Echoes of Eternity: A Warhammer 40k Necron Lord Quest

Necron Armoury

For all their dominion over the Galaxy, the Imperium is an empire defined by regret. Regret for a lost future, for a hopeless present, but more than anything for a past of prosperity, the promise of understanding and advancement embodied by the Dark Age of Technology.

Necrons regret just as well, but they remember far more. What for humanity is a half-forgotten myth of hands encompassing the stars is an everyday occurrence in their cold, mechanical lives. Most of the greatest wonders built by the Necrontyr are lost or sealed away, but what remains is more than a match than anything the humanity of the Dark Age was able to create, and a terror for the galaxy of the 40 Millennium.


Close Range

Flensing Claw: Used primarily by Skorpekh Lords who succumbed to the Destroyer Cult, this heavy claw rends through flesh and metal with reckless abandon.
[Physical +++] [Power +++] (Heavy Frame)

Gauntlet of Fire: This armored glove crackles and flows with green flame. Sub-mechadermal filaments control its mechanisms, allowing the wearer to engulf enemies in gouts of scalding bio-flame.
[Flame +++] [Energy +++] [Physical +++] (Noble)

Hyperphase Weapons: Once given as a sign of esteem between a master and his servant, these ornated weapons are now among the deadliest in the Galaxy. Their pitch-black, fractal-edged blades are out of sync with the dimensional layer, allowing them to slip through armor with ease. Only necrodermis, Geller-based and psychic protections can stop them. Difficult to construct, they are found only in the hands of elite Lychguard and Necron Lords.
[Dimensional +++] [Physical +++] (Lychguard)

Rod of Covenant: Symbol of their office and weapon of chastisement both, a Rod of Covenant is usually found in the hands of Triarch Praetorians. This staff can eject blasts of energy that can reduce even a Necron to a pool of molten slag, and the energy fields generated by the blades make it a powerful melee weapon.
[Particle +++] [Power ++] (Lychguard)

Staff of Light: Ornated staves that denote the rank of Necron nobility, a Staff of Light absorbs ambient energy and unleashes it as powerful bursts of lightning. The secondary effect of the process is sharp decreases in temperature, which can even freeze unshielded opponents. At close quarter, the staff's blades crackle with an energy field that disrupts matter with every blow.
[Energy +++] [Power +++] (Noble)

Tachyon Arrow: Deceptifully diminutive, this wrist-mounted weapon turns a sliver of inert material into an unstoppable thunderbolt able to pierce through the heaviest war machines. The devastation it can wreak is paid for its lack of ammunition. Tachyon Arrows are always one-shot, and require long recharge times before they can be used again.
[Energy +++++] [Physical +++++] (Noble)

Voidblade: Used by the Praetorians in the discharge of their duties, these blades flicker in and out of existence. Materials struck by their shimmering edges see their molecular bonds disintegrated with violent results.
[Particle +++] [Physical ++] (Lychguard)

Warscythe: Martial-oriented Necron Lords favor this heavy weapon, using its electromagnetic-powered blades to deadly effects. Compared to the Staff of Light, a Warscythe has no long range attack, but it's more formidable in combat. Held by indefatiguable Nedrodermis muscles, its blows can rend open a bunker or cut a Leman Russ in half.
[Physical +++] [Power +++] [Gauss +++] (Noble)

Ranged Weapons

Ranged Weapons (Basic)

Gauss Blaster: Used by Immortals, this weapon surpasses the Gauss Flayer in all aspects, with a faster rate of fire and quicker subatomic processing at the same range. A devastating weapon if used en masse.
[Gauss ++] [Particle ++] (Immortal)

Gauss Destructor: Mounted on the chassis of a Heavy Destroyer, this weapon decimates enemies from afar with streams of high-density subatomic flaying.
[Gauss +++] [Energy ++] (Heavy Frame or Vehicle Frame)

