106, no, deep within Somas, Nas silently kneeled at the top of the pyramid stairs.
Khaseros was lowering its head, looking at its Regent.
The Deathlord's body was taller than the average Necron slave, made of smooth flawless living metal that composed Khaseros. The markings of the Necrons were on its body, signifying its higher noble status.
But Nas knew everything was already over.
The long period of time, suddenly interrupted slumber, adding both together, Nas no longer harbored much hope.
But it was still loyally kneeling there.
"My Lord Regent,"
Khaseros' voice slowly glided through the dark crypts, the dark and dry tombs devoid of life.
For Nas this was good news, the King's sanity might still remain,
Khaseros slowly blinked its eyes,
It was sitting in the viewing box of the military training grounds, slaves poured fine wine for it. Khaseros watched its younger brother Outix, it was still too weak, caring too much about life. No matter what kind of life.
This made its younger brother seem boorish, without manners.
The Necrontyr only needed death, their brief lives could only embrace death.
Khaseros needed to teach its younger brother a lesson.
It looked at the warriors training on the military training grounds, these elites would form the formidable armies of the Necrontyr.
"Stop,"
Khaseros said, the light from the stars made it feel dizzy,
Nas looked up puzzled, staring at the King standing at the top of the tomb.
"Line up in descending order based on the number of opponents you've defeated in combat,"
Nas tried to understand the King's order for a bit, then it relayed the order, requesting the guards behind it to line up according to the King's instructions.
The King walked down the stairs unhurriedly.
Khaseros walked unhurriedly to the front of the line formed by the warriors. It saw the shocked look in its younger brother's eyes.
Its younger brother was still lacking manners. They were Kings, whatever they did to these lower lifeforms was their prerogative.
Its younger brother Outix needed to realize this as soon as possible, only then could it become a qualified heir apparent.
[No, no, they've already been exiled.]
Its younger brother looked at it in shock.
Nas silently followed behind the King, of course Nas knew what the King was going to do.
It was through countless selections like these that Nas survived.
Countless peers died, yet Nas lived, so it went from a slave, to a Regent second only to the King.
Khaseros nodded its head solemnly, then shot every other warrior in the head.
The fallen Necrontyr would not rise again.
The fallen Necrons would soon be able to get back up under resurrection protocols, the guards enjoyed resurrection rights higher than regular Necrons.
"I need to make you understand two things,"
Khaseros spoke solemnly,
"First, the Necrontyr do not fear death, death is just an inevitable fact."
Every Necrontyr would die, it was the curse buried deep in their genes.
"Second, although we are heirs apparent to Unas' throne, in the face of death, we are no different than these warriors."
Khaseros hoped deeply its younger brother could become the ruler of their dynasty. After Unas died, they would lead a massive Necron dynasty.
It turned its head, wanting to stare sternly into its younger brother's eyes, to tell Outix of its painstaking care, even if the blood seeping from the Necrontyr corpses were about to dirty its shoes.
Its younger brother looked at it vacantly,
"We can't die anymore, brother."
"No more death."
The blood disappeared.
Khaseros turned its head blankly, it saw its Regent Nas,
"Why am I here? Why am I awake?"
Nas lowered its head deeply,
"Lord Unas exiled you, and just now, your tomb's guards discovered traces of what seems to be C'tan shards, so your consciousness was awakened prematurely."
Ah, Unas, Unas.
It could no longer die, so naturally it had no need for heirs.
Khaseros was exiled, after its exiled younger brother.
It had been convincing itself that its younger brother was exiled for being unqualified.
But when it itself was thrown from the upper levels of the pyramid, it didn't even have guards accompanying it equal to what its younger brother had.
Unas was wary of it, the slaves it slaughtered in the past handed Unas enough blades.
Khaseros knew it would return, the throne belonged to it and its younger brother, not Unas.
That undying old one.
It needed to accumulate power, it couldn't alert the snake in the grass. Unas would not allow it to develop its own army, that cunning and brutal ruler would always be watching them.
And this premature awakening, it could do something.
Khaseros stared at Nas' lowered head, lost in thought.
C'tan Shards
"Give me information on the Disturbers of Tranquility."
Khaseros spoke, Nas complied,
The radiation source marked as C'tan shards was quite fuzzy. Khaseros realized dissatisfiedly that perhaps this was just a misidentification.
Its younger brother smiled at it, as if expecting Khaseros to lead a dynasty with it.
It couldn't be careless.
"Prepare the ship."
"I will go take a look myself."
Nas felt its circuits shudder. Its duty was to protect the King. Now the King's situation clearly wasn't suitable to take to the front lines personally.
Although nobles were willing to personally take to the front lines to lead battles. They stood at the forefront, leading their armies forward.
But now, clearly Nas couldn't allow the King to do this.
"My Liege, please allow me to undertake this task in your stead."
Nas lowered its head even more, it was almost kissing the ground.
"Those lowly flesh and blood creatures are not worth your effort."
Upon hearing this, Khaseros waved its hand irritably. Although it had killed many Necrontyr slaves, unlike its younger brother, it didn't attach much emotion to the act.
So it didn't immediately execute Nas.
"Then go,"
Khaseros spoke arrogantly,
"But don't startle the snake in the grass, don't let Unas notice you."
"I want all the information on that signal, that fleet. I want it intact."
"If it truly is a C'tan Shard, then don't startle it. They are very cunning, disguising themselves as other races."
"If it isn't, then I still want complete information on them."
If it was possible to disguise as the C'tan, this would also play a key role during future battles with Unas.
Nas still wanted to say something, but ultimately it didn't say anything. It looked at the King complicatedly, then turned to leave, preparing its fleet.
"A dead man,"
"Or another political failure driven mad."
It said,
"That little Regent is rather interesting, but worthless."
"Then I have nothing holding me back."
The Khaseros here is completely made up by me.
[Original author note : It had a younger brother in canon, it doesn't, so I just started making things up.]