Zorial slammed the tip of his chainsword in the ground below him, a tired pant leaving him. It had been a long time since he'd fought like this, on a proper battlefield. He'd gotten rusty, that much was clear. It was… difficult to tire an Astartes. Not impossible, despite what some seemed to believe. But definitely possible.
And the orks were pushing his limits. The strain of repeated blows that Cyn failed to intercept as she correctly assessed they would not kill him.
His intervention so far had been a boon to the defenses, to be sure. The orks recognized a champion rampaging in their ranks and diverted much of their heavier assets against him, forcing Cyn to defend him as best she could.
He'd never forget the sight of a gargant being sheared in half by a simple hand gesture.
But she was dragging her feet. She only destroyed that which threatened him directly, and left him to weather blow after blow that he could endure, but would weaken him. He was slowing down, and it wouldn't be long before he became incapable of so much as lifting his chainsword. The centuries hadn't been kind to him as he failed to encounter the sort of rigorous battles that helped his kind keep themselves sharp.
Worse, he feared on some level that Cyn would grow… bored. Or annoyed past her limits. He'd already contributed massively to the defenses, far out of proportion for what a single space marine should have been capable of; Hundreds of thousands of orks lay dead around him, thousands of vehicles shattered. Gargants ruined and destroyed. By the Emperor, he'd even managed to rampage through one of their industrial districts, crippling their war production! He'd done more than his fair share.
And yet it wasn't enough. He knew it, deep in his bones. What was a hundred thousand dead to an army numbering in the hundreds of millions? What was a thousand tanks destroyed when every hour a thousand more rumbled out of smoke churning factories? Even the mighty gargants still continued on, those not redirected to him bombarding the city he had lived in for so long.
He'd helped the defenses, but he was still so far from securing victory. He wanted to stop, wanted to go back and rest. And yet if he did…
If he did.
What next?
Cyn materialized on his shoulder, glancing down at him with the same little smile she always had. "Amused smile. You are. Tiring. Old man."
Zorial snorted, glancing around. The orks had pulled back, clearly planning on regrouping to attack once more. They'd stopped trying to bombard him into oblivion when it became clear their shells were just being sent back to the artillery pieces that fired them. "Oi. Show some respect to your elders, brat. I don't care if you are some eldritch being. I've got the years on you."
"Snort. Regardless. You will no longer be. Combat capable soon. You must. Return." Her visor tilted upwards. "I wish to. Check in on something. There is…" She paused. "I need to return soon. To the. Others. I believe they will. Need me."
Zorial's hands clenched on the chainsword. Damn it. Damn it! "And here we were doing such a fine job." He said with a note of amusement. "But I would not hold you back from your own." He let out a deep sigh. "Fine. Let's start heading ba…"
His chainsword was out of the ground and back in hand before the flash of light could dissipate, roaring as he held it in front of him. Teleportation. Bad news, but not unexpected for a Waaagh of this size.
There were a dozen of massive, heavily armored nobs arrayed before him. But that wasn't what caught his attention.
No, what did was the absolute monster of an ork that towered over them, as tall as a dreadnought if not more so. Its size alone would have marked it as a terrible opponent to face, the sheer muscle mass of the ork sufficient to rip an astartes in half with their bare hands even whilst in power armor.
It was the contraption on its back that brought a hint of fear to Zorial.
Brains.
Dozens and dozens of brains, each suspended in their own jar of strange green liquid, connected with cable to the greater structure attached to the ork's back, more cables jutting out and plugging directly into the giant's skull. Each brain seemed to be sparking with power, a visible shimmer in the air surrounding the ork as it took a lumbering step forward, eyes positively glowing with psychic might.
"You must be the human that has caused my boyz so much trouble." The beast rumbled, its tone surprisingly intelligent for such a creature. "I must congratulate you. It was an impressive performance you have been putting on." Its squinty eyes turned to Cyn. "Though perhaps the credit should not go solely to you."
"Annoyed expression. What is with you. Aliens. And seeing. Through. My holograms."