Gauss Flayer: The mainstay of Necron armies and weapons of choices for Warriors, this heavy-barrelled weapon discharge blasts of viridian energy that flays molecular layers from surfaces.
[Gauss ++] (Immortal)

Gauss Reaper: A variant of the Gauss Flayer, exchanging range for destructive power.
[Gauss ++] [Physical ++] (Warrior)

Particle Caster: This gun-like weapon emits a stream of tiny anti-matter particles that detonates with normal matter on contact. Extremely reliable, they are usually employed by Praetorians and Nobles.
[Particle +++] [Energy +++] (Noble)

Stasis Projector: Delicate weapon that emits a stasis field. Any foe struck by its shimmering ray will find itself stuck into stasis immediately.
[Chronal +++] (Noble)

Synaptic Disintegrator: This specialized sniper rifle is employed by Deathmarks in their hunts. It fires compressed electron beams that destroy synaptic tissue. It can be set to annihilate Necron's artificial neurons, but it truly shines against creatures of the realm of the flesh.
[Energy +++] [Physical +++] Bonus against Organics. (Noble)

Tesla Carbine: The smallest of the Tesla Weapons, these infantry guns send crackling arcs of living lightning among the enemies. Employed by Immortals.
[Gauss ++] [Energy ++] (Immortal)

Ranged Weapons (Heavy)

Annihilator Beam: Mounted on Assault Pylons, this powerful weapon erases enemies with a combination of energy discharge and plasma emission.
[Energy ++++] [Plasma +++] (Emplacement)

Atomiser Beam Lance: Utilized by Canoptek Reanimators, this weapon can disintegrate the targets it strikes with its ray of light.
[Particle +++] [Energy ++] (Light Vehicle Frame)

Death ray: Centered around a focusing crystal, this heavy weapon is usually mounted Doom Scythes fighter aircrafts and its blinding discharge can reave through infantry and tank alike.
[Energy ++++] [Plasma ++++] (Heavy Vehicle Frame)

Gauss Annihilator: This devastating weapon is mounted on Gauss Pylons and is fed by the Pylon's Energy Matrix. Able to fire a focused blast of particle beams or a dispersed gauss flux arc, targets hit by this heavy emplacement's attention quickly end up as dispersed clouds of atoms.
[Particle ++++] [Gauss +++++] (Heavy Emplacement)

Gauss Cannon: Carried by Necron Destroyers, this Gauss weapon is a heavier version of that utilized by Immortals, with a higher rate of fire over longer distances.
[Gauss +++][Particle ++] (Light Vehicle)

Gauss Exterminator: This weapon is mostly employed against aircraft and enemy fortifications, able to reduce them to smoldering wreckage with a shot of its Gauss Focusing Lenses.
[Gauss ++++] [Energy +++] (Heavy Vehicle)

Gauss Flux Arc: With a relatively short range and low penetrating power, the violent discharges of Monolith-mounted weapon make up its deficiencies with a rapid rate of fire and the ability to rampage among multiple targets.
[Energy ++++] [Gauss ++++] (Heavy Vehicle)

Heavy Gauss Cannon: A larger version of the Gauss Cannon primarily used by Necron Heavy Destroyers, this long-barreled weapon has a lower rate of fire compared to its lighter cousin for a higher destructive potential.
[Gauss ++++] [Particle +++] (Heavy Frame)

Gravitic Pulse: Deadly against aircraft, this heavy defensive weapon emits a sphere of force that uses gravity to disrupt and short out systems.
[Graviton ++++] (Heavy Emplacement)

Heat Cannon: A searing blast from this Senty-mounted weapon can burn through infantry and vehicles alike.
[Particle ++++] [Plasma +++] (Light Emplacement)

Particle Beamer: Mounted on Tomb Blades and Canoptek Spyders, this weapon shoots streams of anti-matter particles that detonate on contact with the target.
[Particle +++] [Energy +++] (Light Vehicle)

