บท 1: Waking up
Radiation ... cancer ... hope ... and soul-consuming pain.
I still remember the moment I woke up in this Grim Dark reality. This galaxy, where nothing good ever happens and no one is there to help you, for everyone is looking for their own malevolent plans and gains. When I opened my eyes, I was just about to go through with the biotransference. I didn't realise it soon enough, because I was so confused about not being dead and getting the memory of roughly 20 years of pain and cancer shoved into my brain.
When I was pushed into that damned furnace, I felt the worst pain I had ever experienced and that comes from someone that died once before. I was stripped of flesh and of soul, my body replaced by a shell of living metal called Necrodermis much like the C'tan themselves.
Above each furnace swooped and dove the ethereal true forms of the C'tan as they glutted themselves on an entire species' spiritual and electromagnetic remains. It was only when the Silent King, our leader himself emerged from the biotransference process and looked upon what had become of his people that he saw the awful truth of the pact he had made. Though immortality and nigh-godlike strength and vigour were ours, it had come at the cost of all our souls, the aetheric remains of which had already been sucked down the gullet of a circling C'tan.
My soul, my emotions, my free will ... it was all stripped from me. Taken away, by the C'tan and their hunger for souls. I was ... no longer a being of emotions per se, as my soul was now gone, but I was filled with thoughts of revenge. The biotransference process had embedded engrammatic command protocols in every Necron mind, granting Szarekh the unswerving loyalty of his subjects. I was turned into a slave, under Szarekh's control. At first, the Silent King embraced this unanimity, for it was a welcome reprieve from the chaos and fractiousness that had consumed the Necrontyr Empire in recent years. The entire species was now his to command, and so it fell upon the Necrons to honour their side of their terrible bargain. However, as time wore on Szarekh grew weary of his burden but dared not sever the command protocols, lest his subjects turn on him seeking vengeance for the terrible curse he had visited upon them.
Biotransference had left behind only the ghostly echoes of our consciousnesses. Only a few of the most strong-willed Necrontyr among the nobility and the military retained their intellect and self-awareness and even they were but shadows of their former selves. They had been purged of so much of what had made them unique individuals. I was among those. I was a noble, thankfully. My memories of my past life and the strength I possessed before going through the biotransference helped me there, but only to a very minor degree.
What truly helped me, was something very unexpected. In the darkness that was my immortal and soulless life, a spark appeared. A Meta Essence in the form of the 'Essence of the Machine', to be precise. It was my saving grace and also the thing that would help me in my quest for revenge and redemption.
.
Unlike the Silent King and me, most of the Necrons at first cared not at all for their loss; all that mattered to them was that they would live forever without disease or death as their Star Gods had promised.
Renewed and empowered as never before by their devouring of the souls of an entire species, the C'tan were now unstoppable, and with the undying legions of the Necrons marching in their wake, the Old Ones were doomed. Only one thing truly remained of the old Necrontyr -- their burning hatred for all the other living, intelligent species of the universe ... and mine ... for the C'tan.
Legions of the undying living metal warriors set out into the galaxy in their Tomb Ships and the stars burned in their wake. The Old Ones' mastery of the Warp was now countered by the C'tan's supremacy over the physical universe and the ancient enemies of the Necrons suffered greatly in the interstellar slaughter that followed.
.
.
*BOOOM*
I observe the battle from my platform. The battle of our Prakasri Dynasty against the Aeldari forces is in full swing. The Old Ones improved this race to stand in our way and so far, they are doing an admirable job. The Aeldari are fast, agile, gifted with genius intelligence and massive presences in the Warp. Their technology is impressive, even if it can't reach the level of ours by far. Our C'tan Nyadra'zatha, "the Burning One" tasked me with dealing with the Aeldari in this sector. I have risen in rank since starting out as a Necron Lord. I have become Necron Overlord Hasyn the relentless. The reason for this is my immense skill in ... everything.
The Essence of the Machine was truly powerful and for one such as me ... it was immensely useful and held limitless potential.
Essence of the Machine
By taking this Essence, the line between man and machine is wiped away. After all, organics ARE machines. Just messier.
