A blue sun burned above the scorched plains of Issis IV.
Below the shifting sands of the planet, the remnants of an outer tomb world once belonging to the Thokt Dynasty slumbered in their stasis tombs, as they had done so for countless millennia.
Soon they would awaken, and it was for this reason that the Pyrrhian emissaries had come, seeking to join the newly reanimated legions to their own forces... if not by wilful submission, then by force.
A curious seemingly half humanoid-half spider form stood silhouetted on the cusp of a plateau, silently observing the rolling dunes of the valley below him.
Heavy metal footfalls crunching stones to dust reactivated his audio sensors from standby mode, and he turned to meet the source of the sound.
“Ah, Overlord Anrakyr, you honor me with your--”
“Cease your pointless pleasantries, Cryptek,” interrupted the Necron general, “Unlike many of your previous clientele, I have not employed you to stroke my ego. I trust the upgrades have been completed?”
Illuminor Szeras deactivated his eloquence protocols, normally reserved for the Royal Courts of higher Necron nobility, and addressed the massive Warscythe wielding form standing before him in a grating digitized voice.
“Yes, Overlord. Your retinue of Eternals have been gifted with increased durability and resilience. Combined with the support of the Resurrection Orb your lieutenant carries, the primitive human marines should stand little chance against them.”
“Excellent,” the ancient robot emotionlessly responded, “You will be joining us to--”
“My Lord, I am no soldier. I would be of little--”
“That was no request, Cryptek,” Anrakyr shot back with what could have been easily misconstrued as anger, “I have paid handsomely for your services on this expedition, and I intend to have you earn your fee.”
“As you so order, my Overlord,” Szeras acquiesced with a gesture of subservience.
“Come. We make preparations to advance on the foe,” the general commanded, “Hopefully there will be one amongst them we may properly test these upgrades of yours against.”
The two metallic forms turned and made their way toward the awaiting strike force.

Meanwhile, a detachment of Dark Angels made their way across the barren landscape, having received a mission of supreme importance: rumors of a cache of alien technology. The planet was assumed dead, with no life or signs of encroachment detected. Never the less, the chapter master thought it fit to take a couple small squads of Deathwing Terminators as well as two Rhinos containing Tactical Marines, just in case. The Vindicator he brought along on the off chance that they encounter the way barred and need a reliable way to clear a path.

As the convoy passed over a sand dune, his trained eyes caught the glint of metal in the distance.
“All stop!” he bellowed into the vox in his Rhino. The dark green clad space marines came to a halt and looked around themselves warily.
The commander raised his field glasses to investigate the unexpected sight. Perhaps it was a trace of the technology cache they were searching for? It was in the approximate location. The scene he saw instead, he was completely unprepared for. What appeared to be a score of metal skeletons stood on the lip of the valley, staring directly back at him! One of them raised what looked to be a staff to the heavens, and suddenly the sky darkened, as the very sun itself seemed to extinguish.
“What sorcery is this!?” the Chapter Master exclaimed, “How can these abominations have command over the very stars?!”
He grabbed the vox radio and shouted,
“Gunner, to the north! On that ridge! Do you have a target?!”
“No, Chapter Master, all is dark!” came the voice through the receiver.
“Horrus damned!” he cursed, switching frequencies, “All units, advance. Keep vigilant, the enemy is out there.”

From around the side of a dune, a solitary robot strode barely noticeable toward the vehicles.
There was a flash of light from its eyes, and the center tank in the column suddenly came to life, its crew scrambling to figure out what had happened.
“Emergency! Weapons systems are no longer under our control! Targeting sensors are not responding to commands! The Machine Spirit! Something has... has... Emperor’s grace, no! Chapter Master, look out!”
Before the marine commander could comprehend the full scope of what was meant by the confusing message over his vox, a massive explosion ripped through the hull of his Rhino.
The crew of the Vindicator stared in disbelief at the smoldering wreckage before them, where not a moment earlier the transport vehicle of their leader had stood. Their own weapons had betrayed them and wrought the carnage they now saw.
They did not have to contemplate the image for long, however. A fraction of a second later, a sliver of inert metal traveling at incalculable speed pierced the side armour of their tank. It punctured the shell of a high explosive round, and the resulting explosion shook the entire battlefield.

Anrakyr stood alone in front of his retinue and admired his handiwork. If he were capable of smiling, this would have definitely been an occasion for it.
Looking on the debris of the foremost Rhino, his visual sensors detected signs of movement.
“Resilient vermin, these humans,” intoned the general in mock admiration.
He gestured to his Eternals, and tesla arcs scoured the wreck. Whatever had been moving previously was now still.

At the explosion, the remainder of the Dark Angels immediately spread out and took up defensive formations.
With their attention distracted, the arachnid form of a Triarch Stalker skittered over a hill and sized up the easternmost unit of terminators. They could hear the peculiar sound of its weaponry begin to charge before they were aware of its presence. Suddenly blazing heat scorched the armor of the veteran soldiers. When the torrent had ceased, they looked about themselves to see that all five members of the squad remained more or less living.
In defiance, their sergeant turned to mock the source of the beam, “HA! You think that can hurt us, you pathet--”
Instantly, from all across the battlefield dozens of green eyes turned to face the squad simultaneously, as the Stalker relayed their position to the rest of the Necron army. Glowing brightest amongst them were the targeting sensors of a group of Destroyers, silently gliding on unseen currents that held them aloft as the massive cannons attached to their arms were leveled and aimed.
“... Battle Brothers, it has been an honor to--”
The terminator’s voice was cut short by a hail of gauss fire.
After a moment the stream of green light stopped.
Not even so much as a single trace of gene seed remained.

