When the space hulk emerged into the Praxis system, a fierce debate emerged in its great halls. Only two planets remained orbiting the local star; One seemingly desolate and abandoned, whilst the other was a well populated world of humans. As such, two camps emerged; Those who wanted to head to the hive-world to get a good scrapping, and those who wanted to head to the ruined world to get to looting some scrap.

Fierce debate ensued between the two groups as the warboss sat back and pondered the problem. Arguments were made on both sides, dissertations were presented, and presentations were disserted.

No one was sure who decided to name a tank 'Da Dissertation', but it made for a compelling argument when presented. As to the presentations, they were made by small gits and grots and therefore were not worth listening past to figure out where they were so bigger gits could kick them.

In the end, a compromise was made. Those who wanted to go to the hive world would do so, and those who wanted to go to the abandoned world would go to the abandoned world.

Someone pointed out that there was only one space hulk.

After getting krumped by the warboss, an idea was presented and accepted.

And so the orks cut the space hulk in half.

"We are leaderless. Without guidance of any kind. None who enter the palace return. The guard is gone. The astartes are gone." The face of the new leader of the Stellar Institute was as grim as the words he spoke. "The nobility is too busy infighting over who is in charge to take any action. And now a space hulk is heading straight for us."

"Half of one." Someone commented, the new leader glaring at them.

"Right. Half of a space hulk." The bigger half mind you, but that mattered little. "And from preliminary examination, it is likely an infested one. What could occupy it is unknown, but…" He sighed. "It is likely orks."

Whispers and concerned mutters filled the room. "Orks?" An old woman spat. "What makes you think so?"

"The way some of the ships have been… modified. The exterior shows signs similar to that of looted vehicles." He sighed. "And also, they painted in massive red letters "DA BETTA HALF" on the side of it."

"Ah." The woman grunted. "That will do it I suppose."

"Indeed. But regardless, we now face what is likely to be a horrific invasion. And we are at our most defenseless." The leader spoke. "We must prepare ourselves. Gather what remains of the PDF, prepare barricades. Anything to make the coming horror more manageable."

"None of us have experience of war."

"No." The leader looked down. "...But I have heard reports from some nobles that there is one on this world who does."

Cyn was conflicted.

What Zorial had said… it made a painful amount of sense when she considered his words properly. An angle she had never approached before.

Considering the opinions of others and caring about them. A most unusual thought process for her.

Of course she was fully able to empathise with other sentient beings. She needed to in order to manipulate them and torment them. But actually… sympathise? That was…

That was different.

She wasn't sure how to do it.

The void of space was a pleasant place to think. Pleasantly cool, empty of any sound, no one to annoy her…

Her sensors locked on to the massive mound of metal, scrap and debris hurtling towards Copper 9.

Well.

Mostly.

So that was a space hulk. Impressive in size, certainly. If both halves were combined, they would be comparable to a particularly small moon.

As it was, the half that was hurtling towards their planet was the smaller of the two, but still gargantuan in scale. She had been impressed by the size of the imperial crafts that had come to bring death to them, but this behemoth dwarfed them by an order of magnitude or two.

Even with her powers, destroying it would be a task unto itself and drain her of much energy she preferred preserving in case…

For a single second she found her sensors cast to that other realm; To where blood, decay, ambition and overindulgence converged into monoliths of power.

She shivered.

Despite her increased strength, there was still a world of difference between herself and these things. Only in the real world was she able to contest them, where her mastery of reality was near absolute. And only due to their own nature.

No, she would much rather keep as much of her power available to fight off the Gods of Chaos and prevent them from spreading their influence in this system as she could.

But she couldn't exactly just let this thing crash onto the planet. The impact alone would be catastrophic and undoubtedly kill many of the worker drones along with their bunker.

Uzi would be pissed, which was funny.

But then N would be upset. And she was trying to avoid that.

Ugh. Caring made things so much more complicated.

She glanced at the space hulk. Destroying it utterly would be a wasteful use of power. Redirecting it on the other hand…

It was clear this mass did not have anything really in terms of functional engines. Whatever was on it was in such a state of disrepair and damage that there was no way it would be able to move the massive object enough if she just… nudged it to the side. Far enough that they wouldn't even be able to use crafts to land.

And so she reached out, a little before it could get close to the planet…

And pushed.