* You become aware of every function in your body and state of health while gaining independence from them. IE, you no longer need your brain to think.
* You can detect, broadcast and receive any sort of signal, along any frequency.
* You can control any mechanical or electronic device.
* You can partition your mind to focus on multiple threads of thought, with no limit on the number. In addition, your thoughts can accelerate ad infinitum.
* You can duplicate or transfer your mind to any device.
* Your body produces a constant supply of nanomachines, which can augment your body in any way and repair/reinforce/upgrade any object.
* At will, you can transform any part of your body into machinery and back again.
* Any technology you imagine can be created by you and your nanomachines, even if it should not logically make sense or be possible.
__
I upgraded my intelligence and everything connected to my processing speed and power. I used this intelligence wisely and improved myself over and over again, but only slightly to not give anyone any ideas. My skill in battle was staggering, pretty much from the very beginning. I distinguished myself with wise and abstract decision-making and strategies that brought us many many victories for our dynasty.
I could have made myself powerful enough to defeat the C'tan and get it over with, but the C'tan were masters of the material realm and could manipulate reality on a grand scale. I used this War in Heaven as a way to grow in power and prestige. I was but a Necron Lord and knew that there were many steps I had to take to reach the top. I was favoured and promoted by pleasing him and getting results. The Necrons loved their power and an Overlord or a Phaeron would never promote me, because it would make me another contender to their power.
But the C'tan held the highest authority at the moment and I was taking advantage of this. I used the Essence of the Machine to improve my Necrodermis body and capabilities slowly. Improving the technology more and more to get the best results from the fights we would have.
.
I have finished processing the fight at seemingly lightspeed and start to control our forces. Thanks to my Essence, I can control any mechanical or electronic device. This includes the Necrons themselves.
The battlefield is a chaotic cacophony of green, blue and red energy blasts. The gauss weapons of my Warriors and Immortals were doing damage, killing Aeldari and causing great damage to the Falcons, Windriders and Wraithlords. Billions upon billions of calculations were flashing through my mind as I calculated the most efficient way to catch those fast and nifty Aeldari while they moved.
I jump down from my platform and start moving forward. I mentally command the Destroyer Lords who have been enhanced by myself to employ a certain tactic.
'Employ battle tactic delta 924-#15.'
The response is immediate and the Destroyer's Gauss Weapons flashed in seemingly random directions. But the appearance can be deceptive. The pattern is perfectly calculated by me to both confuse Aeldari Farseer and make it hard for him to delegate his forces.
The Gauss weapons impact the Wraithguards and reduce parts of them to nothingness, destroying them and making them useless. The Wraithlord changes direction as the Farseer notices my presence and uses large steps to move towards me. Swinging his massive Brightlances, the machine tries to hit me ... or so it may seem. I know that this is not their actual goal. It is but a distraction.
From behind the massive form of the Wraithlord several Windriders shoot towards my direction. I don't stop moving and just continue on my way, unperturbed and confident in what will happen.
*VROOOM*
Two massive green blasts coming from twin gauss flayers, from a Canoptek Doomstalker fire and destroy the Wraithlord, while the second shot hits the approaching Windriders, scattering their atoms in the wind.
More and more Aeldari try to kill me, but my Nemesor Nakhmos and the Lychguard are cutting down anything that comes my way. I have improved my closest and the most loyal of my entourage. They will follow me anywhere, I have already made sure to test that. Assassination attempts and secret plots and plans have been ruined by them. I made them stronger, their processing speed faster and improved their weapons.
My Lychguard both are equipped with the Warscythe, an energy-bladed battle stave commonly found in the armouries of Necron royals. The Warscythe has served as a traditional weapon of the Necron nobility and their elite bodyguards for many thousands of Terran years. A Warscythe is made from the same living metal as that which makes up all Necron bodies and vehicles, Necrodermis, and is fitted with a Phase Blade, whose edge is out of phase with the normal space-time continuum and thus can slip effortlessly through even the heaviest forms of armour. Because of the partially incorporeal nature of these blades, a Warscythe is capable of passing through defensive energy shields, such as those emitted by an Iron Halo, that would normally deflect almost any other form of attack. The entropic power field that also flickers about a Warscythe blade can disrupt almost any material known to man, leaving the victim's underlying structure -- be it organic or inorganic -- vulnerable to the weapon's cleaving impact.
