Several days earlier.
Inside the Royal Court's conference chamber, one holographic projection after another rose around an ancient stone table. The Imperium's senior leaders arrived in succession to participate in this special remote conference.
Imperial Regent Bayev, Roboute Guilliman, Jaghatai Khan, the other Primarchs, Tako of the Ministry of Military Affairs, and the rest of the attendees all wore somber expressions.
This was an after-action review.
Hum.
When a new holographic projection appeared at the seat of honor, everyone rose and bowed respectfully.
It was the Imperium's sole ruler, the Savior and Emperor, Eden Grant.
As the Imperial armies advanced deeper into the Pariah Nexus, engineering divisions had destroyed the blackstone pylons along their route and constructed psychic network nodes to maintain reliable communications.
That allowed Eden to communicate more smoothly with the rest of the Imperium from within the Pariah Nexus and attend important conferences.
Conferences such as this review of the total war effort.
Eden's expression was solemn.
He swept his gaze across Bayev, Guilliman, and the others, then raised a hand and motioned for them to sit.
"We made several strategic mistakes during this total war against the Necrons. Those mistakes cost us numerous opportunities to achieve greater results."
After sitting, Eden immediately addressed the purpose of the meeting. His voice was grave.
"I must conduct a thorough review of my own decisions.
"I relied too heavily on previous experience and misjudged the overall strength of the Infinite Empire. As a result, our operational plan was far too conservative…"
"Your Majesty."
Tako, a senior official and Chief Secretary of the Ministry of Military Affairs, requested permission to speak.
He sounded deeply ashamed.
"This was not your responsibility. Our intelligence and secretariat divisions failed to conduct adequate research into the Necrons. The intelligence we gathered was incomplete.
"We must accept responsibility for that failure and correct our approach going forward."
Afterward, Guilliman and the other Primarchs spoke in turn, reviewing their own mistakes during the war.
After the human Imperium fought several genuine battles against the Silent King's elite forces, Eden discovered a serious problem.
The Necrons seemed considerably weaker than expected.
Tens of millions of years spent in slumber, the decay and loss of their weapons, and endless internal disorder had weakened them far too much.
They were no longer the terrifying hegemonic species that humanity remembered, the ancient rulers who had defeated the Old Ones, the Aeldari, the Orks, and even the C'tan.
At least from the Imperium's perspective, the Necrons were no longer an existential threat.
In short, the Imperium had entered the war expecting a desperate struggle, only to discover midway through the fighting that humanity had become terrifyingly powerful.
Their previous strategy had been far too cautious. They had failed to display humanity's true strength.
Naturally, that demanded a serious review and a complete revision of their strategy.
Once everyone had examined the campaign and summarized its successes and failures, Eden rose and delivered the final decision.
"Regardless of the circumstances, a mistake must be corrected.
"In every engagement, humanity has fielded the greater numbers against a smaller enemy force. The advantage is ours.
"From this moment forward, we will escalate the war on every front and end it as quickly as possible!"
Under the current circumstances, a prolonged war against the Necrons was no longer in humanity's best interests.
It would only give the Necrons more time to study humanity and develop specialized countermeasures. It would also expose more Imperial territories to surprise attacks, disrupting the Imperium's economy and industrial production.
In a sense, this decision was another form of caution.
Eden feared that the Necrons might grow stronger through their war with humanity.
The Silent King had already brought the Technomandrites under his control. They might begin following humanity's example and develop tactical weapons specifically designed to counter their enemies.
The Imperium had to secure a swift victory while humanity's current weapons retained their advantage over Necron technology.
Once the Savior issued his supreme directive, the entire Imperium erupted into activity.
More fleets received deployment orders and departed for the front.
Colossal wonders throughout numerous regions were also mobilized for the war against the Necrons, filling the local Imperial citizens with excitement and pride.
The logistics divisions were even more delighted. They had been struggling to find a way to absorb the sudden explosion in the Imperium's military production capacity.
Now they could pour weapons and supplies into the war zones without restraint.
Even the elite security warriors employed by certain corporations were fortunate enough to receive places on the battlefield.
Organized by their corporations, they formed militia units in the Savior's name and marched to war.
More and more Imperial armies poured into the hundreds, perhaps thousands, of war zones spread across the Pariah Nexus.
The western reaches of the Pariah Nexus.
Seen from above, the once-lightless sea of stars now erupted with blossom after blossom of flame.
Tomb fleets were warring against one another.
The fires of battle had already been ignited and were spreading toward the center of the Pariah Nexus.
"The decisive battle is approaching."
Eden reasserted control over his living-metal clone body and looked up at the distant fires burning across the void.
After deciding to escalate the war on every front, he had also accelerated the expansion of his Ramesses Dynasty and the Holy Soul Cult.