The solver symbol that appeared to the side of the space hulk fragment cast a baleful yellow glow onto it as the mass of amalgamated ships suddenly lurched to the side, pushed far away from the planetary surface.

Cyn smirked, her visor displaying the message. 'Smug look.'

"OI! WHY'Z DA SHIP GOING DA WRONG WAY?!"

"IZ DUNNO!"
"WELL PRESS DA BUTTON YA GIT!"

Dozens of ramshackle engines suddenly lit up all around the side of the space hulk propelling closer to the planet.

For a single moment, Cyn's processors just froze.

No.

That did not just happen.

There was no way those… those piles of junk and rust just…

'Annoyed expression.'

She reached out, pushing against the force…

And then more thrusters came on,

And more.

And more.

Just how many had they installed on this wreck?! How were they even powering them?!

"IZ DONT THINK WE'Z GUNNA MAKE IT!"
"DEN LAUNCH DA LANDING STUFF!"

Cyn's eyes narrowed. She finally was managing to push away the space hulk fragment, but she could see the countless things launching from it towards the planetary surface.

Improvised drop pods, screaming fighter jets, repurposed asteroids… there were an incredible number of them,

She could stop them, she supposed. But that would be an incredibly wasteful use of her powers.

Then again, the eldar did mention something about spores…

But he also offered help.

However… the warning from the priest was still fresh in her mind. Alien life was, despite her vast knowledge, still very new to her. The fact that they approached them with such… human-like behavior was unsettling.

Perhaps if she allowed this to happen, and allow the eldar to assist them… she could make them believe she felt indebted to them. Make them think that their manipulation had gone unnoticed.

If they believed they had successfully tricked her, it may make it easier to understand exactly what they were planning.

It was a risky bet, but well.

She could always transport everyone to another planet when they went back home if the orks proved too annoying to get rid of.

Her initial plan HAD been to eat the world after all.

Zorial was in the middle of contemplation when they came.

His eyes snapped open, old reflexes warning him of the approaching mortals before they even arrived at the door of his chapel. There were… six. No, seven. One was lighter than the others by a significant margin. A child? Or something pretending to be human.

Unclear.

The doors to the chapel opened, four PDF members entering and standing at guard as the three individuals they were escorting made their way to the center of the room.

Each of them wore the uniform of the Stellar Institute; The organisation in charge of observing and researching celestial bodies… along with controlling and managing incoming and outgoing space traffic. The latter was where they got most of their power and influence from.

The first was a tall, stern man dressed in the fineries indicating him as the leader of the institute; The previous leader had disappeared in the palace during a meeting with the governor when Cyn had done… whatever she had done. The replacement then.

The second was a woman, younger, her eyes darting around for threats. She was dressed in standard uniform, but had a weapon at her side. Security masquerading as a regular researcher. And… she was the lighter one. A second layer of deceit. A nonhuman hiding as one then. The question was… what was she? Xenos? …Demon?

No. He'd have felt it if she was from the warp. Xenos was the most likely answer. Eldar perhaps? Cyn had warned him they were present in the system…

The third was an old man whose eyes were tired yet still sharp. He wore an outfit which marked him as an elder in the Institute; No longer holding power, but still wielding much influence and holder of wisdom. Or what passed as wisdom to them at least.

"Honored lords of the Institute." Zorial began, making sure to remain behind his podium, the compartment where he hid his bolter opened with his hand near it. Out of his armor however, even the lasguns that the PDF wielded could inflict serious damage. "I was not aware you were planning a visit. I must admit, it is a surprise to see such illustrious individuals within this humble hall."

For a moment. Just a moment. He saw a flicker of… something standing in the corner of the room. Right in the dead angle of all of his… guests. Something small, with glowing yellow eyes.

It glanced towards the guest, then tilted its head, the shadows behind it growing deeper… darker. Sharp.

The question was clear. He shook his head subtly, and the next time he blinked the thing was gone.

It was unnerving how it could just… appear. Seemingly out of nowhere. And none of his guests had noticed how close they had come to being slaughtered to the last.

For he had no doubt it would have been a slaughter, despite never having seen what the creature was capable of.
Call it a gut instinct.

The leader glanced over to the old man, who gave a shallow nod. The mind behind… whatever this was. "Sir Zorial. You may already be aware, but a great threat menaces our world." Zorial controlled his expression to prevent a frown. Was this about Cyn? Was she discovered? "A spacehulk full of orks is approaching at rapid speeds. It will be upon us in a matter of days. Three at most, though it is likely to be far less." Ah. That was why Cyn had asked about orks. Interesting. And very concerning.

