NOVEL NEXT Chapter 137: Chapter 137
---Victor POV---
Sitting in orbit over the former Cardinal World of Van Horne, I patiently waited for the results of our subterranean scans to compile. Having received a Force Vision to come here, shortly after crossing the midpoint of the Great Rift, we came in anticipating a fight but instead found a planet completely devoid of life. Seeing no evidence of recent human activity on the surface, I dug into the planet's history to uncover why the Force sent us here.
'In 876.M41, Ka'jagga'nath and Bloodtide decimated the population of this planet before being cast into the Warp by the Grey Knights. After that tragedy, the Ecclesiarchy began rebuilding their facilities here but stopped during the opening of the 13th Black Crusade. According to the shipping manifests, there should still be a few relics here that we can use to bolster our counteroffensive.', I thought, as a notice of completion popped up on my holographic screen. "Finally! Show me where the goodies are stored, please!"
Staring at the 3D render of the planet closely, I began to incrementally increase the depth of the map as I sought out the vault. When the render reached five thousand feet, a network of uniform passageways and tunnels began to appear all around the planet. Descending another five hundred feet, the pathways connected to dozens of gigantic chambers. Recognizing this layout immediately, I reached out to Dair to put him on standby.
"Dair, please have the Void Cannon on standby. Be ready to fire on my mark.", I commanded, slowly rising from my seat. "I believe we have stumbled across a Necron Tomb World."
"Once I collect all the data and equipment we can find, you are more than welcome to wipe it out.", I promised.
Summoning Amallyn and Ionica to the bridge, once both women had arrived, I showed them what the scans had uncovered. Devastated by this discovery, Ionica could not believe the Cardinal World was a ticking time bomb. Grateful that its former inhabitants did not awaken during their occupation of the planet, she immediately inquired if we were going to enact Exterminatus to safeguard the Imperium of Man.
"I agree with Ionica on this; we should obliterate the planet and move on.", Amallyn agreed.
"I hear what you are saying, but I see this inactive Tomb World as a treasure trove of data and technology. Just think about it for a moment: no race in this region of the universe has the power to permanently kill a Necron. Most societies can destroy their physical bodies, with great effort, but the Necrons just reupload their consciousness into a new body and redeploy.", I reminded them, "This is a rare opportunity for us to gather information straight from the source. Everything we learn from here will only serve to help both the Aeldari and Humanity."
Looking at one another, the two women let out a sigh of resignation. Unable to argue against my logic, they still thought it was a terrible idea to go poking around in their ancient cities.
"I am fine with that; just please be extremely careful during this excursion. Their technology may be over sixty million years old, but even now it is still beyond what most civilizations can achieve.", I warned as I glanced over at the silver humanoid. "Do you understand?"
(Bloodtide)
"If the Necrons awaken because of you, I will put you in cold storage for a billion years.", I said, with a smirk.
Chuckling at his sudden tone change, I was happy to see he was quickly adapting to life with us. While he was still hesitant to trust me, Bloodtide was comfortable enough with me now to show more of his hidden personality.
"So it is Bloodtide, Victor, and I?", Amallyn clarified.
"Ha ha, very funny, pointy ears.", Ionica laughed dryly. "I am coming with you guys too."
"Oh, you are still here? I thought you had returned to your room to continue worshipping your Emperor.", Amallyn stated, faking a surprised expression.
"Glad to see your dynamic has not changed.", I stated with a smirk.
Having laid everything out to Ionica, I expressed my interest in exploring a romantic relationship with her. Making it clear that this relationship would eventually end in marriage, if things worked out between us, Ionica was completely fine with that arrangement. Asking her to keep our relationship hidden until we could get the Abbess' blessing, I had spent much of my free time since then helping Ionica navigate her first romantic relationship.
"Since you brought your equipment with you, are we good to head out?", I asked.
"All good.", the trio said one after the other.
"Jarvis, please transport us inside the largest of the caverns.", I requested.
---Subterranean Van Horne---
Arriving in the pitch-black cavern, I immediately cast Darkvision on the three of us. Blinking several times, as our eyes adjusted to our newfound sight, dozens of heavily damaged structures began appearing from within the gloom. Fascinated by everything I was seeing, my initial instinct was to thoroughly explore this space, but I knew we did not have the time to do so.
"It would appear the Ecclesiarchy had the Necron threat purged from Van Horne long ago.", Ionica commented, surveying the ruins. "They must have some hidden technology that they refuse to share outside their inner circles."
"I am not so sure about that, Ionica.", Amallyn argued, closely surveying what remained of a building's structural wall. "From what I can tell, only one type of energy weapon was used here. Unless the Imperium secretly has Necron weapons hidden away, all signs point to a possible power struggle taking place here."
"More than likely, they were attacked by an opposing Necron Dynasty.", I corrected them both, "The Aeldari and Imperium are vaguely aware of this, but the Necron are not a united front. While a few dynasties have banded together, most are independent entities with their own goals and plans. Since they cannot create more of themselves, the only way to increase their manpower is to seize control of other Tomb Worlds and reprogram the inhabitants."
