Chapter 3: War on multiple fronts I
The Aeldari have arrived.
I observe them in their declaration of war. Something they do when they want to intimidate or distract their enemy. That won't work with us Necrons though. I give out mental commands to all units to change formation. My original plan, something I devised long before, has not changed in the slightest. If anything, it is now more important than before. But we can't allow the Aeldari to get close to that position before it is time.
The plan concerning the Krorks was ruined by these excited Aeldari. Those fools have no idea what they may have unleashed on the planet. The Krork spores will need some kind of biomass to grow into developed organisms. Krorks were created to grow anywhere and they are capable of digesting just about anything to grow more Krork biomass, including blood and for some reason, especially blood and gore.
There's also the possibility that the WAAAGH!!! gestalt energy can transmute material into orkomass; the gestalt gains power as more Krorks congregate so it seems likely that this would only happen after the Krorks had already established a foothold. But I know that this is not true entirely. The Krork spores in fact thrive in environments with brutal and deadly fghts. This means, that as this fight undoubtedly continues, the Krork spores will grow at an accelerated rate and reach maturity so much faster. So while it might take a few years normally, it may take less than one month depending on the brutality of the fight and if it escalates and more Krorks are sent our way who release the Waagh energy ... this can be shortened to hours.
"Change formations to gamma 17 - W-formation. And what of the Pylons?" I ask a Cryptek.
"Repairs are being done as we speak, 8 ticks until completion. The Gravitic Trebuchet is as well, but certain things would take too much time to complete to be effective during this war."
"Forget the Gravitic Trebuchet and the others for now. Concentrate on the initial plan and get it done as fast as possible. Use the Sentry Pylons in the meantime until the Necron Pylons are operational. And prepare the Total Converter as well."
"As you command, my Lord."
Any other race, any other being would have questioned this last order. The Total Converter is not something you play around with and is not really useful in ... close quarters. But I have 1'289 plans right now and the Total Converter is part of 85% of them.
I connect to another unit.
'Lord Thaszaek, send out the Warriors and prepare the Immortals for a secondary assault. Use the formation provided.'
'At once.'
The Necron Warriors, normally the 'weakest' of our troops and the mindless ones, start to march. I say mindless, but that is not the case. I have long done augmentations to all our Warriors to make them more effective. When fighting a war against Krorks and Aeldari, you have to adapt and overcome your weakness. The weakness of the Warriors is their speed and dexterity. They might as well move in slow motion compared to Aeldari and are as weak as wooden sticks compared to the Krorks.
Those weaknesses had to be removed. Their bodies were enhanced with speed and strength protocols, that could be activated or switched by the Lord commanding them. Their weapons are Gauss Flayers and while due to their Gauss nature, they are able to destroy even the most heavily armoured vehicles and break down enemies at a molecular level, they are not useful in close combat. Their assault mode is long-ranged and enables the Necron Warriors to use their Gauss Flayers and fire upon the enemy from a long range.
But as soon as the distance has been shortened, the Lord commanding them, will change their protocol according to the enemy they are facing. The Gauss Flayers are then discarded for a Gauntlet of Fire on one hand and a Hyperphase Knife on the other. This is very unconventional as Hyperphase Swords are normally used by the Lychguard, but due to the weight, I created Hyperphase Knifes to go along with their speed protocols.
.
The Necron Warriors start their march forward. They are accompanied by a group of Canotepk Spyders who project a special energy shield, to protect the Necron Warriors from getting destroyed too soon. The Gauss weapons are fired upon the Aeldari who in turn fire back. The war has started and I can tell that they have many different strategies in mind to overwhelm us.
My gaze travels up to the sky where a squad of five Vypers shoots overhead from the east all the way to the west. They fire their twin-linked Shuriken Catapults as well as their Missile Launchers.
*BOOOM*
The high speed makes them a hard target for any other races, but we are the Necron, we are machines and this only needs a calculation to ... interesting. Another attack approaches from the northeast to make us commit to another attack, while they also gather from the south.
I can sense the Aeldari Jetbikes approaching from the north and give my next command.
'Send out the Tomb Blades'
'At once, Lord Hasyn.'
Our forces are entirely outmatched ... good. Finally a fair fight.
The Tomb Blades appear and shoot towards the approaching Aeldari Jetbikes. The Tomb Blades are capable of aerial manoeuvres controlled by hyper-fractal equations that organic pilots could not perform without succumbing to blackouts and nausea.
The Tomb Blade has a curious motion for a craft of its design, eschewing the arrow-straight vectors of other Jetbikes in favour of dimensional repulsor engines that ensure gravity and friction have little effect on its frame. As a result, the craft often corkscrew across the battlefield rather than taking a more direct approach, constantly changing vectors and altitude to interfere with enemy aim. No pilot of flesh and blood could ever hope to withstand this style of flight.
