character in 40k so getting the upper hand on him would probably be next to impossible. I was lucky enough that I wasn't already sitting in a stasis gallery already underneath a plaque that said "Plane Walker From Boring Dimension."
"Good. Now, don't move," Trazyn said. One of the fingers on the hand holding my hair molded itself like clay into a sharp knife. In a quick motion that caused me to feel wind on my cheek, he sliced a section of my hair off from my jaw downward. I was actually surprised that he didn't go for the white strands, since that part was distinctive. He took the lock of hair, and placed it into an opening in his ribcage. I wasn't even going to try to understand how that worked. "Shall we be off then? I will need to retrieve the astartes belongings first. Incompletion upsets me so."
"Please let me friends go at least so they can defend themselves. The canyon is dangerous, and we have to walk through it to get back to the ship. There might be monsters there. We need all the protection we can get, and they are good fighters," I insisted after he put my hair away. This was absolutely true, considering the Screamer that we had fought.
Trazyn had begun to collect the items he had noted across the bunker, picking them up and storing them within his own body. His back was to me as I saw him remove a polished skull with its accompanying plaque. He made an irritated noise, and said, "Oh, very well. Maybe I can see what you and your droll little crew can accomplish in a fight?" His right hand rose and made some sort of dismissive gesture, and out of view behind me, I felt Alberich groan in relief and fall to the floor.
The Necron lord began to remove the sword hanging over the plaque (also somehow putting the entire thing inside his chest). A small quake caused some glass storage fixtures in the room to rattle. Trazyn paid the quake no mind, and continued removing all the things he had wanted to collect from the bolt-hole.
"What's going on?" I cautiously asked Trazyn as he relentlessly stole.
"Oh, probably the Nome King's subjects, but fear not. Since the command protocols are within Roquat's mind, and he is inactive, the dragon has no head," he said, completely unconcerned. "His lieutenants won't rise to full awareness for some time, but I believe the warriors closest to the surface have been activated. They have no instructions thus far. It is fortunate for you that I found you. You would've been a fading smear of floating molecules and degenerate matter after facing Roquat, and that would've been a waste. Where did you say your ship was, Plane Walker?"
"It's a few hours walk down through the canyon," I explained. Nearby, I could hear both Null and 77-X weakly walking toward us. Alberich appeared to my left, holding his glaive, his head feathers still ruffled in discomfort. Trazyn smiled at us as he finished placing a small statue of a white lion inside his chest.
"I am finished here, so let us get to walking, my little friends. A little walk is always good for the spirits, and I would enjoy seeing your company fight," Trazyn said, his hollow voice as cheerful as it could be as he motioned for us to follow him. He made his way to the exit.
"He's going to try to take the ship," Null said with dim, exhausted eyes, appearing nearby with 77-X. "The alien must have had spies. He must have known about Levant. The whole thing was a trap."
Trazyn walked ahead of us, and motioned for us to follow him with Roquat's staff. "No trap, silly tech-priest! I simply have eyes everywhere in this locale, and I've been waiting for the Intervention to reappear for thousands of years. What is hidden must eventually be found, even if it takes aeons. And thank you for the information that the vessel was buried on what you Imperials named Levant, too. I'm sure you knew about the blackstone pylons on that world as well. How strange that Levant fell victim to a rift just as Cadia fell at the same time!"
"Cadia has not fallen. Cadia will never fall," Null weakly protested as the Necron lord tapped the closed bunker door, which caused it to open.
"Ho ho, I have some news for you then. To be fair it only fell very, very recently, and its fall seems to have closely coincided with Levant's ruination. I happened to be on Cadia on a personal errand, but I was able to meet with Belisarius Cawl himself when that world faced destruction. Together, we worked to keep reality from being carved in twain by immaterial forces. I do wish I would see less xenophobia and more cooperation between the races of the galaxy. Fellow called me some rude names before finally acquiescing to common sense."
Trazyn walked ahead of us and through the open bunker entryway. To my right, I saw Null's eyes brighten with both surprise and outrage. "You lie! Cadia stands and will always stand, and Cawl would never have cooperated with you, xenos. I know him!" he bitterly hissed.
