The Unnamed World, War in Heaven.
The planet pulsed with an otherworldly energy, its very core resonating with the power of the trapped C'tan. Massive Blackstone Pillars jutted from the poles, their obsidian surfaces crackling with Necron energies that formed an impenetrable cage around the world. Within this prison, the Nightbringer raged, its godlike power barely contained by the ingenious trap laid by Kha'resh Mek, The Phaeron of the Sahkar-Tet Dynasty.
For solar cycles, Kha'resh had prepared for this moment. His form had been augmented beyond even the incredible standards of Necron royalty. The Sempiternal Weave interlaced with Adamantium and Amaranthite, forming an armor that could withstand the fury of a star. On his right arm, a Gauss Destructor hummed with barely contained power, while his left bore the legendary Void Reaper, a weapon whispered to be capable of sundering reality itself.
Kha'resh materialized on the blasted surface of the planet, his teleportation matrix recalibrated to pierce the Blackstone barrier. The sky above roiled with ethereal energies, casting an eerie glow across the battlefield. In the distance, the Nightbringer's form shifted and writhed, a being of pure malevolence and hunger.
"Insignificant servant," the C'tan's voice boomed across the landscape, a sound that could shatter minds. "You dare to challenge your god?"
Kha'resh's response was cold, calculated. "Today is the day I flay the Necrodermis off a God."
With a gesture, Kha'resh activated the Aeonic Orbs strategically placed around the battlefield. Reality itself seemed to warp as the devices came to life, their energies destabilizing the very essence of the C'tan's physical form.
The Nightbringer roared, raising its arms to the sky. The heavens answered its call, raining down a deluge of antimatter meteors. The air itself ignited, cosmic fire spreading across the battlefield.
Kha'resh moved with impossible speed, his Void Reaper slicing through the meteors as if they were mist. Each strike left a tear in reality itself. Yet even his incredible defenses couldn't fully protect him. Antimatter explosions rocked his form, leaving scorch marks on his armored shell.
Undeterred, Kha'resh pressed forward. His Gauss Destructor flared to life, launching a barrage of energy that could unmake reality itself. The Nightbringer howled as the beams struck home, its Necrodermis form rippling under the assault.
The C'tan retaliated, summoning tendrils of pure darkness that sought to ensnare Kha'resh. But the Necron Phaeron was prepared. More Aeonic Orbs placed around the C'tan exploded, their energy destabilizing the Nightbringer's attacks and weakening it's Necrodermis.
Kha'resh closed the distance, the Void Reaper humming with lethal intent. The Nightbringer, weakened and without its signature scythe, was forced into close combat.
Their clash was titanic. Each blow shook the planet to its core. The Nightbringer's claws raked across Kha'resh's armor, leaving deep gouges. But Kha'resh's attacks were relentless, each strike of the Void Reaper tearing away at the C'tan's essence.
As the battle reached its crescendo, Kha'resh saw his opening. With a move of impossible speed, he plunged the Void Reaper deep into the Nightbringer's core. The C'tan's scream of agony echoed across dimensions.
Kha'resh's voice was cold as he spoke. "We are Free! false god."
"Impossible," it howled, its voice a mixture of rage and disbelief.
"For you, perhaps," Kha'resh replied, his tone devoid of emotion.
With a final, terrible wrench, Kha'resh tore upwards with the Void Reaper, cleaving through the Nightbringer's head and sundering its body. The C'tan's form exploded in a nova of dark energy, its essence shattering into countless shards.
As the dust settled, Kha'resh stood amidst the devastation, his form battered but unbowed. In his hand, he held the largest shard of the Nightbringer's broken form - its fractured head, still pulsing with residual power.
The nameless planet lay in ruins, its surface scarred by the titanic battle between Kha'resh and the Nightbringer. The Phaeron stood amidst a field of glittering shards, each containing a fraction of the shattered C'tan's power.
Kha'resh's Necrodermis form, though victorious, bore the marks of the ferocious combat. His chief Cryptek, Amenhotep, approached cautiously.
"My lord," Amenhotep began, his voice a mixture of awe and scientific curiosity, "what you have accomplished... it defies all known laws of physics and metaphysics."