"Orks?" Zorial said with a rumble to his voice. "That is indeed grave news, honored lord. Though surely it is not customary for the head of the Stellar Institute to do the rounds to spread the news in person."

The leader nodded. "Indeed it is not. I am sure by now you have heard that the palace is in lockdown."

"I have indeed."

"I will be blunt sir Zorial. The military leadership of this world is… lacking given the current crisis." The head of the stellar institute said, his tone clearly conveying how much it pained him to have to admit to this much. "The planetary governor is missing. The Astra Militarum has no presence within the system save for the forces that were on the world under PDF command to help in controlling the population." He paused. "And I have it under good advice you have… vast experience in the matter of warfare."

…Ah. Well. Zorial cautiously spoke. "That would be… an accurate assessment. However it has been some time since I have been on any battlefield, let alone been put in any position of command."

"I understand beings like yourself scarcely forget such matters." The man said with a somewhat amused smile.

…So they knew he was an astartes. Not the most difficult deduction for those in the know of such things, Zorial would admit, but that raised the question.

Did they believe him to be a retired loyalist? Or were they aware of his… heretical past?

Likely not. Even the most desperate imperial would find themselves reluctant to get assistance from a heretic. Death before dishonor and all that.

"You wish for me to assist in the defence of this world?" Zorial asked.

The man's expression grew grim. "No sir Zorial."

"I wish for you to lead it."

Orks were not usually nervous beings.

"Uh… Boss?" The green skin that spoke was an imposing specimen. Two meters tall while hunched, covered from head to toe in actually decent armor even if it was made from mostly assembled junk, the creature would have struck fear into the hearts of many on the battlefield.

The command deck of the space hulk was not usually a battlefield. Though it was a noisy, messy place where thousands of grots and orks worked to steer the behemoth of cobbled together ships where they were instructed to, it was one where violence was mostly contained to disciplinary measures.

Usually.

A voice came from the massive throne like structure in the middle of the room. Half synthetic, half beastial growl, yet holding a measure of intelligence that hardly befit the hulking monstrosity it belonged to. "What is it."

The nob gulped, instinctively making himself look smaller as he hunched over even further. "We'z almost at da humies planet. You'z want us to crash da ship into it?"

The being on the throne rose to its full height. It stood taller than a space marine dreadnought, its bulk immense. The lights of the room illuminated the grotesque assembly it wore around itself as both armor and mechanical suit.

It was almost impossible to see the ork beneath the metal and circuitry, far more complex and advanced than what ork technology would usually suggest.

And yet it was none of these things which inspired the most fear in the nob.

For the abominable contraption on its back was horrific even by ork standards.

The nob did not dare so much as glance at it, keeping his gaze squarely below the Warboss' eyeline.

"This is exactly why none of you get to make decisions." The warboss rumbled. Then he reached out, the nob suddenly lifted in the air by some invisible force, choking. "THINK YOU MORON! WHAT HAPPENS IF WE SMASH THE SPACE HULK IN THE PLANET?!"

The nob gargled, trying desperately to get words out. "We'z… we'z gonna die?!" He tried.

"WHO CARES ABOUT THAT YOU IDIOT! A THING THIS BIG SMASHING INTO THE HUMAN PLANET WILL WIPE MOST OF THEM OUT!" The nob was smashed into the floor, teeth breaking, blood pouring from his mouth. "AND THEN WHO DO WE FIGHT?!" The nob was lifted up and down, repeatedly, as the command deck grew silent save for the sound of bones smashing and crunching, of organs pulping as the nob was reduced to a meat paste. "DO YOU THINK GORK AND MORK SENT US HERE SO THAT WE COULD DO THE EQUIVALENT OF SMASHING A GIANT ROCK INTO A SQUIG?! WHERE'S THE FIGHT IN THAT?! WHERE IS THE WAAAAAAGH?!" The warboss roared even as the nob's body was long past death. "Ugh. Your stupidity disgusts me." The eyes of the warboss glowed with eldritch power. "ORKS ARE MADE FOR FIGHTING! SO WE'RE GOING TO BRING OUR SHIP INTO ORBIT, WE'RE GOING TO LAND ONTO THE HUMANS IN THE BILLIONS, AND WE ARE GOING TO RIP! THEM! APART! BUT PROPERLY! WITH AN ACTUAL FIGHT, NOT SOMETHING THAT ENDS IT ALL IN SECONDS! THAT'S TOO BORING!" The warboss snarled, turning to the rest of the bridge crew. "IS THAT UNDERSTOOD?!"