However, their flight patterns are pre-programmed by hyper-fractal equations, as a standard Necron Warrior would make a dreadful pilot. That's why I tasked Lord Oratakht to change the programmed equations depending on the battle and the way it progresses. No tactic may be employed for too long, to keep the image of a chaotic unit.
The Warriors have reached the approaching Aeldari army to the north and the close combat has begun. A unit of Immortals flanks them to ensure cover fire and stop any Grav Tanks from crushing the initiative. The Immortals are more effective than the Warriors and have more experience apart from their unwavering loyalty. They will not stop fighting and are able to coordinate their tactics depending on the way the Warriors fight.
The Aeldari army in the south is doing damage as they use a variety of weapons and technology to move around quickly. They have adapted to the Necron fighting style rather well, but we are not the usual Necron Dynasty. I suddenly sense new and heavy technology approaching from the south. The battle on the north was to gauge our strength, while the south was to distract us and now they are committing to that area, where we are spread rather thin. I sense many Grav Tanks as well as Super-heavy Grav Tanks approaching and already firing their bulk.
But that's not all, to the west there are two smaller groups of powerful Aeldari Warlocks and the Farseer doing damage to our units. They are supported by Wraithlords and even Wraithseers.
"My Lord, Aeldari Flyers are approaching. Estimated arrival 2 ticks."
"What about our own?"
"The unconventional landing has damaged most of our own, the ones which are salvageable are being repaired by the Canoptek Spyders."
"Is the Total Converter ready?" I ask.
"Not yet, my Lord."
"Then let me ask differently. Is there a charge available?"
"There is but one charge ready. However, it would be useless afterwards," the Cryptek informs me.
"Then we shall make this one count."
From the ground, a smaller version of the Sentry Pylon rises. However, instead of a Death Ray or a Heat Cannon, there is a smaller device located.
"Awaken program primary function."
I take control of the Total Converter through my Essence and have it target the sky. More large battleships appear in the sky, carrying Aeldari Flyers which have already started to appear and do damage.
"My Lord, the trajectory may be too high. The Flyers wouldn't be hit this way."
"The target is not the Flyers, but the Old Ones' battlefleet. We will rip out the problem's roots and not cut it down from the top."
"But the Flyers-"
"Inconsequential."
I fire the charge. There is no visible beam, but I know that the battleship located roughly in the middle of the group and at a good distance away from us, has just been met with the devastating effect of the Total Converter. I created this Pylon weapon myself. It consists of a mechanism which can shoot a target and then instantly convert any matter it touches ... to energy.
"E=mc²"
"Indeed, my Lord."
*BOOOOOOOOOOO---*
I turn off my sound receptors. But the explosion makes any other bombs look like throwing around pebbles as the entire battleship's matter turns into energy instantly. The chain reaction of the following explosions of nearby battleships and Flyers in the air causes a wave of impressive heat and energy to reach all the way to the ground and erase the Aeldari army to the north. I already teleported the Necron Warriors and Immortals back to have them march out again.
.
"Harroekh, send out your Skorpekh Destroyers to the south battlefield and deal with the Grav Tanks and Super-Heavy Grav Tanks."
"At oNcE," I hear the confirmation from the Skorpekh Lord.
Harroekh the Nightmare, is the Skorpekh Lord under my command. Skorpekh Lords are Necron nobles who have succumbed to the Destroyer Cult through an obsession with slaughter, leading to their bodies and minds becoming twisted. They have been stripped of any compassion and nobility, exiting only to kill the living. The desire to kill has long since eclipsed the reasons why and they are driven ever onward by their insanity.
But not under my command. I approached Harroekh the Nightmare and got rid of his monomaniacal obsession, giving him purpose under my rule as well as the leader of all the Skorpekh Destroyers. I have augmented his Necrodermis body as well as his many limbs and weapons to fit the Lord of all Skorpekh Destroyers under my rule.
Skorpekh Lords are towering multi-limbed Necrons, armed with a Hyperphase Harvester, Flensing Claw and an Enmitic Annihilator. I added another limb to Harroekh and gave him an adaptation of the Particle Weapon, making him a deadly enemy to almost all enemies we could encounter, no matter the size of their army.
The Aeldari have somewhat started to recover from the mother of all bombs and are attempting to regroup while also getting cover fire from their Wraithlords and Wraithseers. But it is useless. The massive loss of life the Aeldari have to feel through the Warp right now has to be staggering. It is a weakness I like to abuse and use against them, whenever we fight. Their heightened emotions and connection to the Immaterium, make this a simple matter and must hurt. On the other hand, I have to accept the repercussions that come with it.