The ork chuckled deeply, the sound sending shivers down Zorial's spine. "Do forgive me. It was not my intent to frustrate you." The ork's grin widened. "I merely intend to beat you senseless. Break you under my blows. Crumble your resolve, shatter your bones, pulp your organs in between my fingers and turn your death into a sight so horrific even the creatures of the strange sea will pause at the sight."
Cyn stared back. "Unimpressed stare. I was not. Aware. Your kind dabbled in. Poetry." She held out a hand. "You are what they call. The Warboss. Correct?"
The ork took a small bow. "An accurate statement, yes. Gurgak Brains'Hava, at your service. And you are?"
"Your. Death. That name of yours is. Very. On the nose." The solver symbol appeared above the ork… and stopped. "Confused expression. What."
"Now now. I have been observing your tricks, little witch. And my eyes are that of the Gods." The ork grinned, teeth showing. "They wish to meet you. It is a rare thing for them to encounter a new being on their… conceptual level."
"I will. Pass." Cyn said, hopping off Zorial's shoulder. She raised a hand, a number of metallic debris around them floating up. As she did Zorial snapped his bolter towards the creature, firing a single shot at it. The bolt shell exploded harmlessly against the thing's forcefield. As expected, unfortunately.
Cyn however… froze. "Angry. What is…" There was a green glitch on her visor. " ? What." The air seemed to warp around her as the metallic debris fell back to the ground.. "My. Abilities. How."
"The Gods want a fair fight. A proper one." The warboss lifted a massive powerclaw towards her. "Now come on little one. I shall make excellent scrap out of you."
Cyn stared at the ork even as Zorial tensed, preparing himself for the fight. "Any ideas?"
"TANTRUM."
The warboss roared, charging along with his nobs.
And as they did, Cyn's form.
Shifted.
Doll glanced around her.
The area she had reached resembled an office space. It was… eerie, how quiet and dark it was.
Then again, Doll had always found eeriness comforting. It was much better than when things pretended to be bright and bubbly, and everything was fine, and we weren't living under the constant threat of genocide robots ready to EAT US ALL…
Anyways.
She sneered at the latest dead raptor beneath her. Anti drone defense systems, most likely. Ones that had proven futile in the face of the Solver's abilities.
She looked back forward. There were a set of doors before her, locked down. Heavily fortified.
The security camera in the corner was on. Someone was watching.
Feeling a little dramatic she glanced at the camera, grinned wildly, and ripped the blast doors off.
"Hello." She said, vanishing in a shower of red sparks, reappearing in the first room.
Immediately she was forced to teleport once again as something was thrust at her, reappearing with a frown on her face.
Her attacker was a drone, though an unusual one for sure. She wore horns on her head, made of metallic rebar and numerous kitchen utensils strapped to them. Her eyes were orange, her face twisted in a grimace at her failed attack. In the corner was a blue pill on legs wearing a cowboy hat, looking at her with hollowed out eyes.
A twinge of pity ran through her at the sight.
But she wasn't letting anyone get in the way.
ANYONE.
With a simple twist of the hand and application of the solver the orange eyed worker was sent crashing into the wall, a dozen cleavers nailing her to it as they pierced through metallic arms and legs.
"How rude. I was merely announcing myself."
The worker snarled. "Aw, how considerate! I'll thank ya by RIPPING YOUR BITS OUT!" She screamed. "Cyn sent ya to finish the job with this here planet?!"
"You know of the solver." Doll said, glancing at the pill. It raised its hands, shaking its head frantically. Good. No trouble from that one hopefully. "Good. I am looking for the way down."
"Oh like hell am I helping one of you witches!" The worker said, glancing around. Was that a tail behind her, swishing around? With a knife tapped at the end?
…What a weirdo.
"Your cooperation would be appreciated." Doll said, walking through the room. It seemed to be some kind of surgical ward… with beds covered in oil. And drone bits in buckets.
Perfect. She was getting a bit hungry.
She grabbed an arm sticking out from a bucket, ripping into it with sharp teeth, enjoying the sight of the worker's eyes hollowing out. "But is unneeded. I have gotten this far on my own."
