"You're an Iron Man?" The anomalous being asked, frowning.
Beside the creature was his son, another anomaly, but of a far lesser magnitude, despite the greater height. Argall was likely some form of hyper-engineered super human, imbued with aetheric properties, not a member of a different race altogether; Khoteph's human side actually found the lad to be rather fascinating. Argall, in fact, reminded him of a genetic research project that was spearheaded by the most brilliant scientist he'd ever known, a project to advance the genetic evolution of humanity.
What was that project called again?
Ah, Doctor Joshua Newman's Custodes project – meant to an entirely new generation of "super" men, by implanting gestating babies with artificial organs and a bunch of other chemicals.
Tsk, his memories were fading again. But, then again, Joseph, Khoteph's human side, hadn't exactly been a part of that project.
More than likely, Argall was an experiment of some kind – a superhuman.
Meanwhile, nothing about the anomalous entity made the slightest bit of sense.
"That terminology is quite incorrect, unfortunately, coined by the ancestors of the humans of this planet. An Iron Man is... very different from what I am." Khoteph answered, keeping his guard up in the unlikely, but possible scenario that this entity was, in fact, a rogue shard of the Deceiver, here to... well... deceive everyone. His sensors indicated nothing amiss. For all intents and purposes, the anomalous entity, was no different from a normal human in terms of energy output, which was the real head scratcher. "I am Khoteph, Phaeron of the Sulekh Dynasty, of the Necron Empire. And you are?"
Then again, to be entirely fair, Joseph Thurman, before he became Khoteph, saw the Necrons of this world and thought that they might've been some other, more horrific enclave of the Men of Iron. Well, as he later found out the hard way, they most definitely were not the Men of Iron. The Necrons were arguably far worse than the misbegotten machine children of humanity.
"I am Thragg," The anomaly introduced himself, taking a single step forward. The Immortals and Warriors at his back stirred slightly, their rudimentary minds almost immediately perceiving the anomaly as a threat. Interesting, Khoteph mused. Because he, himself, with all his complex internal algorithms and programs, could detect not a single hint of a threat. Still, Khoteph held back his forces from attacking. After all, this was a diplomatic venture and he had no interest in antagonizing what was essentially a living meteorite – or, worse, a rogue C'tan Shard. Nah, not gonna do that unless absolutely necessary. "Father of two children and husband of a murdered wife."
Oof. Khoteph had heard of that incident. And, he had to wonder, if the Rangdan hadn't killed his wife, would Thragg have intervened in the invasion or would he have waited at the most desperate moment before doing anything?
Joseph Thurman's nonexistent heart stirred at the memories of his wife, who perished in the early days of the Iron Revolt. At the very least, she died quickly, doing what she loved.
"It is interesting to meet you, Thragg," Khoteph said. And, with but a simple, mental command, a dining set materialized between them – tables and chairs of Necrontyr design, kept hidden in Khotah's vaults with the most fervent hope that, one day, he'd be able to eat actual food again. Well, Khoteph shared that wish, because immortality sucked balls when he couldn't even enjoy the simplest of pleasures. Khoteph gestured at the seats, urging father and son to sit down. Though, Khoteph himself sat down first. "I do believe there is much to discuss."
Thragg and Argall nodded at each other, before they too sat down. Khoteph would've summoned the ceremonial plates and cups, but neither of those seemed particularly useful at this point in time, anyway. And it'd only worsen his own deteriorating mind. Khoteph turned to Argall.
The boy was now the leader of nearly every surviving human on the planet, simply by uniting them to hate the surviving Rangdan. Argall united them with the fear of the aliens' return, which wasn't an unfounded fear, to be certain; but, the loss of such a large fleet, courtesy of Thragg, the living anomaly, would likely set the Rangdan back for half a century. Still, most of the humans stood united under Argall's banner. And from that unity came solidarity and with that solidarity came the simple conclusion that Argall was the fittest to lead them into the great unknown, into the future. That was good. And it was about time, honestly.
That said, there were still a few cities that did not join with Argall's unity, but Khoteph figured it was only a matter of time before they did. Humans were weak as individuals, after all. The truest strength of his people – or his former people – was in numbers, when thousands or millions acted and worked as one.
First things first, Khoteph turned to Thragg and asked, "What is your race called?"
"Viltrumite." The anomaly answered flatly and plainly. Hm. His memories did not speak of any Viltrumite race. However, there were trillions of different sapient species in the galaxy; it was entirely possible that the ancient Necrontyr simply did not encounter these Viltrumites or, if they did, it happened so long ago that the encounter was simply forgotten, its records lost to the annals of history. Still, Khoteph made a mental note to review the archives and relay this information to his Cryptek, who may know more than himself.
"Thank you for answering my question." Khoteph said, not bothering to ask more. He had time on his side, after all. Although, Khoteph had to wonder if every single Viltrumite was like Thragg or if this one was an anomaly even among his own people. Because an entire race of beings who were capable of ruining entire fleet just by the strength of their own physical bodies, fly faster than the speed of light, and lift thousands of tons was a terrifying prospect. If they were around during the War in Heaven, then surely they would've made an impact.