"You know, I never thought about that before.", Amallyn acknowledged, before realizing something else, "Wait, how do you know so much about them? The Aeldari and humanity have struggled to obtain even a little knowledge about the Necrons, yet it sounds like you know them very well."
"Victor, have you made contact with the Necrons previously?", Ionica pressed me, "If you have, please tell us everything you know about them."
Realizing I had overplayed my hand, it was too late for me to feign ignorance about the ancient race. Quickly fabricating a story in my mind, I had to sell this lie perfectly to avoid divulging the real source of my knowledge.
"Much of my knowledge comes from Dair's database. The Old Ones spent a great deal of time researching the Necrons during the War in Heaven. They were looking for a way to get past the Necron's ability to redownload their consciousness into a new body, but before their research could bear fruit, their race went extinct.", I stated with a stone-faced expression, "In regard to them not being united, my intelligence network has documented many occurrences of Necrons invading dormant Tomb Worlds to commandeer them. It is not a stretch to say stronger dynasties might destroy or seize control of weaker ones."
"Would you consider granting me access to that information?", Amallyn inquired, "Biel-Tan may not listen to me, but other Craftworlds will gratefully accept the information."
"You are more than welcome to review Dair's information, but my intelligence reports must remain classified. I cannot risk exposing our trade secrets to other groups, even allied ones.", I told her.
"That works for me; I respect your desire to keep your field agents safe.", Amallyn said, nodding her head in approval. "So then, where do we go from here?"
"Since we do not have time for a thorough survey of the site, the best option is to collect all the debris and sort through it later.", I answered, already starting the process of sending things into my inventory.
As I cleared away the debris piles, Bloodtide and the women began to search the still-standing structures for anything of interest. Finding damaged vehicles and weapons, dataslates, and solidified pools of necrodermis all over the place, I was about to suggest moving to another cavern when a basketball-sized crystal tumbled out of a pile of rubble. Reaching down to pick it up for examination, something in the back of my mind told me it was unwise to touch the crystal right now.
Having Jarvis scan the crystal, as a safety precaution, the moment he initiated the scan, all my suit's sensors began to go haywire. Immediately aborting the operation, everything returned to normal, suggesting it was far too powerful for Jarvis to properly analyze.
"I see; that makes sense.", I agreed, focusing my attention on the shard. "Care to say hello, or are you going to remain silent?"
"Yes, unless you are otherwise preoccupied.", I chuckled.
"Uh, I am no Necron. I am human.", I corrected him.
Watching the crystal begin to glow, the ground all around it began to atomize before my very eyes. Quickly checking my Geiger counter to confirm it was safe to be here, I was shocked to discover that no radiation was being released whatsoever. While I stared at the reading in disbelief, the shard abruptly transformed into an icy blue, ethereal humanoid.
"No reason at all; your crystalline form just rolled out of a debris pile.", I remarked, pointing to the pile in question. "How about we start with proper introductions? My name is Victor von Stark, and you are?"
"Well, Yggra'nya, do you know what happened here?", I inquired.
"This world was formerly part of the Oruscar Dynasty?!", I questioned. "We are tens of thousands of light-years away from their domain. A warp storm or something else must have pushed it closer to the galactic core."
(Yggra'nya)
"You have my sincerest apologies for waking you up. I will leave you be and continue with my work.", I stated, wanting to avoid fighting a C'tan right now.
Giving me a surprised look, Yggra'nya must have thought that I intended to use him like his former masters. Watching me walk away, he observed my movements for a few minutes before floating over to me.
"Yes, I do not like the idea of enslaving a sentient being.", I answered, looking him dead in the eyes. "On the flip side, your race is callous, manipulative, and untrustworthy, so the best option is not to get involved with you. So long as you leave the Aeldari and humanity alone, I have no problem feigning ignorance about your existence here."
"You are an immortal race of cosmic entities that got fed up with eating stars and began preying on living creatures. The Old Ones came close to ending your reign of terror, but you did something beyond their expectations. You brought the Necrontyr into the conflict, transferred their consciousness into mechanized bodies, and sent them off to fight your war.", I stated. "Your people claim it was a blessing; however, we both know you were only interested in their life essence and saw them as reusable tools to fight the Old Ones. The Necrontyr did not discover that dark truth until it was far too late to turn back."
Startled by knowledge of events, Yggra'nya let out a sigh and admitted everything I said was correct. Mildly amused by how I spoke to him, it appeared he had taken an interest in me.
"Given these damning facts, why exactly should I interact with you?", I pressed him. "It is safer for me to just feign ignorance and leave you here to continue slumbering."
(Yggra'nya)
'The C'tan cannot be trusted to uphold their bargains, but… his insight is very tempting. The Aeldari and Imperium need the information he has if we are to stand a chance against them. I just need to be extra wary of his actions; the moment he steps out of line, his shard goes right into my inventory for all eternity.', I thought, "If I am going to risk the lives of my people, you will need to sweeten your side of this arrangement. I want all the knowledge you possess on terraforming planets. Agree to that, and you have yourself a deal."
Exchanging a firm handshake with him to seal the agreement, Yggra'nya returned to his crystalline form to rest again. Granting me permission to carry his shard, I carried him under my arm while I continued collecting the debris.