The worker's eyes narrowed. "...So why haven't cha killed me yet?" She asked, her eyes glancing around. Looking for a way to escape… or something to use against Doll. She should be on guard.
"I have no reason to. I have already stained my hands enough in order to rid myself of this horror." Doll bluntly said, examining a console with numerous screens. So it was that worker that was watching her… "I am surprised you haven't gotten killed by the beasts."
"The sentinels? Nah, it's just a matter of knowing how to handle'em." The worker said with a grin. "And never being in the same room as them."
"I see." Doll said softly. "What is your name?"
"...Alice. Yours?"
"Doll. And I am not one of Cyn's pets." She said, switching from camera to camera until she found what she was looking for. "I am the mistake she failed to account for."
And with that she teleported to the elevator room, leaving the worker behind. It might be a mistake, but… she'd rather not kill anymore than she had to.
She found the receptacle, placing the keybug on it. The little robotic roach activated the elevator, the doors opening with a little ding.
She entered, her red eye glowing as the elevators closed.
She was so close.
So damn close.
If her mother's notes were right…
She may have found a solution to the Solver yet.
"...and THEN I get hitched with that guy; His name is Khan, really sweet guy but kind of an idiot; And we have a daughter, and I'm like 'What am I doing?!' and then we get attacked by Cyn's little murder pets, and I decide to run off and take the opportunity to try and find a solution because it means Cyn is likely on her way, but it's been years and I'm barely any closer to finding the solution, and there's this patch but I'm not sure it'll work in the slightest, and all this while I've been neglecting my duties as a mother and she definitely thinks I'm dead and I don't even know if she's alive or…" Nori let out a deep sigh. "Ugh. I am such a mess."
"Such is the fate of most parents." The necron lord said kindly as he handed her another cup of oil. "I'm afraid I struggled mightily with my own daughter for many years, and even now it feels like I am unable to truly understand her. She is stuck in what humans call… a 'teenage rebellion' I believe due to the age she was at when the biotransferrance happened. Despite being past that age, the attitude remains." A deep sigh escaped him. "But then again, my daughter has never been… what people consider 'normal' for our people. She is… spirited in a manner few of us are."
"Oh god. Millions of years of teenage angst?" Nori groaned. "And I thought my puberty was bad. My condolences."
"I am surprised your creators made such a thing a part of your programming. Hormones are one of the few things I do not miss from the time I was biological."
"I know right?! I swear if Cyn hadn't killed them already…" She froze as on one of the screens of her console, the arrow of the elevator began to move. "Someone is coming."
The necron lord rose to his full height, extending a hand and helping her climb onto his head where she perched, using the solver to summon a pickaxe to her crab-like claw. "This 'Cyn'?"
"Unsure. Could be anyone, but it's likely to be her."
"Then we shall greet this new guest… properly."
The camera showed the elevator doors opening…
Nori's eyes hollowed out.
"Yeva?"
Doll cautiously peered out of the now stopped elevator. She was deep underground; Deeper still than the lab upstairs had been. And it had led her… to a mineshaft?
Of all things… But regardless, if this was where her target was, then that was that.
She took a step forward, every single sensor on high alert. It was… tiring to be on such high vigilance at all times, but she was so… so close. So damned close.
No longer having the solver would suck, and it would make taking her revenge on V much more difficult… but then again, she had time. Until they were back to their home dimension, she would hold to her word. There would be no infighting for now.
She'd spare the other one, N. He'd been… helpful in keeping Cyn distracted and peaceful. And Uzi would be quite upset if she did anything to them.
The only one she cared about was V.
That one, she would not let escape.
Never.
The mineshaft was… haunting. There were skeletons in multiple places, traces of mankind's demise as they caused the partial collapse of the planet's core. Worse still were the amalgamations of flesh that blocked off some of the paths, clear influences of the worst aspects of the Solver. She'd always known it was biomechanical in nature, but this was far worse than she'd imagined.
She used the solver to levitate an abandoned lantern in front of her, its light illuminating the mineshaft. She could see in the dark if she needed to, but she would rather not strain herself any further than absolutely necessary. Who knew what she would find here.
