Camouflaged Zero
Where the sun crosses the field of blood.
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Alright, I've gotten around to finish it!
I warn you, it's really long. The first part (the long part) deals with the history of Danai and their current Phaeron O'izys. The second, shorter part regards the Imperial view of them, how they behave on the battlefield, their heraldry etc.
Even if you don't read it all, I'd be happy to hear a comment on what part you read and what you thought of it ^^
So, without further ado:
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The history of the Necrontyr is one steeped in deception and betrayal, but moreso even the Danai dynasty.
The Danai dynasty was a smaller dynasty that developed in the north-westernmost fringe of the galaxy, on the outer rim of Segmentum Obscurus. Originally they were an offbranch to Sautekh, but now hold little regards for their parental dynasty, and would gladly refuse a call-to-arms just to prove their independence.
Though small in terms of military power and generally unheard of by the large of the Necrontyrian empire, their albeit small fame laid in the recklessness of their warriors.
According to Danaian beliefs (as well as their parental dynasty), honour is the greatest virtue. However, unlike Sautekhs sense of honour (letting opponents evacuate before invasion among other things), Danai had a little more straightforward sense of honour; To fight individually, recklessly and seek to bring the demise of ever greater foes. The best Danaian warrior was the warrior whom held little regard to his Bladebrothers, fighting on an individual level with his own power. Eventually this brought about a combat style all of it's own where groups of few elite warriors would band together an train, eventually learning to fight synchronizedly with the others, yet still only fending for themselves in a style of concerted ferociousness. But what every Danaian warrior sought was to stare death in the eye, to stand as close to his death as possible, for it is then that they, driven by desperation and determination, fought their best. The closer to death they came, the harder they fought. This techinque of fighting was trained into every warrior, and each of them hoped for the day when they'd encounter their own worthy opponent, and stand on the brink of death only to grant Death his foe instead.
And for those opponents truly not worthy of being attacked, like civilians, the Danaians simply ignored them. There was no fighting-honour to be had, to chance of standing on the verge of death. So to a Danaian, there was simply no reason to fight them.
The only cases to prove different were times when higher ranked Overlords from other dynasties ordered it, and even then the Danaiians shunned it. To them, it was dishonourable, and not because they were killing defenceless civilians, but because killing such low beings were below their dignity. Like killing bugs not worthy of death. It was disgusting.
And that was the way of life of the small dynasty Danai. Every warrior, be it of assault units, ranged units or even battlefield commanders held this form of honour close to their hearts. Indeed, every child, no matter if they were going to grow up as warriors or civilians, had this doctrine taught from early life, and so came to define their culture. Even higher ranks such as Lord, Nemesor or Vargard where often won by individuals zealously following the doctrine and surviving. Indeed, many Lords where truly not more than mighty warriors.
This doctrine was both the strength and weakness of Danai. Foolish bravery became natural to most of the population, and as such they lost more soldiers than the other dynasties in wars. Indeed, the cause for them to never rise to even mediocre level of influence in the Necrontyrian empire was due to the fact that they could not expand - their population was not sufficient.
And then came the War in Heaven.
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Although they would not confess it, most of the Danaians found this a joyful day. After defending themselves from both military and political assaults from other dynasties due to the nature of the fractured empire, a common and worthy opponent was truly a treat. Their previous main adversary, a dynasty called Vadataid, would no longer bother them. And so, Danai focused all it's power to fight the Old Ones. The combined forces of the Necrontyr were awesome to behold. Danai employed many daredevil tactics, relying more on the individual members of their dynasty than war-machines. However, this caused them to many times end up in dire situations, barely getting out and suffering many losses. And every battle their Phaeron led the assaults himself, the most prestigous warrior with his elite Lychguard. Many times the Danaian armies managed to escape defeat and death only by the zelousness the warriors fought in while endangered, especially to protect their Phaeron. They would not allow themselves to be defeated, and they pressed on, even though their forces were dwindling.
But such daredevil tactics are largely reliant on luck, and it did not take long before they ended up in a situation were not zelousness, nor stubbornness nor extreme combat prowess could save them. They were making a last stand, their Phaeron encouraging his warriors not to fight to survive, but to make sure that they die putting up a worthy fight. The Orks pressed on from all sides, crashing into the Lychguard shieldwall. Warriors and Immortals held the higher ground after the shieldwall. With every Danaian warrior so close to their demise, their feats were great enough to become a legend themselves, yet it was not enough. However, as the hour of death came close, reinforcements appeared.
