Chapter 2: Awakening
STARTING AWAKENING PROTOCOL
94%
ALL OVERLORD SYSTEMS IN ACCEPTABLE CONDITION
95%
STARTING THE OVERLORD AWAKENING
96%
TRYING TO AWAKEN THE TOMB
97%
ERROR
98%
TOMB IN CRITICAL CONDITION
99%
PRIORITIZING AWAKENING OF ESSENTIAL UNITS
100%
OVERLORD AWAKEN…
CONCLUDED…
WELCOME BACK OVERLORD… ERROR…
POV Unknown
Where am I? Why is everything so dark? Why can't I move? Am I stuck somewhere? It looks like a coffin? Was I buried alive? I started banging my fists on the coffin door creating a metallic sound. I was buried in a metal coffin, another thing, was I buried standing up?
The more I hit the coffin, the more desperate I became. I tried to scream, but no voice came out of my mouth, I didn't feel my throat, I didn't feel my tongue, my teeth, my lips, I have no mouth but I need to scream .
I started hyperventilating, but I didn't feel my nose, I didn't feel air going into my nose, I didn't feel my lungs filling up, I didn't feel my chest rising and falling. I couldn't take it anymore, with a non-existent breath of air I screamed.
"AAAHHH!"
With a final blow I managed to tear off the coffin door, I immediately fell forward to the floor, landed on my hands and knees with a wet noise, tried to breathe heavily, but again I didn't feel the air and my body. What was wrong with me?
Getting up and now that I was in a lighted place I could see where I was. Was I in some kind of tomb? Behind me, there was a large silver sarcophagus with strange lines and symbols that glowed green, the sarcophagus was connected to the wall and ceiling by a series of cables, green smoke came out of the sarcophagus whose interior had the outline for something humanoid to fit inside, something too tall for a normal person.
The tomb's ceiling was so high that I could barely see it, the walls were also high and adorned with green symbols that I didn't understand, they all seemed to be made of the same silvery material.
Was I trapped inside? Why?
Ahead of me was a grand staircase leading downwards, but there was something odd about it. The staircase was wet and covered with things that remained at the bottom of the sea, seaweed, shells, creatures that were close to a starfish, but there was something different about them, I could see a fish struggling on one of the steps.
Going down the steps, a mixture of a wet and metallic sound echoed through the empty tomb at every step I took, my body felt strangely heavy, as I went down the stairs I noticed light beside me, looking to the right I saw there was a large hole in the wall of the tomb, and through that hole I saw a breathtaking image.
A vast ocean as far as my eyes could reach, a night sky covered with stars and nebulae and two moons white and shining next to each other decorated the sky, a breathtaking sight, but it still made me wonder. Where the hell am I?
The hole in the side of the tomb was big enough to let water in, so I picked up the strange fish that was squirming on the ladder and threw it back into the sea.
"Go back to your home little friend." Said while throwing the fish.
SPLASH!
I continued down the steps until I reached the end that faced a long silver walkway, the water covered the walkway forming a small layer, enough to just cover my feet. When I looked down preparing to step on the walkway, my eyes widened, I was blown away by what I saw.
What stared back at me in the reflection in the water was a large metal skeleton, a smooth metal skull with two glowing green eyes, no nose and a permanently slightly open mouth that glowed with a green light, attached to the skull was a type of golden crown with three points extending upwards.
The skull was attached to a metallic rib cage with green lights coming out where the ribs should be, in the middle of the rib cage was a glowing green symbol, on the upper edge of the rib cage was a kind of golden metal arch that connected to shoulder pads just above the skeleton's shoulders.
The skeleton wore a green cape made of small green octagons and black metallic bands extended from above its shoulder pads towards the ground on the front of its body, one on the left side and one on the right side.
The skeleton also possessed silvery arms and legs with black armor covering the wrists to the elbows and covering the thighs and shins, but giving room for mobility in the knees.
In the left hand of the skeleton was a kind of technological gauntlet. Or was it the skeleton's own hand? It didn't matter, because I fell back screaming at the sight.