For all she knew, the raptors up there were only the beginning.
After some time, she found something within the corridors of the mineshaft. A more complex installation; An actual console.
She read through its contents, her teeth gritting as she did.
Idiots. Absolute idiots.
To think they were trying to harness the power of the solver… All they did was let it in.
But it also meant she was close. That she was on the right track.
They'd been researching a cure.
A patch.
And it was down here with her. Not here though.
There was a giant cavern underground. And in it, there was a giant cathedral.
…There was no way the humans from this dimension had already gotten here right? She knew that they were incredibly religious through the Solver's shared knowledge, but to build something like this…
No. No this was here before.
And a building like this, here of all places… No chance this was a coincidence. She vanished in a shower of red sparks, reappearing before the large doors before pushing them open with the solver…
"Ah. Our guest has arrived."
Doll teleported backwards, her eye wide as she took in the figure that emerged from the cathedral.
It was massive. A solid nine feet tall made entirely of golden metal and glowing green light, shaped like a well decorated skeleton in fine garb.
She suppressed her first instinct to go on the offensive; It had spoken after all… and she had no idea what it was capable of. "You are not meant to be here." She eventually said, staring at the thing warily. Something from this dimension perhaps? But how did it get here?
The skeleton gave an acknowledging nod. "Indeed. However, neither are you. This place was not built for your kind…" There was a light in those glowing green eyes that made Doll nervous. "Or perhaps it was. You are one of those aren't you? The hosts to the Anomaly."
"You speak of the Solver." Doll said, her eyes glancing around for any other surprises. "You are not from my world."
"I am not." It agreed easily. "However, your planet has appeared within my sphere of influence."
Doll gave it a prolonged look, choosing her words carefully. "...You are not human."
"And neither are you."
"I thought this system was owned by the humans of the Imperium."
The skeleton… laughed. "Oh, they certainly do think so. And I am not particularly bothered about their presence; None of our worlds are here after all. But I assure you…" The creature's metallic face was unchanged as it spoke the next words with a mixture of contempt and malice. "The primitives merely squat here."
Doll slowly nodded, her core pounding in her chest. She didn't know why, but the thing before her… it was intimidating. "I am not here for a fight. I am merely here to look for something." She spoke. "This planet is not of your world. It does not belong to your realm. I seek no quarrel."
"You do not, indeed." The skeleton said. "However, whilst this planet is within my realm, I have a duty to ensure dangerous things do not… become problematic." It spoke. "Far be it from me to stand between you and your goal little one. In fact, I find your drive to rid yourself of the Anomaly's influence admirable." It said, making Doll take a step back in surprise. It knew of her goal?! "That is why you are here, yes? Not the hardest thing to figure out once one looks at the larger picture… and the purpose of this place. Either that, or to destroy the solution." The skeleton loomed over her. "You are here for the former?"
"...Correct." She begrudgingly admitted. "You will not stop me?"
"No. But I do request to be a witness." The creature said. "It is so rare for me to see new things these days… and there is someone here that wishes to discuss with you prior to that."
Doll felt herself tense up further. "And who might that be?"
And that was when a drone core emerged from where it had been hiding, clambering onto the skeleton's shoulder, waving one of its crab-like pincers. "Uh… heya. You're Yeva's kid right?"
Doll stared.
And stared.
"You are dead." She said, her voice as her one eye hollowed out. "The murder drones got to you."
"Is that what you call them? Jeez, that's morbid. Kinda cool though, I'll give you that." The drone core said with a snort. "Anyways, yeah turns out I lived. Yipee. Came down here to find a solution to the whole… Cyn situation." Nori shrugged with two pincers. "Didn't expect a visitor, but hey. I'm glad to see you haven't lost your head yet. Robo-god knows that can be a hard time."
"That thing will not have my mind so long as I draw breath." Doll said with a narrowing of the eye. "Uzi thinks you are dead. She has been mourning you for years." She wasn't sure why the anger was building up in her. It wasn't like Uzi and her were good friends… the opposite, if anything.