Reinforcements from Vadataid saved the Danaian Phaeron and his closest brethren, though many of his kin had died that day.
It was later revealed that the Vadataid had not known that the Danaians were there, but they were making planetfall to scout for Ork incursions. Little had they expected to find the Danaians. The Danaian Phaeron thanked the Vadataid Phaeron by presenting his blade to him*. And that day, a great friendship was forged.
During the following clashes, Danai always worked in unison with Vadataid. Danai would take the front with their reckless charges and zelous fighting, and after a while Vadataid would harass through the flank of the enemy with Doom Scythes before teleporting in Monoliths to begin their flank assault.
But it was not enough, and the Necrontyrian empire lost. But Vadataid's and Danai's friendship had persisted throughout the centuries the war had lasted.
(*An act showing great respect, done when a warrior faced his superior. The act also gives the promise that the previous owner of the blade will try to surpass this man he has given his blade to. When the new owner of the blade feels that the previous has managed just this, he returns the blade. Danaian tradition. )
And then came the C'tan.
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During the time that the Silent King had been pondering whether to accept the C'tans offer of unity and immortality, Danai's current Phaeron had already decided his stance to it. His name was O'izys, and to him, this "biotransference" was the perfect next step for Danai. Every warrior would be able to perfect his skills for eternity, as well as forego conventional armour for a body that was armour itself.
But there was another dynasty that did not accept this, and that was Vadataid. The current Vadataid Phaeron Horkus did not trust these "C'tan", nor did he think eternal life was the way to go. It was dishonourable, and would change his people too much. They were the Necrontyr, they were already supreme.
And then the Silent King accepted the offer.
Long did Horkus avoid biotranseference. O'izys tried convincing Horkus to accept biotransference, that it wasn't too late, but he would not listen. So he deviced a plan. He would not have his Bladebrother die a meaningless death when the greatest of times for the Necrontyrian empire was at their threshold. He would force Vadataid to accept biotransference, and then Horkus would understand that it is truly the right thing to do, the best step for the Necrontyr.
And so one day, Vadataid got a message from Danai. Danai wanted to join forces with Vadataid to stand against this "biotransference", Horkus had convinced O'izys. Horkus rejoiced, and accepted. With his whole army, compromising every Necrontyr of his dynasty capable of wielding a weapon, he met Danai and O'izys upon the planet of Adiki, a planet with a large bio-furnace that they according to plan were going to destroy. Both dynasties met there in the flesh, a trait growing more and more rare amongst the Necrontyr these days. Horkus was glad to have found his ally in these times of madness.
Yet his joy remained not for long, for a great cloud came towards them out of nowhere, from every direction. Mindshackle scarabs. The two dynasties did what they could to refrain from falling under the control of whomever sent these, yet the scarabs were too many. Though they seemed to only attack the Vadataid forces.
And in the midst of the chaos stood O'izys and Horkus, looking at each other.
"Forgive me, Bladebrother, but this has to be done!"
"O'izys! I'd have none of your excuses, traitor!"
"You'll see, Horkus, the Necrontyr will reign supreme once this is through! That I promise you!"
"You've already shown me what your promise is worth!"
"I won't have you die just before our golden age, Bladebrother!"
And with those words, O'izys picked up his oversized Warscythe he always wields for battle, and Horkus grabbed his two Voidblades.
The Warscythe descended. Horkus nimbly dodged to the side, swatted some scarabs, before feinting a blow with his left Voidblade only to strike with the right. O'izys foresaw this, and parried with his Warscythe's handle before sweeping at Horkus. Horkus ducked under, before striking up from under, although O'izys managed to sidestep away from the blow.
And so they exchanged blows for long. The scarabs wouldn't attack Horkus, O'izys would give him that honour... But it was clear to him that they were very even. And so he made a bet.
He let Horkus next strike get through, only to ensure that his Warscythe would connect. Horkus struck him, cutting a deep wound down the right side of his face. O'izys lost his right eye, but his plan had worked. Horkus suffered a near-fatal wound.