"AAAHHH!"
I fell sitting on the stairs, when my scare passed I realized something, the skeleton reflected in the water imitated my movements, that skeleton was me, I brought my finger closer to the water and the skeleton did the same, when our fingers met, ripples were formed in the water, but I didn't feel the water on my finger.
That skeleton was really me. I started scratching at my face, but I couldn't feel my hands, I couldn't feel my face, the scratches my metallic fingers made were soon repaired, the metal on my face mending itself immediately.
SPLASH!
SPLASH!
SPLASH!
I heard footsteps, the steps stopped in front of me.
"My lord, please get up, someone magnanimous like you shouldn't be sitting on the floor!" An unknown voice said.
Looking up I came face to face with another metallic skeleton, this one with a single glowing eye in its face and an elongated chin, behind him was a group of metallic scarabs, strangely the skeleton in front of me looked a little rusty.
"What?" I was confused as I got up.
Upon seeing this, the metallic skeleton in front of me immediately knelt down and lowered its head.
"Are you well my lord? Shall I run a full diagnostic on you?" The skeleton asked with a serious voice.
I backed off a bit from this display. Better to play along with this skeleton.
"No, that won't be necessary."
"As you wish my lord." The skeleton replied while still remaining on its knees, it seemed to be waiting for something. Did he expect me to give any orders?
"You can get up now."
Immediately the skeleton got up, but didn't say anything yet.
"What's your name?" I asked the skeleton.
"This humble Cryptek is called Haratek, my lord." Haratek said as he bowed.
Wait a minute! Cryptek! Giant tomb! Skeleton robots! Egyptian clothing and names! My god, I'm a Necron. Somehow, I was sent to one of the worst possible universes, to the dark future of the fortieth millennium.
But I'm a Necron, a member of the most technologically advanced faction, which just hasn't conquered the galaxy yet because all the tomb worlds haven't woken up yet and because the different dynasties are fighting each other. Maybe it's not that bad. Let's try to get more information.
"But of course! How could I forget? Haratek! My most loyal servant!" I said as I spread my arms, my cloak flowing with my movements.
Haratek shuddered with happiness "This humble servant is glad that you remember, I have been serving you faithfully since our campaign against the Old Ones after the biotransference and the betrayal of the C'tan. Now that my lord has awakened from his sleep of sixty-five million years, our dynasty will return to its former glory!"
Haratek said this as he quickly stood up and spread his arms, his screams of glory echoed through the tomb, only for a piece of the tomb ceiling to collapse right next to the walkway, raising a wave of water that covered me and Haratek, the scarabs floated along with the wave, but returned to the same place.
"The tomb is falling apart, isn't it?"
Haratek started tapping his fingers together nervously as he looked away, "I wouldn't say falling apart, my lord, but sixty-five million years on a planet covered by oceans might have done some damage to the tomb's structure, its systems and our troops."
I resisted the urge to slap myself in the face, I'm a Necron, member of the most powerful faction, and I'm in a crumbling tomb, just great "Haratek?"
"Yes, my lord?"
"Who am I?" Good question, I know I'm a Necron Overlord, but which one exactly?
"Why, my lord, what an unusual question. You are Akatosahk Ulthagakh, the Denied, Wretched Herald of Impenetrable Eclipse, the Spiteful Guardian Prognosticator of the Cursed Distortion, the Collector of the Cryptic Labyrinth!" Haratek said with excitement in his voice.
Are these all my titles? I need to ask the story behind each of them.
"Glad you remember who I am, Haratek, you passed my test." Carry on with theater, be who Haratek thinks you are.
"This humble servant is happy to satisfy you my lord, if you wish I can help you familiarize yourself with the tomb, after all it has been millions of years since you were last awake."
"Very well Haratek, show me to the tomb."
"As you wish."
I started walking down the walkway with Haratek at my side a little behind me, we walked through the corridors where various scarabs were fixing parts of the tomb, they were walking along the walls, ceilings, connecting cables, fixing circuits, they performed the smallest tasks like cleaning the floor, even the more complicated ones like repairing various systems in the tomb.
