Chapter 39: Plotting the Plotter

Og'driada, the Arisen, and his legions approached the final star sector with open intentions. Og'driada himself sat in a large command-class C'tan tomb ship at the center of the fleet. The entire fleet itself spanned tens of thousands of vessels, formed from the metals and elements harvested across the planets they conquered. Now only a single location remained for the construction of the Blackstone Obelisk array, which would cut off the Materium from the Warp completely.

Og'driada was a non-humanoid-shaped C'tan who looked like a large Parana-shaped fish, with six legs like a spider. His eyes were like beedy-black beads which unsettled any living creature who saw them. He says in a throne room-like area on the command ship, surrounded by 6 different Crypteks responsible for time manipulation. Green fields of energy arced between the Cryteks as they parsed the timestream over and over again, adjusting events to the benefit of Og'driada, in the battle to come.

The entire fleet was waiting, waiting for the final go-ahead from these time-warping specialists, to manipulate the final war to their predetermined end. These Cryptek strategists would often fight an invisible war of predictions in the future with the Honored Ones of the Old Ones, and the game of chess they played was destined to never be known among those outside of the players themselves.

"The preparations are complete." A Cryptek reported to Og'driada from among the six of them.

"Is the advance legion already in a position to intercept the Aeldari Warworld?" Og'driada asked in a monstrous-sounding voice.

"They are in position." The Cryptek confirmed.

"All Overlords, fall in behind. Jump to Star Sector 922." Og'driada commanded.

The Necron ships all followed behind the main command ship and opened a portal into the Webway. They would soon arrive en-mass at the final star Sector and intercept the Aeldari forces that had been sent to disrupt the final Obelisk point.

...

Aeldari Warworld, Abandoned Fury

An Aeldari stood on the main deck of the gigantic vessel which contained all the needs for the Aeldari. Specifically, they were built to sustain life as if it were a moving cradle of heaven, a perfectly modified planet to contain life and allow the Aeldari to grow. These new Aeldari would be destined to be trained in the ways of war for the ongoing fight against the Necrons. They were devastating weapons of war that streamlined the psionic species' education and culture.

The Abandoned Fury was one of these such vessels. It was a Warworld dedicated to the god of war, Khaine. It was blessed by the energies of the concentrated Aeldari Warp god and was thus used as a spearhead for most operations when fighting against the Necrons.

The Aeldari who stood on the main deck was a man, wearing a white threaded cloak with trimmings of hold around the edges. His face was very handsome due to the gene optimization from the Old Ones and looked similar to the elves seen in fantasy novels. He wore earrings made of purple crystal sculptures and a crown of the same purple crystals. He had a serious countenance on his face as he reviewed the information in his mind.

"Will the Webweaver be joining us?" The Aeldari asked the aid who was standing off behind him.

"No, your grace, Aymon. " The Aeldari aid answered.

"Will the Krorks?" Aymon asked, his eyebrows creasing in slight annoyance.

"A legion of Krorks will be sent." The Aeldari aid answered slight displeasure in his tone was apparent.

"May the gods help us," Aymon mumbled while looking at the statue of Khaine that was present on the command deck.

"Enter the webway and set the destination course," Aymon commanded.

"It shall be done." The Aeldari aid bowed.

...

Star Sector 922

The Aeldari Warworld was the first to arrive in the star sector determined to be the final Obelisk location for the Blackstone obelisks. Almost immediately after they exited the Webway, the Necrons under Arlow began their 'ambush' of Aeldari forces. The Aeldari were not unprepared for this though, as they had already predicted this outcome among their psychic sears and the communication with their god Khaine.

The Aeldari responded effectively, shielding themselves from nearly the entire attack, and then counter-attacked in a heavy offensive against the Necrons. However, most of this was still within their plans. They expected a large Necron fleet to intercept them shortly after this ambush, which the Old Ones planned to counter with a second offensive, brought by the Kork reinforcements.

Aymon watched the battle against the Necron 'ambush' and the constant triggering of traps their fleet set off as they advanced. But even with these losses due to the Necron Ambush, it was still within range of obtaining victory. Perhaps the only thing that was not within the predictions, was the large silver fog that seemed to cover a small area in this star sector and part of the Necron command ship in the distance. For a reason unknown to Aymon, seers could not perform predictions on things heavily obscured by the fog.

The conclusion his war council had come to, was another invention of the C'tan to restrict psionic powers similar to the Tesseract Vault.

"Direct the Toven legion to reinforce this position," Aymon commanded clearly while pointing at a hologram of the battlefield.

"Is this doable?" Aymon asked another Aeldari general to his right.

"Yes. However, with the anti-psionic fog over the Necron forces, our plans are difficult to accurately predict as before." The Aeldari general responded.

*Wrr* *Wrr* *Wrr*

Alarms sounded in the room as the situation on the battlefield changed. The Necron fleet headed by Og'driada arrived, bringing with them tens of thousands of ships. Aymon took a glance at the large fleet on the hologram table and narrowed his eyes.

"How long until we receive reinforcements? " Aymon asked, while looking at a woman Aeldari in the corner of the room, wearing seer's garments.

Her eyes rolled back as she performed a cheap divination of simple details before she refocused.

"10-12 minutes." She answered.

Aymon clenched his hand and dug his nails into his palm. Those Krorks were supposed to be only a 5-minute delay!

"What happened?" Aymon asked, gritting his teeth.

The seer shook her head anxiously and her lips began to quiver in fear.

"I-I don't know! It should have only been 5 minutes at most! It-" the seer stammered.

Aymon raised his hand, silencing her, before he took a deep breath and focused hard on the battlefield in front of him. Somehow, they needed to hold on for twice as long as they were able to. It would not be possible and Aymon knew this as did the general next to him, who he could see was rubbing his fingers together nervously. They would surely die here, but they would die fighting.

"For Khaine," Aymon muttered.

Author's Note:

I'm back to do some writing and my writer's block has mostly cleared. I have a direction for the story now. If you have ideas for its direction, comment.