"I'm sorry, blademate. This has to be done. I promise you, it is the right thing to do, and if I'm wrong I'll visit your homeworld of Achlyz and, on my knee, swear submission in exchange for forgiveness, for I am certain this is the road to Necrontyr supremacy at last!" Were the last words Horkus heard before he fainted from his wounds. And with every other Vadataidan warrior mindshackled, or defeated, they set off to the nearby bio-furnaces.
And thus, it came to be that everyone in both the Vadataidan and the Danaian dynasty went into the bio-furnaces, their bodies exchanged for living metal and their minds with programming. O'izys decided to honour the fight between him and Horkus by making sure his new body would retain that right-eye scare as well as view on only one eye. That was the least he could do.
It was first many years later he started to realize it. His dynasty-brethren were gradually losing themselves. They more and more often seemed to lack sentient abilities, and he felt it too. Like if there was supposed to be an ache at the back of his head, yet it felt like void. He couldn't quite place his finger on what was missing, but one thing he knew for sure: He had been wrong. O'izys promised himself that as soon as possible, he'd travel to the Vadataidan homeworld and fulfill that promise he made to atone, for he was truly ridden by regret over this mistake. It was no small mistake, he'd doomed his Bladebrother to a horrible, eternal fate. Regret and grief took a hard toll on him, but he had to push these feelings away for now, for he was under the Silent Kings control due to the Command Protocols. So was his whole dynasty, and so was Horkus and his dynasty... due to O'izys.
So he had no choice but to continue the war in heaven, had no time to fulfill his promise. And it was clear to him that Horkus blamed O'izys for his treachery, and felt sadness over the betrayal of his Bladebrother. He had broken the vow their ancestors had made so many generations ago, when Vadataid recieved the Danai Phaeron's blade, which they still kept in their vault, locked away as the sacred relic it is. Yet he would probably accept the apology of O'izys, for their friendship was too strong to be severed by this... But only if O'izys kept his promise and repented.
But the war waged on, the Necrons prevailed over both the Old Ones and the C'tan, and before the was any time for a meeting between the two Phaerons, they had to escape into stasis forced by the Silent King. The they were free from the Command Protocols.
Sixty millions of years later, O'izys woke up. He found his Crone world Algea in disarray; tectonic shifts had damaged part of the core processor. But as the memories came back to him, he remembered. He had failed the vow, betrayed his Bladebrother, dooming him and his dynasty to a damned eternity, and now he had to fulfill his promise if he were ever to be able to forgive himself and be forgiven. For even now, his mind was haunted by the regret and grief he had felt just before he entered stasis. But the promise would prove to be harder to hold than expected.
The Dolmen Gates leading to the exits closest to Achlyz were destroyed, and the starmaps were either corrupted or incomplete. And worst of all, even O'izys memory engrams had suffered. Most of the losses were trivial things, things about his youth, details of the War in Heaven. Other memories had been mixed up and blended together, and he did not truly know what to make of these. Sometimes he'd notice his past memories even blend into the now, and he'd see the past before him, not knowing if it's real or not. But among these things, neither he could navigate to Achlyz anymore.
He inspected what other damage had happened. Luckily his legions had fared rather well. For such a small Dynasty as his, a permanent loss of a large number warriors would be truly crippling. As he inspected the surface, he found it almost just as he left it, his green crystallic homeworld, untouched by lower races from what he could see. That was good.
And so, he woke up his legions, and embarked on a journey to find Achlyz.
But 60 million years is a long time, and many things can happen. Either by a miscalculation, xeno meddling or some other unaccounted for factor, the sun Vadataid's homeworld had been orbiting went supernova earlier than expected, devouring the world and all it's denizen. Vadataid is no more.
Ofcourse, O'izys doesn't know this.
He launched his crusade to find Achlyz again, to uphold his promise and hope for forgiveness and an end to this emotional which gnaws at his mind day and night.
He surely will encounter many alien races on his search, especially if they happen to inhabit a planet resembling Vadataid. If these xenos would prove worthy of battle, he won't let the chance go by for him to keep honouring the Danai traditions, as well as letting his warriors hone their skills, although they still consider civilians to disgusting to be killed.
And so it came to be that the small, insignificant dynasty of Danai, on the northwestern fringe of the galaxy set out to find their former Bladeborthers. But it matters not how many times they search the galaxy through, for Vadataid is no more. It was destroyed in a most cruel twist of fate.