"Now, now, silly little tech-priest. If you can't be nice I'll have to shackle you again. But yes, I am telling the truth here," the Necron lord said, not turning around as he walked into the stone passageway. "The exciting galactic news is that the cheerful fellow the humans call Abaddon the Despoiler has begun another of his tiresome Black Crusades, striking at Cadia and its blackstone pylons. Cawl and I worked on Cadia to shut the Empyrean out, and it would've worked, had the Despoiler not had a tantrum and thrown a Blackstone Fortress at the planet. Cadia is a debris field now, and a rift now bisects the galaxy."
"That can't... that just can't..." Null muttered beside me on my right as we followed Trazyn down the rocky passageway. Alberich walked to my left, and behind me, I heard 77-X tramping out of the bunker.
"Oh yes it can," the Necron lord said as he approached the cave entrance, where bluish morning light streamed in from outside. The babbling sounds of the river were heard once again. Trazyn ducked to fit his height through the entryway, and then stopped, just outside the cave. "So, did you say that your ship was a few kilometers away from here?" he asked us as we walked up behind him.
"Yes," I replied, wiping my face nervously and finding that I had another nosebleed, causing myself to smear blood everywhere. Great, what an awesome day this has been so far.
"Then you definitely wouldn't have made it that far. Look here. Roquat has organized a welcome party for you," the Necron lord said, turning around and smiling down at me.
I peered outside, looking ahead of where Trazyn stood, there were ten identical metal-limbed Necrons standing immobile in the rushing waters of the canyon river. The warriors each held a futuristic rifle made from strange metal and some kind of luminous green crystal. Each was facing toward the cave entrance, their green eyes burning with light. The body of the Screamer lay a few paces to our left, half on the shoreline and half in a shallow part of the river. I spied that insects had begun to buzz around the corpse.
"Where did they all come from?" I asked as Trazyn walked forward and began to wade into the river. I did not move to follow him, and neither did my companions.
"Don't know, maybe teleported, maybe a secret door. Roquat has the command protocols, so they won't bother us," the Necron lord said, stepping between two still warriors before leaning down and picking up Lian's bolter and powersword, which he placed inside the bottomless pit inside his chest. Trazyn took a moment to investigate the Screamer's dead body. "I'm assuming you and your companions killed this beast. You seem to have a tough little crew so far. Applause to you! The tech-priest in particular is quite remarkable. His temperament reminds me of an old friend I forgot I knew about."
Null did not respond, and leaned heavily on his staff.
"Lian had a helmet too," I said, pointing to the other side of the river as I stepped on the pebbled shore, my companions cautiously following. Trazyn nodded and walked to where I had indicated. "Do you... really have to take him?" I still felt like we needed Lian, despite how aggressive he seemed to be. He probably wouldn't be too happy with me later either, considering that I had to psychically intimidate him to get him to back down from killing us.
"Why are you so concerned? If you did not travel with him, and he is not your crew, I can make good use of him."
"I know, but he went through a lot. His brothers were all killed, and I think I could take him along as some muscle, you know?"
Trazyn reached down into the water that flowed near the far shore, retrieving Lian's helmet and placing it inside his chest after shaking it of excess water. I could see that the Necron lord was laughing when he stood back up. "Is that the reason, Plane Walker? That's all?" He began walking back to us.
I nodded, and saw Null and Alberich step onto the riverbank. Trazyn wore a broad smile as he began walking back to us. He looked down at me, and said something I did not expect, his voice easily audible across the sounds of the rushing river echoing off the canyon walls.
"Dorothy needs her Cowardly Lion, does she now?"
"What?" I choked.
"I said, 'The Plane Walker needs her cowardly lion'," the Necron lord clarified, still smiling. He can't know about Wizard of Oz! That would be impossible, I thought, wondering if I was just hearing things because I greatly overtaxed myself using my psyker abilities. I reached down into the river and splashed my face with water.
"Did you hear what he said?" I softly asked Null who stood beside me as Trazyn waded his way back across the river. When the grinning Necron lord came to the formation of Necron warriors pointing weapons at us, he took the opportunity to be an asshole, and playfully pushed one of them face down in the river, where it remained, not moving or even righting itself.
"He said 'The Plane Walker needs her cowardly lion'," Null replied flatly. Alberich said nothing. I saw the beastman wasn't even paying attention, and heavily leaning on Valkyrie, his eyes closed.
"It is still early in the day, children. I'd like to get to your bird ship during the golden hour, so that I may see the daylight captured on its legendary wings. Let's go!" Trazyn turned back around, and began walking toward the direction we had come in, despite us not telling him where we had traveled from. "You know, I think I used to like hiking, but I don't remember."