Particle Whip: Using a stream of particles to project a devastating energy beam toward a target, this weapon is a Monolith's main armament, able to sow devastation with every shot.
[Particle +++++] [Energy ++++] [Gauss ++++] (Super Heavy Vehicle)

Tesla Cannon: A large version of Tesla weaponry subtype, this armament is usually mounted on the hull of Annihilation Barges, doubling as its secondary armament.
[Gauss +++] [Energy +++] (Light Vehicle)

Tesla Destructor: This Tesla weapon is the largest and most powerful of its series, able to wreak devastation through storms of living lightning. It can be found on Annihilation Barges, Doom Scythes and Night Scythes.
[Gauss ++++] [Energy ++++] (Light Vehicle)

Thermal Cutting Beam: Commonly used by Canoptek Acantrytes, this weapon uses a focused beam of thermal incandescence to carve and reassemble atoms with frightening speed.
[Particle +++] [Plasma ++] (Heavy Frame)

Cryptek Weaponry

Abyssal Staff: This weapon is utilized by Cryptek of the Psychomancer discipline. It emits electro-stimuli that appear as swirling mists shimmering with clouds of particulates. Organics touched by the emissions find their synaptic tissues overloaded with terror and madness.
[Energy +++] [Psychic (Scientific-based) ++] (Noble, Psychomancer)

Atavindicator: A more focused version of the Abyssal Staff, the Atavindicator sacrifices radius in exchange for range and power. A target hit by its focusing array finds his mind bombarded by his most terrible fears.
[Psychic (Scientific-based) +++] [Energy ++] (Noble, Psychomancer)

Aeonstave: The sapphire head of this piece of technomancy contains a chronal charge that, when unleashed, trap foes in a bubble of slowed time.
[Chronal ++] (Noble, Chronomancer)

Eldritch Lance: This spear unleashes furious plasma blasts that sear the air at their passage.
[Plasma +++] [Energy +++] (Noble, Plasmancer)

Entropic Lance: A terrifying armament wielded by Chronomancers, this staff speeds the time of enemie's foes, robbing them of the ability to coordinate their attacks while wounding their cells.
[Chronal ++] (Noble, Chronomancer)

Ether Crystal: Still air comes to life in the presence of this crystal, buffeting the Cryptek enemies with crushing waves of pressure and bolts of lightning.
[Graviton +++] [Energy +++] (Noble, Ethermancer)

Harp of Dissonance: A sigle booming bass from these electric strings can turn adamantium into brittle glass.
[Particle +++] [Sonic ++] (Noble, Alchemist)

Tremorstave: This staff contains an array of resonating crystal that forces rocks to split and rise with shattering bursts of light.
[Physical +++] [Sonic +++] (Noble, Geomancer)

Voltaic Staff: Used by Ethermancers, this weapon can control and manipulate lightning to deadly effect.
[Energy +++] [Power +++] (Noble, Ethermancer)


Wargear and equipment.

Necron Armor

Necrodermis Armor: Basic Necron armor, its almost numberless iterations are met in most soldier types and all the specialized troops requiring a somewhat lighter option.
[Physical ++] [Energy ++] [Shielded ++] [Enviromental ++] (Soldier)

Heavy Necrodermis Armor: Layers of ultra-dense Necrodermis are used to shroud elite Necron infantry and commanders, ranking among the best en-masse protection in the Galaxy.
[Physical +++] [Energy +++] [Shielded +++] [Enviromental +++] (Lychguard)

Necrodermis Plate: Employed in Necron light vehicles, plates of regenerating Necrodermis shrug off most conventional weapons, showing their mettle in a vast array of situation.
[Physical ++++] [Energy ++++] [Shielded +++] [Enviromental +++] (Heavy Frame)

Necrodermis Heavy Plate: Among the best armor protection the Necrons can field, usually reserved to emplacements and the greatest warmachines. Its high resistances across the board is a mark of Necron technomantic mastery.
[Physical ++++] [Energy ++++] [Shielded ++++] [Enviromental ++++] (Heavy Vehicle)