"As you can see, my lord, repairs to the tomb have already begun."
"I can see that Haratek. Tell me, have other Crypteks awakened yet?"
"No my lord, at the moment I'm the only Cryptek awake."
We continued walking through the tomb corridors until we reached a room with a large throne at the top of a staircase.
"Your throne, my lord, I have fixed it to perfect condition."
"Thank you Haratek." Said as I climbed the stairs and sat on the throne, I felt a slight connection with the tomb as I sat on the throne. I need to learn how to use Necron technology right away.
"Haratek, could you refresh my memory? Tell me about our dynasty, our worlds, tombs, that sort of thing." I told Haratek as I tried to concentrate on using the tomb's technology.
"Of course, my lord!" A blue holographic screen appeared above Haratek's hand, then a screen appeared in front of my face on my throne.
"The greatest of the necrons nobles are the phaerons, rulers of an entire dynasty, below them are the necrons such as the overlords, necrons who govern a cluster of tomb worlds in the territory of a dynasty, below the lord are the lords who rule core planets, unique planets of importance to the dynasty." Haratek said as images of what he was saying appeared on the screen in front of my throne.
"I understand. And what dynasty are we part of?"
"From the dynasty of Mahazarek the Immortal."
"And where is Mahazarek now?"
Haratek started tapping his fingers and looking around nervously again.
"Haratek?"
"Yes, my lord?"
"Where is Mahazarek?"
"He is dead, my lord."
"What?!"
"I understand this is terrible news, my lord, but…"
"How does someone called immortal end up dead?!"
"Well, my lord, let's say the planet where Mahazarek was sleeping suffered a serious case of exterminatus before he could awaken."
"What the… Wait a minute! Exterminatus? That is a human word from the empire."
"Oh! So does that mean you already know about humans? This is expected of your magnanimity! Allow me to fill you in on the planet we currently inhabit." Haratek started fiddling with his holographic screen and the images in front of me changed.
"We currently reside on a planet called Hidrus Quintus by humans. A planet composed mostly of oceans, with islands the size of cities, or states, but no continent." At first I was shown an image of the planet seen from space, the image zoomed in to show the oceans and some brown, gray and green dots, they must be the islands.
"The planet is inhabited by us, of course, by the humans who are part of that empire, and by the varied marine fauna and flora." The images changed again, I had a view of several tombs and sunken necron warriors, rusting and falling apart, images of some human cities, and finally images of the bottom of the ocean.
It was wonderful, colorful algae swayed from side to side, corals and luminous plants shone across the bottom of the ocean in different colors, alien fish of various colors and sizes swam in shoals, suddenly a huge alien sea serpent devoured an entire shoal with a bitten, it looked like a creature from that subnautica game.
"As you can see, the marine fauna has hostile elements, but once the tomb repairs are done and our troops are repaired we can begin to eliminate all life on this planet, starting with humans." Haratek said with happiness in his voice.
I tried to swallow hard with that but I couldn't, eliminate all life? I don't want to become a genocidal overlord! I could see that Haratek was waiting for my answer with anticipation. Quick! Think of an excuse!
"No, we will not attack yet." I said firmly, doing my best imitation of my father.
"But my lord…"
I raised my hand forward, ordering Haratek to stop talking and he immediately bowed.
"Haratek, what else do you know about this empire?"
"That it is composed of a primitive species with primitive technology known as humans." Haratek said while bowing.
"Here's the problem, you disappoint me Haratek, if you had bothered to research more about this empire you would have known that they are not to be underestimated. They are known as the Empire of Man, composed of a million worlds, trillions of soldiers with regiments created for the most diverse types of combat, thousands of super-soldiers, armed with tanks, artillery, air force, fleets and much more. Is their technology inferior to ours? Yes! But they have something we don't, a functioning army, reinforcements, and almost infinite numbers, kill one human soldier and a hundred will take his place, if we start a war in the condition we are in we will be defeated by sheer numbers."