The battle continues and it becomes apparent that the tides have somewhat turned. The Tomb Blades zoom across the sky in a seemingly random fashion, taking out Jetbike after Jetbike and damaging the Aeldari Flyers. Our anti-gravitational vehicles, the Ghost Arks which serve as the standard troop transport, bring the Necron Warriors and Immortals to the place I need them to. This creates a massive shift of replacement of my troops while keeping the flow of the battle in mind and fighting against the Farseer's ability to see into the future.
Doomsday Arks, our self-propelled doomsday cannons, move in a coordinated fashion and fire their devastating Doomsday Cannons to destroy the newly deployed Super-Heavy Walkers from the Aeldari. Wraithknights and Phantom Battle Titans are doing work on our forces. While gigantic and heavily armed with a mixture of mighty Heavy Wraithcannons, Suncannons, Ghostglaives, Scattershields, and other heavy weapons, the Wraithknight's advanced design still allows it to be nimble enough to run through the ruin of this destroyed landscape. The Wraithcannons are powered by psychic energy and open a small temporary rift between real and immaterial space, tearing apart Necron targets as they are torn between different dimensions. However, unlike the D-Cannon the Wraithcannon is more tightly controlled and accurate, making it a terrible nuisance to deal with.
"Activate the Necron Pylons and call back the Tomb Blades. Take out the Aeldari Flyers!"
The Necron Pylons are finally back online and operational, ready to do damage to the air forces of our enemies.
"What about the Super-Heavy Walkers, my Lord? Should we employ the Tesseract Arks?" the Cryptek asks me.
"How many do we have at the moment?"
"Two, Lord Hasyn. The destruction of the ba-"
"I am aware. Deploy them. But don't use both of them at the same time. Target the western front and use the attention the Tesseract Ark will get to strike the Warlocks and maybe the Farseer. Tell the Deathmarks to do their thing. The second one will be kept as a reserve for now, depending on the tide of the battle in the next hour. We might use it as a sacrificial tool."
"As you command."
The Tesseract Ark is one of the most powerful Necron engines we have operational at the moment. It is built around a contained singularity torn from the heart of a dying star, and in battle, it siphons energy from this source to unleash devastating firepower from its Tesseract Singularity Chamber. The Ark itself is surrounded by a gravitational distortion field, which is both its method of movement as well as a defence mechanism.
On the southern battlefield, Harroekh Skorpekh Lord of the Skropekh Destroyer unit is doing what he does best. Killing anything that lives. The Destroyers are all a bit weird, but thanks to my skill and of course the Essence, I was able to amass a large number of them to create two separate units of them. The Skropekh unit, led by Harroekh the Nightmare and another one that is unleashed to do the most damage in an uncoordinated way.
.
"My Lord, scanners indicate a massive increase in energy usage of the Immaterium. The Aeldari are planning something."
"With front?"
"On the western front. Our Tesseract Ark is taking heavy damage, despite being flanked by a unit of Destroyers. We might lose them at this rate, due to the chain reaction."
"Have the Destroyers pull back, we will trigger the reaction ourselves, to our conditions."
Just as the Cryptek does what I tell him to, another one arrives with more news.
"Lord Hasyn, your predictions have come to pass, the Krork spores have produced the first Krorks. They have appeared amongst our troops to the north, where the last remaining Aeldari have resited. It seems like the Aeldari have achieved their goal of spreading the spores to do more damage to us."
"Very well. We shall-"
"News my Lord. The increased movement in the Immaterium has peaked and threatens to affect the material realm. There seems to be something going on, on one of the western fronts," I am interrupted by yet another Cryptek.
"Show me the data."
I observe the millions of equations from the Cryptek and notice that he is right. The Immaterium seems to be planning something, or a denizen of the Immaterium more like. But what could that be? I calculate trillions of things at the same time when I am suddenly interrupted by a massive spike in psychic energy coming from the Western front.
*BOOOM*
A massive collum of psychic fire explodes outward from the battlefield and in the place of an Aeldari Warlock, stands a giant figure of fire and lava, with so much psyker power that it overspills and crushes matter around it. In the beings' hand is a weapon in the form of a greatsword, shrieking as it tastes the metal of my Necron Warriors, wailing and crying and hurling murderous bolts of psychic force all around.
"FACE ME NECRONS! FOR I KHAINE AM YOUR DOOM!!!"
"..."
"Nakhmos prepare to take over. I'll do this myself."
___________________________
I am trying to make this as good as possible. But it won't be perfect of course. There is also a bit of literary freedom involved, so don't take everything as 100% lore accurate.
The appearance of Khaine is a reaction to the massive death the Total Converter caused. I think it seems logical in my opinion. But what is truly logical in 40k?
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