But Doll knew what it was like to lose a parent. To think that Uzi's was alive this whole time but had been hiding away, making her think that she was dead…
Nori hissed. "I know that!" The skeleton, to Doll's surprise, raised a comforting hand, patting the drone core on the top. Her voice lowered. "I… I know that. There's no excuse for what I've done. But the harm is already done. And the patch… the patch is so close to being completed."
Doll's eye locked onto Nori. "You have it here."
Nori nodded. "Indeed. But it isn't finished. It still needs to be improved through exposure to a host."
Doll gestured to Nori. "And this doesn't suffice."
"Ouch. Good one kid." Nori said with a chuckle. "No, indeed it does not. Cyn thinks I am dead, and as long as I don't poke the solver too much that won't change. If I messed around and it didn't work…"
"Then she would have come here and put a stop to it, when you were too vulnerable to fight back." Doll finished for her. "But now I am here."
"Now you're here." Nori agreed. "And so is our friend here."
Doll glanced at the skeleton once more, disliking how she had to crane her neck to do so. "...And what is he?"
The skeleton answered for himself. "I am Isotatekh. Phaeorn of the Anasaik dynasty. Necrontyr, or as the primitives call us, Necrons." He said in a deep, bassy robotic voice. "And what I am above all else… is curious." He gestured to the cathedral. "Come. We shall see about employing this… patch and how it interferes with the Anomaly's control over you."
"And if Cyn comes?" Doll asked, still feeling quite untrusting of the two.
The necron's face did not change, stuck in metal as it was, but she could swear he was grinning.
"Then I demonstrate to it that it is not the first of its kind mine has struck down."
The orks were everywhere.
Well, that wasn't quite accurate. There were a lot of places without orks. But there were still a lot of orks. They were fairly disorganised as well, divided into large bands that would frequently start fighting over scrap and loot.
N stared down at a group of them tearing into each other with hoots and cheers as they fought over the remains of a few cars whilst some of the more mechanically oriented… the eldar had called them 'Meks' hadn't he? Were seemingly busy turning the shells of old cars into racing buggies.
It looked really fun! Except for the, uh, murder and stuff. But the orks were seeming to have a good time, so really it wasn't N's place to judge.
He'd done worse after all.
He took down some notes on the digital map that V, J, Uzi and he were sharing and updating as they were around marking down where all the various groups of orks were located, along with some extra notes such as numbers, any special orks that stood out and anything else relevant. He hesitated to put down buggies, but decided J would definitely yell at him if he did so. Then again, Uzi would definitely be super pissed at J if she yelled at N, so maybe he could get away with it anyways.
They'd dispersed in order to cover more ground, with strict orders to not engage the orks under any circumstances. With V staring at N really hard when she said that. Which was totally unfair! It had only happened like, once.
Okay maybe more than once. But still! It wasn't like N went looking for situations that required him to intervene. They just kinda… found him.
Satisfied with his observation of the group, he quickly took to the air, flying away from the orks and keeping a low altitude as he flittered between buildings. Stealth was but one of many things disassembly drones were built for, though for some reason Uzi was having the easiest time remaining unseen. It was quite odd. Uzi was many things, subtle was not one of them.
Something caught his eye. A disturbance further down the streets. His sensors zoomed in, eyes hollowing out at the sight.
There was a… it kinda looked like a worker drone? But more… skeleton like. And a little smaller than he was. And with glowing green lights.
Very weird to start with, but even weirder was the fact that it was surrounded by hundreds of orks. Very angry, murderous orks, all rushing towards it with a unified warcry. And yet, the worker did not stumble, did not falter. Instead they aimed what looked like a weapon… Wait, did another worker make a railgun like Uzi's?! It even glowed green like hers did!
A shower of green beams washed over the horde of orks, turning the first wave into a shower of dust near instantly. N's eyes hollowed out at the sight. Not a railgun… but something just as potent. Less powerful in a single shot, but it clearly did not suffer the weakness that Uzi's railgun did with its massive cooldown.
