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| A Necron story, rate and review http://www.tacticalwargames.net/taccmd/viewtopic.php?f=59&t=3159 |
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| Author: | the_fifth_horseman [ Mon Jun 28, 2004 12:27 pm ] |
| Post subject: | A Necron story, rate and review |
I was quite inspired for writing recently, and when I sat to the keyboard, the following resulted: Seventy five million years ago... A lone star flies through the depths of interstellar void. For untold aeons its journey was alone, but soon it will no longer be. From untold depths of space comes a visitor... Large planetoid, cast into the void by force of some unknown cataclysm billions of years ago, passes nearby. This star is just another of thousands it passed on its eternal journey... But this time, something is different. The spaceborn rock has lost much of its original speed to the gravity forces of all the stars it has passed by, and this time its speed is not enough to let it escape the star's tremendous gravity. The planetoid flies towards the star, and by some strange twist of fate the remainders of its momentum allow it to enter a stable orbit around its new sun. The journey of the new system is undisturbed... for now. Sixty five million years ago... A silver point like a gleaming drop of mercury rockets through the blackness of space at speeds more then tenfold greater then the speed of light itself... It is uncrewed, yet its course is being altered by some strange sentience dwelling within the metal shell... Those who know the art of technology would probably recognize it as an automated deep-space probe... It is searching, the object of the search unknown even for the nameless intelligence inhabiting its smooth shape. Just a few milliseconds ago, its consciousness found exactly what it was searching for. World perfectly matching the requirements of its unknown masters. A lone, lifeless planet orbitting a young star for the last ten million years... The probe sends a coded signal towards its world of origin and then continues in search of its next target... Sixty million years ago... Space bends and twists as a crescent-shaped vessel emerges from within the interstellar void into orbit around the planet. If somebody out there could analyse the titanic crescent of metal, they would quickly find out that it was bereft of life. Yet its passengers are unnumbered. Free from the weaknesses of life, flesh and feelings alike, they have been sent to the world discovered five million years ago to serve the purpose of their masters. To this world. Soon, great edifices of obsidian-colored metal begin to appear on the sand-covered surface of the planet, each exactly mirrorring the others of its like on this planet and unnumbered other worlds, scattered throughout the universe... From the onyx desert sprout six pyramids surrounding the monstrous central construction. It is also a pyramid, but several times larger then the others and each of its walls bears a great sigil of unknown purpose. The giant starship has completed its mission, and is now disappearing inside a huge sphere of interstellar debris it has accumulated as its program ordered. A powerful gravity generator has been activated now, that brings the pieces of rock together, enclosing the ship and making it look like a small moon. Almost all systems have been deactivated, but a tiny part of its electronic mind remains active and waiting... On the surface of the planet, legions of metal figures march into the pyramids, disappearing in them. A command is issued and all machines deactivate in an instant. As with the ship, there is still a tiny mechanism remaining, little more then a signal detector. Then all falls silent. The world seems to be dead again, but it harbours a terrible force now. An army out of time is sleeping there, waiting for the right time to awaken. Long aeons will pass before that, but to those for whom thousand of years is like a blink of an eye it means nothing. They can wait for all eternity if needed... The pyramids sink beneath the sands, only the very top of the main pyramid remains on the surface. The planet is dormant, and it will be for sixty million years... Now... In last sixty million years, much has changed in the universe... Entire worlds have been destroyed, not all by natural forces... But the silent world on the eastern fringe of the galaxy still exists, and the nameless threat along with it. To many of the civilisations now inhabiting the galaxy, it is just another dead world. The two sensors are waiting... From the depths of the universe, the signal comes. A thin beam of energy, coding a simple message... Originating from a world that the dominant race of this time has called Pavonis, the signal is too tiny and weak to be detected by anyone... par it's destination. The sensors quickly intercept it an decode the message. It is a combination of zeros and ones, but for them it has a clear meaning. The time has come. Deep within the central pyramid, there is a long corridor. On both sides supported by long rows of columns, and between each pair of them is a door with a symbol of skull upon it. Upon the main corridor's end, there is a chamber where a rectangular metal sarcophagus is resting on a raised platform. A sigil on it is an exact copy of those found on the pyramid's walls. Arcs of raw energy begin to course through the chamber as the machine executes its ancient purpose. After a few seconds, the chamber falls silent again, but dead it is no longer. Vile green glow emanates from complex circuitry built into the walls as the arcane machinery begins the revival of its master... The sigil on the top of the sarcophagus flares to life. The metal cuboid begins to rise from the surface, and soon stands upright on the surface. The symbol flashes with pure energy and then its power vanishes. A vertical crack appears directly through the middle of the lid, and then the cover slids aside as the being inside is exposed. A polished metal skeleton stands within the tiny cell, arms crossed over the chest. Its right hand is holding an arcane staff and its head has shape of a stylised skull. On the forehead it bears a smaller version of the sigil that adorned its sarcophagus. Suddenly, eyes of the mask burst with a green light, and the creature's arms unfold as it steps out of its former resting place. The lord and master of this world has returned. Ancient logical circuitry within the being's head is slowly reactivating to its full potential as the tomb infuses it with copies of all transmissions it has intercepted over the aeons. He needs not to speak to command his charges, and thus he begins to send them and the tomb his orders. Then a swirling colum of darkness envelops him and when it disappears he is there no more, now standing atop the great construction that juts from the desert. The pyramid begins to rise from the surrounding sands, as do its smaller kin. Within the corridor inside the pyramid, the skull-topped doors slid silently into the floor. When they open, they reveal similar corridors, at sides of which stand ranks upon ranks of metal tubes. With a "clang" multiplied thousand times a thousand, they fold and vanish into the ceiling. Legions of metal warriors spring to life. They were known under many names during the millenia. Necrontyr. Sleeping Ones. Necrons. First only a few steps of metal feet resound within the gleaming walls, but soon more and more join them as next hundreds of mechanical creatures reactivate. Then they begin their long march towards the surface. Their number is legion. Their name is Death. As legions of his underlings march in perfect unison out of the tomb, the Lord is waiting. At his command, millions of lesser warriors begin to exit the smaller pyramids, followed by swarms of diminutive scarab-like constructs. Tops of the pyramids unfold like petals of flowers, and large pyramid-like constructs float off of the platforms present there to the ground. On the walls of the main pyramid form openings from which yet another type of machine emerges, warriors resembling those that came from it before, but mounted on flying platforms and with their right arms replaced by powerful four-barrelled weapons. From the sands around the assembled army rise crescent-shaped constructions, cycling their weapon batteries through the sky, and from the tomb entrances several hundred of giant spider-shaped machines came who assumed guard of the tomb entrances. At about this time, the dormant starship completed its reactivation. The gravity generator's function is reversed, casting all the debris adrift. In this moment, the moon would normally rise over the tombs... instead the silver crescent of Necron starship appears. Lord gazed upon his massed army and altough the machines are impervious to feelings, it can be said that he felt an equivalent of grim satisfaction on the sight of his millions of undying charges standing in perfect ranks on the black sand. |
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