And O'izys will never be able to uphold his promise, and he will never be forgiven. He will never see his Bladebrother again, even as he keeps seeking through the galaxy. And he cannot stop, for a warrior's promise must be upheld at all costs, and he cannot stand the regret and grief, the pain of his past haunting him, and he cannot escape it, for even death is impossible for him now. Even if a Necron brethren informs him of the demise of Vadataid, he will not listen to them, for he has to search, as long as there is hope for even a part or a single member of Vadataid to have survived, he must find it. And even if all hope is gone, he has sworn to do it.
He is doomed to travel the galaxy forever in his grief.
That is the story of the Danaian Dynasty. That is the story of O'izys, the Unforgiven.
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Heraldry:
Silver: Torso, thigh plates, calf plates, upper arm plates, forearm plates, hands, feet, head.
Gold: Shoulderpads, elbow joint, knee joint, chest crest, pelvis, upper spine, weapon's blade.
Dark metallic: Wrists, shoulders, lower spine, hip joint, ancle, gun.
Green light: Eyes, weapon energy chamber.
After several encounters with Danai, it has been observed that the colour black is used to denote position within the Necron hierarchy. Servants (Spyders, Scarabs, Wraiths) recieve no black at all upon them. Necron warriors get a black stripe outlining their shoulderpads. Destroyers, Immortals, Tomb Blades and Deathmarks recieve the outlining too as well as several black outlines on their chest etc. Lycheguard has whole black segments.
Lesser Lords and Crypteks differ in heraldry, but to most of them black is more of an primary colour rather than tertiary. The Overlord even more so.
Encounters:
Danai has been seen travelling the Segmentun Obscurus and it's borders in a seemingly random pattern. Occasionally they descend upon a planet and decimate the Imperial forces there, but leaving cities, civilians, mines, farms and crops generally unharmed. Rarely they will force their way downwards, towards the planet's core, but in either case they'll retreat to their ships after whater foul business they have is finished. Generally this process is too quick for off-planet military forces to arrive before the Necrons leave.
Notable characters:
So far the only noteworthy Necron encountered is their leader, reportedly calling himself O'izys, the Unforgiven.
Distinctions: Beside the Danai heraldry, O'izys carry an abnormally large warscythe and his right eye is damaged and non-functional. In battle he is seen striding across the battlefield with his Lycheguard delegation, seeking out the toughest of foes and hardest of armour.
According to reports, there has been a number of incidents where O'izys has faced a strong, possibly equal, opponent, and for some reason this causes for an apparent malfunction in O'izys circuit. He starts to cry out in his foul xeno tongue. During the latest few times, we have equipped stoic individuals with audio-recording data-slates before battle with Danai, and we have managed to record these outbursts.
Deciphering has not yielded much, but the phrase "Forgive me!" is heard throughout, followed by some hierarchic title we cannot translate. Occasional cries of "Horkus!" are also recorded, along with some promise he has made, and something he grieves over. However, just before delivering the fatal blow, the same phrase is heard every single time. We use questionmarks to denote undecipherable words:
"I'm sorry, (???). This has to be done. I promise you, it is the right thing to do, and if I'm wrong I'll (???) your homeworld of (???) and, on my knee, swear (???) in exchange for forgiveness, for I am certain this is the road to (???) supremacy at last!"
The importance of this phrase is yet to be understood, but I have a feeling that with proper investigation we could find a glaring weakness in the Danai dynasty.
Battle-style:
The most obvious differentiation between Danai and other Necrons are the lack of war-machines. Whilst they use them from time to time, they seem to refrain from it as much as they can.
Instead, they field an elite of foot-soldiers. Warriors tend to be left behind to do the dirty work whilst Immortals and Destroyers grant firepower. Scarabs are used to deal with vehicles commonly, and Deathmarks appear to take out an monster or elite unit upon the battlefield. But there are two units more noteworthy than the rest.
The first one is also found throughout other dynasties, it's the Overlord leading a unit of sword-and-shield Lycheguard into the fray, oftimes trying to accomplish foolish feats.
The other is a unit of lesser Lords, all wielding warscythes, marching up. Whilst being composed of few individuals, the survivability and stubborness of these make them formidable opponents, and if they should reach the line of defence, their warscythes will make short work of our defenders.
If encountering Danai on a battlefield, these units are top-priority. Destroy them at any cost before they reach the battleline.
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So, that's it! All C&C warmly welcomed!
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