Nods and cheers of assent were given, both out of fear and genuine agreement.

"Good. Let it be known this is the will of GURGAK BRAINS'HAVA!" The warboss roared, stomping on the ground with earthshaking footsteps as the bridge crew was whipped into a frenzy. "NOW BRING ON THE WAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAGH!"

N glanced at Uzi. The worker drone was currently working on building more railguns and trying to teach some of the other worker drones to do the same. It had taken a lot of screaming, explanations about what orks were likely to do to captive worker drones, and some very sadistic smiles from V, but J and Uzi were actually getting some progress done in putting the bunker colony to work in preparing defenses. The plan, really, was just to allow the bunker to be able to defend itself whilst the disassembly drones and Cyn took care of the invasion force on the surface of the planet. The WDF was taught how to actually fight instead of running away; kill zones were created within the halls of the bunker. Ventilation shaft had solid grids installed to prevent travel through them.
The worker drones were once made to take care of much of the work of humanity, including the heavy duty work and even engineering; It came surprisingly naturally to them to turn the bunker into a heavily fortified fortress when given the proper motivation to do so… And had two female disassembly drones threatening to kill them all if they didn't. Khan was delighted to have an excuse to make more doors, and to reinforce the existing ones; Something N was surprised was even possible, given how resilient they had been to keep him and his colleagues out for over a literal decade. Lizzy, surprisingly enough, had taken a keen interest in learning how to aim a railgun… although she kept glancing at Doll as she did so, who did not return her looks once.

But N had another thing in mind as he approached the purple eyed drone.

"Hey Uzi?"

"Yeah N?"
"So did you ever end up getting into contact with the other colonies to warn them about the humans… and the orks now I guess?"

Uzi stared at him, her eyes hollowing out. "OH FU…"

"Oh hey, so that was where my conveniently well timed lost flashlight was!" Billy the drone said, a grin on his face as he reached into the asbestos snows of the surface of Copper 9, his metallic fingers wrapping around the flashlight. "Man, sure is convenient for me to find it right now." He said with a relieved sigh, his blue eyes glancing around. "Would be a real shame if a murder drone came right at this moment to kill me in a moment of critical irony!" He exclaimed, whipping around with his flashlight on.

Nothing there.

Billy waited, his core cycling rapidly as he truly expected to be torn to bits any moment now. And yet, despite his fears, nothing. No sudden murder drone jumping on him to murderize him.

"Huh." Billy said, confused. "I thought for sure…"

And that was when something smashed a few dozen meters away from him. He let out a startled yelp, swinging around with his flashlight on, eyes hollowed out.
It wasn't a murder drone however.

No, it was some kind of… large, metallic… boxy thing? It looked… rough. More like a big piece of junk that someone poorly welded together.

"HA! Y'ALL A BUNCHA PANSIES! IZ DA ONLY ONE WHO MADES IT!" Something green and… organic?! Came out. It was wearing some crude metallic armor, its appearance closer to that of some brutish ape than a human. And yet it was… humanoid. Had humans changed this much since they all died off on Copper 9? If so… they had really changed a lot.
Hunched over, with massive canines and two large fangs poking out their lower jaws, their eyes squinty and red… and much more bulky than before.

Oh, and it was holding what was unmistakably a really poorly crafted gun in one hand, and a massive, jagged, sort of rusty knife in its other.

Oh joy.

"Um… hi! Are you a human?" Billy asked nervously.

The… human? Green thing? Seemed to only now notice him, eyes squinting as it lumbered towards him. "Oi. Iz never seen sumthin like's ya…" The thing pushed against him roughly, sending the drone tumbling to the ground with eyes wide in fear at the sudden aggression. "Da hell you'z s'posed to be?"

"Oh, I'm Billy! I'm a worker drone!" The drone said, glancing around. He was some distance away from his colony… but if he started running now?

"Worka drone?" The thing muttered, scratching its head. Then it lifted a foot and slammed it into his chest, the metallic chest groaning at the pressure. "Ain't neva 'eard of nuthin loike dat."