Upon witnessing the deaths of his comrades, the driver of the remaining Rhino ordered his human cargo out and revved his engines, veering toward the vulnerable rear of the gargantuan alien construct. With the crunch of ceramite on living metal, the two warmachines collided and twisted into useless hunks of scrap.
Encouraged by the sight of such bravery, its previous occupants charged a nearby unit of metal Warriors that had taken part in the slaughter of their brethren and wiped them out to the last. Their apparent leader, a one eyed android carrying some manner of staff, attempted to crawl away, but was stomped to death by a flurry of power armored boots.

The westernmost squad of Terminators, aware that their brethren's lifesigns had ceased, felt their rage building within themselves. Catching sight of a large group of heavily armed troops, they opened up with their storm bolters. Four of the enemy fell. However, exuberance turned to frustration, as the marines witnessed two of the felled troops pick themselves up off of the ground and rejoin their squad.

Silently, the shining metallic bodies of the Eternals advanced upon the unit of Terminators. Eight perfectly carved statues of silver remained, adorned with gold decorative patterns indicating their elevated station. The center of the wall of metal men divided, and three distinct figures made their way forward. To the left was the multi-limbed Illuminor, single eye blazing with a fiery glow that could not be viewed directly, so fierce was its brightness. To the right, a large and imposing shape draped in an ornate cape carried a crackling warscythe in one hand, and a glowing orb in the other. In their center stood a giant of a robot, its body covered the traces of a millennia worth of battle.
For a moment, Anrakyr simply stared at the marines before him, as a snake would stare at a rodent. The moment passed, and the ancient general gestured in the space marine’s direction. Immediately, tesla carbines were brought to bear by the remaining Eternals, and blue arcs of lightning shot out to electrocute the troops before them. Even the roar of an Eldritch Lance could be heard, as Szeras contributed what he could to the volley. After the crackle of lightning finally ceased, two of the brave humans lay dead.
Anrakyr raised his impossibly large warscythe, pointing it at the remaining terminators, and his Eternals adopted what appeared to be a running stance. Wordlessly, the Necron command squad suddenly bore down on their prey, with unnatural speed.
Filled with righteous fever as their foes closed, the human Sergeant raised his hammer above his head, bellowing, “DIE, XENO SC--SC--” then suddenly turned to swing his weapon down on the helmet of the squad mate beside him.
“Brother! What are you doing?!” screamed the final terminator, but it was to no avail. The vile nano-scarabs carried by the Necron Lord had managed to invade their victim’s mind, turning the will of their commander to the whim of the Necron puppet master controlling him. The bewildered man turned in time to see his reflection shining off of the face of the Lord before him as a gently humming warscythe passed through his chest armour with no resistance.

The terminator Sergeant, finally regaining sentience, awoke to find his squad decimated. Reason giving way to rage, he struck out at the closest thing to him, the four legged abomination with the single glowing eye. In a sweeping arc, he brought his hammer down with force enough to fuse carbon to diamond, and the spider-thing crumpled under his blow. Before he could turn to continue his assault, however, his torso was shorn in half by the surgical precision of Anrakyr’s warscythe. As the human breathed his last, the Necron overlord bent over him.
“Well played, human.”

Back on the other side of the battle, near the wreckage of the Rhino and Stalker, two groups of Destroyers seemed obsessed with breaking open the armor of the marines to get at the soft humans inside, relentlessly pummeling them.
It was a rather low-tech method, but the sheer brutality of the hulking metal automatons finally won out in the end.

And with that, the fighting ceased. The Necron forces suddenly stood to attention and made their way across the battlefield, forming ranks before their general.

From the smouldering wreckage of a Rhino, the incapacitated body of the Chapter Master was pulled.
After some minor resuscitation procedures, the human was returned to consciousness. Sputtering blood, he was lifted to his feet and held fast by impossibly strong metallic hands.
“This... this is not over, soulless Xeno filth!”, the Company Master spat at the cold form towering above him.
The eyes of the remaining Eternals flared into life as Anrakyr wordlessly issued commands to them. The space marine was forced back to the ground by a solid kick to the back of his knees.
“No. No, it is not over. In fact, for you, insolent primitive, it is only about to begin.”
The Necron Overlord turned to his four-legged compatriot, who was still struggling to reassemble himself from the damage received during the battle.
“Cryptek, this one is yours to do with as you please... just be certain to remove its vocal chords before vivisection this time. I could hear the screams of your last specimen even from within my sarcophagus.”

Anrakyr turned and marched with the remainder of his retinue toward the hidden entrance of the slumbering Tomb World, soon to add its forces to his own.
As the Necron general strode away, Illuminator Szeras bowed graciously, his single cyclopean eye swiveling to meet the gaze of his new toy.
The space marine could not be sure, but it almost seemed like the lifeless abomination smiled... if such a thing was even possible.