I have removed the incredibly heavy and cumbersome nature of the Warscythe and done something else as well. I have combined the technology used in a Hyperphase Sword with their Warscythes and even created a mechanism, that allows the Warscythe to elongate or shrink, according to their will. This was done, without any nanomachines, but pure technological prowess.
Finally, my Lychguards have access to a Dispersion Shield. The force barrier projected by a Dispersion Shield can be used to fend off close combat attacks or repel incoming enemy fire, similar to the Imperium's Storm Shield. However, unlike the brutish Storm Shield, the much more refined Necrontyr Dispersion Shield allows the Lychguard to actually deflect incoming fire upon an enemy nearby, turning his opponents' firepower against them. But the Dispersion Shield, which I created and upgraded, which only my Lychguards have can do something else.
.
We arrive at the last couple of rows of Aeldari which stand in my way. The warriors throw themselves at us but after a quick use of the Resurrection Orb, the battle is lost and the pathetic Aeldari stand no chance against us. The Gauss beams multiply a hundredfold at once, reducing biology and machines to atoms.
I swing my Staff of Light which I fused with my Warscythe and Voidblade. I used my nanomachines to accomplish that, which is something no one knows. Combining these three weapons makes no sense, but that is what it means to have the Essence of the Machine. I can create any weapon, no matter what. But that was not all. To spite my enemies, the Aeldar who had powerful souls, I created a special feature for my Staff of Power, as I called it. It collects the souls of any living being I killed with it.
This serves multiple purposes. I can use the souls for fuel and a power-up. I can increase the power of my weapons drastically. And I will also be able to experiment with them and either create loyal clones, or new bodies for me and those loyal to me to inhabit, in the far future.
"Die, machine!" an Aeldari warrior screams and tries to cut me with his Power sword. He is inches away from me when my Staff of Power impales him in mid-air. He has a surprised expression on his face.
"So uncivilised."
The Aeldari soul is absorbed, like hundreds of thousands before it. I finally stand before the Farseer, the most powerful of the Aeldari psykers. His expression might seem unreadable, but I can interpret it perfectly. He is tense and saddened by what happened today on this battlefield. That is their weakness, their emotions.
"Let us put an end to this, Necron. So that the fighting can finally stop."
"You must take me for someone who cares for your words, Aeldari. Your desires are irrelevant. This galaxy will kneel before us, just like you today."
[Powerful Warp energy is detected]
Lighting starts to spread from the hands of the Farseer. He is truly a powerful psyker, unlike anything I have seen yet. He gathered more and more energy from the Immaterium to power up his attack, while I waited for him to do so. The Aeldari are arrogant to think that their use of the Warp will do anything for them.
Then the attack is ready. Lighting like straight out of a massive Warp Storm shoots from the Farseer's hands towards me and my entourage. But I am not worried. I just stand there, while my Lychguards position themselves in front of me. Their shields are ready and prepared. The immensely powerful psychic lightning hits their Dispersion Shields and ... is absorbed by them. The shields glow bright green and as soon as the attack is over, the Lychguards point their shields to the struggling Aeldari forces and reflect the absorbed attack.
"NOO!"
Seeing his attack being used against his own brethren, the Farseer shoots forward with his Singing Spear and attacks them. But I am already there, having predicted this attack and meet his charge head-on.
Our weapons clash. His speed and strength as well as his already incredible dexterity are all massively augmented by his psyker powers. But that does nothing for him in the end. The damage to my Necrodermis is repaired instantly and only makes it stronger through the adaptability of the material. Mine is even more special in that regard.
The clash finally comes to an end, as I disarm the Farseer ... literally. My Staff of Power impaled him, just like the Aeldari before and absorbed his immensely powerful soul.
The battle is won.
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