Quantum Shielding: A product of the Necrontyr Quantum research, this protective layer remains slightly out of sync with the dimensional layer, appearing only at the moment of impact.
[Geller +++] [Physical +++] [Energy +++] (Light Vehicle)

Voidplate Necrodermis Armor: An armor type used void admirals. It's specialized to sustain against the enviromental challenges brought by extreme void and planet-side environments.
[Physical +++] [Energy +++] [Shielded +++] [Enviromental ++++] (Noble)

Canoptek Cloak: Used by Cryptek, this "cloak" is composed by segmented Canoptek that offer heightened mobility as well as protection. Weaker than the normal level of protection afforded to Necron nobility, it compensates by its wide arrays of technological interfaces and connection points.
[Physical ++] [Energy +++] [Shielded +++] [Enviromental ++] (Noble)

Empyrean Necrodermis: A unique type of Necrodermis shot through with micro-filaments of dark matter and crystalline material. Its secrets are known only to the High Mistress. Not reproducible.
[Physical ++++] [Energy ++++] [Shielded ++++] [Enviromental ++++] [Psychic ++] [Daemonic ++]

Frame types

Necrons are mechanical creatures, their life now being bio-electrical signals inhabiting cold, metal frames. It's an unnatural existence, with conflicting instincts and constant discomfort, but it allows them a level of control over their own bodies as well as processing powers unknown to organics. These possibilities appear in the number of frame types Necron consciousnesses can inhabit. The deep level of interface between Necrons and their weapons decides which weapon type they can use, making the choice of frames a crucial one.

Soldier: The lowest Necron frame type. This frame lacks any kind of complex neural engrams, dimming any sort of self-awareness to a distant spark. Simple joints give this frame jerky movements and plodding steps. Their Gauss-based signals allow them to use only the simplest weapons.

Immortal: Frames reserved to veterans and shock troops of the Dinasties' armies. Its small amount of complex engrams allows for the barest amount of sentience, just enough to utter simple commands and wield heavier weapons.

Elite: Medium-high clusters of artificial synapses denote the Necron elite warrior class, mostly Lychguard, Deathmarks and Praetorian. While prone to corrosion and degradation, it lends its users superior agility, coordination and resistance, being superior to the Soldier class in all regards. Elite Necrons can follow simple lines of thought, remember strategies and understand or utter commands as well as interface with powerful weapons.

Noble: With an excellent amount of neural engrams and emotional cores, this frame was reserved for the noble class of the ancient Necrontyr, allowing them to maintain most of their personalities intact. Bundles of syntho-muscles and bio-electrical coils lend their users massive amount of strength, speed and endurance. It's necessary to access the higher levels of Necron armory and affords a high level of customization and connection.

Phaeron: The best of the best in personality and awareness retention, these frames were given exclusively to the Phaeron of the dynasties and, sometimes, their closest heirs and families. Each is one of a kind, customized to the specification of its chosen user, all of them showing matchless specs and interface capabilities.

Heavy: Somewhat rare, heavy frames were usually custom-created by Cryptek to fulfill specific conditions and share a larger body and higher computing processes, usually at the cost of reasoning and emotional control. Four or more limbs are a mark of the Heavy Frame, with the Skorpekh Lords being the main example.

Vehicle (Light): The humanoid form was considered the best to maintain sanity and personality, but it can be sacrificed for higher performance in combat. Lockust Lords are an example of this, with all the advantages and detriments this frame choice brings.

Vehicle (Heavy): It's widely believed that frames of this complexity would impinge on the user's sanity, leaving its implementation pure theory.

Vehicle (Super Heavy): It's widely believed that frames of this complexity would impinge on the user's sanity, leaving its implementation pure theory.