He continued to watch as the horde was whittled down, getting closer even as their numbers were reduced rapidly. Once they got within a few meters the weapon vanished in a green flash, replaced with a large glowing halberd like weapon in the worker's golden metallic hands. It swiped, cutting through the first cleanly, and with great speed began to tear through the ork horde. N watched, mesmerised. There was an elegance that spoke of experience and much practice, but it was… imperfect. N knew it well; It was experience that came from sparing, not from actual combat. And as the fight continued, it began to show. The orks, though outmatched in strength and weaponry by their foe, made up for it in sheer brutal determination, one ignoring its arm being cut so it could ram its head into the foe's torso, making them stumble for a moment, only for another to slam their crude sword into its back. It failed to pierce through but it made N wince, his mind racing as he hesitated. He had promised not to get into any fights…
But could he really just stand there and watch? They seemed to be doing fine, even if they were making mistakes here and there…
And then one of the nearby buildings exploded into a shower of debris and rubble, a massive mechanical bipedal monstrosity bearing down towards the green glowing worker drone. It stood five times as high as the orks, a cruel contraption of metal and rusted parts interlinked with dismal cunning. Its arms wielded immense sawblades that sparked viciously as they screeched with the sound of metal against metal, the worker taking a step back in shock and surprise.
N didn't even think.
He surged at full speed, eyes flickering to a murderous X.
Amatoth would perhaps be willing to admit that maybe, just maybe, this one time and only this one time, her parents had been right.
She hadn't been ready for the battlefield.
The necrontyr girl had been fascinated by the appearance of a new planet in her father's domain. Better yet, it was one that was inhabited by robotic beings! Ones that displayed actual sentience, perhaps even some that had suffered biotransference like her kind! She doubted it but hey, a girl can dream right?
She… she'd been excited to see them. Observe them.
Maybe even get to talk to them.
But her father had been clear. He wanted to go there himself, get a solid idea of the situation and make sure it was safe before she was allowed on the planetary surface. And worse, her mother had agreed with him.
She might be able to convince her father, but her mother? No chance.
However… when she'd learned that the brutish, devolved descendants of the kroks had come to the world intent on wrecking it up and causing mayhem… she hadn't been able to resist. If she stood back, who knew if there would even be anyone left by the time her father was satisfied with his observations! He hadn't even been looking properly anyways!
And so she'd hijacked a transport and gone there herself, intent on fighting the orks off.
It… hadn't gone that well.
She was the daughter of a phaeron. She had the best gear one could ask for one like herself, unproven and untested in true battle, and training that had been reluctantly allowed by her parents. But numbers had a strength of their own, and she'd started finding herself overwhelmed as she fought.
And then came the monstrosity that the orks called 'Deff dread'. A large mechanical contraption, one she could no doubt take on on its own.
But she was already struggling to fight off the hundreds of orks that kept pouring into the streets towards her,
She was alone.
Oh this was going to be so embarrassing if she got damaged enough to be teleported back to the tomb… She'd never hear the end of it.
And then something slammed into the dread at multiple times the speed of sound, instantly caving in the poorly made face carved into its metallic body and obliterating the mech in a shower of flames and sparks.
TIme seemed to slow down as Amatoth's sensors stared at the thing that had just destroyed her foe.
Large, bladed wings opened wide on their back. A furred coat that fit them quite well and made them look dashing. Metallic claws that seemed unnaturally sharp, and glowing yellow visor that displayed a large X on it. Their face was etched into a focused expression even as their lips were pulled back into a ferocious snarl.
They'd propelled themselves feet first, burying them into the mech's face, annihilating it through sheer velocity alone.
Her metallic face stretched into a wide smile, her eyes glimmering with excitement.
Oh.
Oh.
The orks were frozen in shock for only a second before they roared once more, charging towards her. She let out a laugh, pure and genuine as she began tearing into them with renewed energy, the winged being jumping in next to her and beginning to rip them apart with its claws and wings with the same ease as her.
She watched as its tail pierced through the skull of an ork about to hit her from behind, her hyperphase sword swinging cutting in half an ork that was aiming for the slightly taller metallic being, receiving a grateful nod in return. She answered it with a wide grin of her own and a chipper laugh, dancing along with her newly arrived ally as they turned the horde or orks into mince meat.
