The Vault of Pansophicality

Chapter #2: Incursion

Hekehtar watched the battling below, seeing monoliths descend through the atmosphere. He gripped his Eldritch Lance tightly as another sharpened pain went through his mind, though not enough to trigger a reaction like the one that occurred on Naogeddon. Easing up now, he watched Szephrul communicate with battlefield tacticians and commanders before getting up from his command chair. He relinquished command temporarily to a Royal Warden as he heaved himself up with his warscythe and called Arshivosa to his side as they left to assist the ground forces. As he did, Hekehtar and his Crypteks followed behind. Approaching teleportation chambers, Szephrul gathers a large contingent of Necron Immortals and Warriors as the Crypteks gather their Cryptothralls and Despoteks. Umbrahktep quickly got Vrutukarn as this occurred and upon doing so, he too assembled in the chambers. With the activation of translation protocols, they phased out of the ship and appeared behind allied battlelines.

As they appeared, they saw the Necrodermal behemoth that was Zahndrekh's Megalith. A mobile command center, troop-transporter, and mobile weapons platform, the Megalith dwarfed other vehicles in size as it hovered far above the battlefield, raining hell down from its turrets and particle whips. Szephrul rallied Arshivosa and his troops as they departed to their desired location, and in manners characteristic to Szephrul while on the battlefield, he left without communicating his plans. Hekehtar stood up of course, guiding Kaermohn-keht to assist the old general Zahndrekh as an advisor, before organizing Umbrahktep's and Galvetryze's forces into an agglomerated flank. Hekehtar needed no contingent himself, as a Plasmancer of his skill he carried enough knowledge in techno-sorcery to dispatch any assailants alone, thus he disembarked on his own.

Szephrul and Arshivosa walked through the battlefield. Szephrul understood the enemy's nature, the separatist Tomb World of Velyzahrten was known to have formidable warriors, bloodthirsty and battle-worshipping, they were a split-off from the Novokh Dynasty. Arshivosa surveyed a troop of Necron Warriors, bearing the crimson livery of a Novokh. She spoke up.

"My liege, how should we go about engaging this detachment?"

Szephrul spoke now.

"The plan's changing, Arshivosa. Zahndrekh hoards the glory of battles for him and his hound, I shall claim glory for the Sautekhs this battle not him. So, are you with me?"

Arshivosa paused before speaking.

"Of course, my lord. I shall follow you through a hailstorm of Gauss rays if it comes to it."

Szephrul nodded and spoke, before rallying his troops and plunging into the heart of the enemy, diverting from the path Zahndrekh assigned him to.

"Excellent, now with haste we'll cut through a ravine caused by tectonic ruptures, and plunge into the heart of the enemy, slay the Overlord, and solidify myself among the upper echelons of the Sautekh nobility."

Szephrul set upon his path, moving through upended Necrodermal plates and winding through patrols he's calculated and predicted beforehand. Though his treasonous ploy to accumulate glory does not go unnoticed, and Nemesor Zahndrekh begins to survey Szephrul. First, he believes it's some common battlefield tactic of rerouting but as he begins to put the pieces together, the wise general quickly understands Szephrul's motives and forces an auditory connection between both of them. Zahndrekh, along with his eccentric demeanor, spoke now to the lord.

"Szephrul, I ensure you that my fairest of friends, Obyron, makes a fine executioner so if you don't tell me how this act of defiance correlates with my strategy, there will be punishment."

Szephrul retorted now.

"Nemesor, in the end a battle is merely a series of results and statistics, yes? And results cannot be argued with, they are cold, hard and factual, correct?"