Emplacement (Light): It's widely believed that frames of this complexity would impinge on the user's sanity, leaving its implementation pure theory.

Emplacement (Heavy): It's widely believed that frames of this complexity would impinge on the user's sanity, leaving its implementation pure theory.

Ship: It's widely believed that this complexity's frames would impinge on the user's sanity, leaving its implementation pure theory.

AC - Very busy with Uni later so here's some more information instead of a Turn Results. Yeah, sorry. Anyway, I've been working to put together a necron armoury. It's not complete but it shows what you guys have at your disposal. It will expand as your choices increase.

As for the power levels, generally speaking a lasgun is +, while a Gauss Flayer is ++. More generally, a soldier-level weapon is ++, with very rare +++. An elite type is +++, with a very few ++. A hero-level common weapon is generally +++, with few ++++. So it's a light vehicle weapon. Heavy vehicle weapons reach ++++ and super heavies go as high as +++++, true weapons of mass destruction. Btw, the absolute max is ten (10) +. The Frame tacked at the end of each entry is not the only class that can mount as much as the lowest class that can use it. So a warrior-class weapon can be easily used by a noble, and a noble class weapon can be mounted on a ship and so on.

I'll be adding wargear and items at a later time.

I probably forgot something, so ask away if you have doubts.

"Aeldari! In our rightful place of power! They must be eradicated!"

"Statement: Strong concur. Proposal: Radiation saturation through Gauss concentration."

"Not enough! Storm the portal with a legion! Wipe them off the planet!"

"Statement: Unimaginative. Weak."

"Why, you…!"

Seated on her throne, Xorathis kept one of her processes listening to her Crypteks argue back and forth. Penchant for Aeldari extermination aside, it was quite impressive how they managed to find reasons to bicker.

Ordinary administration, except that it wasn't. Her servants wouldn't ever admit it, as it wasn't a logical reaction, but they were bewildered.

None of the Crypteks had ventured with Rahotamen. The long, lonely night across the stars was too much for complex minds like them to endure. Only the stoic Lychguard and their absolute loyalty could. The Crypteks joined them later, woken alongside Ptolomes by the Seeker. They did so to a Galaxy changed, but not in the way they hoped.

Chaos rampant, this Imperium dominating the stars, the Orks and the Aeldari still alive. There were a thousand scenarios where the Great Sleep terminated in more favourable terms. That their old enemies were but shadows of what they were provided little relief. The Necrons were fragmented, divided and pitifully weak themselves. More than anything, they struggled to believe it.

Sixty millions years ago they left the Galaxy to be devoured by the Enslavers. Instead, Krorks and Aeldari survived to it and then long enough to fall and walk the path of involution. Madness! Nonsense! How?

It made no sense, and little scared and enraged a Necron as much as something making no sense, especially if it was an enemy showing potential that surpassed the wildest calculations.

They were scared, and Xorathis had to admit she shared the sentiment. A thrill of curiosity and dread ran through her when she tried to conceive how those two infestating races managed to survive for so long. Rahotamen told her much of the wider galaxy, but the history of the Aeldari, now Eldar, was a bit of a mistery still. Their Fall in particular, how that degenerate strain came to be, and, she was told, a Fourth Chaos Gods.

No matter the name, Aeldari never did thing by half-measures.

Calchun fretted beside her throne. Young and junior by Cryptek reckoning, he still had no idea why he was chosen as her aide. Xorathis found adorable how willfully ignorant he was to his own talent. Not surprising, of course, considering how his superiors made sure to flood his data-banks with self-consciousness and ideas of inadequacy. Also, she didn't mind keeping everyone wondering about her choices. It was good for keeping motherboards fizzling.

"High Mistress, if I may…" The Cryptek, hunched and multi-limbed, looked like a fretting, oversized spider as he leaned closer, many hands tapping together.

"You may."

Calchun leaned toward her throne, passing to a private channel by her leave. Young he may be, he was still privy to intrigue.