The Lord of Hope no longer concealed himself. He had openly declared war against both the Silent King and Imotekh the Stormlord.
In other words, the previously established plan to attack them from two sides would remain largely unchanged.
The more thoroughly the Infinite Empire was divided, and the more strength its factions exhausted fighting one another, the sooner humanity could end the war.
Eden's ultimate objective was to weaken and rule the Necrons, transforming them into a species that posed no danger to humanity.
After all, the Necrons possessed some of the finest interstellar travel technology in existence, and their entire species was effectively immortal.
Eradicating them quickly and completely would be unimaginably difficult.
They could withdraw their entire species from the galaxy, just as the Silent King had once done, then wait for an opportunity to return and exact their revenge.
They possessed limitless time and energy with which to develop methods of destroying humanity.
That made them a threat the Imperium could never afford to ignore.
The best solution was to bring them under his control, just as he had done with the T'au Empire and the Drukhari.
"My love, our people are waiting for you," Farakh reminded him.
The Phaerakh and consort of the Lord of Hope gazed at him affectionately as she straightened his ornate robes.
These Necrons who worshiped the New God had become increasingly expressive. They were already little different from true living beings.
Eden had even begun to suspect that the Necrons had not been completely stripped of all sensation. Perhaps their senses and emotions had merely been suppressed by some manifestation of the C'tan's power.
The emotion virus had provided a breach in that suppression, allowing their feelings to return.
One thing was certain, however.
The Necrons' flesh had long since been taken from them, and their souls were so severely mutilated that almost nothing remained.
Consequently, they could draw no power from the Warp and could not enter that realm.
Whether that was a blessing or a tragedy was difficult to say.
"You will claim the Dais of Dominion and restore life to our people…"
Farakh believed in that future with all her being.
The New God had allowed her and countless other Necrons to experience emotion and truly live again.
One day, she might even be able to bear Charles's descendants.
That was the promise Eden had made to the Necrons.
They would live as their ancestors had before Biotransference. They would once again possess flesh, souls, and the hope of passing their bloodlines to future generations.
No new life had been born among the Necrons for tens of millions of years.
Their entire species was stagnant and lifeless, utterly devoid of vitality.
That was precisely why they had become increasingly extreme, with their behavior often leaning toward the extermination of other living beings.
"All of that will change."
Eden accepted the scepter Farakh offered him and walked toward the palace balcony.
He intended to conquer the Necrons, but not through destruction and slaughter.
He would bring them new hope and transform their society from the bottom up.
That would completely overturn the inclinations and beliefs of their species.
It was a deeper form of conquest, one that would thoroughly remake the Necrons and guide them toward a new future.
When Eden stepped onto the palace balcony, he saw an immense crowd stretching all the way to the far end of the plaza.
Necrons had gathered below and were looking up at the Lord of Hope. Many among them were beings of the highest rank.
Even the Phaerons and Overlords rose from their Catacomb Command Barges to show their respect.
Eden felt a surge of emotion.
Throughout his advance into the Pariah Nexus, he had given these Necrons emotion and hope, earning their complete support.
They were the "votes" that would eventually place him upon the Dais of Dominion.
If more than half of the Necron dynasties supported him as the Lord of Hope, and he also possessed the backing of humanity's armies, then even a united Silent King and Stormlord could not challenge his rule over the Necrons.
As his support grew, more Phaerons and Overlords would recognize the shifting balance of power.
Even if they rejected his beliefs, they would eventually join his faction to preserve their own dynasties.
Before the decisive battle arrived, Eden had to win over even more supporters.
Every new supporter increased his probability of victory and reduced the number of human lives that would be lost in the war.
Eden looked down upon the vast ranks of Necrons below.
He could clearly see the longing in the eyes of those living-metal beings.
It was a longing for life.
They yearned to escape the eternal, empty torment of their existence.
"Noble members of my people, I am the Lord of Hope, the one true messenger of the New God, and the guide who shall lead you into the future."
Eden's voice carried across the plaza through specially constructed amplifiers.
"We were once a noble species possessed of souls. We knew the wonders of life.
"Look at what we have become. The Necrontyr have been reduced to this miserable state. We cannot perform even the simple act of breathing. We cannot experience the world around us. Everything we possess has become meaningless.
"This tragic suffering must end. The Necrontyr need a capable new ruler who can change everything!"
Eden paused.
"Szarekh?
"He was the C'tan's lackey, a failure, and the one responsible for the Necrontyr's suffering!"
As the speech continued, Eden began his customary ritual of humiliating his opponents and undermining their authority.
"Look at his disgraceful conduct! He fled beyond the galaxy and hid there for millions of years, leaving the Necrontyr to rust inside their tombs, yet he still claimed he was waiting for the right opportunity!"