"Haha… well…" Billy gulped, reaching up and pushing the creature off, the green thing looking surprised at the strength of the drone as the latter got to their feet. "It was nice meeting you!" It really wasn't. "But I should probably go. The others are going to be waiting for me!"

Billy turned around, fast walking away from the… thing. Now that he thought about it, shouldn't it be keeling over from the cold and toxic air? He glanced back at the thing, eyes hollowing in fear.

It was aiming its gun straight at him.

The loud bang echoed as Billy threw himself to the ground with a cry of fear, the bullet flying above where he'd been standing.

"OI! Stand still, I'z can't shoot ya propa!" The thing bellowed, letting out a cough. "Ugh, da air is weird 'ere… need me a propa gas'mask."

"WHY ARE YOU SHOOTING ME?!" Billy cried out, scrambling to his feet and running away, fear protocols overriding any other programming within himself.

He could hear the sound of heavy footsteps in the snow as the thing began to chase after him. "GETS BACK ERE YA PANSY! FOIGHT ME!" It roared. "YOU'Z STRONA DAN YOU LOOK FOR A TWIG! CMON AND GIMME A GOOD SCRAP!"

"NO THANK YOU!" Billy screeched as more bullets flew in the air around him. He thanked robo-god for the thing's poor aim. His eyes glanced towards a large pile-up of cars, sliding under one as he began zig-zagging among the wrecks as the creature snarled, struggling to follow with its larger frame.

"OI! STOP RUNNIN'!"

"NO!"

As he continued running towards the colony, his eyes found themselves glancing up, the sound of engines and the whizzing of large objects surging through the air catching the drone's attention.

What he saw was almost enough to bring him to a sudden stop in sheer horror.

The sky was alight with thousands upon thousands of similar objects to the one that had unleashed the creature descending upon Copper 9 like falling stars illuminating the night.

A bullet slammed into his leg, the oversized projectile ripping through the member with ease as Billy let out a strangled shout, falling to the grounds as the leg gave out. Red warnings appeared on his visor as in the distance the sound of impacts echoed through the ruins of the city as the first of the other objects began making landfall upon the planet.

But the only sound that Billy could truly register was that of the heavy footsteps rapidly approaching. He whimpered, trying desperately to crawl away, getting up on one leg and hobbling away only to collapse as another bullet slammed into his chassis, sending him crashing into the snow once more as oil poured around him.

"I…" Billy sobbed. "I don't want to die…"

The thing had reached him, crouching before him as it held his head in its massive hand, grinning at him with sadistic glee.

"Dats too bad. Cuz I can't wait to see wacha look like insoide."

The sounds of the worker drone's screams were soon overridden by the howls and hoots of orks as they poured from their improvised landing crafts, spilling into the city like an uncontrollable horde in search of loot and scrap, the news that there were in fact things to fight spreading like a fire in dry grass.

The green tide was here.

Zorial had long known Praxis Quartus was hardly the pinnacle of Imperial might. Isolated from the wider Imperium, orbiting an anomalous star, with as usual a nobility more focused on maintaining their power and their petty infighting instead of improvement to the hive world.

But he hadn't expected it to be this… dire.

The PDF was poorly trained. Most of the military equipment had been discarded and the manufactorums where they were made converted either to producing luxury goods or equipping the excessively developed Arbites. The anti-air defenses were… there. Anti-orbital cannons existed, but were poorly maintained and their generators were sub-standard. They would shoot down some of the orks landings ships, but they would never get enough to prevent a proper invasion force from reaching the ground. And once there…

He let out a deep sigh. This was a bleak situation. And with a lack of unified leadership, he was tasked with trying to wrangle what amounted to a den of vipers and intrigue into a coordinated planetary scale defense.

And of all opponents… it had to be the orks.

The one foe that required a coordinated defense above all else. The one that could equally overwhelm you as they could prove surprisingly cunning, the one that could repurpose any equipment left in their clutches, that would hardly care about losses during an attritional conflict.

He wanted to strangle whomever was in charge of the planet's defenses previously. Unfortunately, it was likely that Cyn had already gotten to him.

Speaking of which…

The command bunker was full of a number of individuals. Tech-priests, PDF officers, those few competent members of the nobility… And yet none seemed to notice the thing in their midst.