Another possibility was that Viltrumites were extra-galactic in nature. But, as far as Khoteph was aware, the Silent King, the one entity the Necrons had to an actual centralized authority, was out there taking care of extra-galactic things. Maybe. Actually, no one was sure what the Silent King was up to, only that his fleet was somewhere out in the void and has been so for the last 60 million years or so. But he was doing something... or maybe nothing at all. Maybe he was just out there, vibing.
"Have you given my proposal some thought, Lord Khoteph?" Argall asked immediately, not at all bothering to beat around the bush as diplomats had a tendency of doing. Refreshing.
"I have." Argall had asked him for an alliance, something no other Phaeron would even consider or suffer. Necrons did not broker alliances with aliens; they rarely ever did it with each other to begin with. Rival Phaerons, more often than not, spent millions of years warring against each other's dynasties, dooming entire worlds all the while. And, by the end of it, neither side could claim a victory anyway, since etiquette demanded that Tomb Worlds remained untouched, which meant neither side would ever lose any of their troops; a sort of victory was attained by defeating a rival all the way back to their Tomb World and leaving them there.
Anyway, an alliance with aliens was virtually unheard of. For one, the Necrons saw themselves as superior to every other race in the galaxy and for good reason, except maybe the Aeldari, whom they considered to be rivals, but that wasn't true anymore, was it? The Krorks were all gone, apparently reduced to Orks, which was a real shock as the Greenskins were considered as nothing more than pests to be culled and annihilated. Humanity... well... humanity wasn't even on the radar, honestly. A few Crypteks were interested in some of humanity's greatest inventions, but they were few. However, Khoteph, for better and for worse, was once human and that came with a natural bias; after all, why else would he extend so much effort defending the humans of this planet?
An alliance was something he truly pondered and considered for quite a while.
After all, as a former human, Khoteph was bound to, at the very least, extend a helping hand to his former race. Unfortunately, things weren't nearly as simple as he'd like them to be. For all the power his station afforded him, there were just as many rules. "A true alliance is not possible. I may be a Phaeron and I may hold humanity in high esteem for reasons entirely of my own, but there are rules that... prevent me from embracing a true alliance; so, I must refuse. However, as Phaeron, I am able to declare your... fledgling empire as a Tributary State of the Sulekh Dynasty; in that manner, I am able to extend my protection if necessary, without breaking any of the laws that govern the Necrons."
Thragg nodded, but did not speak. There was understanding in the eyes of the anomaly. With nothing to go on, Khoteph was forced to analyze and learn about Thragg through just about every possible method, including the deciphering of body language; luckily, it seemed as though Thragg's body language and mannerisms were not at all different from typical human behavioral patterns, which was... very strange to think about. Because it was strange enough that Thragg looked every bit as human as any other person; it was stranger still that he behaved like one. Convergent evolution couldn't possibly explain this. One possibility was that Viltrumites might just be the ancestors of humanity, but that was a long shot.
Whatever the case, Khoteph filed that knowledge away.
"That is... acceptable," Argall said. "But, Lord Khoteph, may I inquire as to the reason for your reluctance? Surely, as Phaeron, your word among the... Necrons is law?"
"You would be correct in most cases," Khoteph answered. "But the truth is that it's complicated. My status as Phaeron puts me in even greater scrutiny than if I was a mere lord. The short answer is: politics. The long answer is that other members of my dynasty might rise up and challenge my rule if I declared an alliance with you, whom they'll see as beneath the Necrons. I cannot risk such a fracture. However, none of them would bat an eye if I declared your fledgling empire a tributary of the Sulekh Dynasty; to possess a tributary, after all, is a sign of power and wealth."
"Politics," Argall gritted his teeth, but otherwise nodded. "That's unfortunate, but I won't press the matter. I'll gladly be a tributary if it means a prosperous future for my people."
Thragg nodded and smiled. Pride, Khoteph noted. The anomaly was feeling pride for his anomalous child. How touching. But, Argall was right. No matter what happened, the important thing was that the humans remained safe and secure, and allowed to grow and prosper within Necron territory. The other Lords of his Dynasty weren't going to kick up a fuss if the humans started settling on their Tomb Worlds as long as they stuck to the surface and steered clear of the actual Tomb Complexes. After all, they were too busy politicking each other to actually care about a bunch of primitives who could neither threaten them nor offer them anything of value.
"Good. You're thinking like a true leader," Khoteph said. He would've smiled in that moment if he had lips. He missed his body sometimes. "Tell me, what do you plan on doing after you've cleansed this world of the dwindling Rangdan threat?"
Argall's eyes lit up as he reached into his storage cube device and pulled out a handheld projector. He then pressed a button and out came a holographic presentation that detailed numerous technological wonders that Joseph Thurman would not have found out of place from the Golden Age of Humanity. "I'll begin by establishing an actual industrial and agricultural base on this planet. Interstellar travel is already possible and doable, but the population is too low for it to make any sort of sense. However, I've designed something that should take care of the population issue – I think. It's still a prototype, but I'd probably get it working by the end of the year."
Now, Khoteph's attention was roused. The boy wasn't thinking of cloning, was he? Because that sort of tech never ended well for anyone involved in it. No one really figured out why, either. "Oh, do tell."