"A weak failure! A coward who can do nothing but hide behind the Dais of Dominion and pretend to be mysterious! A traitor without honor! The Sleepy King!"
Eden had grown accustomed to inventing nicknames for the Silent King.
Through constant repetition and relentless verbal attacks, he sought to dismantle Szarekh's prestige.
As he spoke, he even projected insulting images of the Silent King, performed by other Necrons imitating Szarekh in humiliating poses.
Such direct mockery was far more effective at eroding the majestic image the Silent King had cultivated over the ages.
After all, Eden was not trying to win over only the Phaerons and Overlords.
He also needed the support of the lower and middle ranks of Necron warriors who had regained their emotions.
Naturally, Eden had invented nicknames for the Stormlord as well, including "Dimotekh."
Most of his attacks, however, remained focused on the Silent King.
"How can we possibly rebuild the Infinite Empire while following a coward and vermin like Szarekh?
"Rise! Follow the New God! Follow me, the Lord of Hope! Drive out the Sleepy King and throw him from the Dais of Dominion!
"No one understands the Necrontyr better than I do! No one knows how to win better than I do! And no one knows better than I do how to make the Infinite Empire great again!"
Eden raised his scepter and proclaimed his vow before all the Necrons.
The entire gathering erupted into cheers.
Countless voices shouted slogans demanding the downfall of the Sleepy King.
Their emotions burned with incredible intensity.
Now that they possessed feelings, these beings understood exactly which ruler they should support.
They knew that neither the Silent King nor the Stormlord would tolerate the existence of the New God.
Neither would allow them to restore their flesh and souls in this manner.
At the Lord of Hope's call, Phaerons, Overlords, and countless other Necrons boarded their tomb ships.
The enormous armada surged toward a region of the Pariah Nexus.
Their destination was one of the Silent King's strongholds, the ancestral crownworld of the Szarekhan Dynasty.
The Szarekhan Dynasty had held a position of immense importance among the Necrontyr since before the War in Heaven.
Every Silent King had been a member of that dynasty, including Szarekh, who proclaimed himself the last Silent King.
After the War in Heaven, Szarekh had feared retaliation from the ascendant Aeldari.
Once he declared that the Necrons would enter the Great Sleep, he took his armies and exiled himself beyond the galaxy. He had returned only a few centuries ago.
As a result, many Necron dynasties awakened believing that the Silent King had abandoned them.
In retaliation, they attacked and destroyed numerous worlds belonging to the Szarekhan Dynasty.
The Szarekhan Dynasty had remained powerful, however.
Its armies repelled every attempt at revenge and endured until the Silent King returned to restore its rule.
After returning to the Szarekhan Dynasty, the Silent King immediately began working to reunify the Infinite Empire.
He established a new stronghold at the center of the Pariah Nexus and began constructing a network of blackstone pylons intended to span the galaxy.
The failure of the Necrons to unite could be traced directly back to the Silent King himself.
As Eden often said during his daily attacks on Szarekh, more than half of the Necrontyr's dangers and suffering had been caused by the Sleepy King.
Now that Eden had called the dynasties under his command to declare war against the Silent King, their first target would be the crownworld of the Szarekhan Dynasty.
Although the planet was not Szarekh's primary stronghold within the Pariah Nexus, it was still his dynasty's ancestral tomb world.
Under normal circumstances, that crownworld lay deep within the Silent King's most important territories and was defended by formidable forces.
Even the Stormlord would have found it difficult to penetrate that region and capture the planet.
The other dynasties would never have dared make the attempt. None could withstand the Silent King's inevitable retaliation.
But now they had an opportunity that might never come again.
Most of the Silent King's core armies had been committed to the front lines, and he had not yet fully mobilized every dynasty under his authority.
If Eden moved quickly enough, he could raid the Silent King's ancestral crownworld and seize the wealth and ancient relics stored within.
The Szarekhan Dynasty had ruled the Necrontyr for tens of millions of years.
The Silent King had undoubtedly transferred a considerable quantity of resources when constructing his new central territories, but there were probably still plenty of valuable treasures left in the dynasty's vaults.
Szarekh was simply too arrogant to believe that anyone within his territory would dare covet his treasury.
Eden had selected the Szarekhan Dynasty as his first target after declaring war.
Calling upon the dynasties under his command to attack its crownworld would allow them to plunder its wealth, but it would also serve as the first step toward shattering the Silent King's authority.
Eden intended to broadcast the entire assault live.
In fact, he had already transmitted the recording of his speech and declaration of war through the Necron pulse network.
"Szarekh should have received the pulse recording I sent by now, shouldn't he?"
Eden smiled at the thought.
He knew the Silent King was probably beginning to panic.
(End of Chapter)
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