Kha'resh's eyes flared with cold satisfaction. "The laws of reality bow to my will, Amenhotep. Now, we must ensure this victory is eternal."
With methodical precision, Kha'resh began to sort through the shards of the Nightbringer. He selected the largest, most potent piece, setting it aside. A few smaller, yet still significant shards were carefully contained in Tesseract Vaults.
"These will fuel our dynasty for eternity," Kha'resh declared. "The rest must be scattered. Beyond the galactic rim, where even we dare not tread."
As his Crypteks and Deathmarks carried out this task, Kha'resh turned his attention to the Nightbringer's flayed Necrodermis. With expert skill, he began to reshape it, molding it into a crown of unimaginable power.
Amenhotep and a team of master Crypteks set to work, their tools manipulating energies and matter at a subatomic level. They integrated the remaining Necrodermis of the C'tan into Kha'resh's own form, the process sending cascades of energy rippling across the planet's surface.
Days passed, each moment a delicate balance of power and precision. Finally, Amenhotep stepped back, his work complete.
"It is done, my lord," he announced. "Your Necrodermis now possesses durability surpassing even Auramite. And the crown..."
Kha'resh lifted the headdress, feeling the raw power of the Nightbringer pulsing within it. With a thought, he integrated it into his form. The surge of energy was indescribable, reality itself seeming to bend around him.
"Not a crown," Kha'resh corrected, his voice resonating with new depths of power. "A headdress befitting a true Phaeron. The symbol of the Godslayer."
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The End of the War in Heaven.
The void blazed with emerald fire as Kha'resh's fleet tore through the Aeldari defenses. At the helm of his flagship, the Phaeron's eyes glowed with barely contained power, the crown of Nightbringer shards pulsing with eldritch energy.
"Nemesor Malakar," Kha'resh's voice rang out, "prepare boarding parties. I shall lead the assault personally."
As Necron ships closed in on the Aeldari flagship, Kha'resh unleashed the full might of his fleet. Particle whips lashed out, slicing smaller Aeldari vessels in half. Gauss Pylons fired in unison, their beams puncturing wraithbone hulls with ease. The space around them filled with the debris of shattered Aeldari ships, their souls screaming into the void.
Kha'resh teleported aboard the Aeldari flagship, his elite Lychguard materializing around him. The ship's corridors quickly became a battleground, Necron warriors advancing relentlessly against the desperate Aeldari defenders.
In the heart of the ship, Kha'resh felt it before he saw it - the Avatar of Khaine, a being of molten iron and ancient fury. The Avatar towered over the battlefield, its presence filling the Aeldari with renewed courage.
Kha'resh stepped forward, the Void Reaper materializing in his hand. "Malakar, stand back," he commanded. "This prey is mine alone."
The Avatar of Khaine roared, swinging the Wailing Doom in a devastating arc. Kha'resh met the blow with the Void Reaper, the clash of weapons sending shockwaves through the ship.
As they battled, Kha'resh's crown began to pulse with increasing intensity. With a gesture, he called upon the power of the shattered Nightbringer. An anti-matter meteor, born of impossible physics, materialized above the Avatar and crashed down with world-shattering force.
The Avatar staggered, its molten body momentarily destabilized. Kha'resh pressed his advantage, the Void Reaper slicing through the Avatar's defenses. Each blow seemed to drain the very essence of the Aeldari war god.
In a final, desperate move, the Avatar lunged forward with its Hand of Khaine. Kha'resh allowed the blow to land, the molten fist connecting with his Necrodermis. But where it should have melted through, it found only unyielding resistance. The Nightbringer-infused Necrodermis held firm.
With a swift, merciless strike, Kha'resh drove the Void Reaper through the Avatar's core. The ship trembled as the Avatar of Khaine fell, its essence scattered to the winds.
Kha'resh stood over the fallen god-shard, his form unmarked, the crown on his head glowing with absorbed power. Around him, the last of the Aeldari resistance crumbled.
The Avatar of Khaine, the mightiest warrior of the Aeldari pantheon, collapsed into a pile of cooling metal and dissipating energy.