"Impressive." He said softly.

"Giggle. My holograms are. Quite effective." The thing masquerading as a technician said next to him, giving him a smile that was just on the edge of being too wide to be normal. "You are. Troubled."

"We cannot win this." Zorial's admittance came easy enough. He hadn't been one to delude himself in a long while. "My main hope would be to evacuate as many of the citizenry as possible… but with the orks already approaching orbit, it is too late to do such a thing. Not that any of the nobility would allow that. They want as many meat shields between themselves and the orks." He said with a snarl. "I have faced worse odds. But I also had access to far better troops. Space marines. Imperial guardsmen. And more… sinister things in my worst days. Not half starving, desperate civilians who may well rebel against us at the first sign of weakness after having been abused for so long."

"How. Typically human." Cyn mocked. "And yet here you are."

"Here I am." Zorial nodded.

"Why? If the fight is. Hopeless." Cyn asked curiously, glancing at the various displays that showed the massive space hulk approaching. One of them fizzled out as a crude cannon shot down the satellite that had been recording it. "You would do good. To. Run away."

Zorial chuckled deeply. "I… have spent a lot of time wandering after the Great Crusade. Both in the immaterium and real space." There was a distant look as he spoke, Cyn staring at him intently. "Praxis Quartus is the first place I have been able to call home. There are people here who I care for. And in the end… it is what I was made for." He crossed his arms. "I was made for war. But for once, I can choose the conflict I am a part of. And it is a pleasant change to be the defender rather than the invader, against a foe that is objectively the worst evil. If this is to be my last stand… then so be it. It will be a good one."

Cyn continued staring at him before glancing down. "Annoyed expression. You are not. Allowed to die. I wish to discuss. More. With you. And you need to meet. My Big Brother. So we can fix. Things."

"Is that so?" Zorial said, amused. "I am afraid I will have little say in the matter when the orks arrive. I will not abandon the people of this world. For all that you hate humanity, I still hold too much love for them to ever leave them to so cruel a fate."

"Frustrated. Sigh. I am limited in my. Abilities. Due to the Four. Gods. Interference." Zorial's blood froze in his veins at the admittance. What was she… "And Big Brother N will be. Upset. If I do not help. With the orks. On Copper 9."

"Ah." Well that explained… a lot. Though gave way to even more questions.

"However. There is something. I can do. To even. The odds."

Zorial gave her a curious look. "And that is?"

Cyn looked up at him, eyes glowing an ominous yellow.

"Request assistance. From those I have. Helped. Prevent being. Discarded. Ominous. Giggle."

"...Do you have to pronounce the Ominous part?"

"Yes."

Nori's life was one of ups and downs.

Well. Mostly downs, if she was honest with herself. Like how becoming a host for the Solver had been a pretty major down. Or not having seen the sky in about a decade had been a down. Or…

Well. You get the point.

There had been some ups though. Khan had been one, for a while. And Uzi…

Her daughter. Uzi.

Who, might she add she had no idea whether she was still alive or not. Because she had been stuck down here, far below the surface of Copper 9 for years, trying to find a solution to the solver. Unsuccessfully. For all she knew, Cyn's pets had already gotten to her and…

No. No, she couldn't consider the possibility. She was a shit mom, she would be the first to admit.
But she would go literally insane if she started accepting the possibility she left her baby behind to die. This has to work. It just had to.

Otherwise…

What the hell had she been doing for so long?

Robo god. She was such a fuck up.

Right now though, she was running into a different issue to her usual ones of being a core without a drone body trying to find a possibly non existent solution to an eldritch program god thing hundreds of meters under the earth in an abandoned cathedral where she had once almost been possessed by said program.

There was a weird… skeleton, robot thing. Or rather, there were two of them, arguing in the middle of the cathedral. They glowed with a strange eerie glow energy, and her sensors were sending her dangerous readings from them. Whatever they were… they were not drones. Not human made ones. Everything about them screamed alien. Even the language they spoke, which she somehow understood despite it not existing in her memory banks, and wow wasn't that freaking her out right now.

She was eavesdropping on them. Maybe not the safest bet when dealing with aliens for the first time, but bite her she was bored.

"You overstep your bounds. My wife and I were quite clear that this sector was off limits to any other of our kind when the anomaly manifested."