"I-I don't think this cancer should be allowed to f-fester," his messages were underlined with anxiety. In voice, it would be a stutter.

Xorathis extended a hand and patted him on his ugly, insectile head. "And it won't", she said, comforting. "But let's try to be the adults for once, mh?"

Her reply was a flurry of errors and a half-startled, half-terrified keening from the Cryptek. Being a chrono-scientist didn't make being patted by your Phaerak a habit.

Xorathis giggled.

--------


The fissure was a dismal place. The murk left only dry rock and broken gravel to be seen. Yet, Xorathis found it had its charms. The gas, which her analyzers told her was a mixture acidic enough to burn flesh, had painted the crack's walls in vibrant colors: corroded oranges, vivid greens and deep purples ran in streaks and patches and veins. They made for a fascinating example of geothermal activity, the residua of a world's unceasing heartbeat.

"I wasn't aware that rough Ymgir minds could imagine such poetry."

Xorathis turned her attention away from sightseeing, laying it on the newcomer.

The Aeldari – Eldar, a sub-memory bank reminded her – was tall and slim like an arrow. His mesh armor was form-fitting, the white and green of Biel-Tan gleaming in the gloom. A pennant curled from his helm, the plumes streaked with a line of crimson that danced even in the stale air, turning into a tongue of fire. He brandished a long, glittering sword, and a silvery cloak fluttered behind him. Discipline, like an aura, radiated around him just as much.

He cut a gallant figure, like an avenger come from ancient legends. That a giant in the same colors stood behind him, emerging from the fog like the votive statue of a millennia-old cult, only added to the image.

Xorathis listened to her sensors.

Unsurprisingly, the Eldar and his comrade were very well shielded. She couldn't pick up his pulse, or much of anything.

"You don't know much about us then," she commented lightly, and poured herself a cup of gold-black liquid. "Something to drink?"

Hordes of nano-scarabs had brought her table to the crack's floor, moving it down the walls like some kind of communal shell. It had been set at the start of the incline leading to the Webway Portal, and since she was truly starting to get bored with all the tomb vibes, covered with a delicate mesh that shimmered like a field of faint starlight. Cups and a decanter completed the setting, the blocky, traditional Necrontyr shapes softened by edges in silver and veins of amber.

Standing there, projecting her thoughts aloud had been a novel if pleasant experience. Wording wasn't an effective method of communication and it had given her a certain clarity of thought.

Too bad for the situation now.

A line of Lychguards stood behind the table, Hyperphase halbers and Diffuser Shields held in martial poses. They were mirrored by the rank of Wraithguards blocking the ascent.

Xorathis wanted to sigh. Between cold metal and barely cognizant souls, she didn't think there could be a more terse exchange. She would have loved for the meeting to be more relaxed. It was so rare to meet organics, and she had been missing the girl. Ah, she needed to call her…

The Eldar's armor was an elaborate affair of smooth lines and glyphs on plates and mesh. It flexed smoothly as he cut the air with a frustrated gesture. Xorathis had to admit it. He cut quite the figure. Thank the stars Rahotamen wasn't there. Even if seeing him getting jealous would have been cute. She changed her mind. Too bad he wasn't there.

"I will not share the same cup with one of our race's ancestral enemies," the Eldar said, incensed. The giant seemed to react to his emotions. Points of red light, like rushing wisps, ran across the many groves and channels of its armor.

Xorathis tilted her head. "I hope not," she said. "This is a drink for Necrons. If an organic should drink it... well, let's not go there. We call it Dhouti. Depending on the accent, in your language would be… The Lament of the Awakening Mind, or the Mirage Between Life and Metal. In ours, it's just the Black Oil." She chuckled. "You Aeldari were always the better poets. We never quite conquered that hill. Too busy being angry all the time."