Kha'resh turned his gaze to the battle raging outside. With a thought, he connected to his fleet's command network. "Eradicate them all," he ordered, his voice devoid of emotion.
The void lit up with green fire as the full might of the Sahkar-Tet Dynasty was brought to bear. Necron ships, their technology beyond anything the Aeldari could counter, tore through the xenos fleet with ruthless efficiency.
In a matter of moments, it was over. Where once an Aeldari armada had stood proud, now there was nothing but drifting debris and fading energy signatures.
Kha'resh stood motionless on the bridge of the conquered flagship.
"The enemy is vanquished, my Phaeron. Your victory is absolute."
Kha'resh's eyes flared with cold satisfaction. "As it always shall be, Malakar."
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The barren planet burned, its surface a canvas of destruction painted with the corpses of Krorks, Aeldari, and Old Ones. Millions of bodies lay strewn across the battlefield, testament to the apocalyptic conflict known as the War in Heaven. Green energy bursts flashed across the horizon as the Necron legions advanced, extinguishing what little resistance remained.
Kha'resh-Mehk, Phaeron of the Sahkar-Tet Dynasty, stood atop the ruins of the last Old One stronghold. His imposing figure, a masterpiece of Necrodermis, rose twelve feet tall. Thick armor plates covered his skeletal frame, adorned with a headdress fashioned from the flayed skin of the Nightbringer C'tan he had once shattered. Beneath this majestic helm, his eyes glowed with eerie gold fire.
A great spear that doubled as a command staff rested in one hand, while the void reaper hung at his hip. On one arm, a Gauss Destructor hummed with lethal energy. His necrodermis cape billowed in the acrid wind, completing the image of a warrior king who led from the front lines.
As Kha'resh surveyed the carnage, an Aeldari warrior leapt from the rubble, blade raised high. Without turning, the Phaeron's arm blurred. In an instant, the attacker lay in pieces at his feet.
"Kaelan Mensha Khaine, bless your believer that he may win against your enemies," the dying Aeldari gasped.
Kha'resh's metallic voice rang with cold amusement. "Pray all you want, little Aeldari. Your god's not listening, but I am. And I'm savoring every desperate word."
A massive Krork, twelve meters of muscle and crude weaponry, erupted from a pile of debris. Before it could take two steps, concentrated fire from Kha'resh's Lychguard reduced it to smoldering green particles.
"Foolish creation of the frog-men," Kha'resh sneered. "Your resistance is as futile as your masters'."
The Phaeron's gaze lifted to the battle-scarred sky. Aeldari and Krork vessels traded fire with Necron ships, their burning hulks raining down upon the planet's surface.
Surveying the carnage around him, Kha'resh-Mehk issued a command: "Log our coordinates. Prepare for stasis." He kicked aside the mutilated corpse of an Old One, its runic tattoos still glowing faintly.
For He recieved Orders from the Silent King.
As his warriors carried out his orders, Kha'resh reflected on the war's end. "We have enslaved the false gods, the C'tan. We have annihilated those who denied us immortality. And now these upstart races dare to challenge us? The gall."
He chuckled, a sound like grinding metal. "Foolish Szarekh. You sent my Dynasty as a vanguard, hoping to extinguish us because I dared to challenge your throne. Yet here I stand, my foes beneath my feet, the C'tan in chains."
Kha'resh approached his coffin, a great sarcophagus emblazoned with the symbol of his Dynasty and intricate Necron glyphs. As he prepared to enter, he cast one last look at the star-strewn sky.
"The universe and its beauty," he mused. "Too bad this metallic, soulless body can only calculate information in cold, hard logic. Damn the C'tan for taking our souls."
He stepped into the sarcophagus. "Initiate the Great Sleep. Upon my awakening, I shall restore the Necrons to greatness."
As the coffin sealed shut, trillions of Necrons across the galaxy entered their long slumber. The War in Heaven had ended, but Kha'resh-Mehk's ambitions were far from extinguished. In the depths of his artificial mind, plans formed and calculations ran. When he next opened his eyes, the galaxy would tremble before the Sahkar-Tet Dynasty.
Author's notes: I like Necrons