"My lord, I believe that…"
"Haratek?" I said as I rested my elbow on the arm of my throne and my head in the palm of my hand.
"Yes, my lord?"
"Where is Mahazarek?"
"Dead my lord."
"Where are the other overlords who look after the dynasty's territory?"
"Dead in the crossfire of some battle or not awake yet."
"Where are the lords who rule specific planets?"
"Same answer as before, my lord." Haratek said nervously.
"Do you understand now why we can't start a war?"
"I understand my lord, please forgive this servant for his incompetence, I will accept whatever punishment you see fit!" Haratek said as he dropped to his knees.
"Stand up Haratek, the important thing is that you learned from your mistakes. From now on you will be responsible for collecting as much information as possible about the planet we are on and the surroundings of the planet. I want to know everything!"
"As you wish my lord. I will get back to you immediately with the information you want!" Haratek then withdrew from the throne room.
I waited for a few minutes to pass, it looked like Haratek wasn't going to come back. Good.
"AAAAAHHHH! SHIT, FUCK, SON OF A BITCH!"
I hurled insult after insult as I slammed into my throne and stomped the floor, the clank of metal echoing through the throne room.
"Of all the places I could be sent, why here? In a galaxy where there is only war! Full of creatures that can kill me in the worst possible way! Demons! Lovecraftian monsters! Why?!"
I am in a hidden tomb world falling apart, hundreds of tombs at the bottom of the ocean containing hundreds of thousands of warriors and unimaginable weapons and most have been eroded by the sea and time, looking on a screen that was in front of my throne I saw a Real-time recording of the top of an underwater tomb collapsing and falling to the ground creating a cloud of sand.
If the empire finds out I'm here, I'll die for sure!
Each tomb world, once reactivated, awakens in a rigid and predictable algorithmic sequence. First, swarms of scarabs and Canoptek spyders are released to tend to the tombs' rudimentary needs, then the Necron Warriors are awakened and begin reconnaissance patrols.
Using the information gathered by reconnaissance missions to the tomb's systems, the Tomb Mind assesses the current circumstances that dominate its environment. According to ancient, predetermined algorithms, stasis tombs bring other Necron machines and weapons online as circumstances warrant.
The Necron Overlord present is encoded with this information and the data needed to form artificial personalities so that, when they awaken, they can embody singular purpose and make independent decisions in the tomb world.
BUT THAT DIDN'T HAPPEN! THE TOMB IS IN SHRAGS AND NO INFORMATION HAS BEEN PUT INTO MY MIND!
In my frustration, I slammed my gauntlet down on the throne, only for a torrent of green flames to erupt from the gauntlet.
"How do I turn this thing off?!" I screamed as I swung my left arm wildly, flames licking up the throne room stairs.
With an accidental flick of my wrist, the flow of flames stopped, I sighed in relief and went back to sitting on my throne and watching the images on the screen. How do I change these images? I stretched my hand in front of the screen and swung it from left to right, immediately the image changed.
I saw a human city on an island, it was a medium-sized city, there were people working in the port, technological-looking ships were moored at the docks, large metal crates came in and out carrying tons of fish and other marine animals. Merchants traded in the streets, men and women accompanied by their sons and daughters walked everywhere. I would smile at this image if I could.
"Hm! So far it's not that bad. If I'm careful, maybe I can get a comfortable life here. Maybe life in the fortieth millennium isn't so bad after all."
I realized there was something wrong, people in the port and in the city were running away from something, with a gesture of my hand I managed to change the point of view of the screen, approaching the island there was a pirate ship made of scrap metal, there was a pirate flag on top of a pole, but the skull on the flag was not human.
BOOM!
The sound of cannons came from the screen, the ship was firing at the harbor. Who are these people?
Suddenly I heard a scream.
"WWWAAARRRGGGHHH!"
Excellent! Comfortable life? As if! Me and my big mouth.
END OF CHAPTER
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VonLeporace
VonLeporace Hello, thanks for reading this far! This is my first fic on this site. I hope you enjoyed! Have some idea about my story? Comment it and let me know.
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