The Eldar said nothing, just watching. His posture was impeccable, a dancer's starting position, but there was a tension to it that couldn't escape her sensors. Nano-Scarabs hidden in nooks and crannies provided a rainfall of data, building a tridimensional image in her mindscape.

"Speaking from a tasting point of view," she said, conversational. "It's quite the experience. Metallic yet smooth, with a spark of something organic, like crushed roses. Yet nostalgic, like a half-forgotten memory. Spiced wind from an open window. Laughter echoing from the garden, or the other room. The Runkah uncoiling at your arrival, eyes bright." She paused. "That would be a popular pet of ours back in the day."

Xorathis leaned back on the throne, admiring the filled cup. In the murk, the thick, oil-like liquid ran with dark highlights, like shadows amidst shadows.

"It's saturated with nanomachines that will restore memory-banks. A pleasant experience, but with a side-effect. Registry fragments will be jolted back to temporary life during the reconstruction. Some of them will belong to the drinker's mortal life. Bio-Transference wasn't perfect by any stretch." She tilted the cup. The liquid swirled, slow and thick. "Echoes of another time, another existence. It's a relief for some. Filled with sorrow for others. Too much to bear for others yet. I find it… enlightening." She took a sip, and sighed at the tiny hands tickling her mind, coaxing images and sounds and echoes to fleeting life.

"Well?" She tilted her head, watching him from above the cup. Tense as he was, the Eldar didn't seem as certain as he was before. "What are you waiting for? Fight or take tea. Dithering isn't worthy of your race's heritage."

The Eldar didn't move. His body language conveyed nervousness and doubt, her tridimensional projections informed her. He cocked his head for a few moments, looking like he was listening to some unseen voice. He nodded, and, without taking his eyes away from her, slowly lowered himself to a kneeling position. He laid his sword down, only a flicker of movement away from being picked up again.

"No tea," he snapped.

Xorathis shrugged. "As you wish." Her eyes flickered to the giant Wraithknight looming behind him. "Does he…"

"She," he bit out, in a politely outraged way Xorathis found endearing.

"Apologies." She nodded, smiling. "Does she take anything?"

The Eldar didn't answer. Even with his helmet on, his stare felt pointed. Images of broody children ran across Xorathis' mind, and she decided this one was probably young, by Aeldari standards. She filed the information away.

"So." Xorathis poured herself another cup. "It's quite the moment, I think. Sixty million years is a long, long time. We were quite surprised to find you still here. Why, many of my peers were almost peeved about it. Myself, I think it's worthy of some measure of celebration… for a variety of reasons. I even got here in person to show it." She smiled. "Doesn't happen often. You're welcome."

The Eldar managed to bristle even while enclosed in mesh armor. "By will and strength, blessing and birthright, we endure," he said, fervent. "And you think too highly of yourself, soulless one."

Xorathis imagined rolling her eyes. "That you did. And so, here we are again. Like so long ago." She looked at him. "Do you remember me?"

For the first time, the Eldar showed clear signs of doubt. His hand ran across his sword's pommel, in a gesture that was not quite a fidget.

"Memories of events I never experienced come to the forefront of the mind," he murmured. He sounded perplexed. "A name. Two names. Mixing and confusing with each other. Two existences, allineated and yet different, remembered only in myths. The Weeping Storm. The Devouring Tide."

Xorathis clapped her hands, delighted. "You do remember." Being remembered on a genetic level. Now, that was something one could take pride in.

The Eldar nodded, and there wasn't need for hyper-zooming to notice his discomfort.

"And yet, I don't know you," Xorathis pointed out, but without heat. "Do you have a name? Does she?" She gestured to include the towering Wraithknight.

Again, the Eldar didn't answer. He just stood there, hands resting on his knees, looking ready both to relax and to take up the sword and fight. They were such a fascinating race, these tools created for war. Xorathis wondered how much had they retained of their origin, of their true purpose. The arrogance and pride radiating from the Eldar, just barely dimmed by his discomfort, could have meant both.