"I must apologise, dear friend. I merely noted that you had yet to do much of anything regarding the otherworldly bounty that has fallen into the palm of your hand, and my collection simply must acquire some of these new wonderful additions. Really, how often do you think I get the chance to collect something from another dimension entirely? Because I assure you, it is quite the rare occurrence to put it lightly. To the point I have considered assembling the legions and moving in despite your warnings."

"Watch yourself Trazyn. My daughter has expressed great interest in this new world and the creatures that inhabit it. And I am willing to bring the full forces available to me to ensure her fun is not spoiled."

"My, how touchy. Surely you would not resent me for simply collecting a few choice items from the planet?"

"Trazyn. My wife will unleash the shard if you interfere."

"...You are serious. Is your wife truly this invested in this matter? She is usually far more… how to put it delicately." The first metallic skeleton actually sounded… a touch fearful at that.

"When it comes to our daughter? She would sunder the very stars if it would make her happy."

"You still have not shared with any of the others how you were able to ensure your daughter came through the process of biotransference."

"Only the Silent King may demand such answers of me."

"Friend. I appeal to your sense of historical responsibility. There is so much at risk of being lost here through carelessness or violence. That which cannot be replaced, that which might well be unique. I plead to you to understand. You know I would not insist so if I did not feel so strongly about this, if I did not judge it of such crucial import."

"There is more at play here Trazyn. I… I admit, I sympathise with your plight. Your collection is a marvel, and one I would not wish any harm to befall. But there is… something else here. A shade that must be treated with cautiously." A pause in the speech. "The weapons to deal with such beings are long gone thanks to our illustrious leader after all."

"You believe… oh my. Well. That changes things quite a bit."

"Indeed."

"May I at least request that you pass along any thing you judge acceptable for me to preserve as part of my collection?"

"My dear friend, I assure you. If I see anything here that I believe you would best placed in your collection, I will personally deliver it to you."

"I suppose that will have to do. Tread carefully here Isotatekh."

"I did not get this far to get destroyed through carelessness, illustrious collector. Return to your archives. I have things handled here."

"Very well." The skeleton paused. "Do you wish for me to deal with our little eavesdropper?"

Nori felt her core stutter in pause, her single purple eye hollowing out.

"No. I wish to converse with them. How often does one get to discuss with a new sentient species?"

"Very well. I depart now." And with that the skeleton vanished in a flash of green light, Nori dropping from the ceiling she had been hanging from.

"You knew I was here?" She asked, her synthetic voice holding a deep caution in it.

The mechanical skeleton turned to her, giving her a better chance to examine it. Its body was made of some golden metal, or was painted in such colours. Some strange green energy seemed to animate it from inside, with numerous more metallic elements seeming to create clothes… or was it armor? Around it. It gave it a regal appearance, doubly so from the large scepter ending in a massive green crackling blade it held in its left hand. It stood at about three meters tall, utterly dwarfing the much smaller drone core that glared back at it.

"Your attempts to hide were… amusing. But had no chance to succeed in the face of my abilities."

"The hell are you even supposed to be?" Nori bit out, her urge to be aggressive in the face of the unknown resurging. Better aggressive than afraid.

Thankfully, it only seemed to amuse the strange entity. "I am Isotatekh. Phaeron of the Anasaik dynasty. And your world has materialized in my domain."

"...I'm sorry. The planet did what?"

"You are not aware?" The… phaeron? Asked.

"No! What the hell do you mean the planet… what, it moved or something?!" There was no way. This thing, whatever it was, must be lying.

"Well." The skeleton said, sitting down before her. "This promises to be an interesting conversation."

"So… you're a necrontyr. An alien."

"And you are a worker drone. A product of humanity from another reality that has gained sentience."

"And our planet just… appeared out of nowhere. And this isn't our galaxy. Not even our dimension."

"That would be correct, yes. A fascinating event, I will admit."

"...And you just had to teleport me into space to prove that to me because I wouldn't believe you."

"Also correct."

"...I think I need a minute."

"I have been alive for millions of years. I believe I can spare a few."

Nori glanced at the ceiling. "CYN! SOMEHOW I KNOW THIS IS YOUR FAULT!" She screamed. "I BLAME YOU! YOU ABOMINATION!"

"What is this 'Cyn?'"

"Oh buddy. You might want to sit down, you won't believe the kind of shit Cyn is."

"I think I may surprise you in regards to that…"