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so if i'm reading this right, the necrons betray the c'tan and pretty much imprisoned them, yet how or why would the night bringer or deceiver join them in battle? are they controlled or do they just roam around looking for food

They're controlled.

Well, first of all, it is not all of the Nightbringer, Deciever or any other C'tan. It is a shard of them. A teeny tiny piece that the Necrons can barely control and only break out in the very worst of times. And even then, it can backfire on them.

The various C'tan shards are enslaved prisoners, they are not serving the Necrons by choice, and the Necrons are quite proud of the tables being turned on their former masters. In the new codex, it has a graphic showing the hierarchy of Necrons, and C'tan shards are the lowest, below even Flayed Ones in status.

The C'tan (star Gods) approached the necrotyr offering them immortality and victory against their enemies the old ones during the war of the heavens. Facing certain defeat otherwise the necrontyr accepted the offer and transfered their consciousness into metal bodies. Through this process their human forms were burnt, however the C'tan tricked the now Necrons because their souls were also freed during the transformation and the C'tan feasted on the unbound souls of the necron people. The silent king when he realized what the C'tan had done to his people plotted his revenge. After they had defeated the old ones they turned on the C'tan and shattered them, imprisoning the shards in metal bodies made to look like their former selves. The stronger shards are contained in vaults to add extra protection against their power. They are now used as batteries to power the tomb worlds stasis and defenses, when not used on the battlefield.

 curran12 wrote:
Well, first of all, it is not all of the Nightbringer, Deciever or any other C'tan. It is a shard of them. A teeny tiny piece that the Necrons can barely control and only break out in the very worst of times. And even then, it can backfire on them.

The various C'tan shards are enslaved prisoners, they are not serving the Necrons by choice, and the Necrons are quite proud of the tables being turned on their former masters. In the new codex, it has a graphic showing the hierarchy of Necrons, and C'tan shards are the lowest, below even Flayed Ones in status.

This basically. Essentially, they are super-space Pokemons that extremely arrogant/desperate/badass Necron Lords bring out into battle.