"Nothing?" Xorathis was a bit disappointed. "Do we need to go through this hostility? After millions of years?"

The Eldar didn't answer. He seemed to be thinking.


"We know you," he said, and there was a depth of rage in his voice that not even that iron-clad control seemed able to keep it at bay. "You parade as a living being. You affect good manners and a mask of understanding and change, when truly you're but a soulless machine. In truth, even the Mon'keigh stand above you with all their barbarism, for at least they possess a soul, stunted and weak as it is. You are cold and cruel. Your heart and mind run with the darkness of the tomb. We have not forgotten. The Eldar have not forgotten who you are, what you wrought and what you would do again should we allow you so." He stood up, his cloak flaring around him. "You shall find nothing here, but the ruthless bite of our blades. If you are even able to feel it!"

Xorathis listened. She was a bit impressed. Not from the words, the Aeldari could be so dramatic, but from something else.

[They didn't change much, mh?]

Hovering as a virtual presence in one of her channels alongside the rest of her Crypteks, Chalcun's signature ran with disbelief.

[I… I am speechless, High Mistress. T-that insolence…] He sounded stunned rather than outraged. Behind him, the Crypteks buzzed like a nest of angry bees.

[...It's very much like the Aeldari.] She sighed. [I thought I'd be more annoyed. Sixty million years of slumber only to find them still here. And instead, they are as adorably righteous as they were when they slaved for the Pretenders.]

With its differences, of course. The Aeldari she remembered had a vibration to them, a wild side that all the Pretenders' prodding and teaching and entrusting couldn't quite smother. There had been a lack of that tight, almost obsessive self-control that Eldar showed.

And this specific specimen is probably still somewhat unpolished. Both better and lesser. There was a lesson to be found there.

[Run some numbers,] she said, her command plunging in the mass of Crypteks like a stone into a pool of water. [Wraithguards are precious and our info tells us that Biel-Tan isn't so badly put as to need to deploy them as guards for a Tombworld, let alone a Wraithknight. See how high is the probability that they're all stranded here and that Portal is closed.]

It would be an admirable bluff to be sure.

As the Crypteks' signatures ran with calculations, she made a note for herself to thank Ptolomes and Rahotamen, again, for the info they brought from the wider Galaxy. She would be a duck out of water without it, having to discover everything from scratch.

Honestly, it was such a heady feeling. To her, the Great Sleep had been just that. A long, fathomless dream interspersed with the struggles to free herself. To think that sixty million years passed by with just that… it was enough that picturing such a monumental length of time threatened to send even her multiple mind-routines into a spin. Good thing she knew better than to try it.

All that mattered was the present. When all was lost and shed, all that mortals retained was just that: the moment. The same was true for her.

For now at least.

The thought lasted less than a microsecond. As she returned from it, the Eldar was on his feet, glittering blade in hand. Behind him, the Wraithknight moved with uncanny grace, taking a fighting stance worthy of an Exarch. The Wraithguards stomped into positions. With perfect coordination, they raised their rifles, actinic light already gathering on their muzzles.


[86.739% probability.]

Xorathis rested her cheek on a fist, weighing that little hellion of an alien.

Now, what to do with him and his half-dead friends…

[] "Choke them."

The Wraithguards are powerful sentinels, but even their half-dead stubbornness is nothing against Lychguards's cold wills. And you have thousands of them. Do what the Great Sleep couldn't, at least at this moment and this place.
Resolution: Will trigger Battle.

[] "Take them."

There's much to be gained by an Aeldari, even a stubborn son of a devolved culture. Destroy those who resist. Grab the rest. More organics in the Tomb, even if most of them don't qualify as living.
Resolution: Will trigger Battle.

[] "War. So tiring..."

Sixty million years and we're back at this? There has to be a moment when we grow beyond what we used to be. Let's talk it out.
Resolution: Attempt Negotiations. May trigger Battle.

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