You are Cordially Invited
The Great Overlord of the Atum Dynasty, He Who Smote the Raptor of the Stars, whose Wrath Scorched the Heaven and Earth, Breaker of Wills, Forger of Bonds, Councillor of Clear Voice, The Unbending Will and many many many more.
These were titles that Intekhet had earned over his millions of years of existence, but if there was one that he held to above all others it would be the one granted to him by his King.
The Loyal.
In ancient past when the Necrontyr had arisen in the young galaxy the Atum had been among the mightiest of their people, battling for control of the Triarch itself. But those days had passed, their strength lesser than it had been at their height, exchanged for honour and glory.
Although from a now minor dynasty he was fostered by the Tetrarch, and became friends with a young boy he would know as Sz. But, the universe would know as Szarekh.
When the Deceiver tricked their people he stood by his friend as a beacon of support, when he called for a volunteer to march into the bio furnace and be reborn he was the first to step forward. When they charged into the heavens to wreak vengeance upon the hated Old Ones he was there, his war scythe leading the way in the darkest battles and in the proudest of victories.
He had slain Krork High Marshalls, Eldar Phoenix Mages and Jokareo Battlesmiths, he had toppled entire worlds with his own might and watched as the C'tan devoured the iridescent souls of the Old Ones in their ever hungering maws. He had helped conceal the weapons that would secure their freedom from the treacherous parasites and when the time came it was he who plunged the Spike into the chest of Zul'channec, shattering it into ten thousand shards never to be whole again.
It would have been appropriate for such a loyal subject of the Silent King to obey his order to the letter and sleep until it had been decided he should awaken, but to him, his most loyal Overlord, Szarekh entrusted a special duty.
He was to remain awake, and watch. Observe the Crucible of the Old Ones. Ensure that it was not kept unobserved, that its experiments did not endanger the galaxy. To not interfere. To wait. He was only to act if a chance came to destroy the Crucible, or to gain some key piece of information a chance which had come only a bare handful of times.
So he waited, time passing him and his dynasty by, sleeping in rotation, watching both their charge and the galaxy move on around them. Millions of species born and raised, the Aeldari rise so high and fall into decadence without their makers, their worthy foe in the Krork reduced to a petty rabble, civilisation upon civilisation landing upon the Crucible before eventually leaving, each forgotten save for a record within their archives and the Crucible's ever growing catalogue of creatures.
His time and his court's was spent studying, when they were not observing trying to keep their minds free from the twin specters of boredom and madness. Creating new wonders and new weapons both, idling by the millions of years mastering arts, prodding the path of lesser races towards more enjoyable conclusions, watching with some amusement at the antics of the young genius as he stalked the galaxy searching for trinkets and marvelling at the folly of the younger races, sometimes with disgust and other times with awe.
This he believed to be his fate until the end of days until his Lord and Master once again came to him, first before all other Pharaohs. Their forces were to marshall, for great plans were at stake and forces gathered against them. He had seen the Grand Devourer, the biological hoard racing across the galaxy and at his Master's command he was more than happy to throw himself and his dynasty into the fray.
In his cold circuits he could feel the heat burning within him, the pulse of battle, one as grand as the war in Heaven that they had prosecuted so long ago. A break to the monotony of his eternal vigilance one that he welcomed with relish.
Now he was returned to the galaxy, their foe almost vanquished to find it more changed in a shorter span than he had realised possible. Their old foes returned and rejuvenated, the malignant tumor of the Sea of Souls had expanded and grown in its blight, the Outsider returned to haunt them once again while the children of the Krork had become more than a mere annoyance. At least he did not have to constantly fend off boredom simply looking at the reports. Even his charge was filled with more activity than he had seen in a long time. It was preparing itself that much was obvious, but for which threat? Then again did it need to choose? It had created such a vast arsenal for itself that it could effectively counter any force in the galaxy at this stage.
It was within this pondering that his Nemsor Sehetep and Court Astronomer Hedjereh came upon him, baring a most peculiar message.
Transmitted from a human ship that had appeared and then vanished back into the Sea as quickly as it had emerged it read thusly.
To Overlord Intekhet of the Atum Dynasty, you are cordially invited to a neutral meeting in the Tarvonis system. There it is hoped to discuss the circumstances and options to deal with the assemblage of threats currently facing both our proud peoples.
To assure you of the veracity of this message, I would direct your sight upwards, where you shall see that your great purge has not been as absolute a success as you had hoped.
Yours sincerely
The High Council of the Imperial Trust
Thought for the day
+The enemy of my enemy is still my enemy, but two enemies can still fight the enemy of all as one+
A query was transmitted to his most trusted advisors, Hedjereh confirming that he had turned his instruments to the galaxy above and confirmed the presence of a Devourer swarm, one of the six that had successfully broken through their blockade. A mistake that the responsible Pharaoh would not forget anytime soon.
His Nemsor stepped forward then and informed him that the orks of the Bludbusta domain were starting to unite as well, in all probability the other threat alluded to in the communication. If fully united then such a vast mass would ascend to the third level of their barbaric god's blessing and in their weakened state both together had far too high a chance of defeating their dynasty.
It was plain to him what this communication was, a cry for help.
Should he accept it? Could he accepted.
As a request was submitted to the Praetorian he gestured to Hedjereh asking for his views on the humans, who had taken up residence on the Crucible in his absence and found that his view was remarkably positive for his stoic Nemsor.
Unlike the rest of their kind these were slightly less primitive in their technology, recovering a tiny fraction of their race's previous "glory," while retaining an understanding of their place in the universe, warning them about the incoming awakening of the Orks that they had no chance against, so that they could prepare. And there was the small matter of them utterly humiliating his hated rival, the now practically dead in mind as well as body Ramenhotekh, that certainly did not play any part in his assessment at all. Nor the fact that the tenacious soldier known as "Julius" had destroyed the World Engine of the Shutem dynasty, his ancestral enemy robbing them of great power and influence with that single act. That he would consider such actions impactful on his decisions would be utterly ludicrous.
As the response came in from the Praetorian his circuits glowed. A meeting of this kind was acceptable under the refined and ancient laws of their people if he deemed it so.
It had been so long since he had been able to show off in front of mortals...
Probably a lot more I could do (a Settra long list of titles for example), but I'm happy with how it's turned out for now.
Just a few ideas on us trying to diplomance the local dynasty as well as add some flavour to comparatively one of the quietest members of the neighbourhood.
Thanks
@random_npc for betaing.
@Durin