It was wonderful. The sound battle, the clash of weapons, and an ally to watch for your back.
She hadn't felt this excited in forever.
She wanted more.
More!
"Come!" She cried out as the orks' attack started to falter, some beginning to run away from the clearly hopeless battle. "See how they flee before our might! Let us chase them down before they can regroup!" She wasn't sure why she had said this. She hadn't been able to stop herself. There was no chance of her ally understanding her…
"Right!" It answered to her surprise. Its voice was… pleasant. Male it seemed. It hadn't answered in her tongue, and yet she had understood. How… intriguing.
It opened its wings wide and in a single beat had taken to the air, flying with incredible speed before slamming in front of the fleeing orks, snow and debris flying from the impact. Within seconds a dozen orks lay dead, ripped apart by the powerful wings and claws as Amatoth fired her weapon into the fleeing horde, cutting down those that remained.
She walked forward slowly towards the last remaining ork, its legs gone as it tried to crawl away. She put a foot on its head, pressing down harshly and caving its skull in, blood splattering on her.
She giggled. She couldn't help herself. This had been such a good time! She'd been wrong, this had hardly been a mistake at all! More like… her eyes locked onto the winged creature as it stood ahead of her, imposing.
Fate.
N felt nervousness rise within him at the sight of the giggling… okay he was pretty sure it wasn't a worker drone anymore. It had sounded female, but N knew better than to assume.
Still, at the sight of a shorter, giggling maniac firing green lasers… he was getting some deja-vu.
She turned to him, and N had to resist the urge to take a step back at the sheer glee on her face. She had a somewhat humanoid face, unlike the rest of her skeletal body. It was… odd.
"Uh…" He tried desperately to think of something to say. "Heya! I'm serial designation N, nice to meet you!" Uzi was right, he was so lame sometimes.
But the thing merely nodded as it slowly walked towards him, an amused smile on its face. "N hm? Not a very usual name… but I know little of your kind and its customs." Its voice was soft, aristocratic even. He'd heard that sort of tone more than enough time back at the manor to recognize high society… "Well fought friend. Had you not arrived, I may have struggled more than appropriate for one of my station." She placed a hand on her chestplate. "I am Amatoth, daughter of Isotatekh, Phaeron of the Anasaik dynasty. Your aid shall not be forgotten." She grinned. "Our kinds are unfamiliar with each other, it seems. I have never seen something such as you…"
N resisted the urge to say she definitely reminded him of someone, instead chuckling nervously. "Uh… it's an honor?" He asked. Oh biscuit, it had been a while since he'd had to use his formal protocols… and he had no clue what was acceptable for something titled a Phaeron! And also this thing was probably another alien species?! Oh god his first contact protocols were interfering with his formal protocols which were already infighting… "Are you an alien?" He blurted out, before slamming a hand in front of his mouth. "Oh gosh, that was so rude of me! Um, are you okay? Any injuries?! I'm sorry, I should have intervened sooner…" He began to ramble, looking over her as he began to check for damage.
She stared at him, before tittering, amused. "My my, your behavior is completely unlike how you were in battle." She tilted her head. "It's… actually quite charming." She mused, gazing up at him with a slight rising of the head.
N was completely out of his depth. "Um…" He said, stammering. "I… uh… thanks?" He said with a stutter. "We should probably move… before the orks return?" He said with a squeak as she stepped even closer.
"A fair point, good sir." She said easily, patting him on the arm. "Do you have a destination in mind?"
N glanced at the nearby buildings. "Uh, up there?" He said, pointing at the tallest. "Not sure how you will get up there, but that way we can meet up with my squad…"
"Wonderful. Race you there?" She said with a cheeky smile before vanishing in a swirl of green energy, N's sensors registering her appearing up top the building near instantly.
He blinked. "...She can teleport. Of course she can teleport." He said with a sigh. "Oh biscuits, this is going to be difficult to explain…"
He sent the ping to the rest of his teammates, opened his wings and flew upwards towards the ceiling, hoping the others wouldn't be too angry at him…